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Old 08-15-2016, 01:47 PM   #21
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Turkey Run State Park - 4 nights!

Got in what may be my last camping trip of the season with a 4 night trip to Turkey Run State Park in western Indiana. Nice park!! Next week is foot surgery.....

Turkey Run has nice trails, sandstone, canoeing, and tons of covered bridges and small towns to visit!! Highly recommend it!

Everything went very well on the EggCamper. I can't emphasize enough how the roominess has changed the entire feel of the trip. So there are LOTS of luxuries we miss about the Casita - but we feel the roominess has more than made up for it. I guess you get used to what you have. With limited storage, we are finding having stuff in plastic bins is great. Remember 2 years ago we were Tahoe camping....ha.

So just a few things about the egg.

The roof vent actually lifted to the open position on the highway!! You know how if you leave a vent open, it can bounce shut? Well I must not have had it closed tight, and air got under it causing the vibrations. At a rest area in rain - I see its almost wide open - yikes!!! I closed it and made sure it was tight and it stayed closed after that. I'm sure it was closed when we left home too because it was raining then too! No biggy - just make sure you have the handle cranked closed tight!

The fridge worked great! Set on maybe 3.75 to 4 out of 5. But we had 30a plug in camp sight - so no battery concerns! Fridge in mid-high 30's and freezer frozen!

And the A/C - well all the bitching about the A/C I did earlier - it worked just fine!! I'm guessing 90+ in a full sun site is too much, but 87 in a part sun and part shaded site and she kept up just fine! I'll have to reconsider an A/C upgrade - maybe use the egg for a year, then decide.

One last thing - I think we decided to take off the decals. I pulled the ".com" off the back as a test. Came off easily enough, but its definitely whiter under those letters. I need to find out what to do to brighten the white so it doesn't show the letters so much. Once I do that, I can strip the rest. I figure its best to do it now when its 3 years old than 5 years from now and much harder to blend new vs old white.

Besides that, all was great!! Enjoyed the Egg and Turkey Run a lot!
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Old 09-07-2016, 10:37 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by JWScarab View Post
Well my friend that bought our Casita insisted I leave the brand new alum 15" wheels and brand new Maxxis 225/75R15 tires (I dont blame him one bit!!).

But I trial fitted them while I had a chance. I'm about as sure as I can be that the larger diameter should not be an issue. What I am a "tiny bit" concerned about is the width. Will the outer edge of the tire hit the lip of the EggCamper in extreme bumps? That being said, I really like how the Casita doesn't have a lip - rather a rolled radius corner. But I'm about 90% sure it wont hit. I've decided to use the original Egg tires longer just because I dont see sidewall cracking yet. But when I do replace - they are going to 15". I like the 225 over the 205 because the diameter is 2" more then the 14s on 225's and only 1" more than the 14s on 205s. I think when I do go - Im going to 225/75R15.

The only issue is the 225's are "D" and I can get the 205's in a 15" in a "C". The Egg is light and I hate to get too stiff of a tire. When I "shake or rock" the two campers, the Casita would rock (axle flex) but the EggCamper would hardly flex at all. The axle give was much tighter. So I'm torn on if a D rated tire will just make things much stiffer which I don't want.

There are small bolts that hold the black rubber wheel moldings to the Egg. If you flip the bolts - with the heads to the inside - this will also add clearance and not have sharp edges if the tire were to contact on a huge upward travel of the wheel. It will take over 2.5" bump of travel to contact - probably 3".

Joe,

A couple of thoughts here from a fellow learner...

The Dexter site lists 3" bump clearance for all of their light torsion axles. I’m not saying you absolutely have to have it; it’s just what the manufacturer notes on their literature.

http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/6149609/f/600-8K_Catalog/Torflex_Information.pdf

Regarding the difference in flex that you’ve observed in your 2005 Casita versus the 2013 Egg, the rubber inside torsion axles degrades over time. I am not precisely clear what effect this has on the ride as associated forum posts are sometimes contradictory.

You’ve also had two (different?) axles that were loaded differently, which will further affect how they react. So, maybe you can make this another research project while you are laid up.

Also, regarding your keeping the current spare, I have been pondering moving my spare to a location under the frame. There are a couple of guys on the CasitaClub forum that did this; CC‑John and Kurt M. Though I can’t find specific threads on theirs at this moment, I did just find this link on the CasitaForum site with some great pictures of another installation:

http://www.casitaforum.com/invboard/topic/4370-underneath-mods/page__p__24971__hl__spare+tire+under__fromsearch__ 1#entry24971

Maybe that approach would help you carry a matching spare in the event you do increase the wheel size.
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Old 09-08-2016, 07:51 AM   #23
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Hi Mike! Thanks very much for the info! I really like the tire under the egg option. I will definitely look into this as I start mods next spring. I do think that would be the best all around place for it!

