The Woodsy Bit: Adventures of an '88 Phoenix

mmiller001

New member
Phase 5: New Rear Springs - Northwest Offroad 2-stage Springs

After the air-bag fiasco, I was becoming concerned about how I was going to solve the how-to-carry-this-damned-camper dilemma. I knew the truck could handle it - there's plenty of power while it's on, I just needed a stronger suspension. I started a serious google-**** session, reading entries here, wander the west, etc. I finally settled on Northwest offroad, because after talking to them, they seemed confident that their springs could handle it. I ordered them up, and a friend and I put them on in an afternoon. The good news: They can easily handle the camper, staying pretty level and ride like a high-dolla cadillac when the camper is on.. but the bad news is when the camper is off, it rides like a mine cart, and has a 2.5" inch lift that gives my wife a hard time getting into the back, bless her heart. LOL! Can you believe I'm complaining about a 2.5" lift?!? Anyhoo - problem "solved" - on to the next one...

View attachment 183396

How do you like these springs? I've been eyeing some custom made from Alcan but they have a turnaround time of 3-4 weeks and I'm not super patient. :) From the website the company claims they can handle 700lbs more than stock - do you know the exact weight of your camper these days? How have these held up in the long term? Also, whats up with the metal bracket on the front connecting the 1st and last leafs? Thanks for the advice! -Matt
 

subterran

Adventurer
Hey mmiller001!
I am actually writing this to you right now from my camper! So cool! 34F outside, but 65F in here. I'm about to turn in shortly. Long day of climbing.

Anyway, I still have not weighed this camper but a very good guess is 850 pounds dry. On any average weekend I'll probably carry 1000 pounds or little better. The springs have been just great when the camper is on. Feels like the factory ride. Watch out when the campers off though. Harsh ride. I'm no spring expert but I don't see how you could be able to carry a whole lot of weight like this, and still have a nice smooth factory ride when the camper is off. So I can't really complain at all. At this point I have done all kinds of 4 x 4 trips and they have been strong as the day is long. Would I do it the same way again? Yes.

As for those shackle things, they must be to hold the spring packs together and keep them from twisting. They sort of clamp the spring on either side of the axle ubolts. They also have little plastic wedges between the edges in the leafs to keep them from sqeaking, and sure enough they do not.

Hope it helps!
 

subterran

Adventurer
Homey-Made Roof Mounted Cargo Basket

Room for gear is hard to come by. It's a fact. Making room for muddy, cruddy stuff is even rougher. Before I got Woody, I had a Yakima BasketCase cargo basket on my truck's roof rack. We used it all the time for wet ropes, wetsuits, wet clothes - you know - stuff you wouldn't want to sleep with anywhere near you.

So - I started looking for a small roof rack to put on the space between the cabover and windshield on my truck, to offload some of these groady things to. I didnt find much. Smittybilt makes a "half sized" cargo basket thats 4' x 2', but that's still a little too big. I needed something in the 36" x 18" range. The Yakima BasketCase is made out of the same stuff grocery carts are made from. Certainly I can find something...

Redneck superpowers, activate! I found a 36" x 18" basket, made for those heavy duty steel shelving units they use in Walk-in coolers and such at a Kitchen Supply Place. Two problems, though: Chrome, and it had those rings at the edges that secure it to the steel uprights - a dead giveaway about what it was supposed to be. So, I broke out the trusty side grinder, and cut all 4 of those puppies off. I took it over to my neighbor's house, and I learned to weld using his wire feed Lincoln.

I tacked on 6 washers onto the bottom of the basket, to bolt to. I also welded some small bar stock where I had cut off the rings, to make it look better and reinforce the corners. Then I roughed up all of the chrome with a sander, and painted the whole thing with black bedliner. That looks much better!

At first, I was thinking about getting a roof rack to bolt my new basket to, but my size constraints made that difficult. Time to figure out something else. Try 1: (4) 3" suction cups from Amazon, with 1/4 - 20 nuts built in. I bolted 'er down, and put about a 15lb test load up there of old ropes that wouldn't hurt if I lost.
Nope. While they did stay sucked down, the wind pushed them backwards enough to touch my camper, and start trying to scratch up my junk. Not going to fly.

