Also a need for an electric heater that works below 40 degrees.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Tipper
We use a $15 electric heater as our solution. How hard would that be to put that ability into the air conditioner unit somehow?
So you solved your own problem for $15. I do the same thing. It is simple, quieter that any RV AC unit and keeps the camper warm. Works great. FR provides a furnace instead for when the temps are too low for the heat pump that has the added advantage of working without 120v electricity.
FR doesn't make AC units, Dometic does. Please ask them how hard it would be and report back when you get an answer.
I see repeated threads about how we customers want a rear hitch.
There are many reasons not to do this when manufacturing a pop up or a frame. The only manufacturer that I can recall ever offering this was Fleetwood. They removed the feature after the bike rack manufacturer that had agreed to certify a rack for use on the back of the camper changed their mind because of the excessive bounce.
Look at how much the back of the camper bounces on your next drive over a rough road. It is much more than your car. I suspect no rack manufacturer today would certify a rack for this use and without that agreement, FR would be reasonably unwilling to do this expensive change for very few users.
We all understand the frustration of wanting it all in a small inexpensive package, but that is not the reality of life. If carrying bike on the camper is important to the purchaser, they should buy a camper designed to do that.
Some owners have modded FR AFrames to carry bikes. The balance on some AFrames is suitable for this, but not all. The mods are easy to find on this forum if you want one. At your own risk. Please cable the whole thing to the camper frame as a courtesy to the cars behind, in case it fails.
Why does F.R. not respond to our needs? I find it strange.
Any manufacturer can nickel and dime their way to being overpriced in any product. In reality AFrames are an entry level camper designed to be sold to first time purchasers. Price is a very important consideration because a standard camper can be purchased for not much more. Nickle and dimeing down to what people want the target buyer wants the most is how pretty much all manufacturers respond to customer needs.
Forest River does address the market for those who want to carry bicycles or other large items by offering the bike hauler and toy hauler A-Frame models (see photo of mine).
They also have propane furnaces in their units for the times the temps are above 40° and someone wants heat. Electric heats are small and easy to carry but for this type of trailer, impractical since most in the market desire to be off the beaten path where electrical hook up is not always an option.
A Forest River A-Frame is heavily loaded with many surprising amenities in a 12-14 ft folding box. If someone desires more than the selection of models offered, then I'd suggest modding it for the personalization or looking at a traditional travel trailer.
FR has discontinued several A-Frame floor plans and designed others to meet the market demand since they began producing them in 2011.
__________________
2012 FR Flagstaff T12SDTH
1996 Shadowcruiser Pop Up Truck Camper
1967 Newell Motorcoach
2003 Ford F150 5.4 V8 Triton Super Cab
2004 Nissan Titan LE 5.6 V8 4x4 Crew Cab
Most TT and 5er frames aren't strong enough to support and hitch plus whatever crappie the unknowing would try to hang on it or attach to it. Hugh liability for the manufacturer.
It has nothing to do with liability or they would not be building RV's at all. They certify a certain GVWR on a federally mandated label. Some dummy could still load the trailer full of concrete blocks and blow out all 4 tires while going down the highway. Who is liable? Forest River
They could add a carrier to anything that leaves the factory no matter if its called heavy weight, ultralight, super light, or super duper feather light. All it takes is some additional engineering and reinforcement. Plenty of people have done it without causing a catastrophe including myself on 3 different trailers.
I agree with Mr. Havercamp, with one caveat: I think that although "a lot of us" have done it (I've done it on 2 TT's), in the grand scheme of things (millions of units sold), I think it's really a relatively small percentage of people who want to haul bikes.
My final post in this thread as we're supposed to give our opinion and move on.... hint- hint.
Sure you CAN beef up the frame and add on a bike rack on the back end
of an A-frame. Remember that's what the OP was talking about.
IF you do that you totally mess up the weight distribution and will very likely
end up with a trailer you can't tow faster than 30 MPH due to tail wag.
So now that you've spent all the time and money to add the bike rack you
need more weight in front. Do you buy some concrete blocks and put in front? A sack of rocks? Simply moving "stuff" from the rear to the front isn't usually an option except for maybe a case of beer or a couple sacks of food.
That's my point and many others here too. Adding weight to the far back end of a trailer isn't a good idea. Doing it with an ultralight is even a worse idea because it takes so little to make a big difference in towing stability.
We suggest you consider hitch mounted or even tow vehicle mounted racks.
And get an electric heater.....
Happy Trails!
__________________ Peace! Dan & Rita D
2017 Nissan Titan 5.6L King cab 4wd
2016 Evergreen Everlite 242RBS
29' empty nest model. Blue Ox WD hitch
(1 queen bed, large main cabin and huge bathroom)
Camping days 2010-53, 2011-47, 2012-41, 2013-41, 2014-31, 2015-40, 2016-44, 2017-63, 2018-75, 2019-32, 2020-41, 2021-49, 2022-43, 2023-66
I imagine the manufacturer does not put electric heaters in small trailers due to the 30 amp restriction. A heater, microwave, and coffee pot could quickly overload it. If you add your own heater (like most of us do) then it is on us to manage the load. Regarding the receiver hitch it would take a lot of reinforcement to bring it up to spec and you know that if it is there someone will connect a heavy trailer to it, such as a boat. The manufacturers have a lot of issues to consider and balance, so no I'm not disappointed they don't add those things.
