Leaderboard

Hey all! Was great seeing everyone. I love this event! Big ups to @theksmith for keeping it going all these years and driving the club forward - it's a ton of work and it's greatly appreciated! Google photo album for anyone interested - these are all high-res images. They might take a sec to load. Feel free to download your favorites. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Nkf2xAedRBaby9Qs5 Some of my favorites below:

Posting up some photos from our recent "Lake-to-Rim" overland round from a few weeks back. This was an exploratory trip on some trails none of us had been on before. It was a nice weekend on some easy-going trails (though bumpy in a few spots) on a sunny weekend! @theksmith @johnpa @Liz @Adventure F150 The trail begins at Lake Roosevelt and (in the routes we took) spans 163 miles, ultimately ending on top of the Mogollon Rim. The route quickly climbs from 2,100 ft to 5,000+ ft inside of a few hours. we topped out at almost 8,000 ft. The primary route is called "Rock House Road" and splits off from Cherry Creek Road about 17 miles into the route. From here you're winding your way through canyons and over mountains as you drive deeper into the Tonto NF. Much of the route skirts along the edge of the Ft Apache Reservation and is extremely scenic and remote. We only saw one other group of people, 2 adventure bike riders coming down the opposite direction. We didn't see another soul until we arrived in Rim Country. We met up at 2pm on a Friday and made quick work of the route, reaching our campsite by 5:30pm on Middleton Mesa - a wide open grassy mesa at about 5,600 ft. Some nice views of the surrounding mountains. On Day 2 we made quick work of the route, arriving at the Rim around 11am, and hitting camp around 4:00pm. We found a fantastic campsite, isolated, in some deep pines for plenty of shade. We ended our trip in Clint's Well - topping off our tanks with some sweet sweet dino juice at the local Sinclair fuel station. If you're interested in downloading this route and waypoints along the way - check it out here. Camp night 1 on Middleton Mesa Along the way we dipped through the mountain town of Young - a few people topped off their fuel - others grabbed bacon and ice cream at the local general store ;) On our way out of town we took the "Boulder Bypass", which is a narrow, windy trail that takes you past a pretty remarkable field of boulders that must have been deposited by a glacier a millennia ago. The rocks are like nothing else along the entire rim - most are the size of a house. There are a few shady campsites nearby. Later we popped by a few overlooks along the rim. Here's the 260 from the Military Viewpoint. Campsite night 2 My 4-wheeled sauna Here's a look at the 2024 Horton Fire burn scar. We popped over to check out some unique camping opportunities at Myrtle Point - 4x4 high clearance needed. There are 2-3 great site down this short trail right on the rim. We also stopped along a few other view points along the way to check out the sights.

Stealing Mike's thunder! We had a nice weekend traveling the Kofas. There were 7 vehicles to start but Sat night Mick left to go home. High winds Friday afternoon and evening made setting up camp and sleeping difficult. The winds were easier on Saturday and had died down by evening. Friday night we camped just to the west of the North Star mine and visited it on Saturday. After the mine we headed for Hoodoo cabin and finished up at the Hovatter homestead. To learn more about the Hovatters, click: https://azoffroad.net/hovatter-homestead I didn't take a lot of pics because I've done this trail several times. Friday camp: Natural arch above our camp Antares cabin at the North Star mine Castle dome Kofa butte at sunset Dust on the trail Hovatter driveway Hovatter graves Fire Sat night North Star mine ruins

out again enjoying the trailer this past weekend! we're getting better at managing our tanks. we made it Thursday morning through Monday afternoon and managed to fill the black and gray tanks to only about a half, with more than half of our fresh water still remaining. our battery bank was at about 50%, and that was with Aimee and I both working over 2 full days - i.e. besides the normal trailer stuff we had the Starlink mini sucking power most of the time and 60W and 100W laptops charging during the weekdays, along with 2 phones and an iPad. on the way home we gave Freya and the trailer a quick bath at the Camp Verde car wash

here's a shot of our campsite to get us started:

@aimee made us a Cousin Eddie decal!

great writeup and photos @4x4tographer - and thanks again for organizing/leading! i only have 3 photos to contribute... chillin' in one of the few shady spots anywhere near the meetup! looking upward while taking care of the 4am pee - you can just barely make out some of the Milky Way. @johnpa, professional tailgunner, resting for just a moment on the last day before starting his shift.

