Shakedown Run

September 6, 2023 - In preparation for our next big trip, we wanted to test all the changes we have made to our rig. There are a lot, twenty actually.

Successes:
New Batteries - We switched from lead-acid to lithium. Lead-acid batteries can only use 50% of the stored energy. Lithium can be run to 0 and still recharge with no problem. We camped in one place and managed to run the batteries down to 24%. We found out that the RedArc power monitoring system has an alarm that we can set at a minimum we are comfortable with. Of course it went off around 6:00 a.m. We reset it to 10%.

Trailer Charge Disconnect when Parked - At the end of our Utah trip, we stayed in a hotel and didn’t disconnect the trailer from the Jeep. The trailer discharged the Jeep’s battery. Lesson learned! We added a switched fuse box that will prevent that from happening again.

Auto Charge for our Battery Jumper- We have heard of other people needing to use their battery jumper only to find it’s dead. We set ours up to charge whenever the Jeep is running. We need to discharge it then recharge to see if it is working properly. 

Anti-Drag Device - This didn’t get tested as the Anderson Plug extension prevented the power cable from being pulled out. I’m calling this a success.

USB Ports Inside - It’s hard to have too many charging ports. We installed new USB ports in a place we can set our phones and even check the time without having to get out of bed in the morning. In the old charging location the phones were perched precariously on an inside lip of the trailer near the door. 

The original location for USB ports was near the door. The new location is by the bed.

Inside Door Reinforcement - The trailer had two inside hatches that weren’t sturdy enough to sit or step on. We didn’t want them bent and they are in location you really want to put weight on them. We added angle iron on the inside to reinforce them. I think we can sit on them now with no damage.

We cut aluminum angle to fit inside the lid then spray painted them black to match the lid. Finally we used rivets to attach the supports. This handy door allows us to access the refrigerator (ice cream) without having to go outside.

New Clothes Storage - We moved our warmest coats and insulated pants into the fake fur pillow and rain gear into the blue (for water) pillow. That way those clothes can do double duty as pillow stuffing. This makes more space for other stuff like food. The pillows make the sitting area more cozy.

They look like pillows but they unzip for clothing storage. These items used to be in compression sacks which made them hard to get to.

Pantry Storage - The area where we had stored clothes is now being used for food storage and paper products. This will allow us to be out longer between trips into town. Additional pantry space is now inside the bench under the pillows in the photo above.

Yogurt Holder - We like yogurt for breakfast but the metal foil cover can easily be torn in the refrigerator if thrown in haphazardly. We added a 4” pipe that the yogurt can slide into. After installing it in the refrigerator we realized that it would be hard to get the yogurt back out. We added a mesh produce bag inside the 4” pipe.  We can also put celery, carrots, onions, and other small items in our yogurt holder. We now have a better organized frig.

Egg Holder - The cardboard container eggs come in can get wet inside a frig. Then your eggs fall out and break. We put them in a plastic container which provides secondary containment and padded them with paper towels. While not perfect, it’s good enough for now. I wonder if the yogurt holder idea would work for eggs?

Shoe Shelf - There is a small area under the sofa for shoes. The problem was how to use the space efficiently.  It was inconvenient having to dig around for matching shoes under the pop-up half-bed. We added a shelf and can now easily organize up to 5 pairs of shoes.

Bedding Change - We now have two medium weight comforters. Just like layering clothes, we can now layer bedding. It’s much better than one heavy comforter.

”TV” Stand - We like to watch Youtube videos on our iPad after we go inside the camper for the night. We have an iPad mount that we can attach to a tent support. TV in bed!

The iPad stand attaches to the tent support beside the lights. It easily disconnects for storage beside the mattress while we’re traveling.

Privacy Tent/Patio - Sometimes you need privacy for your business other times you need a place for the fire pit that is out of the wind. This is the second version of this item. The previous one was bright blue and heavy this one is light weight and sort of matches the trailer. It‘s easy to set up and pack.  It has lightweight cord for staking. On our previous trips, sometimes the ground was hard and rocky, so I added pockets for rocks in case we can’t use tent stakes.

Awning Cover Change - The old awning cover was too tight to zip over the awning easily. The manufacturer replaced this under warranty. It’s so much better now.

Traction Mat Mount - Our traction mats used to be mounted on the trailer but we had to move them if we went anywhere with just the Jeep. We moved them to the Jeep’s back tire in a way that we will always have them and can even use the backup camera. 

The backup camera is in the center of the spare tire. Notice the sheep walking through camp!

Propane Manifold - We have too many devices that need connected to propane and the cylinder is located awkwardly behind a door. After a little tightening to eliminate leaks (soapy water technique) it does exactly what it needs to do. It would be nice if it were easy to close the door at night. But so much better than it was before. We need to change the sealant from Teflon tape to Rectorseal which is better for propane use. Otherwise it works great.  

We can now attach four items at the same time.

Water Tank Drain - After our trips, we drain the water out of our water tank. It used to have a plastic cap which was hard to pull out and seemed like a thing that could be easily lost. We replaced it with a hose bib. It should work better as long as we don’t hit it with a rock on a trail.

Opportunities for Improvement:

New Paper Towel Holder - This is better than having a roll of paper towels moving around the kitchen area but it’s hard to change the roll. We have some additional modifications in mind.

Chair Tie Downs - If we aren’t sitting in our camp chairs when the wind blows, our chairs fall over. We thought tying them down with tent stakes would be a solution. When the sun shifts we want to move our chairs, so the stake method didn’t work for us. We might have to go back to rocks in the seat or flipping the chairs over ourselves to keep them from blowing away.

The problem with making modifications to your camp setup, you think of more things that can be tweaked for comfort and efficiency faster than you can make the changes.

We have added other things to our modification list! I’ll keep you posted on those.

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