Rear mounted generator

[Nicholsfamily05]

Evening.
Couple questions about mounting my generator to the rear of my 5th wheel camper.

I have a 40' foot Cross Roads Crusier bunkhouse and I would like to install my Onan 6.5K generator on the rear of the trailer.
I was thinking of getting the brackets that mount inbetween the frame and protrude out the rear under the bumper.
Once there I was thinking of fabricating a small deck just big enough for the generator and a small fuel cell inside a small sound proof box. To help with the added weight of the design was thinking of one or two tires mounted to the tray to assist with bounce as I have seen this on larger trays that haul scooter, golf carts and such.
I have thought of adding it to the front compartment but with the added gas tank and working around filling it along with ventilation and exhaust piping mounting to the rear is easier.
Would like to see what you all have to say about this setup.
Thanks in advance for the input.

[bigdon68]

Avvidclif1,

I am not really sure of the procedure that New Horizons RV has to service the generator but I am sure they could tell you. Here is their contact page Contact New Horizons

Thanks

bigdon68

[tn_terry_t]

sorry for the big picture I have a generac rv generator in this box fully wired including the transfer switch and remote starting from in side the trailer its been on there for around 12 yrs never hade one problem with it. this trailer has a channel iron frame in which I built a sub frame between the side rails and out the back . it is not attached to the flimsy rear bumper that two inch receiver is only for a flag pole holder

[laknox]

Nicholsfamily05 wrote:
My only issue with mounting in the bed or my truck is I have a 2nd gas tank already in place.
I have a Transfer Flow 40 gallon auxiliary tank and the only place to mount it would be to make a frame to go above that.

I will have to look into if my trailer is prepped for a gen, I know it was prepped for a second battery but did not notic anything else while I was in there.

And I wasn't sure if having that dolly wheel would throw me into that category or not.

As for the design of the box itself I was thinking of building it out of aluminum with fiberglass sides and sound deadening material on the inside. He material is also fire rated so it serves double purpose and is light weight.

With gen prep, you should have a metal lining in the front compartment, with knock-outs for exhaust and vents already in it. You'll also need a transfer switch that switches the power over to the gen when it fires up; either manual or automatic. One thing that I've not seen mentioned anywhere on here about swivel-wheel totes, is that they =can= unweight the pin enough to cause stability issues. The local hitch/trailer shop that we use had to take one off a FW after it started weaving with a load on the tote. Someone did mention about re-distributing the load in his FW after adding a rear-mounted gen.

Lyle

[Lantley]

Nicholsfamily05 wrote:
And that's what has got me worried about doing it to the rear. The weight.
Convince is one thing but I don't want to damage our 5th wheel we just got.

It wouldn't be something we take with is all the time.
More so when we go to our property in the middle of no where for a getaway
But there would be other times we would like to take it along on our longer trips away from home for weeks on end.

The unit I think is about 280lbs, and the fuel tank empty which will be plastic from summit racing. And using aluminum to cut down as well. Hoping I can keep it just a little over 320ish pounds.

280# is quite a lot to load and unload on a regular basis.
While I understand wanting the rack to be lightweight. I don't think an all aluminum rack will be strong enough to support 280# of genset hanging off the rear of your trailer.

[jasult]

mine has been on for 5 years now with the cooler full on every trip and never had a problem

[Nicholsfamily05]

Our 5th wheel is I-beam construction so I dont see an issue with that part.

The only thing in the rear of our trailer is the kids bunk house which is two slide outs.
With a outside kitchen a small one so there isn't much weight there to begin with.

I don't plan on it being a permanent part of it unless I really had to make it a fixed structure back there.
We would use it on long trips but it's for when we travel to our property in the middle of no where and want to stay for a week or so. There is no any type of hook ups out there.

I'm thinking of I remove the rear bumper and suck the hitch and frame up as close as I can to the body of the camper to eliminate as much over hang as I can and stress on the welds and bolts.
I don't plan keeping it loaded with fuel all the time either.

[Lantley]

For the record the dry weight of me genset was 167# the rack itself was pretty sturdy and weighed 200#. In the end I figured I added 400# to the rear of the trailer.
I had to reload the cargo in my trailer to re-balance the load after the platform was installed.
While my set up turned out great. I do not recommend this mod for all RV's. Only those with a solid I-beam frames should consider adding that much weight to the rear. Even then reinforcement maybe required. I would certainly be sure a certified welder examined the entire frame before proceeding.
The real advantage of this set up is not having to load/unload or manhandle the genset. Because the genset was always there it was used more frequently. Lunch breaks and roadside stops always had electric and A/C. We could leave the dog in the RV with the A/C on.
You won't have to make any special accommodations for the genset.
Lastly the TT was always self contained. The truck could drive off but the genset always remained with the trailer in a secure place.

[Beaker]

Any welding or modification to the frame voids the warranty, at least on every Crossroads product I have seen.

Mine came with factory hitch rated at 500lbs. It will be "tested" one of these days with box and generator.

[avvidclif1]

bigdon68 wrote:
Nicholsfamily05

New Horizon RV, one of the top high end 5'vers out there, just started mounting their generators to the rear of the trailer- just past the rear most axel. Great idea


Enjoy the road. We do.

bigdon68

I am still waiting on an answer on how you service it in the New Horizions. It's in a box mounted just behind the rear axle.

On the Crossroads you didn't say the age but look carefully at your warranty. Any welding or modification to the frame voids the warranty, at least on every Crossroads product I have seen. That tells me the frame is marginal to begin with. The generator is close to 300 lbs and 10 gal of gas (appx 10hr run time) is another 70+. Add fuel tank weight and brackets etc. You're going to be hanging 500 lbs off the rear. I wouldn't do it. My 2 cents.

[bigdon68]

Nicholsfamily05

New Horizon RV, one of the top high end 5'vers out there, just started mounting their generators to the rear of the trailer- just past the rear most axel. Great idea


Enjoy the road. We do.

bigdon68

[Nicholsfamily05]

And that's what has got me worried about doing it to the rear. The weight.
Convince is one thing but I don't want to damage our 5th wheel we just got.

It wouldn't be something we take with is all the time.
More so when we go to our property in the middle of no where for a getaway
But there would be other times we would like to take it along on our longer trips away from home for weeks on end.

The unit I think is about 280lbs, and the fuel tank empty which will be plastic from summit racing. And using aluminum to cut down as well. Hoping I can keep it just a little over 320ish pounds.

[Lantley]

I had a 4300is Subaru mounted on a custom welded rear platform on the rear of my prior TT it worked great.
However it added a lot of weight to the rear. The 6500 Onan will be even heavier.
Be sure your frame is up to the added stress of the weight it will drastically impact your pin weight

[Nicholsfamily05]

Jasult I like that idea of more than one mount. distrubut the weight of it around, the gen that I have is a bit bigger than that I may branch off on your idea.

Was thinking maybe shorting up the distance from hitches to try. I know not much but some is better to relieve the extra torque when say bouncing around back there.

[Nicholsfamily05]

My only issue with mounting in the bed or my truck is I have a 2nd gas tank already in place.
I have a Transfer Flow 40 gallon auxiliary tank and the only place to mount it would be to make a frame to go above that.

I will have to look into if my trailer is prepped for a gen, I know it was prepped for a second battery but did not notic anything else while I was in there.

And I wasn't sure if having that dolly wheel would throw me into that category or not.

As for the design of the box itself I was thinking of building it out of aluminum with fiberglass sides and sound deadening material on the inside. He material is also fire rated so it serves double purpose and is light weight.