Unfortunately no matter how much I beg, I am not allowed to log on to the Casita forum. Once I signed up, it immediately goes to "no permission". I've requested access and emailed admin over and over to no avail. No replies and still no access. I wondered if it was my username which I have had people misunderstand (Scarab is a Wellcraft Powerboat and I use to be a boater before realizing being a camper was much better!).

But the photobucket link you pm'd me worked great so Thanks very much!!

I pretty sure both axles are Dexter 3500lb torsion, but the Casita did have the high lift, and the egg does not.
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Old 11-11-2016, 07:19 PM   #24
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Snuck a last camping trip in!!

Well after many weeks in a cast, it was finally cut off. We made a last camp trip this year! My wonderful wife and my friends helped with the heavy lifting. We stayed 6 nights on South Bass Island Ohio for October 17-23 camping! We had a FULL hookup site which was very nice!!! So ez to drain the tanks and take longer showers!

We had zero issues with the egg (remember we were hooked to 110v the whole time). The fridge held all our food for a week, but it was full! It was a great end to the year to be able to camp one last time!

With my foot in a walking boot, and it was Halloween Weekend Party on the island - we were able to work the injured foot and walking boot into the costume. We normally ride bikes on the island, but this year had to rent a golf cart due to foot. That was fun!
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Old 11-11-2016, 07:36 PM   #25
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Ok, so with foot feeling much better - it was time to winterize the Egg. It did not have the water heater bypass on it, nor did it have the t valve for sucking the pink stuff out of the bottle - avoiding dumping into the tank. I decided to make my own kit. It worked out well.

I blew the lines out with air, then unhooked the hot/cold lines from the top of the water heater. I added to jumper hit to the lines, this works as the water heater bypass. I'll leave this bypass kit installed all winter and flush the lines before I hook them back to the water heater. Also, I unhooked the "in" line from the water pump and hooked up the suction tube. Very easy to do all this - with no teflon tape etc required. Its an easy winterization job!
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Old 11-11-2016, 08:05 PM   #26
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Lifting the EggCamper!

Well before tucking the Egg away, I decided to do a few mods to it as I'm getting around a little better! I decided to go ahead and do the lift kit on the EggCamper.

I Ordered the Dexter #10 lift kit part number K71-707-01. This kit has the lift block and new bolts/washers/nuts. I realize there is a similar lift kit from Perfect Casita that would work too, but I decided to go with the Dexter kit. I like the fact that the bolt heads and nuts are easily accessible with the Dexter kit. You do not rely on the nut tangs to keep the nut from spinning like the Perfect Casita kit does. If I need to get the bolts off in the future - the hardware is not trapped. I also preferred the black kit vs the blue.

The install went as expected. I jacked up the camper then added jack stands close to the axle. Next you MUST make sure you cut off the zip ties where the electric brake wires connect to to the frame. If you do not do this, you will break the wires as you lower the axle.

Next you loosen up the bolts on one side, then removed the bolts on the OTHER side. Then lower the axle with a jack just enough to get the lift kit bracket in, then lower the other side and install bolts. At this poing all the bolts are loose.

Then I used the jack to lift the axle and spacer up against the frame, then torqued down the bolts/nuts. I also used locktite on them. Then lift the other side up till snug, and tighten it. At this point you reinstall the zip ties to tidy up the wiring for the brakes. Throw the wheels back on and done. Now the drain pipe which was 6.5" from the ground is now 9.5". Also, I have much better clearance for 15" wheels and bigger tires which will be added at a later date.

While I had the wheels off, I decided to flip the upper small bolts/nuts on the camper wheel moulding - this way the bolt heads are on the inside wheel well, and the nuts are on the outside. This will eliminate any tire rub against the bolts - although I don't think they would have hit anyway, it was just extra insurance. You cant see the fasteners unless you get on the ground and look up so aesthetics is not an issue.

The 4 pics are the original installation:
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Old 11-11-2016, 08:10 PM   #27
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These 4 pics show the wire ties cut as to not damage wires while lowering. Then the bolts removed from the axle, and the axle lowered to fit in the spacer.

NEVER lift the trailer by the axle. The camper is supported by jack stands on the frame. The jack in the picture is only used to lower the axle - its only holding the weight of the axle.
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Old 11-11-2016, 08:14 PM   #28
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These 3 pics show the spacer (lift kit) installed and the new bolts tightened. Then the brake wires wire tied back to the frame - allowing flexibility for axle movement.
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Old 11-11-2016, 08:17 PM   #29
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These pics show the bolt/nut reversal for the wheel trim. I left the lower 2 bolts untouched on the front and rear edges as the tire will never mover fore and aft to hit these - I only flipped the upper 4 bolts where the tire can go up into the wheel well.
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Old 11-11-2016, 08:18 PM   #30
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Here are the before and after pics of the lift. There is a lot of room above the tire, but the bigger wheels and tires will fill the space and look better!
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Old 11-11-2016, 08:26 PM   #31
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Lastly I took the ball off of my receiver hitch and flipped the receiver over and reinstalled the ball. This lifted the ball height by 3" - same as the camper. Pic shows the rig all ready to go!

