yblaw
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Re: Hitch Extenders
mike/kellie wrote: I can only respond to the braking system. I bought the Ready Brute with surge. I bought a new Ready Brute tow bar from a member here, and then purchased the base plate and separate surge extension. I didn't want wiring going through the jeep. I have 2 cables mounted to the brake pedal through the firewall. One is emergency break aware and the other is surge cable. Brake, turn and tail lights are the magnetic type ( battery fed led ) secured to cargo basket over the spare, fed my transmitter plugged into the 7-way plug. Great father's day present from my kids that performed perfectly last month. Spider senses flashed seeing a single tube extension. Looking at my Torklift, 2 tubes fastened together with 3/8" chain turnbuckles. X2 on Mike/Kellie's concern about a single tube. I think you will find that the Mammoth is 11 1/2' long, and that you need a minimum 42" hitch extension. I use a 48" Torklift truss system on my Mammoth to put a little more distance between what I'm towing and the back of the camper.....498Views0likes0CommentsRe: Flat towing a Jeep Wrangler
I recommend the 4 door Wrangler for rough off-road use because it has a longer wheelbase, which makes the vehicle less "tippy" going over rocks/very uneven terrain. In addition, there is a lot more interior room to carry stuff, like recovery gear (tow straps, come-longs, etc.) and emergency supplies if you break down in the boondocks.....402Views0likes0CommentsRe: Flat towing a Jeep Wrangler
I've been flat towing Jeeps for 50+ years. Nowadays, it's much more user-friendly, with adjustable tow bars from Roadmaster, Blue Ox, etc. For example, check this out: https://www.etrailer.com/Tow-Bars/Roadmaster/RM-522.html#exp-productdetails=.all-description I have towed all types of Jeeps, from flat fender WWII models, to off-road racing Jeeps to CJ's, YJ's, TJ's, LJ's, and our current JKU 4 door, with motorhomes and with truck camper rigs. Bottom line? You shouldn't even notice it with your setup. Several/most states require separate braking systems in the towed Jeep; these also are available at etrailer.com, amazon, etc. We recently returned from a 2,000 mile trip flat towing our JKU model, with our 20,000 lb Ram 5500/triple slide camper. Our Jeep has about 1,000 lbs additional weight with our off-road gear. It was smooth sailing all the way. If you need any additional information, send me a PM. By the way, having owned more than 20 Jeeps over the past 50 years, if you plan to do any off-roading in rough terrain, I recommend the 4 door model.....402Views0likes0CommentsRe: Loading with a flatbed and service body
work2much wrote: Looking closely at the pictures on the Douglas site I see what you mean, I was hoping to avoid frame mounted tie downs but that wouldn't be a deal breaker. It was also brought to my attention when I picked up my Host that sprung mount suspension wass required for waranty. Do you have a picture of the modification you made? I wonder if the frame mounts for a 2017 3500 would also fit a 2018/19 5500. Also how wide is the large compartment against the cab? I was wondering about a sliding tray that could hold a couple mountain bikes in a state of partial disassembly. I have some photos but am an idiot unable to decipher the mysteries of uploading photos; I will email them to Mike of Mike and Kellie fame; he's smart, so he could figure out how to upload them. As for the frame mounts, Douglass made their own and welded them to the 5500 frame; they work fine. I will measure the interior size of the large front cabinet in the morning and send it to you; unlike Mike, I'm not sure if I have my build sheet, but if I do, I will send it to you.436Views0likes0CommentsRe: Loading with a flatbed and service body
I have a Ram 5500 with an 11' Douglass body. It replaced an F450 w/pickup bed. Loading/unloading is not a problem. I installed a backup camera above the truck's rear window, painted a white stripe down the middle of the bed, and installed some red tape up the middle of the front of the camper; makes it easy to line up. Also, Douglass installs guides at the rear of the bed to help align the camper. There is a potential issue with tie downs. My Host Mammoth is the same width as the Douglass body; Host requires the use of springloaded turnbuckles, which I use. The Host mounting brackets are recessed a few inches from the outside of the truck body; the tie down brackets extend past the side of the truck body; in order to attach the turnbuckles to the tie downs and not hit the truck body, I had to make some extensions to attach to the Host tie down brackets to allow the Fastguns to attach to the frame mounted tie downs. If I had it to do over again, I would ask the folks at Douglass to engineer that set-up differently. Douglass is a great company to work with, so they likely would design something. Douglass' standard tie down method was to bolt some brackets to the top of the truck body, line them up with the camper tie down brackets, and secure the camper with 1/2" bolts. The only problem with that (other than Host's "suspension mounting" requirement), is that if you are on uneven terrain and use your jacks to level your rig, you have to unbolt the Douglass brackets to allow the camper to level separately from the truck. It's difficult to re-align the camper/truck body brackets. If you need any more information, send me a PM.436Views0likes0CommentsRe: Class 5 Truck - Entry Step Solution
That's a great entry step solution.......We had a similar issue with our Douglass-bodied Ram 5500, especially after we changed out the 32" tall 19.5 tires for 37" tall 22.5 tires/wheels. Our Host Mammoth is now a whopping 56" from the bottom of the entry door to the ground. We ended up removing the factory steps and replacing them with the Torklift Revolution setup like your's, except with 6 steps and the Torklift handrail. Works like a champ; easy to set-up, even on the road for bathroom breaks--pull the pin, lift the latch and pull the steps out. The difference is that Hosts are open across the bottom of the entry step mounting area, which allowed our 22" Torklift step setup to fit. I wonder if you could cut off the bottom of your step cutout without sacrificing any structural integrity on your Eagle Cap....Nice job!319Views0likes0CommentsRe: Swampy K2 evaporative cooler
Yup,,,,We have a K2 model and live in San Diego County. It's a very nice unit; works well in dry SoCal type climates. We cut out a piece of masonite and velcro it to a bedroom window; cut a 4" hole in the masonite and attached a duct fitting; open the window, cover the screen with the masonite, attach the 4" flex hose that comes with the K2 to the duct fitting and to the K2 unit; cools off the bedroom area quite nicely in our Host camper. During the winter, I run it w/o water to produce "white noise" and air flow.....I think it was a very good investment.392Views0likes0Comments
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Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Feb 06, 202544,025 Posts
