Our '72 Compact Jr. project

[Bill K]

Is this what you had in mind ?

Bill K

http://www.etrailer.com/p-70036.htm

Great pics Jen! Thanks for sharing, it's nice to see how other Compactors have done things on their rigs.
My tongue is a little different, with a tool box attached right behind the jack, and then the propane tank behind that. My battery is inside, has the special compartment for it. I do not have a place for the spare tire though, so it currently just slides under the dinette table. SO your mod interests me very much. I've been thinking of some kind of spare tire mount on the side of the tongue, has anybody seen anything like that anywhere yet?

Joe

[JenPB]

[quote]Is this what you had in mind ?

Bill K

http://www.etrailer.com/p-70036.htm

Attachment 19392


That looks like it would work pretty well, Bill. What do you think, Joe?

There are some photos of others' tongue efforts at this discussion. You'll find some that might work for you there, Joe.

I think that a previous owner may have cut my tongue shorter and layered up the remains to bring the hitch up higher. Does your stack like mine, Joe (Larry, or any other CJ/Compact owner)?

[Tom Trostel]

Jen,
I think all the Compact models had a tongue that was a straight extension of the frame. This resulted in a coupler that was very low and some owners have altered their trailer tongue to raise it and better match their TV hitch. Mine is certainly altered.

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm41/to...sonphotos18.jpg

Tom Trostel

[Larry&Carrie]

Jen,
I think all the Compact models had a tongue that was a straight extension of the frame. This resulted in a coupler that was very low and some owners have altered their trailer tongue to raise it and better match their TV hitch. Mine is certainly altered.

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm41/to...sonphotos18.jpg

Tom Trostel

Tom--- yeah, I think a lot of the previous owners have take the easy way to overcome the "high tongue- low butt" signature of a CJ.... I took the harder way and installed a striaght axle (non-drop) in place of the factory one. Also, one the reasons was to gain ground clearance as it goes off-highway a lot. (hunting camps). Larry

[JenPB]

SNIP!

Mine is certainly altered.

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm41/to...sonphotos18.jpg

Wow...that's a LOT better lookin' (sturdier) job than the restack the PO did on mine!

[JenPB]

This group is SO inspiring! I can't help but thank Larry (of Larry n' Carrie ) with his project details and Mike (Sanders ) for organizing the San Antonio Lake rally that's spurred me into action.

The trailer's starboard list had become increasingly pronounced. I hadn't been able to find a crack or break in the frame, cross members or welds. THe tongue looked to be in good shape. So all I could figure MIGHT be the issue was the leaf springs.

Well, now that I've taken them apart, I'm pretty darned certain THESE were the ORIGINAL leaf springs, put in place in May of 1972 and never replaced or re-arched. Those rusty nuts were TOUGH! Fortunately, while handing tools to Dad over the years, I've learned the proper use of a breaker bar (aka cheater).

I took the thing apart in just over an hour yesterday. I put it back together tonight in under an hour (if you don't count the wire-brush scrubbing then priming and painting of all related welds and parts). And, with the exception of a quick call to Larry (sorry for waking you Carrie) to ask about just HOW tight to tighten those spring bolts, I did it under my own steam.

What a great feeling!

Now...with these nicely arching springs that provide just THAT MUCH more lift...how do I get it out of the garage?! (Can you say, "A-I-R D-O-W-N?")

[Larry&Carrie]

I took the thing apart in just over an hour yesterday. I put it back together tonight in under an hour (if you don't count the wire-brush scrubbing then priming and painting of all related welds and parts). And, with the exception of a quick call to Larry (sorry for waking you Carrie) to ask about just HOW tight to tighten those spring bolts, I did it under my own steam.

What a great feeling!

Now...with these nicely arching springs that provide just THAT MUCH more lift...how do I get it out of the garage?! (Can you say, "A-I-R D-O-W-N?")

