The Moonshine Motel - Enclosed Gooseneck "Crawler Hauler" Build

[GLTHFJ60]

Glued on some bogey wheels, and painted the inner bits of framework I wanted to.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

By better half painted the bottom of the floor sheets (3/4" treated ply), then I got them cut and in place. Cutting out for the in-floor tie downs was tricky, and I messed up the front sheet. Not a huge deal to patch, but still a rookie move.

Retained the fresh water tank left/right with some floor cutoffs screwed in.

Need one more sheet (6 total) because of the odd floor crossmember spacing around the tanks.

Feels good to have a floor.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Another big day today. Main floor fitted with hidden storage compartment, goose area stripped, cleaned, painted, and floor put down. Two layers of 3/8" ply with 2" eps foam sandwiched between. Headboard got a sheet of aluminum to shield against genny heat, 2" eps foam, and one layer of 3/8" ply.

Nearly there now boys. Nearly there.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Pushed late last night and early this morning to get the goose area buttoned up. Valspar oil based floor paint to protect the plywood, dock ladder to get into the goose, and some trim so junk doesn't fall into the spots between the floor and the siding.

This is about as done as it's going to be for the shakedown trip this weekend.

 

[ridered3]

Nice progress and fancy ladder!

Curious to see how it all fits and how it works for your shakedown trip.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Thank you sir. Since my entrance door is basically right next to the end of the deck, I needed a ladder or steps that were very low profile. I stumbled across that ladder style somewhere, and thought it'd be pretty close to perfect.

Once I get some use on it I'll report back, but it fits the space perfectly, and the rungs have some ribs in the extrusion profile that make it anti-slip. Pretty trick.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Any bets what this pig weighs empty? Going to get a weight slip in not too long.

 

[87manche]

really impressive.

dock ladder never even occurred to me. what a great idea.

 

[Firstram]

Looks great, your hard work definitely paid off.

 

[ridered3]

Any bets what this pig weighs empty? Going to get a weight slip in not too long.

Without the Cruiser inside I’ll guess 17,500 and add 5k with the cruiser so 22,500 combined.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Without the Cruiser inside I’ll guess 17,500 and add 5k with the cruiser so 22,500 combined.

Really damn close. A shade over 17,100# gross. The ferd weighs about 9000# with me in it, meaning the trailer weighs almost exactly 8000#.

The cruiser is about 6000# so I should be 23-24k gross loaded. Lighter than I expected! I'm stoked!!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

really impressive.

dock ladder never even occurred to me. what a great idea.

Looks great, your hard work definitely paid off.

Thanks guys. Today really felt like the payoff. Can't wait to put it to use starting tomorrow night.

 

[ridered3]

Really damn close. A shade over 17,100# gross. The ferd weighs about 9000# with me in it, meaning the trailer weighs almost exactly 8000#.

The cruiser is about 6000# so I should be 23-24k gross loaded. Lighter than I expected! I'm stoked!!

Very close on the truck and trailer indeed! Way off on the Cruiser though.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

For fun. Hard to believe it's the same trailer.

Before:

After:

Mid-gut:

Today:

 

[ridered3]

What a transformation!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Thursday early afternoon, before I loaded the cruiser, a valve stem blew out in my new wheels just sitting in the driveway.As it turns out, the 3760# rated wheels came with valve stems rated for only 40 or 60psi, so they blew out when sitting at 80psi.

So, in the pouring rain, in the driveway (fortunately), I jacked it up and took all 5 wheels and tires to get new metal valve stems.

After that, it was finally time to load. Everything worked out well. The trailer tows awesome, but I do need to fix the brakes.

I need lights too. Brought a 20v shop light, but I need more to make it conducive to having around it at night.

Overall, I'm stoked as fuck. Major success.

Back home.

 

[ridered3]

Congrats on the first successful outing. How much room do you have left with the Cruiser inside?

If you decide to mount rope type lights to the outside of the trailer, mount them right below the awning. This way you have lights whether the awning is open or closed.

Previous owner of our 28’ mounted them to the actual awning so great lighting when it’s open but no lighting when closed.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Congrats on the first successful outing. How much room do you have left with the Cruiser inside?

If you decide to mount rope type lights to the outside of the trailer, mount them right below the awning. This way you have lights whether the awning is open or closed.

Previous owner of our 28’ mounted them to the actual awning so great lighting when it’s open but no lighting when closed.

Good tip on the rope lights, thank you. I was looking at the boogey lights brand, they seem pretty legit.

