New to me Trailer and some mods

[George3037]

Hello,
New to the forum. Now that I've retired I decided to get back into some part time camping. I recently purchased a used 28' GulfStream Innsbruck and have been working on it the past month. Of course I've had to buy the usual things to stock the trailer such as cords, adapter plugs, tools, hoses, etc. then did some mods. So far I've installed a new CO / propane detector, an additional over the air directional antenna, built and installed a rear generator mount carrier, and replaced all 5 tires which were in great condition but 7 years old.
I bought a Predator 3500W inverter generator for camping off grid. Ran it for 5 hours with a 75% load to break it in and changed the oil. The owners manual is confusing and lists different break in time periods. It runs very quiet at 23'. I measured 55-56 db using 3 different apps downloaded on my phone.
Looking forward to reading the posts here and posting some pics when I figure out how to do that.

[George3037]

SidecarFlip wrote:
I think the HF genny weighs about 70 pounds wet. Not that much. I'd cable it to your rack with a cable lock though. Things like that tend to grow legs and leave on their own....lol

I have the 3500W HF gen and it does weigh 114 lbs wet. I weighed it with my hanging digital scale. I'm sure the 2000W weighs less but the 2k unit wasn't big enough to run the entire camper.
I do plan on using a cable lock to secure it to the rack when I'm camping along with the locking pin securing the rack in place.

[SidecarFlip]

I think the HF genny weighs about 70 pounds wet. Not that much. I'd cable it to your rack with a cable lock though. Things like that tend to grow legs and leave on their own....lol

[George3037]

afidel,
Thanks for the info and concern. I should have given some background in my first post. I know what you mean about scary things seen on the road. My pet peeve is unsecured loads on trailers. I see them all the time. Accidents waiting to happen.
My trailer tongue to back is about 35' also so I don't need more stuff hanging out back. My Gen weighs 114 lb with a full tank. I only built the carrier to keep the Gen off the ground and close to the RV plug. Never had any intention to leave it on during transport. I tow with a 2016 2500HD 4x4 crew cab with a 6.0L and 4.11 gears. Been towing trailer over 45 years so far so I've been around the block a time or two.

[afidel]

George3037 wrote:

afidel wrote:
On the generator mount, did you tie it directly to the frame? Did you make sure your frame can support the kind of torque load a bouncing generator on a torque arm can generate? Also did you check your tongue weight with the generator on the back and other camping stuff loaded to make sure you're at at least 10% tongue weight.

The first couple questions are mostly about the safety of whomever is behind you if the generator decides to rip a chunk out of the frame (happens all the time with bikes and rear bumpers). The last question is about both your safety and everyone else on the road with you, having too little tongue weight has a severe negative impact on handling and can lead to dangerous sway.

The mount is a standard 2x2 Curt receiver. I welded brackets on it and bolted it to the frame with grade 8 hardware, not the bumper. Then I built an 18 x 28 carrier that slides into it. The carrier will not be on the trailer during travel. Only for use when it is parked. Tongue weight is not a problem. Specs say empty tongue weight is 1030 lbs plus I use a weight dist. hitch. Its not my first trailer, I tow trailers all the time. I also have an 16' 14K dump and a 24' 14K PJ full tilt and have towed campers on and off for almost 35 years.

More power to you then 😃 Without any background just wanted to make sure you and those around you were safe. The number of crazy unsafe things I see on the road almost every day often frightens me so I figure if I have a chance to potentially educate someone I'll take it. I did once see a camper with a generator on a bumper connected tray and I was afraid to drive behind them because I had seen what a couple of light bikes can do to a bumper let alone a relatively heavy generator. That same trailer was about 35' long and they were towing it with a half ton without weight distribution so I'm sure they were over just about every possible weight limit. The trailer was at least 10 years old so perhaps they had been doing that for years without a problem, I didn't want to be around when their luck ran out 😃

[George3037]

[George3037]

I'll get more proficient as I learn the ins and outs of posting.

[George3037]

[George3037]

[George3037]

Profdant, That's the link I have been trying. I looked it up before. I select my pics then copy and paste in my post. They all show as being there but when I hit post msg. the post shows link removed. As I said earlier, maybe as a new member I have to have X amount of posts before I can upload a pic. That's how it is on some other site I belong to.




Click For Full-Size Image.

Well, this time one pic posted even though I tried for 5.

[George3037]

afidel wrote:
On the generator mount, did you tie it directly to the frame? Did you make sure your frame can support the kind of torque load a bouncing generator on a torque arm can generate? Also did you check your tongue weight with the generator on the back and other camping stuff loaded to make sure you're at at least 10% tongue weight.

The first couple questions are mostly about the safety of whomever is behind you if the generator decides to rip a chunk out of the frame (happens all the time with bikes and rear bumpers). The last question is about both your safety and everyone else on the road with you, having too little tongue weight has a severe negative impact on handling and can lead to dangerous sway.

The mount is a standard 2x2 Curt receiver. I welded brackets on it and bolted it to the frame with grade 8 hardware, not the bumper. Then I built an 18 x 28 carrier that slides into it. The carrier will not be on the trailer during travel. Only for use when it is parked. Tongue weight is not a problem. Specs say empty tongue weight is 1030 lbs plus I use a weight dist. hitch. Its not my first trailer, I tow trailers all the time. I also have an 16' 14K dump and a 24' 14K PJ full tilt and have towed campers on and off for almost 35 years.

[afidel]

On the generator mount, did you tie it directly to the frame? Did you make sure your frame can support the kind of torque load a bouncing generator on a torque arm can generate? Also did you check your tongue weight with the generator on the back and other camping stuff loaded to make sure you're at at least 10% tongue weight.

The first couple questions are mostly about the safety of whomever is behind you if the generator decides to rip a chunk out of the frame (happens all the time with bikes and rear bumpers). The last question is about both your safety and everyone else on the road with you, having too little tongue weight has a severe negative impact on handling and can lead to dangerous sway.

[profdant139]

And then, of course, bookmark that link so you can easily find it. 😉

[profdant139]

George, welcome to the forum!!

Don't give up on photos -- there is a special app, designed by our moderator 1492, that makes it a snap. Just go to this link, select your photo, copy the code that pops up in the box, and paste the code into your posting:

Thanks so much, 1492!

Give it a try! You will like it.

[George3037]

[img]***Link Removed*** ***Link Removed***.[/img]

Guess I have to have more posts. Also don't see any way to delete my own posts using the edit function.