Several years ago, while traversing, courtesy of 6" of fresh snow covering , what appeared to be a level truck stop back lot, I drove over a curb and shallow ditch while towing my 2015 Wolf Pup. Immediate damage was to take out the holding tank dralns. As it was snowing heavily and getting dark, there was little I could do but button up until morning. Fortunately little elso appeared to be damaged so we were warm and cozy in our tiny house on wheels.
Next day we continued on our journey, stopping at the next city to do some triage on those drains so we could use the plumbing. Several hundred miles later, we were home with no further incidents.
I discovered the need to replace the axle as the "bump" had bent it enough that one tire was nearly worm bald out of round. I took the opportunity to "flip" the axle to gain about 5" more ground clearance and am glad I did that. I also added shock absorbers at the same time: more good!
The next year, we went winter camping and encountered a freak hard freeze in western Washington. We encountered frozen holding tanks, as the tanks hang down from the frame, and water lines, all of which run beneath the floor in the space that is barely insulated.
To say I was annoyed is an understatement. Not the fault of Forest River. These are common "features" of all small trailers.
Contemplating further winter adventures, I set out to eliminate the frozen sub floor and tanks issues. I removed the (maybe) R3 fluff insulation and replaced it with a total of R20 iso-cyanate rigid foam with the water lines embedded and wrapped with heat tape.
I stuck heat pads on the bottoms of the holding tanks and a small DC powered heater in the space beneath the bed where the fresh water tank and water pump live. Since I didn't wand to heat the whole great outdoors to keep my tanks from freezing, I devised and had fabricated insulated shrouds to enclose them.
No more frozen plumbing!
I am attaching some images of my (prototype) tank shrouds. Should anyone desire to have similar shrouds for the tanks in their rigs (that have the same size tanks), send me a message and I'll give you the lowdown as well as a price. These shrouds are precision constructed of water jet cut .125" aluminum and have TIG welded seams.
Next day we continued on our journey, stopping at the next city to do some triage on those drains so we could use the plumbing. Several hundred miles later, we were home with no further incidents.
I discovered the need to replace the axle as the "bump" had bent it enough that one tire was nearly worm bald out of round. I took the opportunity to "flip" the axle to gain about 5" more ground clearance and am glad I did that. I also added shock absorbers at the same time: more good!
The next year, we went winter camping and encountered a freak hard freeze in western Washington. We encountered frozen holding tanks, as the tanks hang down from the frame, and water lines, all of which run beneath the floor in the space that is barely insulated.
To say I was annoyed is an understatement. Not the fault of Forest River. These are common "features" of all small trailers.
Contemplating further winter adventures, I set out to eliminate the frozen sub floor and tanks issues. I removed the (maybe) R3 fluff insulation and replaced it with a total of R20 iso-cyanate rigid foam with the water lines embedded and wrapped with heat tape.
I stuck heat pads on the bottoms of the holding tanks and a small DC powered heater in the space beneath the bed where the fresh water tank and water pump live. Since I didn't wand to heat the whole great outdoors to keep my tanks from freezing, I devised and had fabricated insulated shrouds to enclose them.
No more frozen plumbing!
I am attaching some images of my (prototype) tank shrouds. Should anyone desire to have similar shrouds for the tanks in their rigs (that have the same size tanks), send me a message and I'll give you the lowdown as well as a price. These shrouds are precision constructed of water jet cut .125" aluminum and have TIG welded seams.
