Almost finished! Building a RTT hitch carrier for my Maverick Tremor. Kipahulu Gulch camping in 3(not 2 lol) weeks!

[Maverickman74]

Aloha! We havent camped for a very long time, its been nearly 5 years. Those are the years since my wifes cancer diagnosis. Today she is doing alot better. Working full time building houses, keeping me moving, and still time in her day to love 3 cats and 2 dogs. We used to go with a really nice RTT from Tuff Stuff. It had an annex room that was great for the dogs and changing. We were nice and cozy up in our lil nest. The ladder was never great but otherwise we loved it. During her treatment i mounted it in a tree for our nieces and nephew. The ants moved in into it and utterly destroyed the fabric. Fast forward a few years we had a nice opportunity for a family camp out last year but no longer had and gear, had just bought the Maverick and really didnt have the time. I was looking at alot of suv tents to go off the back of our Tremor topper, but everything had bad reviews under the $250 dollar range. So I got thinking about the RTT tent again. I found out that Tuff Stuff sells new fabric for our tent. Its fairly easy to replace it appears. It wasnt cheap but aside from a full time deployment and ant invasion i think it is worth replacing at $500. So i jumped in. I also got thinking about making a platform for it so it would be easier to get into but still have all the benefits of a RTT. Its dry, no tarps needed, setup is easy, it has a solid floor and all the windows zip completely open.

To construct this contraption I decided to use a bunch of scrap aluminum from a farm bridge that I have. I made a ladder frame, found some camper legs as well as some pivoting hitch extensions and drops on Amazon. I could have fabricated them but the price of metal on the island is about the same as these almost finished projects. I have frame mostly finished and assemble, even added some wheels so I can move it around easily when setting it up separate from the Maverick or to move it into a nice place for storage where i can keep the ants at bay. I am still waiting on 2 legs for it and we still have to swap the new tent fabric on to the old tent frame. But I thought I would share some pictures of the progress so far. We are going camping at the Kipahulu Distric of the National Park out in Hana on Maui. Whole family is going so it should be alot of fun. I will post more as I get closer to finishing it and photos from the actual campground. It will also make a very nice place to stay for adventurous guests who come to visit us on the island.


**Spoiler Alert** Thought I would add a couple pics of the near finished product to the original post on the thread. Its come a long way in a few weeks.

And this is where it all started.

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[Maverickman74]

If yall think its too tall. The Maverick is just too short. Its 93" tall. Right between a standard height and mid height roof Transit van. No worries on any drive throughs around here. Maybe too tall for the low mall parking garage but Im not camping there lol.

 

[Maverickman74]

I ended up getting a lil more done tonight. I got the skin removed and the old frame cleaned. Then I mocked up the frame, I want to put it up on the sawhorses to install the fabric at waist height before I lock it to the frame. I also got a little nice touch with some old trex board across the front for a little bench so the tailgate is a nice table. You may notice a large blue umbrella in some shots. Those are Pipeliners Cloud umbrellas they hitch mount and I have 2 of them. 8ft diameter, 60mph wind rated. I have a pipeworks pole receiver mount I am going to bolt to the frame near the wheels aswell as a hitch receiver I am going to weld sideways on the hitch connections. That will give me 2 larger umbrella coverages for shade over and around the tent. Should make for a nice cool camp. Still have to figure out if I am going to bring a large griddle that we use regularly or a small camp stove. Also gonna put together a small frigde power setup with the battery and inverter from the Bronco and a small 50 watt solar panel. Should give juice to run the fridge for a few days.

Here is a few more pics.

 

[Maverickman74]

DISCLAIMER!!
In case anyone notices the Toyota Tundra in the background. It is not mine. Its part of my mother in laws company, it has sat there since thanksgiving. It has already been towed up my driveway twice buy my Tremor and my Bronco. Its 2wd and I will be suprised if it starts whenever she decides it is needed. I just hope and pray that it never comes down our hill again. Its partner is a nice lil 2002 Stepside reg cab 3.0 5sp 4x4 ranger I kitted out as a solar powered spray truck with 600ft hose for microbial soil rejuvination.

 

[RichardCranium]

This is a cool project. I can’t wait to see it done.

 

[thev8man]

If yall think its too tall. The Maverick is just too short. Its 93" tall. Right between a standard height and mid height roof Transit van. No worries on any drive throughs around here. Maybe too tall for the low mall parking garage but Im not camping there lol.

Booyah
Interesting, cool concept

 

[OleFordGuy]

Awesome. Keep us posted on progress.

