Black or White Tongue Box?

[Lisa H.]

I'm planning on purchasing a Buyers tongue box for my trailer and wondered if there were any real cons against the white colored box. It seems to me that this color would look better against my trailer and would keep the contents cooler. However, it may look dirtier sooner . . . but is cleaning this plastic a real challenge or not? Also, the hasp on the black box is different than the one on the white box. Odd, huh? Care to weigh in on this?

Here's the link for the product: http://www.toolboxesdirect.com/truck-tool-...ymertoolbox.cfm
Thanks!
Lisa

[Booker B.]

Fixed Link: http://www.toolboxesdirect.com/truck-tool-...ymertoolbox.cfm

[Lisa H.]

Fixed Link: http://www.toolboxesdirect.com/truck-tool-...ymertoolbox.cfm

Thanks Booker! Sometimes I get the links to post correctly and other times, well . . .

[Joy A]

So what's a Campster trailer look like. Is it 13, 16 or something else feet?

Where is your propane tank and how big is it?

I ask this because if your trailer is like my 13 foot Scamp the box you are considering would take up the whole tongue and wouldn't accommodate a 20lb propane tank as the box is not tall enough at 14.63 inches. My 20lb tank is roughly 18 inches tall.

As far as color goes, I chose white.

[Lisa H.]

So what's a Campster trailer look like. Is it 13, 16 or something else feet?

Where is your propane tank and how big is it?

I ask this because if your trailer is like my 13 foot Scamp the box you are considering would take up the whole tongue and wouldn't accommodate a 20lb propane tank as the box is not tall enough at 14.63 inches. My 20lb tank is roughly 18 inches tall.

As far as color goes, I chose white.

Thanks for your vote, Joy A.!
You can view a Trailswest Campster in the "Albums" on the main page. It's very simular to a Compact Jr.. The Campster that I bought had the tongue extended so, with this addition, the trailer is now about 14 feet long. At present, I do not have any propane tanks and am in the process of investigating a used horizontal tank. I plan to create a frame above the tank onto which I want to mount the tongue box. Check out Roy in TO's marvelous mod entitled "Adding a tongue box"

[Joy A]

You are welcome.

When I looked at the Home page I was looking for Campster and didn't notice Trailswest Campster. I had this feeling that is was similar to a Compact Jr.

That's a nice mod Roy did. I need somewhere to carry a gas can so I've been thinking about downsizing my propance tank then making a tray above it for a 1 gallon gas can. I need to do some research on the various size propane tanks and their dimensions.

Good luck on your mod.

[Vic&Kathy]

We have the same box on our '72 Trail Mite. Got it on sale at Camping World last spring. Ours is black and I really haven't noticed any adverse affects from stuff inside getting too hot, and we went across Arizona, Utah and such last June. We use ours to stow our BBQ, hoses, extension cord, battery charger, jacks and wheel chocks.

This photo isn't the best for showing the installation, but it gives the basic idea. We use a shorty propane tank and actually only filled it twice all last season, with 80-something nights spent in the trailer.

Vic

[Sandra Lair]

Our tongue box is black & I really like the color because it doesn't show dirt. Right now the yellow pollen is showing up on it but that will be over soon. We keep the battery, wheel chocks, stabilizer jacks, etc. in ours. The box has a rough texture that won't show "dings" from gravel hitting it and also gives a lot of protection to the front of the camper.
Sandra

[Pete Dumbleton]

A couple of decades ago, the Bell system was doing some tests on what colors to paint their company vehicles (They had decided to scrap the old olive drab they were using). Surprisingly, they found that light colors showed the dirt less than dark colors, so they went with white.

I would go with white, in part because of the above, and also because black is going to heat up fast and may also contribute to earlier failure of the plastic.

[SherryNPaul]

I thought it was interesting that the two boxes had different hasps until I remembered our search for a water storage tank last year. Different colored plastics (white, green and black) were manufactured at different facilities, in different geographic areas, adding to the cost for freight for different colors.