Hello from Chaco Canyon....

Welp, I recently pulled the trigger on something I’ve been eyeing for a while — a Bluetti Elite 100 V2 and their DC-DC charger, the Charger 1, to go with it. The 100 V2 is essentially a 1024Wh LiFePO4 battery and pure sine wave inverter. It puts out a solid 1800W continuous (2700W surge) of juice, and has a bunch of ports (4× AC, USB-A and USB-C, 12V DC, etc.). The whole thing is surprisingly compact, weighing in at 25 lbs and fits nicely on my AAL cargo shelf in the rear. A game-changer is the Charger 1. I've tapped into a 4GA wire I already had running to the rear of the Jeep. The Charge 1 pulls up to 560W while driving and can fully recharge the Bluetti in about 2 hours drive-time, which is perfect for our multi-day overland trips. To get everything wired up, I picked up American Adventure Labs "side molle" panels, which bolt directly into the same mount points as the hardtop. Originally, I'd directly wired a PDC from Blue Sea into the 4GA I'm running from my main battery. The panels have a ton of convenient mounting holes for adding a bunch of different accessories. I've been running it in this config for a few months now until I could get around to this project. Below is a shot where I've installed the Bluetti Charger 1 and the Blue Sea PDC. Additionally, I added a pair of Blue Sea bus bars rated to handle 100 amps each. These now serve as common power/ground terminals for me to hook up various bits of equipment, such as the DC-DC charger and the PDC. The Bluetti Charger also requires a 60 amp breaker - it comes with one, but I opted to go with a more robust marine unit from Blue Sea - it should be more vibration resistant and has more robust mounting points. At the bottom of the top panel, I added a 1/4" strip of aluminum since the bolt points didn't mount up precisely with the Charger 1. Here's the panel all mounted in the rear. Main power and ground all connected to the bus bars. The Charger 1 can detect when the alternator is running - which is nice - so you only need to hook up the positive and negative leads to the unit. Here's a test run. I was running my fridge on full-power mode using one of the 12v DC connections while the engine was running. The DC-DC charger was outputting around 500-550w of juice to the battery. Both the Bluetti 100 v2 and the Charger 1 connect my phone via bluetooth for monitoring and control. Pretty nice! Out of the box, the Charger defaults to 26v output. With the output settings tweaked to the specifics for the Bluetti 100 v2 it outputs 56v. Here's the DC-DC charge screen: Here's the power station's screen: Some more photos of the install:

Merry Christmas all you ORP troublemakers! Hope you all stayed off the naughty list!

also while trying to solve the poor handling, i found that the passenger upper ball joint had developed a lot of play. Joe at @OnPointOffroad changed out all 4 balljoints for me this past week. i managed to get 130k miles our of these joints so i went with Teraflex again for the replacements. i still had a mild clunk that i could feel in my steering wheel even after the new balljoints. so after more aggressive pushing/pulling on everything while laying under the rig, i noticed the frame-end joints in the front upper control arms were loose too. i ordered 2 Teraflex joint rebuild kits for those and took care of that project over the weekend. i had replaced all 4 of these joints in the rear upper arms back in January, so i guess i should have checked these front ones back then too! as you can see, the old joints were pretty trashed. i think this was the final piece to the puzzle for solving that "clunk" i could feel in the steering wheel. so now i have all fresh TRE's, ball joints, these upper control arm joints, and that wobbled out track-bar hole is fixed. i can't tell yet if my overall handling issues are fixed though... the Teraflex ball joints are so tight when first installed that the steering is just plain weird right now. i experienced this when the first set was installed back in 2018 and it took several hundred miles for them to loosen up to the point that steering felt normal again.

