jefferyofsky
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Re: American Hauler Wiring Issues
westend wrote: Looked at your video. Yes, that is really bad workmanship. The drilled holes should have been reamed to remove burrs and a grommet installed where wires were run through any steel. The under-trailer wiring is fairly typical in that, most mfgs don't use a loom covering to pull wires from tail end lights to the front. When I maintained a fleet of heavily used trailers, I used garden hose to cover wires as it was cheap and nearly indestructible. Tips: While you are upgrading, it would make sense to build in a fused terminal strip towards the front of the trailer. They are not that expensive and will ease diagnosis/protect against future problems. Yes, your truck has fuse protection for those circuits but it is often easier having it on the trailer. If you are connecting/disconnecting this trailer frequently, it may behoove you to use a 7 pin connection to the trailer and break that out on the trailer rather than using a 7->4 adapter. The 7 pin Bargmann connector is vastly superior to a 4 pin. Good luck with your trailer. The American Hauler brand is one of the cheapest out there so you may be doing more repair/maintenance in the future. Good ideas, I was thinking of that, since I am hauling same vehicle, thinking of getting a 7 pin and wiring it up. I never considered garden hose, makes good sense,and is fairly good in cold weather.267Views0likes0CommentsRe: Full Time, Selling Everything
Calicajun wrote: his makes me wonder what do they do when they get to old to full-time RV? We were thinking of renting the house just in case we can't RV any longer. Hi Craig, When I made a life change I went down to 55 items. I could have went lower and lived under a tree. When I had realized the things I COULD NO LONGER DO IN MY LIFE, it helped me accept the things that I WANTED TO DO. So, I will be a little flippant, to maybe give you a new perspective. First of all, it is great you are a positive thinking, and you think you will be getting old. I am wondering if that is what kept you at work, or raising children, making money, upgrading home to home, or many of the things people do? So I am saying, here you are, you have this move ahead of you, and you made it this far, but right now you could have been on the way out, maybe got a bad health diagnosis, and in that light, the foundations you laid over the past years, have they helped you or hindered you? So first, if you do keep your property, give it to a management company and forget about it is my perspective. You will have enough stress on the road, as little things come up, where you do not need to worry about a house back home some person just painted the rooms black. Second, are you so sure you want to return to where you house is now? Once you get out there in freedom, do you think your values will be the same? Do you think you will like new things? I bet in 2 years your friends will not recognize you, you will have outgrown them, and maybe even the community your house is in. Why delay the inevitable. Also getting rid of the house will force you to get rid of the ****, that maybe you gathered raising kids, etc.. Look you can get anything you need for a small amount. If I want a panderno frying pan, I go to Value Villiage Thrift, and I pay $7. If I get bored of it I gift it back, and the total cost of onwership was $7. One day we went into a small town, and got a Omega 3 juicer for $30. Six months later, it was taking up space, hard to clean since we have no water inside camper, so we sold it. I got $100 for it. The point is, all that stuff you think is so great, is at a thrift store. I bet we have less than $200 in our cookware, and we get bored gift this metal bowl, etc. I mean there is no shortage of **** in the world. One day we went into a Liquidation store in Vancouver, and they had these nice bowels one broken for $10. We got them, and one the way out of tow took our old bowels and threw them in donation bin. We like them, but there is no shortage of more. Everywhere we go, we see the same ****. Recently I was in a store and they had one of those microwave pressure cookers, regular $99 for $30. So we got it, we like it, and hell we might give it away some day. My point it, really don't you want new **** in the future, when you change your life, or do you want to be defined by your old life. how can you make a new life, with the tether of the old one. So basically, this post is part of your own fear, your logical mind keeping you from enjoying your life. I hope it does not take a doctor telling you, hey bud, you got 10 days to live, and have terminal cancer cause you are stressed with your life, and the stress caused it. Just do what you have to do, but really, your spirit is not defined by your body. The only thing you might worry about is health care, so if you sell your house, make sure you secure good health care so you can be less stress free. However even that, I had two bad teeth, it was going to be about $600 to take them out, the community I am in now had a public health clinic for homeless people, I applied and passed, low income, and got a partial cleaning, two extractions, and a filling for $164. you will have problem, and when you have them, why have a house to run back to.620Views0likes0CommentsAmerican Hauler Wiring Issues