I'd agree with Pete. My old white van always looks (sort of) clean. Our black car always looked dirty, a few hours after a meticulous wash and wax. Our grey truck is great... but that's not an option for you, I know.

White blends with the trailer, less heat transfer.

[Roy in TO]

am in the process of investigating a used horizontal tank. I plan to create a frame above the tank onto which I want to mount the tongue box.

Thank you for the complement Lisa. I considered the horizontal too. Just too $$$ for me at the time. As for colour, you can always paint the box with Krylon. I've seen many colours on plastic lawn furniture and it looks good.

Roy

[Gail S.]

I have the white one. I wish I had the black since I have black Rino Lining as a rock guard up front. However I didn't like the black latch as much as the white. My feeling is I could always paint if I really don't like it. A 20lb won't fit in one of these - I'm going with two 10lbs. That plus the battery box will fit nicely inside (yes there will be air vents!) and then all the dirty hoses and chocks can finally have there very own home.

[Lisa H.]

Well, after all you advice, I just ordered the white box. Strangely enough, the white box was $10 more than the black one and I could only find it in one online shop. I wonder why they charge more for the white box? Oh well. . . it's ordered and will be here on the 10th. Now, I need to find a more reasonably priced horizontal propane tank for under the tongue box.

By the way, I enjoyed telling some of my non-RV friends this evening that I had ordered a tongue box. You can't begin to imagine the perplexed look on their faces!

[John Hussey]

Consider that the box's weight, empty, is 21 pounds. That is a sizable weight penalty for the superb convenience of having a storage box, if the extra weight is not a problem with you. I would love to have one but the cheap, thin, propane tank enclosures are considerably lighter.

[Jola & Liz S]

Consider that the box's weight, empty, is 21 pounds. That is a sizable weight penalty for the superb convenience of having a storage box, if the extra weight is not a problem with you. I would love to have one but the cheap, thin, propane tank enclosures are considerably lighter.

I am re-doing the battery box and propane tank on the tongue of my Trillium. Where do you get a propane tank enclosure?

[John Hussey]

The enclosure I am suggesting is the one you always see upon the tongue of most trailers, Casitas and Scamps always. In fact, when you signed onto this site you cand see one on the white trailer parked in the woods at the beginning of the site. You have seen them everywhere, cheap, lightweight and low cost.

They are white or ivory and are just a thin plastic shell that slips down upon your tanks so as to protect them somewhat. Mine is too high, designed for 30 pound cylinders but I only have it covering a 20 and a 10 pound cylinder. At first I hated the extra height but then I rationalized & thought it might protect the front of my Casita more from flying debris when I tug it along gravel/clay/etc., roads

[Frederick L. Simson]

Where do you get a propane tank enclosure?

Camping World is one source. Other RV parts stores carry them.
Link to Camping World's Propane Tank Covers.

[Frederick L. Simson]

They are white or[b] ivory and are just a thin plastic shell that slips down upon your tanks so as to protect them somewhat. Mine is too high, designed for 30 pound cylinders but I only have it covering a 20 and a 10 pound cylinder.

I called Casita about buying one of theirs that I've seen that fits the 20 Lb tanks better. [b]They told me that they just cut down one of the standard ones. So I did the same to mine. It is the "Colonial" white to match my "yellowed" fiberglass better, and I added stripe tape to match my stripes.

[Steve Foster]

I have that same black box on the front of my trillium, mounted to the frame, but I put the 10lb tank inside it. No battery, but the stabilizing jacks, blocks of wood, ropes all go inside of it.

[Roger C H]

This may help on the propane tank design:

http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/lp-gas/...-horizontal.htm

A bit pricey, but they last.

Here are some websites that could (should?) be a permanent link in this forum:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/Equ...state_local.htm

http://www.rvia.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=HomeRVIA

Actually, I ran into these website looking for information on transporting compressed gas. I know from my work that the NHTSA regulates these things pretty stringently.

Another link re propane:

http://www.rversonline.org/02Propane.html