Front (side) Slide Out Deck On TM
Well...I finally had some time to work on my long awaited project...a 8 foot by 8 foot, slide (roll) out front (side) porch on the TM.
I spent TWO LONG weeks building this thing (in the July sun) and it came out kinda nice.
It is essentially the width of the TM and it slides out in front of the door so that we can take our muddy/dirty shoes off before we get into the trailer.
Last winter while snow camping in the TM I was dreaming of such a contraption. It would have come in real handy to remove the kids muddy shoes and towel off the dogs muddy paws outside of the trailer. Now we are able to sit on the edge of the deck and take our shoes off.
It also make a nice place to sit items off of the dirt when we are out in the forest or sit on the lounge chairs elevated above the dirt.
The frame of the deck is made out of steel and the deck is 3/4 inch thick plywood. The deck slides into (on to) 3X3 inch angle iron tracks that I welded perpendicular to the frame of the TM. The tracks are full width of the TM.
I had to install the tracks 5 inches below the frame rails so that the deck would clear the four center hold down latches of the TM. Because of that engineering compromise, the deck is now installed 5 inches below the frame rails and it now makes the perfect place to store some flat items like our six foot long fold out plastic top table and our 5 camping lounge chairs. These items all stow nicely and ride safely on top of the deck. I installed some "D" rings on top of the deck so as to be able to bungee down the chairs and tables so they do not fall off.
I welded the original TM fold down step under the deck so that there is not a big step to get up on the the deck. It folds over the top of the deck when the deck is fully closed up and increases ground clearance when we are underway. Since I installed a 6 inch lift kit on the trailer last year there is still plenty of road clearance under the deck.
I suspect the deck weighs about 250 pounds. I decided to move the two marine batteries from the very front of the trailer frame to their new home on top of the trailer axle. I also had to move the under floor spare tire to behind the axle. In this manner I was able to lower the tongue weight because the new deck is centered only 5 feet in front of the trailer axle where as the two batteries were located almost directly on top of the trailer hitch.
Yeah there is now more overall trailer weight but who cares anyway since I have a huge SUV and a 10,000 pound load leveling trailer hitch and the trailer has a 3,500 pound axle with the large, self adjusting trailer brakes.
Since I had to relocate the batteries on top of the axle, I decided to also built a storage rack right above the axle. I can now store some items under the rig that seem to always get in the way like the jack, tire pump, and star wrench.
This freed up the rear storage locker for other stuff...like...well...I don't know yet since that compartment is completely empty right now but I am sure we will find something to put in there.
Then...since the batteries were gone from up front, I wanted to still have the ability to use the SUV to charge the batteries with my heavy jumper cables. I decided to run a heavy gauge wire directly from the batteries to a "remote battery terminal" that I installed near the tongue. Now when we are remote camping (kinda like was always do), I can still use jumper cables from the front of the trailer to charge the batteries instead of having to back up and plug in the 7 pin trailer plug. It charges the batteries much faster this way from the front of the SUV. The batteries are protected by a fuse-able link at the batteries and the electric tongue jack is protected by a 30 AMP fuse.
Ive included some pictures.
You can see where the six foot long folding table rides on top of the deck while we are en route. It is held down by bungee cords.
Included is a picture of the battery storage rack on top of the trailer axle.
When the slide out deck is fully slid out the full 8 feet, it needs to be supported by the drop down legs I installed on the deck because the weight of the deck and the people on top would be too great.
The deck can also be rolled out out half way (and it latches into place) or it can also be rolled out only 1/3 depending on the width of the camp site. When the deck is rolled out only a partial amount it does not really need to be supported by the drop down legs.
Alternately, the slide out deck can also be simply left in it's fully stowed travel position during times when we are touring and where we only stop for a quick nights rest and do not want to do the full setup. In this case it still sticks out about 12 inches and it is used as a step to get into and out of the TM. This 12 inch step is essentially 8 feet wide, it makes a perfect place to store the kids shoes and other junk outside and out of the way.
Hey...two weeks of work out in the hot sun...Dang...now all I need to do is find a place for the sofa, the cooler of beer, and the three legged dog under the porch to complete the "redneck sitting on a sofa on the front porch of his trailer" visual image.
|