RandomAbstract
Adventurer
Hi Everyone,
Scott B is also building out a LittleGuy Silver Shadow here and suggested that I also share my modifications.
I have been reading this forum for several years. The encouragement gained here helped me build my first "expedition" trailer. The goal was to take my wife on a 3 week tent camping trip from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest and back. And, we thought that taking the convertible would be way more fun than driving a minivan. Since we couldn't haul enough camping gear in the convertible, I built a gear hauler trailer - kitchen gear in the back, sleeping gear in the front.
(Breakfast in Yellowstone)
It worked fabulously. However, we love the Rockies and there are a lot of miles between Minnesota and the Rockies. Sometimes it would be nice to pull over and sleep without having to really set up camp. Also, I have dreamed of exploring the back-country in the Rockies. My plan was to build an overland teardrop. But, we ran into a really good deal on a 2014 "used once" Little Guy Silver Shadow 5x10 and decided it would be more fun to go camping than spending the entire summer building a trailer.
(BTW, it was only used once because the original purchaser decided that a Class A motor-home was more to their liking - go figure!)
The minivan also bit the dust and we upgraded to a more manly vehicle, a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit with a 5.7L Hemi. My guess was that the Hemi will be sufficient to pull the teardrop. :ylsmoke:
I doubt this will be our "final" trailer, so I am mostly trying to keep it stock. This summer is a test to see if we like the format and whether we will keep this trailer, spec another trailer from LittleGuy, or decide to build my own.
The first upgrade I did was to add a full-sized (60") truck toolbox to the trailer tongue. I found one at a reasonable price at Fleet Farm. There was barely room to squeeze it in place as the tongue is only about 3 feet long. I had to move the battery box forward about an inch.
This has been a very useful addition. My wife wanted to carry around a porta-potti. Neither the Jeep, the galley or the bedroom sounded like a great place to keep it. It turned out to be a good idea. I have since learned that wash-board mountain forest service roads cause the blue flush water to exit the device and christen everything around it.
The box also holds things like a screen room, camp ax, tools, wheels chocks, ...
The box also makes a great table for things like a quick picnic on the run, since the ARB fridge is in the back of the JEEP.
Our second upgrade was a new mattress topper. The 3" foam mattress just wasn't thick enough to keep our bones off the plywood floor. Since the bed area is just shy of a queen mattress (58x80 instead of 60x80), I found a 4" memory foam topper (2" memory foam over 2" of regular foam) at Wally World for about $130 that was 58" wide. No cutting involved. That on top of the 3" of foam is pretty comfortable. If the memory foam is too cold for late fall camping I can just invert the pieces. If I was sure of this trailer instead of a 6x10 trailer, I would probably have a custom mattress made.
So much for an introduction. More to come. Comments and advice are more than welcome.
LeRoy
www.MomentsInNature.net
Scott B is also building out a LittleGuy Silver Shadow here and suggested that I also share my modifications.
I have been reading this forum for several years. The encouragement gained here helped me build my first "expedition" trailer. The goal was to take my wife on a 3 week tent camping trip from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest and back. And, we thought that taking the convertible would be way more fun than driving a minivan. Since we couldn't haul enough camping gear in the convertible, I built a gear hauler trailer - kitchen gear in the back, sleeping gear in the front.
(Breakfast in Yellowstone)
It worked fabulously. However, we love the Rockies and there are a lot of miles between Minnesota and the Rockies. Sometimes it would be nice to pull over and sleep without having to really set up camp. Also, I have dreamed of exploring the back-country in the Rockies. My plan was to build an overland teardrop. But, we ran into a really good deal on a 2014 "used once" Little Guy Silver Shadow 5x10 and decided it would be more fun to go camping than spending the entire summer building a trailer.
(BTW, it was only used once because the original purchaser decided that a Class A motor-home was more to their liking - go figure!)
The minivan also bit the dust and we upgraded to a more manly vehicle, a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit with a 5.7L Hemi. My guess was that the Hemi will be sufficient to pull the teardrop. :ylsmoke:
I doubt this will be our "final" trailer, so I am mostly trying to keep it stock. This summer is a test to see if we like the format and whether we will keep this trailer, spec another trailer from LittleGuy, or decide to build my own.
The first upgrade I did was to add a full-sized (60") truck toolbox to the trailer tongue. I found one at a reasonable price at Fleet Farm. There was barely room to squeeze it in place as the tongue is only about 3 feet long. I had to move the battery box forward about an inch.
This has been a very useful addition. My wife wanted to carry around a porta-potti. Neither the Jeep, the galley or the bedroom sounded like a great place to keep it. It turned out to be a good idea. I have since learned that wash-board mountain forest service roads cause the blue flush water to exit the device and christen everything around it.
The box also holds things like a screen room, camp ax, tools, wheels chocks, ...The box also makes a great table for things like a quick picnic on the run, since the ARB fridge is in the back of the JEEP.
Our second upgrade was a new mattress topper. The 3" foam mattress just wasn't thick enough to keep our bones off the plywood floor. Since the bed area is just shy of a queen mattress (58x80 instead of 60x80), I found a 4" memory foam topper (2" memory foam over 2" of regular foam) at Wally World for about $130 that was 58" wide. No cutting involved. That on top of the 3" of foam is pretty comfortable. If the memory foam is too cold for late fall camping I can just invert the pieces. If I was sure of this trailer instead of a 6x10 trailer, I would probably have a custom mattress made.
So much for an introduction. More to come. Comments and advice are more than welcome.
LeRoy
www.MomentsInNature.net
