2004 Cargomate 16X7 enclosed tandem
hauler. Made by Forest River, Model#
is TB716TA2
First picture is what it looked
like after just dragging it home. Bottom of this page is what
it looked like after everything was done. In the middle is everything
done to it in the "remodel" stages along with my sources
for the equipment. I have included links (in blue) to direct you
to the exact source where I bought the item in question.
Email me by clicking on the mail
box at the very bottom of this page!
Last updated on 03/23/08
This is a documentary of some mods I did to make
a cargo trailer suitable to sleep in for those overnight rides.
I call it my "dual sport" trailer. OK, due to
the overwhelming request for pictures, I figured it would be easier
to just put up a web page with each step in my conversion or modifications
to the trailer along with my sources where I purchased some of
the gear. It all started back in December of 2003. I went in and
order my trailer from a local dealer. Its a Cargomate®
model TB716TA2 which means its a "Trail Blazer" series,
its 7 feet wide, 16 feet long and is a "TA" or tandem
axle" and a "2" for brakes on both axles. I say
ordered because I wanted a 16 foot long unit, tandem axles, but
I wanted it in 7 feet wide. Usually 16 footers are around 8 feet
wide, or maybe the max width of 8,6" wide. I wanted the narrow
one because I tow it with a 1998 Tacoma truck rated for 5000 lbs.
I wanted it to be out of the windstream, and didn't want to have
to add those mirror extenders. I just sold a 14X8, so I know all
about this. I also chose the gray color. I wanted a color that
went good with any tow rigs color. Silver, white and black were
other options, but black was out of the question. First picture
is unmodified. Basically stock and weighed in at 2,400 lbs. I
did order the "northwest package" which included the
diamond plating, ventilation, roof vent, inside light, radial
15" tires. Also ordered the RV type side door. Better for
sleeping in then the cam lock types like the rear doors have.
Trailer did tow like a dream. Doesn't even feel
like its behind me. Balance/tongue weight was perfect. I use a
Tekonsha
Prodigy electric brake controller which is the cream of the
crop. Its has the rear
jacks to keep it secure when loading and from rocking
OK, next photo is the build
phase. Starting the forward overhead hanging cabinet. The first
item I did was to remove the forward inside plywood panel up front
and run a phone line, cable for TV, 2 wires for battery/inverter.
I used red and black, in 6 gauge to handle the demands of the
converter (60 amps) and the 2000 watt inverter which I bought
from Costco for $69.95, made by Xantrex model is a "prowatt
1000". I have never found them that cheap since! and I also
ran 3/8" copper plumbing for the propane gas furnace. Notice
the "plumbers tape" (plumbers tape is the perforated
galvanized strapping you see), I used this in 4 places to support
the cabinet from the overhead trusses which were located every
2 feet. I went back to the first truss. Build the cabinet high
enough to clear your tallest dirt bikes handlebars!
All the utilities were centrally located. Each side
on the cabinet would end up as storage pockets. Furnace is from
"Suburban"
and its rated at 20,000 BTU's. Model number is a NT20SE. The
SE is a direct vented type, but you could duct it elsewhere. I
wanted to keep it simple and not take up too much room. This furnace
consumes right about 1.9 amps when running, has no pilot as its
electronic ignition. The same type is also available in 12,000
BTU and 16,000 BTU, model number for the 12,000 is NT12SE and
so on. Cost for the furnace was about $480. The 12,000 BTU was
$399.
OK, had to modify the tongue to accommodate the
furnace and other goodies. I used a standard propane cylinder
and a group 27RV deep cycle battery. All this required welding.
I have a 220Volt Matco Tools MIG welder. This whole project consumed
about 10 lbs of weld wire.
Work still in progress. This was spring (04) and
I was doing inside work and hanging the awning. This awning is
the "bag" type made for pop up trailers from Shademaker®.