Day 1 - Just getting started onto the Sandstone features (~ 3 miles in from the pavement). Day 2 - First Emmigrant trail marker located. These were done as an Eagle Scout project... Day 2 - Overlook of the San Juan River, just below Cha Bay... These are sadly, the only pics I was able to get that turned out good enough to post... :(

Hi Everyone, I'm 🙋‍♂️Bryant, full time adventurer, professional outdoor 📸photographer/ videographer🎥 and off-road enthusiast overlander living out of my best WORST financial mistake, my 2015 Jeep Wrangler adventure rig named "Ashley". I love the rig but she has to be absolutely the most toxic relationship I've ever been in 😂. None the less she's a fully built rig capable of thriving indefinitely offgrid untill I'm ready to see people again! Im new to the site however I'm not new to the off-road lifestyle. I've worked in the off-road and overland industry since before we even dubbed it "Overlanding". Ive been building cars🏎️, trucks🚚 and adventure rigs🚎 the past 25+ years of my automotive career and camping🏕️ addicted since I can remember🤔. If you have attended any of the overland shows or follows the socials, you've probably seen me working with many of the companies in the space as offgridNwheel. I'm looking forward to being active in the community and helping fellow outdoor adventurers with any doubts they might have about builds, travel and anything outdoor related. Here are a few pics of my rig and I look forward to sharing my adventures with everyone in hopes you too will go out and explore off the beaten path.

after renting several campers over the past few year, exhaustively researching, and over-contemplating all the options - we finally bought a little travel trailer of our own! here's our new 2026 Forest River Salem FSX 167RBK - coming in at just under 22' total length and not quite 3400 pounds dry (UVW). we actually ordered this 9 weeks ago and waited for it to be built. we could only find one of this exact floorplan in the state, and that dealership wanted several thousand more for their 2025 model-year version than another local dealer was willing to order a brand new 2026 version for. we'd done a ton of research, and though there are plenty of other brands/models with very similar floorplans, this one met all of our requirements 100% and included several nice-to-have features too. Rowley White RV in Phoenix was the dealer we ordered through and they were a pleasure to work with. the floorplan and full specs... we wanted the smallest hard-side trailer we could find that still had all of our must-have "full size" features. this 167RBK is well under Freya's V8 tow capacity which should make for an easy haul and the smaller size should fit even on somewhat obscure forest roads. one of our most desired features was an "RV queen" size (or larger) bed that was oriented length-wise so we could each get in and out of it without climbing over the other person. the murphy bed arrangement on this floorplan was an added bonus, giving more seating and room in general when hiding out inside during a summer rain storm. our next requirement was a dedicated dinette without having to convert the main bed. we also wanted a larger fridge with a fully separate freezer section. the included 10.6 cu-ft unit gives more than enough space for a long weekend's worth of food and treats without playing expert level Tetris! Aimee wasn't keen on the compact wet-baths that some similar sized floorplans used. so the fact Forest River managed to fit a good sized shower, separate toilet, and little sink all in this bathroom is perfect. some of the other features we appreciate with this model are the 39 gallon fresh water / 30 grey / 30 black - larger than what many of the other sub-3,500 lb trailers included. the tankless hot water heater is a little luxury and the sliding bathroom door saves space. dimmable modern LED light fixtures are a nice touch. an enclosed underbelly and "pre-wired for solar" features save me some customizing time and the black tank flush is a great option too. we feel like this 167RBK is a really nice value for a highly usable small couples floorplan with some handy full-size trailer features. anyone that knows me also knows that mods are coming soon! right now we're still getting basic supplies and organizing storage areas. our first upgrade is a better mattress (on order now). stay tuned to see how we customize and optimize our little camper for boondocking!

up on the Mogollon Rim...

