2006 Fleetwood Neon - Family Adventure Basecamp

TwinStick

Explorer
Great trailer & great pics.

I was not happy with the state of wheel chocks either. What I have done to help is a few things. I made my own, with teeth & a handle. They dig into the ground nicely & I have never had them move. even on soft downhill grade. I also made a special jack for our camper that works great & accomplishes a few tasks. #1) I can change a flat tire & be back on the road in 15 min or less, & #2) I can put it under the axle of camper & lift either side to level & then block it. Instead of driving up onto blocks & having them move.







For the jack, I used one or these: http://www.harborfreight.com/2-1-2-half-ton-trailer-stabilizer-jack-96406.html . I then had a rectangular piece of 1/4" thick steel welded on top (all the way around & where the holes in stock jack are (I think they call them rosette welds). I then had them cut a 3-4"long, piece of 3" ID, 1/4" wall tube. Then cut that in half length wise. Used 1 half of that & had them weld it all the way around, on top of the flat 1/4" wall plate. The U cups the axle on our camper perfectly, so there is no danger of it slipping off the axle when a semi truck goes by & rocks your trailer, if you are on the side of the road changing a flat. I use my 18v Ridgid 1/2" impact wrench. It raises the camper in seconds. Our camper weighs 3500 lbs max, so we are well within the jacks 5000 lb capacity. I works really well. So much easier that trying to stack blocks & driving up on them & having them slip or slide. All that stuff takes up room, thats why we got the custom cap. A place for everything & everything in it's place. Our 2 ARB coolers go in the back on my home made bed slide . Hope this gives you some ideas if you want to build your own. I used a lot of scrap lumber to make the blocks & chocks.
 

MountainD

Adventurer
Sorry to hear about the water damage! I went overkill on my awning attachment and certainly made sure to avoid that dreaded water issue as I not only sikaflex'ed under the brackets, but also in the bolt holes and then over the bolts. here is how I mounted my Awning--did this to both sides so I could swap depending on campsite. I have been using it on both sides and it has been awesome. http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...d/page20?highlight=neon+modified+for+off+road
 

tlin

Adventurer
Awesome trailer, really good write-ups here as well.

Do these Neons have any storage capacity or are they exclusively a "tent on wheels"? Pardon my ignorance, contemplating getting a trailer at some point and this isn't the first time one of these Neon threads has caught my attention. Thanks in advance....
 

Jeepinaaron

Adventurer
Awesome trailer, really good write-ups here as well.

Do these Neons have any storage capacity or are they exclusively a "tent on wheels"? Pardon my ignorance, contemplating getting a trailer at some point and this isn't the first time one of these Neon threads has caught my attention. Thanks in advance....

There is a decent amount of storage. Under the bench is an area where I store fold up chairs, fold up table, etc. When everything is collapsed down there is storage in the floor area. I put my Campmate kitchen, usually two nights of fire wood, bedding, etc etc in the floor. Obviously all of the things in the floor get pulled out when I make camp.
 

tlin

Adventurer
There is a decent amount of storage. Under the bench is an area where I store fold up chairs, fold up table, etc. When everything is collapsed down there is storage in the floor area. I put my Campmate kitchen, usually two nights of fire wood, bedding, etc etc in the floor. Obviously all of the things in the floor get pulled out when I make camp.

THANK YOU for the feedback. So not a setup that would accommodate a bunch of camp boxes (general thought) but will hold some relatively small/relatively flat items. Great to know....

The thought of having and using one of these darn campers is keeping me up at night......can't wait!
 

MountainD

Adventurer
You can use camp boxes too-- they go under where the bed pushes over. You just have a height restriction due to the bed of something like 24" but that is a guess. We don't go the box route, but you could fit a number of them in there, in additon to the under bench storage. For two people, you can get all your stuff in there without too much difficulty. I love mine.
 

tlin

Adventurer
You can use camp boxes too-- they go under where the bed pushes over. You just have a height restriction due to the bed of something like 24" but that is a guess. We don't go the box route, but you could fit a number of them in there, in additon to the under bench storage. For two people, you can get all your stuff in there without too much difficulty. I love mine.

Thx for this, that helps.

Just buzzed through your build thread. Quite an extensive undertaking there......nothing better than having a passion, some time, and the ability to weld some aluminum :).
 

Jeepinaaron

Adventurer
You can use camp boxes too-- they go under where the bed pushes over. You just have a height restriction due to the bed of something like 24" but that is a guess. We don't go the box route, but you could fit a number of them in there, in additon to the under bench storage. For two people, you can get all your stuff in there without too much difficulty. I love mine.

Yea what he said, you can use some boxes. Particularly something like a Frontrunner box or something. I put my campmate kitchen in there, which is pretty big. And this last trip I put two scepter military watering cans in there, they would stand up between the heater and the folded down couch/bed.

My wife and I have went back and forth about putting a RTT on the Jeep and ditching the camper, but I don't believe we could bring everything without the storage the camper provides.
 

sn0wrunner

New member
Nice work with your Neon! My wife and I just recently purchased a cobalt and we're planning to do a lot of the same mods. Any update on the awning? Our coblat didn't come with one and I'm debating on whether to install an ARB awning, or a Dometic awning that utilizes the existing mounting option. Trying to figure out how I would mount an ARB if I went that route. I'm concerned about water coming down off of the roof of the pop up and between the bag of the awning. I know the roof is flat, but for some reason I'm envisioning a lot of water dripping down right at the door to the camper. Did you ever have any issues with that?
 

pokealong

New member
I've had my Neon since it was new (meaning I'm 12 years older) and ready to figure out how to put a pull out kitchen up in front which I could pull out after the bed is extended.

Currently, there is a propane tank, battery, and spare tire up there. I would need to relocate some or all of them.

I am not a welder. But I am creative.

Not sure what my weight limit is up there, so do want to be respectful of that. Do want watertight. What I'm hoping to accomplish would be some kind of large box that I could pull out, have some fold down legs just for added support and then have my stuff inside of roll out drawers.

Not interested in a sink (dishpans are great); do want to keep all of the kitchenware in there and have a place to get meals ready without having to set up tables every time and drag out the rubbermaid boxes.

My questions are:
1. Has anyone added a pull out kitchen to their front hitch?
2. Where did you relocate your spare, battery, and propane tank?
3. What is the weigh limit?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Lynn
 

Sno Dawg

Sno Dawg
Posted this on other threads so why not on this one.
Here is my set up on the front of my Neon to hold a dirt bike. It is pretty secure on there.



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