Jen-- she was just snoozing in the recliner..... .. when I mentioned it to her this morning, she din't even remember. One thing I forgot to tell ya is, check the u-bolts after the first trip, and re snug them. Always glad to help a fellow member... Larry

[Joseph Domingos]

Hey, that spare tire mount looks VERY promising! And that's the same website I got my hitch from for the CRV, so I feel good shopping with them. I'll have to do some measuring the next time I'm at the trailer and see if that's possible... Cause right now the spare hogs up a LOT of storage space under the bed! hehe

Keep up your great work Jen, and keep the pics coming too!

Joe

[Bobbie Mayer]

I took the thing apart in just over an hour yesterday. I put it back together tonight in under an hour (if you don't count the wire-brush scrubbing then priming and painting of all related welds and parts). And, with the exception of a quick call to Larry (sorry for waking you Carrie) to ask about just HOW tight to tighten those spring bolts, I did it under my own steam.

Wow, I am so impressed, Jen. I had mine done by someone else- I am afraid to do anything that leaves the trailer un-towable if I can't finish it.

Bobbie

[francene]

Hi Jen,
I would like to build a table like yours. So it flips down to become the bed supports? My Compact II came without a table.

Fran

[JenPB]

Hi Jen,
I would like to build a table like yours. So it flips down to become the bed supports? My Compact II came without a table.

Fran

Yeah...this table works wonderfully. I don't know if it was stock, but it's well designed and feels more stable that our outside camping table.

Can't tell for sure, but it looks like your Compact II has a wraparound bench seat (that goes under the front window) rather than then separate benches (one left, one right, nothing under window). My table relies on the window wall for support. HOld on...let me snap some pix....

snip, snap, flash...

WHEW!

Here ya' go...

[JenPB]

and some more details...

[Steve Hilby]

Very clever table support, especially the sliding-block-and-knob bit!

[Raya]

That IS clever, and so nice to see the photos with your comments right on them. I would hate to try to figure that out from just a written description with no photos!

Makes me wish I had a flat wall at the back, just so I could use it (even though I keep the bed made up all the time). It's just so cunning

[JenPB]

That IS clever, and so nice to see the photos with your comments right on them. I would hate to try to figure that out from just a written description with no photos!

Makes me wish I had a flat wall at the back, just so I could use it (even though I keep the bed made up all the time). It's just so cunning

Well, to be quite honest, we keep the bed set up about 85 percent of the time, too. (It comes down for laundry day, and when the bees, skeeters or thundershowers are too heavy. Heck, we'll STAY OUT for rain, but them bitin' bugs...FUHGEDABOUDIT!)

[JenPB]

Like so many things in our lives, this trailer improvement project goes in bits and spurts. Since reconfiguring the tongue to make room for a spare tire, the gas tank AND the battery in APRIL I finally rewired the trailer last week! Moved the battery from its spot under the kitchen sink (yes, inside a precious cabinet and under the propane stove - have I ever told you about the lessons I learned about charging a battery while running a propane stove?).

Of course, I couldn't just move the battery and rewire the two lights that ran off it. OH no! That's not the way these things work, is it?!

We've pulled in to some camps darn late at night, and I decided I wanted a back porch light. i bought one last fall...it's been awaiting this battery system rework. So, I installed that. (BUGGER of a wire kept coming apart INSIDE the wall...after I pulled it...and hooked it up, and tested it. ARGH! Can you say soldering iron!?)

And the trailer's taillights/side lights were screwed up when I bought the thing. While I made it work with what was there, it was time to rework it so the wires were no longer on the floor where every blessed thing dragged in and out of the cupboards dragged across them! (another ARGH!) I was going to try to just reroute them, but the harness was too short, so I thought I'd just splice in some new wire and work from front to back. But the old wires were, well, old, so I figured I might as well do it right while I had everything apart.