I purchased the 12 foot premium one. Almost the only route as
the roof line is low in relation to the door and the skin is limited
to where you can mount it. The roof radius on the Cargomates is
thick aluminum. A must for awning mounting. Some use a plastic
radius. Not good! Check this out of you want an awning. I keep
the awning at 12 feet so it wouldn't interfere with the rear cargo
doors. I chose cargo doors over rear ramp door because it was
easier to open and grab gear. Flip down doors will cost extra!
Flip out step. I bought this from PPL
Motorhomes online. Nice addition. Also added a grab handle
to the left of the door opening. Wife complained about the step
up. It wasnt much, but it does tire you out if you are in and
out all day. I have dropped axles which made for a low deck, but
the step is super nice!
OK, so how does one store his ramps without consuming
space in the trailer and keep them from sliding all over the place?
Easy, mount them under the deck and out of the way. I bought these
ramps
from Harbor Tools and then hand picked through Home Depots
"Master
Locks" for all matching locks so one key does it all.
But you can get them from "masterlocks.com"
and order them all keyed alike. I used 2 on the ramps, one on
the rear door and one on the trailer tongue. The model number
for these locks are #40 and are real tough to open without a key
and also have a 3/8" hasp, while many others use 5/16"
and they don't swing around and chaffed up all your paint. The
ramps were shortened because of the trailer axle and with the
low deck, a long ramp wasn't needed. Steel cost for the carrier
was close to $200. It was a bit heavy, but this weight was behind
the axle which offset the weight I added in front of the axle.
This is the finished overhead cabinet. All wiring
was protected by a fuse box, one for low voltage (12VDC) and one
for high voltage, (110VAC). The gauge is for battery condition.
The stereo is a Kenwood AM/FM/CD player. I installed a 12V acc
jack to the far left. Metal rectangular (galvanized) grille is
furnace inlet filter, the brown square one is the heating outlet.
This makes a nice access panel to get to the wiring for the utilities.
Inside the center is an additional 2000 watt AC inverter , Model
was the Pro Watt 1000! I also have an Intelli-Charger
9100 charger/converter (cost was about $199 from Camping World)
and I have added the "smart
wizard" (cost for the wizard was $25) to aid in keeping
the battery fresh and fully charged and runs all accessories when
plugged into shore power. Also under the cabinet I have added
a bunk light. I sleep under it with a army cot. Each side has
a nice storage cabinet which go 2 feet deep and clean to the roofline.
Overhead
vent is barely visible, but I did add a 12V exhaust fan to
it along with the MAXX
AIR cover. This allows me to keep the vent open while in transit
or setting without fear of wind ripping it off.
This next picture is all the utilities located in
the LH side cabinet up on the wall. In the cabinet, you will see
the Intelli-Charger 9100, (silver chassis) this is rated at 60
amps. Its a super smooth (little AC ripple) flat DC plus a charger/maintainer
of the battery. Top right in the Xantrex 2000 Watt AC inverter
(black chassis, 1000 watts continous) . Below that is the 2 space
fuse block. I have 3 breakers in it, the RH space, I'm using the
"mini" breakers. Below the AC fuse box is the DC fuses
(6 spaces) and to the right of that is the "smart wizard"
used to make the batter chager/converter a special battery maintainer.
It operates in a way to keep the sulphating battery to a minimum.
It hits it hard with a higher charge (almost 15 volts) for about
15 minutes, does this once every 3 days or so.
Shore power is tied into the
system using a Marinco®
inlet. They come in either 15 amp or
20 amp and both come in white or black. Cost for the 15 amp was
about $20. I have mine mounted under the trailer and not in the
skin. Its protected from the weather and debris when going down
the road. If you use a 15 amp, you must use 14 AWG wire minimum
and the 12 amp, you must use nothing smaller than the 12 AWG.
If your going to have any electric heat, you MUST get the 20 amp
unit.
This picture is of the roof mounted AC unit made
by Coleman.