Up front I've got 3-4' from the front bumper to the header panel. I want to get it in there with the 42s and take some more careful measurements, along with plenty of pics.

 

[1Sinner]

Awesome work!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

On the punchlist for GSMTR is getting the trailer brakes working, then getting the AC wired in. Dove into the brakes. Wonder why they weren't working well :lol:

Knocked this power center together as well. From the left:

• manual transfer switch
• 240v 50a RV style breaker box (no converter or anything)
• 12v fuse box
• genny control panel

Not super space efficient on the right side, but for some scrap and a first attempt, I'm pretty stoked at how this turned out.

Headroom for getting up to the goose is not an issue, and there's plenty of room for wiring behind.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Wired in the genny control, transfer switch, and 240v breaker box today. Got the Ac put back together and wired as well. We have cold air boys :D Running the Ac overnight as a test, but damn does it work well, even without insulation.

I'm amped as fuck.

 

[ridered3]

That’s great on getting the ac working. For both of our enclosed trailers with older ac units, I’ve found the ac is good for 20 degrees below the outside temp. So when it’s 100 outside it’s roughly 80 inside, which feels amazing in comparison to the 100 outside.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

That’s great on getting the ac working. For both of our enclosed trailers with older ac units, I’ve found the ac is good for 20 degrees below the outside temp. So when it’s 100 outside it’s roughly 80 inside, which feels amazing in comparison to the 100 outside.

That's good to know!! Dry air is way better than humid air too. I was really surprised how quickly the AC cooled down the motel last night.

Do you know how much insulation you have? I imagine that with more insulation, the rooftop AC could make a bigger difference if desired.

 

[ridered3]

That's good to know!! Dry air is way better than humid air too. I was really surprised how quickly the AC cooled down the motel last night.

Do you know how much insulation you have? I imagine that with more insulation, the rooftop AC could make a bigger difference if desired.

The 38’ trailer just used the 4’x8’x1/2” thick pink/blue board insulation on the walls and ceiling of the living area.

I haven’t take the walls or ceiling apart on the 28’ trailer to know what’s in them, but I’d imagine it’s the same stuff insulation wise.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Pulled all the brakes apart this past monday to order new parts, but the anticipated delivery date got moved from the 11th to the 21st. Canceled that order, drove around and found a single set of shoes at northern tool in Burlington.

Repacked all the bearings, got two out of the four brakes working, which is one more than before. The magnets need to be replaced in the other two.

Brake/Bearing info:

2.25 spindle seal ID, 3.370 od
Spindle outer 1.25
Spindle inner 1.75

12"x2" brakes
023-360-00 right hand

Need:
4 ez lube caps
4 Spindle bearing seals
4 inner bearings 14125a
4 outer bearings 25580
2 rh backing plates
2 lh backing plates

Knocked together some drive over ramps today, stolen straight from the mobile mancave build on pirate.

Moonshine test fit on the big tires tomorrow. Measurements say it should fit with some room to spare, we shall see if that translates to reality.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Welp, she fits. The door opening in the trailer is 90.5", and moonshine is roughly 88" wide overall in the front. This is a full width d60, reentered h1s with 3.5" backspacing, and 42" tsls (can't remember the width). Tape measure said it would fit before I bought the trailer, but it's good to see it in reality.

Well, it mostly fit lol.

The ramp door is starting to get fucked though. Could barely close the door bar after loading this time. Going to have to use a torch and hammer the bottom closed more. I was a bit to the left loading, by maybe an inch, and only the left side is bent like this. Idk how trailer manufacturers get away with such chincy doors when they build trailers with 15k capacity.

Overall, great success. I leave for windrock Wednesday morning.

 

[ridered3]

That’s awesome that it fits but stinks on the ramp door.

How many times did you get in/out to make sure it was fitting?

 

[CarolinaCrawler]

When I picked mine up the tape measure said my rig would fit, but it sure was a sigh of relief when it did (mine was height instead of width).

 

[GLTHFJ60]

That’s awesome that it fits but stinks on the ramp door.

How many times did you get in/out to make sure it was fitting?

Just once to get the pics. I was pretty confident with the measurements. Drove right up to the pic location with the tires starting to be inside, and knew I was golden.

 

[ridered3]

Just once to get the pics. I was pretty confident with the measurements. Drove right up to the pic location with the tires starting to be inside, and knew I was golden.

That’s awesome. I’ve pulled into and out of ours a couple hundred times in the juggy and still get nervous with having 2-3” to spare on each side.