As a full time living in a home made truck camper, I carry lots of tools, and it came to a point we had to invest in a cargo trailer, so we got a used, only used twice, American Hauler Air-Lite cargo, 5x8. So we been using it quite steady but recently hit a major bump, lets be honest they take alot of abuse behind a old truck, and a few days later another driver on road hailed us down to tell us our lights were blinking. I then noticed that the 7 pin to 4 pin connector was smoking and the ground wire was burning off the camper, and since it was almost dark it kind of left us in a scramble to rewire, solder on a new connector etc. So I decided to take off the access panels and poke around, and then I noticed little thing, which was not the complete issue. One of those things is they drilled small holes to being the wires into the trailer from the outside lights, but the holes had burs on them and sharp shards of metal. They did not even remove the burr. To correct this, I decided to cut inch long pieces of air hose, and then hot glue it in a larger hole out to the wire, using the hot glue to seal the hole and make sure the sleeve would not move, running the new wire through. I also noticed during production, the placement of the holes were off so they crammed on the outside light anyway, sandwiching the wire that was through that small hole, putting pressure on them, and they were shorting out. The fenders also had no sleeve, and the installer put so much pressure on the wire vertically it was literally wearing through the casing of the wire, which there is no doubt that in time it would cause a short. To top it off the real bad thing they did, was leave a piece of wire hanging over the front of the side rail, that had about 1/8 inches of bare wire out and it was flopping around and shorting out, it was black. I do not feel that this is acceptable, and if you have any brand of these cargo trailers, make sure you fix up the wiring. It was shorting out, and in the past I had a propane leak, and also carry other flammables such as gas, and it is false security, these people do not seem to be concerned about the safety of their products. I did a video of the event there, so if you are seeing the actual things I found and what to fix. American Hauler Air Lite Cargo Wiring Dangerous Unsafe1.2KViews0likes3CommentsRe: USA Urban Stays Versus Canada
Crowe wrote: Glad you enjoyed your trip! I can't imagine what climate change in Virginia would cause that because many of the states switch weather very quickly. So sorry you had to "sample" our health care system but very happy all turned out well. The attending RN and the Doctor, said they have a HIGH INCIDENCE of blood pressure related issues and nose bleeds that will not stop, and they do not know why, but that area, RICHMOND in particular, is apparently in some kind of bowl of weather, their term. I had came from a winter climate, directly to the area, and stresses and diet, and this effect, seemed to cause it. I lived for 8 years at over 3500 feet elevation, until 2 months prior to this visit, at 60 feet elevation, so this probably was a perfect storm for this, and they said it is quite commen there.639Views0likes0CommentsRe: USA Urban Stays Versus Canada
Hello everyone, wanted to update my travels from the thread here I started. I entered the USA March 4th, 2016, and went in through Buffalo. Stayed all down through Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York State, Washington, Norfolk, Suffolk, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklohoma, Arizona, California, Texas, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. Basically I had a great time, no problems at all. I was in Sand Diego, Oceanside, Los Angeles, and the only time I felt a little insecure was arriving in Clinton, Arkansas, the wrong side of town. I used a website that tracks urban sites, and mostly stayed at Cracker Barrels. However next time I hope to do the Land Management Bureau, since I got a federal pass. And ironically, not only did no troopers pull me over, in about the 6,500 miles I drove, but really I found people really well behaved and felt more comfortable than Canada in many cities. The only real time I even saw a gun, was when I decided to visit a pawn shop, and get a metal detector there, and a guy pawning his chainsaw had one strapped on, and he seemed like more a prepper than anything, but he did not seem to be having a good day. So vastly my fears were out of place, and I can hardly wait to go back. I originally wanted to go for 3 months, but I took a episode with my blood pressure, and had a nose bleed in a restaurant, gushing, as in a nightmare movie gushing and ems had to come, I was spiked at 258, over 193, so god knows what I was origianlly. Apparently this can happen in Virginia due to climate change if you are prone to this and not medicated, However the EMS was quick, and the hospital was great, and kept me in intensive care, and I am sure it cost alot, but wow, if you have insurance your hospital system beats us in Canada hands down. Basically inside of 90 minutes they had these things blocking the burst vessels, xrays, and cat scan, they sure do not mess around there. So that cut my trip short until I get the BP thing worked out and a new insurance company. So had a great tour, and thanks for all of your encouragement. I in fact feel pretty empowered after surviving the traffic in LA, down to San Diego, with my old truck and camper at 70 miles an hour, and 10 lanes of traffic. The only challenge I had was the toll roads, and got caught in one off the I5 I think it was down to Oceanside California, and a complicated billing system. Take care everyone in your travels this summer.639Views0likes0CommentsRe: USA Urban Stays Versus Canada
