Tent Trailer Project – Introduction
Posted by adminSep 20
A few months back, we (my wife) decided that we no longer wanted to sleep in tents on the ground. I was originally against any sort of towing with our van, as it’s tow ratings aren’t super high, however after some research and a few parts purchases (trans cooler, hitch, wiring…), the van was ready to tow a smaller tent trailer.
We didn’t want to spend a ton of money and didn’t mind doing a bit of work. After seeing several trailers we decided to venture a bit further from home and ended up purchasing a 1975 Lionel LP85 tent trailer. It originally appeared to be in better shape than we have come to find out, however the basics of the trailer are fine and it fit the budget.
Originally I didn’t want to have a trailer with any sort of braking system as I didn’t want to run more wiring for electric brakes and I also didn’t want the extra hassle of maintaining another set of brakes (two cars is enough for now), however I didn’t totally rule out surge brakes, and this trailer has them. Well… sort of. It has a surge brake system, but — little did I know — they were far from operational.
After we trailered it home, I began going over things a little deeper. At this point we were heading out on a quick camping trip and I just wanted to have the basics covered. The bearings didn’t sound noisy and the tires spun fine. I did purchase a new spare as the old one was severely cracked from being on the back of the trailer exposed to the sun. Of course, putting the trailer up at home, I snapped a lift cable right away. Luckily it was just a short cable that was easily accessible under the trailer and I replaced another while under there as well as getting a few spares just in case. A few hours of cable adjusting later, we were ready to have our first “test run” camping trip, which went just fine.
We ended up recovering all of the cushions with some cheap fabric, just to get a cleaner look, and intend to replace the two bed foams with something thicker for more comfort.
We’ve had two trips in the trailer and just a few minor issues which I’ve mostly dealt with and now that the trailer is in the garage for winter storage, it’s time to get to work on the major work. First up, the brakes, then the roof (more on that later)…
PS – check out the photo gallery to follow the project.
Josh
Looking at the brake job you performed on your trailer, you replaced the Atwood brake assemblies with Dexter. Did the Dexter just bolt on to the axel, or did you need to do any modifications? I have a 1977 Bonaire (the company that made your trailer) which needs the same brake work done to it.
Hi David,
The Dexter 7 1/4″ assemblies bolted right on. It’s a standard 4-bolt brake flange on the axle. There weren’t really any other options for a 7 1/4″ hydraulic single piston system. Everything was quite easy to do. I ran new brake lines and replaced the master cylinder as well so the whole brake system is brand new. If you want, I can dig up the exact Dexter part numbers for the left and right assemblies. Feel free to email me at josh_at_joshporter.net
Just wanted to say thanks for the tent trailer posts and the pics. I too have run into a no brakes issue on my 1977 Lionel LPL-110(and I mean no brakes) Started out to replace bearings and tires when I realized the trailer originally came with brakes(assuming it was also surge). It seems one of the previous owners decide to remove everything brake related and just use the trailer without. Just in the process of pricing a complete axle with electric brakes and going up a tire size from the 12″ also gaining some clearance by mounting the axle under the springs. Or my alternative is to just leave it as is and replace the bearings and tires as I had originally planned as I am towing with a full size van so the 1500lbs is well below towing capacity. Any idea how much your surge brakes totaled at $.
Hope the rest of the unit is coming together for you.