 

[710-oil-614]

DISCLAIMER!!
In case anyone notices the Toyota Tundra in the background. It is not mine. Its part of my mother in laws company, it has sat there since thanksgiving. It has already been towed up my driveway twice buy my Tremor and my Bronco. Its 2wd and I will be suprised if it starts whenever she decides it is needed. I just hope and pray that it never comes down our hill again. Its partner is a nice lil 2002 Stepside reg cab 3.0 5sp 4x4 ranger I kitted out as a solar powered spray truck with 600ft hose for microbial soil rejuvination.

Forget the Tundra can we talk about that badass Comanche?

 

[Maverickman74]

Forget the Tundra can we talk about that badass Comanche?

That would be my 91 Comanche Eliminator(horrible name). Factory dana 44 rear and high pinion (non disconnect) dana 30. 88 4.0 block, 2002 4.0 head, flowmaster side exit exhaust, cowl and vented and rusted hood. carburetor style air filter under the cowl of the hood. It has helper springs and shocks on the rear aswell as 1.75"shackle lift. The front has 3" springs, 3" spacer(soon to be replaced by 7" springs. Also has WJ lower control arms (soon to be replaced by long arm 3 link kit), steering is a 1 ton over the knuckle setup. AW4 slips in reverse(soon to be replaced by a AX15). Racks i literally found in a cane field, added some boards to make rain coverage for my electric saws and whacker. It is also a stable platform that I can setup a ladder on if my 16ft pole saw isnt long enough. Previous owner home made rear bumper with nice hooks and integrated hitch. I made the front bumper based around 2x2x.25" steel. It has a harbor freight 12,000 winch with a synthetic line. Winch has been used atleast 50 times for tasks, and only 3 or 4 for recoveries. I also carry extra 75ft of line, plus 30-40ft of strap. Plenty shackles, 2 snatch blocks, comealong, hilift. I also keep alot of hardware, useful scrap metal, drill, driver, big impact, sawzall, grinder, power ratched, sander. Aswell as a slew of other hand tools.

I use it for work on the farm and to service the farmstand at Twin Falls Maui. Instead of typing this I should be going to re organize things a bit, so I can load my welder and take it up the hill to fabricate mounts for a sissy bar on chopped 80s honda bike. If it doesnt rain. There is a extra piece of plywood secured on top of the racks that slides out for tailgate workspace coverage. It will help keep you not drenched, but I wouldnt call it a dry workspace.

Its a good truck, goes anywhere, is reliable enough for my side of the island. Plenty rust but hardly any in structural areas. Plus these XJ/MJs can be beefed and patched so easily. We will see if the Tremor outlasts it. I think it will be close depending on how lazy I get.

 

[BAScott62]

Something I just thought about, that's going to catch a lot of air and put a whole lotta (sorry for the fancy engineering term) torque on that hitch and knuckle assembly. Might want to beef up the metal around where the pin goes through on the hinge.

 

[fossil]

be sure to duck traffic lights and trees

 

[Maverickman74]

Something I just thought about, that's going to catch a lot of air and put a whole lotta (sorry for the fancy engineering term) torque on that hitch and knuckle assembly. Might want to beef up the metal around where the pin goes through on the hinge.

The frame is longer than it needs to be, I made it that way for ground stability and cantilever support when detached from the truck. I may cut it down about 10" if I end up not liking it. Then tent itself wont actually be that high up either so it will have alot of pass though for wind.

As for the knuckle. We will see. The part that goes into the Maverick is actually solid bar. Everything is pretty beefy. The hitch assemblies actually weigh about a third of what the whole frame does. I will also be using stabilizer straps to the hitch. Hopefully doing road tests this week. If it survives all the way to the highway. It will survive anything.

be sure to duck traffic lights and trees

Trees may be a concern, but I did check McDonalds yesterday. I should have a full foot of clearance, so fries wont be a problem!

Now I just need these clouds to move so I can get back at it.

 

[Rivers90]

I did check McDonalds yesterday. I should have a full foot of clearance, so fries wont be a problem!

As long as fries are not a problem you will be fine.

What is the max tongue weight for the Maverick? I am guessing you will be under it but it would be good to know.

 

[Maverickman74]

As long as fries are not a problem you will be fine.

What is the max tongue weight for the Maverick? I am guessing you will be under it but it would be good to know.

The 4k is 400lbs. Tremor is only 2k rated but the physical hitch is the same. So I am going with 400lbs. The frame is just over 100lbs and the hitch adapter are probably 45lbs. The tent is about 150lbs. So overall I think I am in good shape. I would have made the spine of the frame out of something a little thicker, but I had the old highway sign posts already. I put over 1000lbs of force on one trying to straighten a piece one time. Wasnt enough. So that should hold the 250lbs of the frame and tent just fine.

 

[Dad]

Amazing, just amazing!

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