Model is called the Polar
Cub and is from the Mach series. Its rated for 9000 BTU and
consumes 9 amps max, less when running. Cost for this was around
$560, which included the roof control/vent setup for "COOL
ONLY". There is also a heater unit as an option for this
AC unit, but I would recommend against it unless you have no interest
in the gas furnace. But if you do use the AC unit for heat also,
you will need to be on shore power or have a big generator. I
use a Honda
EU2000i generator which is rated for 13.5 amps (I see the
new ones are rated for 16.3 amps) and it handles the load easily.
I purchased my Honda generator from "Big
Sky Power". Also notice the blue roof, this is 1.5"
insulation from Home Depot. A 4X8 sheet weighed no more than several
ounces. And sure helped keeping it cool/warm inside. Notice the
metal ribbing to the rear of the AC unit between the roof bows.
I had to weld in 1 1/2" in a 14"X14" frame for
the AC unit and more box tube to support the rear of the AC unit.
Another good excuse to get that MIG welder. It was a life saver
for me!
I ran two runs of e-track
down each side to secure cargo. One run at 36". the other
at 16". I have built a flip out table which hooks into the
e-track and can be moved anywhere or removed all together. I have
also added "in the floor" flush
mounted "D" rings. It came with 2 up front, 2 in
the rear. I have added 3 more in the front and 3 more in the rear
so I have 5 across at each end and one every 4 feet down each
side. I have made everything "modular" for quick removal.
Only the cabinet is permanent. I paid $13 (normally $25 for the
steel e-track) for each 10 foot section of e-track. I used a total
of 50 feet. This stuff can be spendy. I have a buddy who works
for a trucking outfit and got it wholesale for me. It also can
be purchased in aluminum, from areas like Pit Pal (pitpal.com)
but cost a small mint! Mine was steel and painted green. It can
he had in galvanized steel also. There is L-track also, but the
e-track is the most popular and easiest to get all the attatching
straps etc for!
Here is a picture of the inside during out last
big group campout/ride with freinds and family over the memorial
day weekend. The bunks are army surplus and can find them for
a very resonable price from $5 from a garage sale to $40 for a
new civilian version. I do recommend a pad for the cot, they are
pretty hard as they are drum tight and you will wake up with stuff
joints. Notice the forward bunk, fits right under the cabinet
which has a bunk/reading light under it. This makes it easy as
one doesnt have to climb in bed in the dark. The TV is a 9"
Sylvania Model# 6509DD, its a flatscreen with DVD player built
in. It runs off of either 12VDC or 110VAC. I use cargo nets to
hold stuff on the walls. This makes the it easy to see what your
after and can be removed by just popping them off of the knobs.
There is a small cargo net mounted under the cabinet. This holds
magazines, pillows and what have you. Notice all the wood now
looks a little darker since the first cabinet photo? Its becaseu
I sealed all the wood with Thompsons water sealer. Not because
I thought it was going to leak, but to seal the wood from stains.
Easier to keep it clean that way.
Here is another photo of us out group camping with
freinds and family and the Cargomate® cargo trailer, now called
the "DualSport®" trailer.
Some of you had requested to see it being pulled
with my Toyota Tacoma. Here is a current photo of it in tow at
the local race track. My truck does have the 3.4 V6 and the 5
speed manual transmission with the 4.10:1 axle ratio (TRD Off
Road Package) and 31X10.5-15 tires. We use is for race support
for my grandsons racing. He races KTM 50 and 65's.
This is the finished product as it sets today, conversion/work
all done. You can see the roof mounted air, air max vent cover,
fully diamond plated nose, porch light, assist handle and the
bag awning rolled up. Also, something you cant see, each screw
on the side I removed and installed those water proof rubber washers
like whats used in metal buildings. It grabbed the aluminum skin
better and did seal it from leaks. If you have any questions on
this, drop me an email by clicking on the mail box below!