The old harness had the four wires solidly plasticized side by side from the front of the trailer, down the passenger side to the back lights, then through a hole on the floor, under the trailer, through another floor up to the driver's side rear. The NEW harness involved all free wires which were easy to divide and send down the appropriate sides of the trailer. (Two old holes filled in the back, one new hole in the front to accommodate driver's side entry of wires.) The old wire set, however, had a ground that ran all the way to the back. The new set came with a short ground, which I suspect was because they expected the user to ground the frame. I did run it that way, and we'll see how it goes. (At the light end, the grounds already ran to the frame AND the old ground wire.)

I routed the wires up under the cabinetry, using a "hot" glue gun to hold them in place with dabs every foot or so along the wire. We'll see how those hold.

[John and Jaci]

Your redo and modifications look great. Hope ours turn out as well as you have done. We need all new insulation for our. How do you like the reflextics that is in yours? Does it insulate well enough in hot summer weather so that A/C can keep it cool inside?. Do you have any idea what the previous owner used to secure it?
Thanks
John and Jaci

[JenPB]

Your redo and modifications look great. Hope ours turn out as well as you have done. We need all new insulation for our. How do you like the reflextics that is in yours? Does it insulate well enough in hot summer weather so that A/C can keep it cool inside?. Do you have any idea what the previous owner used to secure it?
Thanks
John and Jaci

Thanks JohnAndJaci!
I don't like the APPEARANCE of the Reflextics inside at ALL. I should have decorated in a Martian theme if I was going to leave it out! But I KNOW it works to keep the heat out, and I believe it works to keep some heat in when needed. I think the kid used some really cheap (perhaps even inexpensive) spray-on adhesive to stick it to the walls. (There was evidence of spray adhesive on other unintended points throughout the interior when we got it.) Unfortunately, while it stays up under it's OWN weight, I can't do anything with it at this point. To cover it, I'm going to have to take it off and reglue it properly, then carry on. Or simply take it down and go with some other sort of insulation. I sure would like the insulation to have more of the "rat fur" feel and appearance than my current Area-51 sensation.

And...did you say A/C?! Funny. REEEEAL funny! I know some folks have installed A/C in theirs, but with four folks already trying to squeeze into this home away from home, we don't do A/C. (It's also because we live on my native Central Coast of California where we just don't THINK about A/C - summer temps average mid 70s; winter temps average mid-60s...it's a tough life, but someone has to live here).

I'm CERTAIN that with the Reflectix AND A/C we'd be wonderfully comfortable!

Jen

[John and Jaci]

Thanks for your info on the reflectics. We have been looking at all the different options for insulation and was interested in it from its "formability" to the Boler shape. We would definitely cover it with a wall covering so as not to have the "area 51" appearance as you put it. That is part of the issue is to figure out how to cover it. In order to have a comfortable night sleep in the summer we must have A/C as daytime highs in Memphis are 90s to 105 and the nighttime "low" is frequently over 80, all with high humidity. Glad to know that you feel that it would meet the need to keep it cool inside with the combination of Reflectics and A/C. Now to figure out how to use it as hidden insulation.

[JenPB]

So,there I was lying flat on my back under Jr., taping up the last of the wire from the rewire project, when I noticed it - a crack. The frame's forward crossmember under the body and behind the tongue had a completely broken vertical weld!

Check the other side.

Sure as shootin' - that one was broken, too! And on the eve of our drive to Big Sur.

GIven that this wasn't the frame's MAIN support, I opted to head north anyhow. Today, on our way home, I stopped in to my favorite welding shop in San Luis Obispo, Ca. (American Muffler and Trailer Hitch). What luck! It was 4, and the shop was empty. After a quick look, they had me back in, and in less than 15 minutes and only $30 lighter I was back on the road, feeling much safer about my little trailer.

While there, I finally caved and bought the Draw-tite J-pin with lock to help keep down some of the noise. While I have the trailer weight well distributed, it still bangs around when we get onto bumpy roads or head over driveways, or pull through bumpy campgrounds (especially annoying late at night when I'm trying to SNEAK in). Installed it tonight. I'll let you know what I think after we tow with it for a bit.

Leaving Monday for Utah/Nebraska/Colorado loop over the next three weeks. Anyone headed that way?