I wish there was a video of people stopping to stand there and do the math.

several small mods/accessories for the trailer over the past couple weeks... $30 for a small flip-up table that was just the right size to add some additional counter space. the end of the counter is just a thin panel so i added a support inside for the table brackets to screw into. i also noticed each drawer slide only had a single screw at the back, so i added a couple more in the available slots. and of course nothing is straight/square or even consistently off... the front bracket sat plumb but the rear, only 20" away, needed to be shimmed substantially to level the flip-up table. changed out the dated 2.4A dual USB wall chargers for modern ones with 100W PD capability on the USB-C port and 18W fast charge on the USB-A port. we've keep a couple of these Baseus retractable USB-C cables in the trailer to connect laptops or phones to the chargers. they are longer than most retractable at 6-1/2ft and support a full 100W charge. also picked up this 3 slot vertical laptop/tablet holder to reclaim our dinette space when we aren't working but still want to leave our devices connected to the charger and easy to get back at. you'll notice the fake plant in the last photo - we added several around the trailer. they're all Velcro'd in place so they don't go flying off on bumpy roads but can be moved or taken off to clean around easier. also Velcro'd down a few other decorations, including this retro clock and a floating photo frame (the phot is from our trip into Canyon de Chelly many years ago). added an Ikea slim shoe storage box just inside the door. we didn't feel the built-in hanger bars were the best way to store clothes in the wardrobe cabinets at the sides of the bed. instead we found these stackable plastic cubbies that fit just right width-wise. their little doors were easily removable and then i built a single shelf inside each cabinet (just above the bed-side access holes), and could fit 4 of the cubbies on the shelf on each side. also the offset handle inside the front door feels like you're going to rip it off every time you pull it hard enough to latch. i added a short 1" wide cloth strap closer to the edge where you actually need to be pulling. the strap is just sandwiched behind the OEM handle/latch contraption. the strap doesn't interfere with the screen door when it's closed before the main door either.

The arouras were booming last night!!!

installed 4 new Synergy TRE's. handling isn't up to par lately and i can't find any single loose component, and i haven't changed any geometry lately... so i'm going with the theory that everything being worn in combination might be the issue. i think all but one of these TRE's had over 100k miles on them. i also relocated the axle-side mount point for my steering stabilizer. this RSO stabilizer is designed to mount to the original track-bar bolt, but that put it too low for how i have my tie rod sitting, causing the mounting eye to rub at full turn. it's now up a little higher, sitting nice and level (and no longer rubbing). obligatory flex-test photos!

<appears from a puff of smoke> I was summoned. As @theksmith sorta indicated, I am pro trailer, I have one, I'm old and cranky, and I like sleeping well. The added kitchen is a nice bonus. That said my take as with all other aspects of the run is that it's always leader's prerogative. When leading a trail you accept a certain level of responsibility(*) to guide the people who follow you through the most successful trip you can provide. My approach now is to specify trailer requirements similar to how I specific vehicle requirements, for instance, a pintle or triple axis hitch is an absolute requirement; I prefer to see the triple axis as it has more flexibility then a pintle (ball hitches have no business being on dirt). I may specify maximum trailer length (mine is 17 ft including the spare off the back end). and I will specify minimum trailer clearance to be at least as much as the minimum vehicle clearance requirement. If I am leading a run where I allow trailers, I also like to pre-run it with mine. That way I have confidence that it is reasonable and now that I've done it once myself, and during the actual run I'm not focused on how will I solve an obstacle, but instead can focus on guiding others on how they need to solve the obstacle(s). A trail leader also has to account for the pace they intend to set and hold for a trip. Trailers slow things down, that's just the way it is. Me personally I try to set easily attainable day to day distance goals and have fall back positions on such trips. Other trail leaders may plan differently, especially if they themselves don't pull a trailer. (*) TO BE CLEAR, ALL responsibility during any and every trip is still on the individual driver/participant. Its should be inherent that what the trail leader says is at most "sage advice". Pulling a trailer is a whole new level of complexity and responsibility. And many of use have seen the result of trailers being where they don't belong or rather being pulled by people who did not have the proper knowledge, experience, and setup. Case in point, I have both pulled and led trips with others pulling on El Camino del Diablo. I've see a complete trailer failure (busted A frame on a ball hitch) in another group that happened to be running the route at the same time we were, and in one of my own runs, had a participant with a near failure. Both cases were do to improper equipment selection and setup. Having had the near failure on one of my trips due to a participant who was pulling with a vehicle hitch not rated for towing, I am inclined to specify OEM or certified aftermarket hitch. Many Jeep aftermarket rear bumpers require you to remove the OEM Jeep hitch because they use that frame point as a bumper mount. The hitch integrated into many of these aftermarket bumpers is only rated for small cargo loads (luggage tray or bike rack). These rear bumper manuals will tell you, if you read them, to not tow with them (eg Smittybuilt). For what it's worth I pulled my trailer through the Kofa on what was a solid moderate, mildly difficult run (not a club run). I took a mild amount of damage (all repaired) in the process of learning how every part of the trailer's underside and A-frame can be exposed in the weirdest of ways. I'll not hesitate to do it again, but I'm much wiser now in picking lines and looking out for specific vehicle-trailer articulation scenarios (especially counter twist). Like with my Jeep or truck I accept that damage is always possible and regular maintenance and repairs are simply table stakes to participate in this type of activity. See my comment above on possession of knowledge and experience. Let me also remind you how one generally obtains knowledge and experience...