__________________
Cedar Creek Lake, Texas
2019 Keystone Loredo 290SRL
2019 Ram 2500 4x4 Cummins crew cab
Andersen hitch
My final post in this thread as we're supposed to give our opinion and move on.... hint- hint.
Sure you CAN beef up the frame and add on a bike rack on the back end
of an A-frame. Remember that's what the OP was talking about.
IF you do that you totally mess up the weight distribution and will very likely
end up with a trailer you can't tow faster than 30 MPH due to tail wag.
So now that you've spent all the time and money to add the bike rack you
need more weight in front. Do you buy some concrete blocks and put in front? A sack of rocks? Simply moving "stuff" from the rear to the front isn't usually an option except for maybe a case of beer or a couple sacks of food.
That's my point and many others here too. Adding weight to the far back end of a trailer isn't a good idea. Doing it with an ultralight is even a worse idea because it takes so little to make a big difference in towing stability.
We suggest you consider hitch mounted or even tow vehicle mounted racks.
And get an electric heater.....
Happy Trails!
I offset my rack by moving my spare in front of the axles. Don't know if A frames have room, but if so, go for it.
I have an electric heater in the form of the fireplace. It works really well as an aux heater. At first i thought it was just ornamental, but it has come in handy a couple times. As car as the bumper, Im not sure the frame can handle it. The dealer installed spare tire carrier on the square tube. It looks solid but its thin walled.
I have an electric heater in the form of the fireplace. It works really well as an aux heater. At first i thought it was just ornamental, but it has come in handy a couple times. As car as the bumper, Im not sure the frame can handle it. The dealer installed spare tire carrier on the square tube. It looks solid but its thin walled.
You don't use just the bumper. You have to weld up a beefier receiver. See the pics below for what my dealer put on my Roo 19 hybrid. I had it 3 yrs and I'm guessing it's still going strong now.
Just our opinions. To us, the magic of A-frames are the simplicity of setup, light weight, and garage storage. We usually camp 2-4 day weekends, with maybe one trip a year of more than 4 days. We like to be able to look at each other and say, "let's go camping" and be on the road in 2 hours.
We did not want any more stuff added on to my A122 when we bought it. We wanted a low enough price that we wouldn't feel obligated to use it every weekend and that we could afford with students in college. We wanted a light enough camper to easily tow with our minivan (no new tow vehicle with college), yet a comfortable sleep for my wife and myself for up to 4 nights straight. We don't like to make reservations a year in advance (a couple of months out is good planning for us), so we usually don't have an electric site. And it had to fit in the garage to make it usable for camping on 2 hour notice. We sleep inside and usually cook, eat, clean, lounge outside at or near the picnic table. We spend most of the day hiking or sight-seeing.
For our style of camping, the basic A122 is all the camper we want. The propane heater does great in the 3 cooler seasons without taking floor space. The A/C and microwave do fine when we do have electric (if it's going to be 85 or above, we won't camp without electric).
With mods, the fridge works great in all weather. The beds needed a foam topper to sleep well - with the topper they are as good as home. We have never used the porta-potty or mattress warmer. We put in 2 golf cart batteries to run the heater for 4 nights without recharging - but I wouldn't want that as standard because many others don't have the need and would not want the extra tongue weight or expense of the 2 battery setup.
Everybody camps differently - why make everybody pay for features only some want or will use?
just our thoughts
Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage (minivan)
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time
last trip: Arches and Capitol Reef National Parks
next trip: Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks (unless a local trip comes first)
Just our opinions. To us, the magic of A-frames are the simplicity of setup, light weight, and garage storage. We usually camp 2-4 day weekends, with maybe one trip a year of more than 4 days. We like to be able to look at each other and say, "let's go camping" and be on the road in 2 hours.
We did not want any more stuff added on to my A122 when we bought it. We wanted a low enough price that we wouldn't feel obligated to use it every weekend and that we could afford with students in college. We wanted a light enough camper to easily tow with our minivan (no new tow vehicle with college), yet a comfortable sleep for my wife and myself for up to 4 nights straight. We don't like to make reservations a year in advance (a couple of months out is good planning for us), so we usually don't have an electric site. And it had to fit in the garage to make it usable for camping on 2 hour notice. We sleep inside and usually cook, eat, clean, lounge outside at or near the picnic table. We spend most of the day hiking or sight-seeing.
For our style of camping, the basic A122 is all the camper we want. The propane heater does great in the 3 cooler seasons without taking floor space. The A/C and microwave do fine when we do have electric (if it's going to be 85 or above, we won't camp without electric).
With mods, the fridge works great in all weather. The beds needed a foam topper to sleep well - with the topper they are as good as home. We have never used the porta-potty or mattress warmer. We put in 2 golf cart batteries to run the heater for 4 nights without recharging - but I wouldn't want that as standard because many others don't have the need and would not want the extra tongue weight or expense of the 2 battery setup.
Everybody camps differently - why make everybody pay for features only some want or will use?
just our thoughts
Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage (minivan)
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time
last trip: Arches and Capitol Reef National Parks
next trip: Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks (unless a local trip comes first)
Expecting additional options on a low priced entry level RV, that is attractive to most of their buyers because of their simplicity and few luxuries, kinda doesn't make sense.
Most much bigger and expensive RVs don't these options, so why would a RV manufacturer offer them on an tiny inexpensive A-frame.:what:
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
Linear Mode