rockhillmanor wrote: Yes there are 'bad' parts of town in EVERY town. http://www.spotcrime.com/ Wow, that is a great tool, I had no idea it existed, and it is interesting to see how over the last month most of the burgularies for example are in one area, the theft in another area, and the assaults seems to be mostly in the bar district and the business district.639Views0likes0CommentsRe: USA Urban Stays Versus Canada
Thanks everyone, this is very concise, and it is great to hear such great experiences, and look forward to travelling the USA. I figured that I was not seeing things in their true perspective. And it is true there is risks everywhere, recently stuck at an accident site a truck did not see the flaggers stop sign and could have take us all out in that stop as his truck bed went sideways, so there is probably higher risks to these things than any sort of gun violence in reality as you have all suggested. Is there any indexes published, here or elsewhere that you can use as a site locator and to share feedback as to the laws and things?315Views0likes0CommentsUSA Urban Stays Versus Canada
As a Canadian in a law where we have no hand guns and things of this nature, I tend to see the reports of gun violence in the USA, which I am sure are like anything abnormal. I have been living in my camper full time for about a year, and travelling and sleeping in my vehicle in communities, even urban camping in tents as I travel behind bushes and things like this, but not gone stateside from Canada. I tend to just do the Walmart thing or roadside turn outs, sometimes on the street etc., I find that here if a person goes too far out in a national part for example you tend to attract forestry services, and it is just my goal to get a good nights sleep, and continue my path, I am not really a boon docker with long stays in one place. So here is the story, I have somehow developed a small fear of the USA, and travelling. To make it worse I have been travelling the past 2 months with my partner, from USA, who did not do this lifestyle in the USA and her herself has no idea what to expect. I see so many people who travel for years and have no issues, and it seems that these reports are over blown, and considering the 300 million people, are well in check with even the things here. I mean actually we have had a number of issues here, where a couple had a person kill them and burn their RV while in a remote camp ground in British Columbia. So I am sure this is over blown, but to tell yourself this is on thing, but to really live it and to know it is another. So I am curious about how many people here travelling the USA really have had a problem with this, and what are you strategies to keep yourself safe. It it just your attitude, do you worry about it, do you find that in reality that most people are just hard working and honest that we will meet in the USA? Also what do you tell the border services. It seems that they think I want to go work in the USA or something, and that sure is not the case, what do you give to them if you are a Canadian to bypass or to minimize the chances of being rejected and them thinking you are working. I know of Canadians who boon dock in Nevada etc for month, so I know this should not be hard to get in to travel around, I am cusious what people say and do you find any certain areas that raises concern for US border security? Thanks any help or assurances appreciated in advance.7KViews0likes25CommentsRe: Photo Thread - Post a Photo of Your Truck Camper Here
Dusty-NZ wrote: Very interesting home built , do you have a frontal picture ? I should take a new one, originally I had the solar panel on my front canopy, but got concerned over rock chips, PEA GRAVEL in Alberta, almost every windshield is cracks, so I moved it to the roof, which sucks, cause the solar panel was an real conversation starter. Also there is storage in the canopy with doors on each side, 1x3 pallet wood, and 1x4 rough pallet wood. If I was to do this again, I would invest in a used planer, but I built this with a hand saw, and a electric drill basically. LOL Please not the maximum photo width=800, and 640 is preferred.373Views0likes0CommentsRe: Photo Thread - Post a Photo of Your Truck Camper Here
Work in progress, built mostly from reclaimed material people were throwing away, pallet wood and other free wood bin wood, and a bed sheet water proofing with glued on bed sheets, and outdoor paint. Total cost with the new light wiring, about $200 of the cost, is about $1500, and it is not overly fancy inside but a place to sleep and cook. It is heavy but well insulated, I have slept -40C and through a Canadian winter with a propane gobuddy heater, with a CO detector of course, and lots of air flow. I keep moving things around. Recently jetted from Calgary to Halifax in 12 days. I am more of a urban dweller and stick to walmarts and other creative spots I find. Please not the maximum photo width=800, and 640 is preferred.374Views0likes0Comments
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