I took her out on the highway and tried many tests. Got up to 82mph, sped up, slowed down, hit brakes aggressively. All of this and not one bit of sway or movement. She rode just like before the mod. That was a relief!! Now I feel much better about taking this low riding camper off road!!

Not sure when I'll spring for the new wheels and tires, but its all ready to go when they do arrive! They will lift the camper 1" more.
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Old 11-13-2016, 09:57 AM   #32
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No more decals !

The last modification before winter storage! ALL decals removed, the a good wash and wax! We just couldn't get past the words "EggCamper" in kindergarten font. First two old pics before - last two new pics after!
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Old 11-13-2016, 11:54 AM   #33
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Now it looks like a Burro.....nice job on the axle rise, my Eggcamper was too low to the ground.
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Old 11-13-2016, 02:25 PM   #34
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Nice job, Joe! Wish we had your energy and expertise!
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Old 11-16-2016, 06:58 PM   #35
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Now it looks like a Burro.....nice job on the axle rise, my Eggcamper was too low to the ground.
Thanks Jim - The lift was well worth it!! I wasn't sure if the side decals would be better left on, its a little plain now. The stripes were great but the lettering had to go. Oh well - I guess no going back now! It will grow on us. I've read thru your EggCamper mods! I'm looking forward to doing some of them soon!

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Nice job, Joe! Wish we had your energy and expertise!
Thanks Letitia - one of my next is the maxx fan like you did. I read thru your thread on the how-to! Looked like an impressive job! I hope it goes as smooth as yours did!
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Old 11-16-2016, 10:38 PM   #36
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Thanks Jim - The lift was well worth it!! I wasn't sure if the side decals would be better left on, its a little plain now. The stripes were great but the lettering had to go. Oh well - I guess no going back now! It will grow on us.
You could always add some custom stripes .
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Old 11-17-2016, 07:02 PM   #37
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Thanks for the water system winterizing tips. A quick trip to the local hardware store, about $6 worth of fittings and tubing, and we're all ready for what might be our first light freeze of the Fall this coming weekend.
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Old 11-23-2016, 06:54 PM   #38
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You could always add some custom stripes .
That's not a bad idea! I'll keep that in mind!

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Thanks for the water system winterizing tips. A quick trip to the local hardware store, about $6 worth of fittings and tubing, and we're all ready for what might be our first light freeze of the Fall this coming weekend.
No Problem - I'm glad it helped!
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Old 11-23-2016, 07:11 PM   #39
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Well this next project isn't my proudest! It actually turned out kinda ugly. But here goes. We knew we needed a bike rack for sure. After LOTS of pondering, I decided I wanted to put a receiver hitch on the back of the egg like we had on the Casita. I do realize there are lots of pros and cons to all the bike placement options, including tongue weight etc, but we really want them on the back for many reasons.

1) to keep the tongue space freed up for future mods like dual 6v batteries, maybe a Honda eu2000i, or a storage box. 2) bikes are locked to the trailer and out of the way. 3) can easily remove bike rack and transfer to truck receiver. 4) cargo carrier possibilities.

So after a lot of searching I found "multi-fit receivers". Some were very large. Most didn't spread the distance I needed. The I finally found the Draw-Tite 82201 and it seemed to fit the bill so purchased it off Amazon.
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Old 11-23-2016, 07:31 PM   #40
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So after it arrived - I realized this thing is a tank! Extremely stout! It's heavy too (53 lbs) so I guess that will force me to add dual 6v's on the tounge to offset the weight! So I tried a trial run mounting the receiver UNDER the frame, and it didn't work out as planned (pic 1). First of all, I had to move the receiver forward so the stabilizers would not hit it when they swing down. Once I did this, the top of the bike rack itself would hit the fiberglass of the egg - not good. I would have to use a receiver extender and that's just more clap trap to wobble. And the real deal breaker was that the receiver hangs down 5.5". I didn't just raise the egg with a 3" lift kit to turn around and add receiver hanging down 5.5". I want to keep the ground clearance.

So next I decided to see it if would fit upside down - on TOP of the frame (pic 2, 3, and 4). It actually worked out well. I had to drill an extra hole to mount the brackets to the thick frame. I still have to add a lower strap, and put a long bolt in the back hole. Probably doesn't even need it, but I'd rather overkill the installation. So with the receiver on the top of the frame, it actually fit further back and now the bike rack will not even get close to the fiberglass. Also, I lost zero ground clearance! The only down side is its ugly!!

If I had to do this all over again, I think I would have just took the egg to a welding shop, and had them cut off the original bumper, then weld on a tubular 2"x4" bumper, then weld on a 2" receiver tube to the bottom of that - just like the Escape Trailers do.

But I guess since I already bought this thing and drilled holes in it, I'll keep it on there. Even tho it is ugly, its very functional with no other downside.
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