mikeexplorer

Made a video of the memorial ride. The video camera I am using is new so I did not have a lot of time to play with it. I found out AFTER I shot the video that the image stabilizer was turned off 😆 but the video didn't turn out too bad.

Looking back at the picture you posted of the quad, yeah I see what you mean. The rack is bare (no pun intended) In my case I drilled through the plastic cover and did not have to drill into the rack itself. If you mean those thread inserts used to repair a stripped out hole, two things. They may not be long enough , hard to tell from your picture, the rack tube may be 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch. The insert would have to be that long. Second issue is the thickness of the rack metal is probably 1/16 inch. Not sure if there is enough meat there to hold the insert in place. Would not be an issue when the box is attached, but when removed, they may slide out. What you might get away with is drilling and tapping a hole in the rack for the screws, I would use fine thread screws such as 1/4-28 instead of 1/4-20 or use metric screws. Then when you go to screw them in coat them with red loctite. If in the future you had to remove the screws, heat them with a torch to break the loctite bond. Mike Why not use some heat shrink tubing, slip it on over the u-bolt and shrink it for protection? If the u bolts are larger then the rack, the garden hose idea will work.

It is a soft tent so roof mount not possible. When I camp I have plenty of space to put out a solar panel if needed. What I meant by "where to put it" is the solar controller. It is not part of the fold up panel.

If this helps. Michelle's cargo box (a soft box) was going bad, attachment points were tearing off so it needed replacement. I got this metal box from a friend cheap, so what I did was remove the plastic cover on the rack and drilled out 4 holes to slip 4 bolts through. Took some plate steel and drilled & tapped to act as thin nuts. So now the bolts act as studs. Drilled the holes in the box and used knobs to screw it down to the rack. This makes the box removable if needed. I used some thin gasket material around the rack to help dampen any noise it might make, but just from trying to shake it, this sucker is on there solid. I bought a cheap outdoor floor mat, cut to size and used it for the bottom of the box.

The vehicle has 7 pin plug but the trailer side does not use it. I am not concerned about charging the battery when towing because when I have the tent trailer put away. It is hooked up to a 3 amp tender (yes rated for the battery) So its fully charged when I am headed out to camp. I do have on hand a 200 watt inverter if I need. Generally at night I run a generator. The solar panel I have is bulky and only 100 watts (the one with the older controller. I do have on hand a thinner 200 watt one I am thinking of using and I do have a newer controller for it. I just have to figure where I am going to put it.

There is no connection from the battery to the vehicle. Although the trailer plug is 7 pin, since the trailer is single axle it has no brakes. I charge the battery with a proper charger I bought for the battery using a generator at night. The solar panel I used with the old battery, but the controller does not have a LiFePO4 setting so I don't use it now.

I replaced the battery on my trailer with a LiFePO4 this past year The solar panel I have the controller does not have a LiFePO4 option (it is older one) but what you are saying it isn't needed as long as I regulate the voltage down to 14.6. The battery has its own charge controller?

I just caught this statement. Your using a DC-DC converter to upscale voltage as an input to a solar controller to charge the battery? So your charging input can be from a vehicle or a solar panel? If I read that right, I could make a change on my setup for simplicity.

Yes control transformers *MAY* work both ways but you have to look at the KVA rating of the transformer. (Small ones will rate by VA) The available current output would be less then 1/4 of the input current. Normally control transformers are designed for step-down only. Running them reverse would cause a lot of heating on the secondary side (being used as primary) since they are not designed for it (wire gauge is too small) If you really wanted to do that, they make step-up transformers for that purpose.

Most of the time an electric blanket is all I need. If it is real cold, I have a diesel heater I can use and it runs on 12 volts so I don't need to keep the generator running all the time.

The sell electronic parts. It takes getting used to their search engine. They stock over a million parts https://www.digikey.com/en/products/filter/boxes/594

1: True, OEM belts are $$$ but they last. I had an aftermarket one on Michelle's quad and it did not hold up. (had no choice, OEM out of stock at the time) The belt was starting to come apart and only lasted 2,500 miles. OEM belts I usually get 6,000 plus miles. 2: True/False Depends on the machine. Arctic cats do not use lube They use a wet clutch for the main clutch, but the primary/secondary CVT is dry. 3: Have not seen this, I have/had machines with up to 16,000 miles on them with no sheave wear.