New rig in the barn! '67 scout 800, someone swapped in a 304 backed by a 4 speed out of a scout II. Single drive belt, mechanical clutch, non-power drum brakes, crank windows and windwings as the design gods intended. Quick trans rebuild,ties and brakes plus a water pump and this awesome rattle trap is on the road!

I got an email from TrailsOffroad today about a trail clean up day November 15th out at The Rolls. The link can be found Here if anyone is interested.

Here are some pictures @Liz shared with me. Thanks Liz! Us at the T-Bar Ranch Us up on the Rim. The view from the end of Battleground Ridge.

Freya led the day trip to the Cinders OHV area at the ORP Gala in Flagstaff this weekend. had to take the whoops a little slower than in Gadget, but she did just fine overall! (thanks to @4x4tographer for the photos) she even went down into the big crater and back up the steep way! Freya also did great towing our new travel trailer! (thanks to @kaspily for this photo)

wheeling here in the lower 48, it's pretty rare i need to carry more than the extra 4 gallon's of gas that i already have a mount for (a custom tailgate bracket for an Expedition One Geri Can). there are however, a few trails that i'd be more comfortable on with some additional fuel. so i devised a quick roof mount for another Geri can (or 2)... i wasn't quite ready to commit to a full-time installed a roof rack (i like the "plain" look of my rig as-is). and since i rarely need this extra fuel, i wanted a mounting system that was quick to install and remove. i found these roof rails and gutter mounts for a JK on Amazon for $130. they are made completely of aluminum (no worries of rust from cheap powdercoat) and have t-slot tracks in the top and sides of the rails. i then drew up a simple saddle bracket to go between the rails and had 2 of them laser cut & bent out of 0.187" 5052 aluminum by Send Cut Send. this was done instead of just sitting the can on the top of the rails so that everything will sit low enough to fit in the garage! i could have made those myself by hand, but the 2 of them were a total of $68 plus tax from Send Cut Send and material cost alone would probably be over half that. this way i knew they would both be precisely the same and exact to my drawings. here are my brackets installed on the Amazon rails with aluminum Geri Can latches attached. Expedition One makes latch extensions to stack 2 cans high if i ever need even more fuel. i drilled one of the aluminum latches to work with a tiny padlock. hopefully that lock, along with the 12 screws clamping this contraption to my roof, are enough to keep a casual thief-of-opportunity from stealing it all while Gadget is in some random hotel parking lot. i've never had one of these Geri cans leak or even slightly seep, so i'm comfortable having them on their sides. the Geri cans are similar to Rotopax, they even use the same threads on the main cap/spout. the Geri brand includes a vent though, which makes emptying them much quicker. they're also sold in a black or white version for water (along with the red, black, and yellow ones for fuel). the saddle brackets sit only about 1/2" from the rooftop but everything seems solid enough that there's no detectible sagging when loaded. it's a little silly looking sitting up there on Gadget, but not horrible. so mission accomplished - i can now quickly install an extra 4 or 8 gallons of fuel - in addition to the 4 gallons i often carry on the tailgate.

wow! turns out we did another Rug Road trip exactly 16 years and one day prior to this one!

went up near Rimrock/Lake Montezuma and then over to Pine and Payson areas looking for good trailer camp spots this morning...

