Jerry Rig

[Florpro]

I?ve mentioned the Jerry Rig in my build thread, but thought it could use its own build thread for those that camp, this might be up your alley!

We initially bought our little pop up camper dubbed the ?Jerry Rig? after Suzy?s late father.  He loved all things camping and would have dug this little tent on wheels.  It is a 2008 Starcraft 1701 with A/C, 3 way fridge and furnace.  The front bed is almost a queen and the rear is almost a twin.  Dinette that converts into a sleeper for a midget, 10 gal fresh water tank with pump and inside sink, propane two burner stove and hookups for an exterior grill. 

Four or five years ago we attended an annual Campout for one of our club members and tented it... come to find out most of them had pop up campers and Suzy wasn?t digging the tent. Lol!!  We have had it out around 10-12 times and it needed some tires..... soooo I bought some takeoffs from an early TJ that match my wheels ?? And now it needs a little more clearance for the much larger meats!

The axle was flipped when we got it, but the PO just rotated the axle instead of installing new spring perches to keep the axle in the proper orientation...

So that is what I?ve been up to today..  dropped off the wheels at Discount Tire to get some fresh rubber and fabricating new perches. 

I also finally unwrapped my new Miller 211.  Even on 110 and auto settings I am in love! 

More to come... I have to swing the axle back under the trailer now that my welds have cooled off.

 

[Florpro]

A couple pics didn?t post...

 

[Florpro]

Last weekend I bought three 3,500# drop leg jacks from Harbor Freight and mounted one on the tongue and the other two on the back corners.  I lent The Jerry Rig our to my guy Marty for Elk hunting last year and I think they tried to use the stabilizing jacks as leveling jacks...  they were bent the next time I tried to use them.  So the tripod jack system was installed in their place. 

Funny thing is this camper only weighs ~1,800# lol.  They have come in handy playing with the axle though.  A pseudo three post lift lol.

I had to use a HF tool to assemble the HF jacks though.  Go figure!  The C mounts needed to be welded to the jack bodies so I used the press to get a nice tight joint prior to welding them up.  These were the last welds with my old trusty Lincoln 3200HD... 

 

[Florpro]

I needed to make a mount for the spare tire that allowed me to do three things.

1. Hold a full-size spare.
2. Maintain or improve ground clearance of the stock mount.
3. Allow the trailer to transform into tent mode without tools. 

I designed a swing down mount that covers all three requirements using some steel and other things I had laying around.  I used a hitch pin to hold it in the up position and a 5/8? through bolt on the bottom with brackets made from some 1/4? plate  for the ?swinging? part.  1 1/2? x 3? x 1/8? box tubing with the chopped down factory spare tire bracket welded to the upright and ran some 1.25?x 1.25? box tubing to the frame to stiffen up the flimsy bumper. 

Came out great and works like a charm!

 

[Florpro]

Packing this thing is like origami/ Tetris all in one lol!!

One of these days I will modify the cabinets to utilize all the unused dead spaces.

 

[Florpro]

The evolution of the tire... it had 12? wheels when I first bought it!!

 

[Florpro]

Lower shock mounts.  Also got my new meats today too.  Pics to follow.  Gotta swing the axle back under and fab the upper shock mounts.

And special thanks to [member=342]green50gt[/member] for supplying the steel for the lower shock brackets...  I used steel from the mangled winch fairlead mount lol

 

[G Beasley]

[member=342]green50gt[/member] has parts all over the country.

 

[green50gt]

Awww!  I?m here for you bro!

 

[Florpro]

Passenger side upper shock mount done??

The shocks I found are for a pickup or something???  They were the length I needed and in stock but they have a random upper pin dealio so I drilled a hole in the frame and welded in a nut along with a piece of steel scavenged from the old stabilizer jack and viola!  Upper shock mount!

Also pictured are the new 30x9.5 15 Pathfinder tires on some matching wheels I nabbed from CL!

 

[Florpro]

Awww!  I?m here for you bro!

Free steel is free steel!! 

 

[1989comanche]

Free steel is free steel!! 

The best kind

 

[Florpro]

Got the axle and shocks installed this morning. 

2? wheel spacers finally came so I got everything torqued down and took it around the block. 
Seems to tow better, but I won?t know till I get up to Hwy speeds. 

I need to fab up a spare tire mount for the Jerry Rig and raise the spare on my Jeep so I can actually hitch up the trailer! 

 

[G Beasley]

Very nice! Should be easier to get in the back country now.

 

[bobthetj03]

The fact that you got it nice and level should help a lot with towability. Matching Canyons, nice! I had a bit of wag the tail when I was sorting Frankentrailer out because of the fact that the axle was in the center of the trailer and I didn't have enough tongue weight. It didn't start the waggie until I got above 50mph, so if you get the waggie, just add some tongue weight.

 

[Florpro]

Very nice! Should be easier to get in the back country now.

Never been an issue... but yes easier now and I won?t fret about every rock I hit!

The fact that you got it nice and level should help a lot with towability. Matching Canyons, nice! I had a bit of wag the tail when I was sorting Frankentrailer out because of the fact that the axle was in the center of the trailer and I didn't have enough tongue weight. It didn't start the waggie until I got above 50mph, so if you get the waggie, just add some tongue weight.

Always been the case with this thing.  I think having the axle perches in the correct orientation will help.  P.O. just rotated the axle and used the spring under perches as spring over.  The axle is crowned and I think toed in, in the correct orientation...

Coolers and tool bags to the front before lol

 

[G Beasley]

Never been an issue... but yes easier now and I won?t fret about every rock I hit!
Always been the case with this thing.  I think having the axle perches in the correct orientation will help.  P.O. just rotated the axle and used the spring under perches as spring over.  The axle is crowned and I think toed in, in the correct orientation...

Coolers and tool bags to the front before lol

Most axles have a crown for some camber and toe built in as well . If the owner just flipped the old axle , it should tow much nicer now.

 

[Florpro]

Most axles have a crown for some camber and toe built in as well . If the owner just flipped the old axle , it should tow much nicer now.

I?m just hoping I got the axle back where it was.  According to the tape measure there is 1/4? toe in now!

 

[G Beasley]

That?s way better than 1/4? tow out!

 

[Florpro]

Pics from the wild...

With all of these modifications I was able to take the Jerry Rig out through Box Canyon, an area that is a little tough to navigate with even a stock 4x4.  I need to make some sliders for it to protect the vulnerable conduit that houses the cables for the lifting mechanism.  I juuuust grazed one on a boulder in Box Canyon. 

All in all it towed like a dream!  The ?bucking? action on the highway was gone,  25mph + in the dirt (got it to 47 lol) and took it up to 75 on the freeway without issues.