Before the topic gets too derailed, a few photos from last weekend at Snow Shoe Rails to Trails. They held a memorial ride for one of the founding members (and a good friend of mine) He started SSRT back in 1999 and was passionate about the trail. He died last year due to cancer. He was one of the nicest people to ever know.

The box is an electronics hobby box, you can buy them in many sizes at an electronics site such as Digikey.

In PA its not allowed and you would get pulled over for it.

You can also solder the wires to the terminals instead of crimping. My power box setup for camping. I used Anderson connectors to connect to the battery. Inside the battery case is a 30 amp self-resetting circuit breaker. I bring the power in to my breakout box which has the fuse block, two 12 volt accessory outlets. USB charging ports, and a cigarette lighter (also can be used for more USB ports.) Battery meter with temperature reading. This year I replaced the battery with a 100Ah LiFePO4 battery and added two more high power USB charging ports.

That is one of the issues they are having since a lot of side by sides have large light bars. They are required to be covered when traveling on roads. That is a PENNDOT rule not DCNR so there are conflicts between the ATV policy code and vehicle code. They are trying to hash it out now.

Don't know about the vintage cars, they pulled in while we were taking a break. Was cool to see so I had to take a picture. My vehicle is a Tahoe, it is rated to tow 8,600 pounds (it has the towing package) it handles the trailer with ease. Since the trailer is single axle and under 3,000 it has no brakes, they are optional. The classifications of ATV's is by DCNR so as we say "Its a Pennsylvania thing" Doesn't apply to other states. Class 1 ATV is 50" wide and under 1,000 pounds. (so even some smaller side by sides are classified "1" ) Class 2 ATV is over 50" wide and over 1,000 pounds not to exceed 1,200 pounds. DCNR is doing a major revision to the ATV policy now that this Northcentral Trail is up and running. Connections on this system utilizes township roads and some state routes so there has been "issues" with policy. If you have a light bar over your headlights, it has to be covered to ride the state routes (A PENNDOT rule) There was an accident north of me last month, a woman was riding a side by side heading home, a truck was behind her, she hand signaled she was making a left turn and the driver thought she meant to pass her, the collision was fatal. They don't teach hand signals anymore to get a driver's license in PA. I think one policy update will be a requirement for turn signals for UTV's since its harder to hand signal.

Some pictures from last weekend. A few more, barren area is a mine reclamation area. Several trails here are restricted to Class 1 ATV's only Even found an abandoned railroad grade. cool.

The trailer plus tent is 1,200 pounds and I can put up to 1,500 pounds on the deck. Axle is rated for 3,300 pounds but because of the laws, the trailer is rated for 2,995 pounds. Here in PA (not sure of other states) A trailer rated over 3,000 pounds requires yearly inspection. I can also remove the entire tent and swing the wings vertical to make a utility trailer, but I have no need for that since I have two other trailers. My 8 foot ramps are no longer sold. They now sell 11 foot telescoping ramps instead. Unfortunately Michelle cannot get out of work again this weekend, but she told me she WILL be going to the pig roast ride in 3 weeks.

Loading up for this weekend camp trip. (1 day early because it is going to rain here tomorrow) These are my ramps. 8 feet, and the arch does help with loading. May have time before I leave to post pixs, if not, when I return.

Have to wait, packing up and heading out again this weekend. Ill drop one picture, (okay two) Two Elk came into the field at the campground we stayed at. The trail system we rode is a mix of woods and old strip mines.

I found an older video which shows the ramps I have and side-loading / unloading. Later Ill put up some pix's of the weekend, We did a 120 mile trip through two counties

Never took pictures of loading / unloading but here is one of their videos loading a side by side on. The difference is I side load for two machines and my ramps are 8 feet and fixed.

Heading out for another weekend in Northcentral PA.