@Michael Trapschuh led us on the Sunflower Mine trail Saturday. the creek was flowing and it was a great day to be down in the canyon as temps were over 100* in Phoenix already. the trail has changed some since the last time i was there, but not a ton. there is one route that you used to go up on the bank and around a certain tree where now you have to stay in the creek, but otherwise most of the rock crawl areas were the same. several spots where worn-down and actually a bit easier than before. the climb up out of the canyon to the top is a lot more torn up, loose, and just plain rough than it used to be though. Mike, our fearless leader early in the trail: @duhles75's beast of a Gladiator on the first obstacle: a little further in, i think this is still before the turn off to the mine: John's ("Desert 4x4") memorial. i'd like to get back out there soon to do a little cleanup on this... remove the broken stuff that looks trashy, and add a waterproof container inside the metal box for the notebooks. i'll probably go on a weekday - if anyone is interested in joining, please PM me. on the way home i got passed by a spendy car club - Porches, Ferraris, Lambos, McLarens, Bentleys, etc. all in all a fun day out - thanks again @Michael Trapschuh for leading this!

This can't be wrong

some shots from the Hole in the Rock Trail in Utah (more photos here...) these 3 are thanks to @Michael Trapschuh's wife Carol:

Here is some I took

As a few others have done so I'll do as well... Originally joined back in the early 2000's. Did the Devils Highway with the group back in 2010, useless fact I was born in Ajo. 🤪 Use to rock a 93XJ (miss that heap sometimes) switched over to an 07 FJ, but life happens, job stuff, family stuff, divorce add in some self destruction and it was time to reboot - start over. While I don't really wheel I do still enjoy the outdoors and get out as much as possible. current rig is a 2011 Toyota Sequoia Limited, 2" lift with 33" tires and Tundra rims, Someone backed into the front end a couple years ago a few days after it was paid off (the ole no good dead goes unpunished) So upgraded the grill, headlights and added in the MOVE weld "yourself" bumper, yes it was tested against a Lincoln sedan that couldn't maintain its lane in a double left turn... yes I won 🤭 in 2020 we got a 30' travel trailer that suited us well for many years, we towed it to Navajo Lake UT summer of 24 for a family vacation and that was our sign that we needed a bigger tow rig, so later that year we got a 2018 Ram 2500. Very capable of pulling that camper... Then the wife spotted a 2025 Keystone Cougar Hero Edition and yeah... We now have a new 5th wheel. (Green is our favorite color) As mentioned we don't really wheel now, but do get out as much as we can to enjoy the outdoors, We'll be headed up to the Rim country tomorrow as we're assisting on the Mogollon Monster 100 mile foot race, we're both HAM's and are volunteering to support this event. (I'm also a tower climber for the ARA) If were not doing that were at Apache Lake on our jet skis (or I'm racing my ski in Parker with the ADBA)

is it really that aggressive, or is the neighborhood all just a bunch of sheltered snowflakes?