Try 2. While I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do, this dude passes me with a bicycle attached to the back of his car with giant suction cups. What are those? Google-**** says: SeaSuckers. So I find the website, pick my jaw up off the floor after finding out how much they are (!) and send off for some. Bolt them on, and mount it up.

I'm in love.

These things are AWESOME SAUCE. The rack is now as perfect as it's going to be. I start to notice how many other places these would work, without drilling or damaging anything. You could mount Roto-Packs, Shovels, Jacks, etc. anywhere you have a flat, non textured surface. Either to the camper, or the side of the truck. Sweeeeet. More on the way...

http://www.seasucker.com/shop/4-12-seasucker-black/#tab-description

cargo-basket1.jpg cargo-basket2.jpg
 
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subterran

Adventurer
image.jpgimage.jpg

There must be a safer way than carrying fuel under the seats. Yep. I got a pair of Rotopax and mounted them right up front. This is a versatile system that will allow me to carry extra water or fuel. I think I'm going to paint one side black, so I can use them to heat water all solar like, by putting them flat on the rack, or just out in the sun. They are quite sturdy. Me like. These are the one-gallon size. Party on!
 
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subterran

Adventurer
Well, I'm so glad you enjoyed the rant. Not too many folks have commented overall, but I have tried to have faith that someone might get some use, ideas, or at least entertainment from my posting! We really enjoy our camper, and use it lots and lots! As a matter of fact I just recently bought a second little car so I can leave Woody set up and parked in the driveway, instead of it being my "daily driver". This is to save extra wear and tear on my junk, since it's running well. Now we just take her camping!

My next project will be an ultralight electric folding bike that will mount on the front, for use as a 'lifeboat' and to buzz around on when we are at events. When I get it sorted, I'll post photos.

Thanks for your kind words!
 
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rangerdogg

Adventurer
Rangerdogg,
Did I see you had your FWC rig for sale? That is a nice setup.

Ya I sold it to a fellow member from down south , wife had a hip replacement and wasn't going to be using for awhile so wanted someone to use and enjoy it I used that when all 4 of use went out . Plus I bought a hawk about 6 month prior for just when a couple of us go out camping . So needed to make room and money for bills I had to take 6 weeks off to help her plus we have a 2 year old that doesn't stop. It's a 07 couldn't pass it up it was a incredible deal for us . I have to start my thread again and do a comparison of the two . Nice to see you keeping thread going . Happy camping man
 

GI Pirate

Observer
Hey there subterran, i was re-reading your thread trying to get motivated to get back to mine. Made a-lot of improvements, just haven't had a chance to post, new house, vacay etc... Jealous of the roof rack and canoes, had a guy Matt Wallace, with Wallace RV near Durham, NC check it out. He said my roof was not structurally sound enough to carry any real load.
Are you going to be in Asheville for the Expo? Also, where did you do the research for the trails in TN?
 

subterran

Adventurer
Hey GI Pirate!
Well, as far as a roof rack - two things: My junk's roof is pretty piss poor structurally. It is strong enough for boats only because the uprights are so close to the edges, and thus is supported mostly by the sidewall, and not the roof. I would not ever try to pop it up with a load up there, it would fail. Second thing, all of my boats are less than 50lbs. The Canoes are Royalex, so 45-48, and kayaks are 35 or so. I usually only have 1 boat up there at a time, but occasionally I will carry two for a short distance, for shuttles. If I do carry two, I will refuse to carry anyone's heavy assed poly-link 80lb boat! And, I do have to take everything off to camp. Sortof a PITA...

We will not be going to Expo east. We are Cave explorers, and the Expo East happens at the same time as our regional convention, and I am heavily involved. If they ever swap the dates to something more sane for us, you may see us there.

As for the trails in TN. Do some google searching for Hiawassee loop. It's a rare train trestle that curls around on itself, and it parallels the Hiawassee river. The area around the Hiawassee loop is all National Forest, with many miles of Forestry Roads. You can access it from the Ocoee side. Many neat places to dispersed camp - although none right on the river (you have to cross the tracks..) It's a pretty cool area. You can actually ride an old steam train on it from McCaysville, GA (Ducktown, TN) Two thumbs up.

Anyway - keep working on it. One of these days some of us Deep Southerners should have a rally.
 

goneagain

Observer
Hey, just curious if you ended up ordering those rollover bed brackets from FWC... If so, have any pics? Curious what style of rollover they are.
 

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