'85 uHaul CT - New Campers

[Bill K Jr]

This has made me curious about the U Haul camper ... I'd appreciate it if anyone could tell me the interior height of the CT model.

Thanks,

Bill

[CindyL]

Bill,

My 6'1" hubby can stand in our Uhaul, at least in the center. Because of the curved roof, he can't stand everywhere, but then, neither can I. We also have room air conditioning, so he has to watch that, so he does not wack his head on that, but he is happy with the height.

CindyL

[Kevin A]

Way to go, Sharon! We have had the same luck with our local UHaul dealer in Forest Park, IL. They have been great to work with and the parts guy at the repair facility was so intrigued with our VT. He had heard of them but never seen one in person.

Thanks for great info!

[Night Sailor]

Originally Posted by Sharon W

The converter basically converts AC electric to DC for your lights, etc. It also charges the battery.

Sailors are always dealing with a shortage of power resources.

Another word for converter is "Power Supply", as an Ham can tell you. There are lots of options to replace an old converter with a modern Power Supply (PS). These old converters have a second job, but do it poorly--that is charging batteries. They should be yanked out and thrown away. While they can work, they can also do some damage to your battery by overcharging.

My choice would be a light-weight switching power supply. Size your PS to be greater than your DC loads by at least 25%. These can be very cheap to purchase less than $100. The switching supplies are much lighter than traditional power supplies which rely on heavy transformers and large capacitors coupled with simple filter networks. Heavy=expensive. For very heavy duty needs those might be worth it--for example, operating a high power mobile radio station.

The other half of the "Converter" equation is a battery charger. Here the best bet is to get an intelligent charger and your batteries will last for a long, long time. Three stage chargers are ideal--they feature a bulk phase where lots of amps can be dumped back into the battery quickly, and acceptance phase to top off the batteries--a much slower process to fill the battery back up to maximum capacity, and a float phase which will keep the battery at that highest state without damage. The type of batteries you have directly impact how these chargers are configured...AGM, Gel, and Lead Acid are all charged differently. If a temperature sensor is not included or you don't want that charger, as this is necessary for proper charging.

Many chargers included inverters--but it too is a separate function. Pure Sine Wave inverters are more expensive and necessary for some types of appliance like some TV's and sensitive electronics. As a boater I like a good inverter, but would rather not use it as it is a big drain on the battery power storage. I would avoid having an inverter if possible as these are not efficient. Better to buy DC powered appliances. I use a very small inverter for charging my laptop and use DC power for everything else.

[spudfriend]

So we've gotten a lot of work done over the past few weeks. We'll post pictures soon. Now in the process of getting it registered in TN, and looking for a spare for it. We take it out for our first trip this coming weekend to Indiana.

[spudfriend]

So, so far we've been to Hobbos Auto parts, Dentons, East Tennessee Auto Parts, West Marine, one of the uHaul stores in Knoxville, New Tire and Battery, and Pepboys. WestMarine said they might have one for $120, but would have to get it in first to see if it would really fit the bolt pattern. Anyone have any other suggestions for getting a spare for a CT camper?

[mary and bob]

I read here somewhere that late model Corvair rims would fit. They supposedly have the 5 on 4 3/4 bolt pattern and close to the correct width and offset. There are some on ebay, but when I contacted the seller to confirm the bolt circle he said it was 4 1/2". Looking up corvair brake drums, they show the bolt circle as 4 3/4, so maybe that seller doesn't know how to measure it, but I'm not going to order a rim plus shipping without knowing for sure. Many years ago we would drill out the rivets that held the center in the rim and turn it around and weld it back in to get a wider look, referred to as "reversed rims". As a last resort I'll do this to get a spare rim with the correct offset. For now I put on new tires and carry one of the old ones to use in case of a flat. I also carry a couple tire irons and a compressor that plugs into a cigarette lighter in the car. Also do this with our teardrop, the benefit is less weight. We also have the RV option on our AAA policy, it was only $20 extra. I have to check with a couple auto junkyards to see if they have one of the "temporary spares" that will fit. I'll post the info if I come up with something Bob

[Kevin A]

Originally Posted by spudfriend

So, so far we've been to Hobbos Auto parts, Dentons, East Tennessee Auto Parts, West Marine, one of the uHaul stores in Knoxville, New Tire and Battery, and Pepboys. WestMarine said they might have one for $120, but would have to get it in first to see if it would really fit the bolt pattern. Anyone have any other suggestions for getting a spare for a CT camper?

Someone in another post talked about a great UHaul dealer in Knoxville that can get tires and wheels. I'll look up the posting for you.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Kevin A

Someone in another post talked about a great UHaul dealer in Knoxville that can get tires and wheels. I'll look up the posting for you.

Sharon did a great writeup with all the numbers you need to buy U-haul wheels. I scooped the info and created a PDF document for the Document Center, you can save it, and print it out. Download it here: Fiberglass RV - Document Center - Uhaul Wheels

[Kevin A]

Originally Posted by spudfriend

So, so far we've been to Hobbos Auto parts, Dentons, East Tennessee Auto Parts, West Marine, one of the uHaul stores in Knoxville, New Tire and Battery, and Pepboys. WestMarine said they might have one for $120, but would have to get it in first to see if it would really fit the bolt pattern. Anyone have any other suggestions for getting a spare for a CT camper?

This may be the same information that Donna D just put together, but this is the quote from Sharon (just a few post above this one) concerning getting a new wheel and tire in Knoxville:

I FINALLY got hold of the Knoxville Uhaul dealer (Dennis) and here is the info on getting the rims and tires:

Call any main Uhaul (ones that sell used trucks and parts), or you can call the one in Knoxville (Ask for Dennis in Parts) 1-800-851-8614 or
(Local) 1-865-689-3731
To Order the Rim/Wheel, Part# 2351-6006 4.5 x 13 metric wht. (white) $68.75
To Order the Tire, Part# 105203339, 6.50 x 13 ST Carlisle Load Range C $78.00

You can also get the TIRE at any Goodyear dealer (should be cheaper, but it HAS to be the correct size and a Load Range C to handle the weight of the trailer.

YOU REALLY MUST HAVE THE PART NUMBERS OR THEY MAY NOT EVEN TRY TO HELP.

These wheels and tires are the same ones that work on the 4x8 Van Trailers that they currently rent out.

If your local Uhaul refuses to order, or say they don't do this: Call Dennis in Knoxville, and he will get you one ordered. IT MAY TAKE HIM A DAY OR TWO TO GET BACK AS HE IS VERY BUSY.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Kevin A

This may be the same information that Donna D just put together, but this is the quote from Sharon (just a few post above this one) concerning getting a new wheel and tire in Knoxville:

I scooped all of Sharon's info and put it in the Document Center. It can be downloaded and printed from here: Fiberglass RV - Document Center - Uhaul Wheels