maiden voyage complete! Freya towed the trailer to the ORP Gala in Flagstaff no problemo. for now at least, i don't think a weight distribution hitch is necessary. the WK2's air suspension self levels and the 400lb tongue weight seemed to barely affect it. i've also read that a weight distro hitch might not be a great idea long term for the trailer's frame if we frequent rougher roads. we didn't have any problems with sway either, at least on this trip. with a standard hitch (2" drop) on Freya, the trailer's nose sits just slightly pointed downward. the primary storage area is in the front of the trailer as well, which helps keep the weight balanced correctly. has anyone ever heard of the Gen-Y Glyder hitch with a torsion joint? i'm wondering if it would ease some of the shock loading when taking the trailer "off-road"? or is it just a gimmick? we found that the included dual 12v lead acid batteries couldn't keep up with the giant fridge and occasional water pump usage. we managed to limp along after the first night by hooking to the running Jeep a couple times a day to recharge them a bit. i'm not sure what Amp-hour the included batteries even are, but a nicely upgraded battery system is already in the works! the only other issue we had was with the bed. the back cushion of the jack-knife/murphy bed couch is very soft and partially unsupported. this means the mattress droops down where it lays on there... so our butts were sagging all night! i'm working on a hinged board that will bridge that area when the mattress is down, but fold up out of the way in day time "couch mode".

Ryan, as always you capture great moments. Thanks

Here's the link to my photos and videos. Feel free to download and use any. https://photos.app.goo.gl/S7C6eBLwT34Kx8C69

thank you to everyone for coming - what a stellar event this year! we had an awesome turnout of new and old, and as always no drama. just good people with a shared interest in off-road and outdoors, hanging out and catching up. again, thank you all for making this such a smooth running event and a great club!

Had a great time as always with a great group of people! We look forward to this trip each year. Thanks to all who planned this and made it happen. Here are just a few pictures from Saturday. - Doyle & Ann Marie

Home safe & sound. Great time even though I didn't deal with the altitude very well. Want to give thanks to all who helped me, was really appreciated. Will not name people for fear of leaving someone out, but you know who you are. God Bless.....Al/mynr1

Home safe as well. I'll get the few photos I took and the videos from the game posted this week. Thanks for a great time!

Home & unpacked from yet another great ORP cinders weekend. Was good to see the turnout including some new folks, and catching up with some of the long-time members. Thanks again for a good weekend... ;)

home safe as well. was a fun weekend. Good to see everyone again

we thought the trailer came with an RV queen (60" x 75"), but it turns out it has some totally custom abomination of a lumpy mattress that's 60" x 70" x 6". great for hobbits i guess, but my feet stuck off the end. 🤔 there was plenty of room at the end of the bed to still walk around it even if we moved up to a normal queen (60" x 80"), so we ordered this 8" Zinus foam queen and i set about extending the murphy bed. we have that same mattress in the 12" version on our guest bed at home and everyone that has stayed with us seems to like it. i figured 8" was about the max we could go and still be able to fold this one up. i made some new vertical supports to move the murphy sofa further out. used my favorite wood attachment method, pocket screws! i painted all the new stuff black for now, might try to put some color-matched paint on eventually. then i just needed extend the platform behind the sofa. made use of some scrap 3/4" plywood for supports and some 1/4" for the actual platform. of course the new mattress didn't have a built-in hinge point in the middle like the original. fortunately it was still easy to fold in half and then fits just perfectly behind the sofa (now that it's been moved out). however, the mattress didn't want to stay folded on its own, especially with pillows and and blankets all folded up inside - so i added a strap with a buckle. supplies for that were: a roll of 1.5" nylon webbing, a couple footman loops, and a pack of strap buckles & cinchers. here it is all tucked away and belted in: we also got a set of elastic bed sheet straps to help keep the sheets on when folding it up. so with all this complete, we finally got to actually make the bed for the first time!

Delamination is no joke. Our trailer looks like it has the Pox, bubbles all over. Some caused by a roof leak, (fixed) but most I think were caused by the glue de-laminatin in the heat. If your at the cinders this weekend, come check out our trailer. Point, laugh, leave a donation. 😁💵

so as has become our tradition, debadging a bit was the first mod! removed the "Salem FSX" decals from the sides. also several made in Indiana and other such labels, and about a million warning stickers (hot things are hot, don't lick the tires, etc.). we left the main logos on the front end and some on the tail end. the ends don't have many other graphics so we thought i might look too naked if we stripped those all off. it think the sides look simpler and better now though.