profdlp's 2007 Liberty Project

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profdlp

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I may go ahead and either flip the spare tire mount or throw the sucker on the roof rack. I am picking up and loading the trailer the day before I leave so I'll at least have time to monkey with it without getting antsy about not being on the road.

Thanks! :)
 

CobraNutt

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I use an extender with my off-road trailer. Only issue is noise, which I took care of with a u-bolt type silencer. No issues at all. Oh, and shorter hitch-to-wheel trailers are harder to back...just sayin. My little 10` trailer is fun to back into my single car garage! :)

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profdlp

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You guys are great. :)

My first load will roll out of here in a week and I have no doubt that by the time I'm 50 miles down the road I will relax and quit trying to micro-plan every detail.

In the meantime... :happy175: ...I have one other little question. I had to supply my own power wire (see my post of 9/30) and didn't have any of the heavy gauge wire around I intended to use. I went with something which is a little lighter. (About AWG 14.) It's not exactly spaghetti wire but it's not the transatlantic cable I had intended. Since the taillights themselves are actually in parallel with the Jeep's taillights (that set of wires was in the kit), the power wire basically only runs the small circuit board for the controller. I can replace it if need be. Anyone think that's necessary? The wire I used is easily as big (if not bigger) than the power jack I tapped into, which has run my mini 12V air compressor without blowing anything. I just don't want to be crawling around under the Jeep on the shoulder of the turnpike trying to replace a fuse or something.
 
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profdlp

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According to the specs for the wiring harness kit I bought, these are the max levels the box can take:

Specs:

Maximum amperage:
Stop/turn lights: 4.2 amps per circuit
Tail lights: 7.5 amps per circuit


I should have looked that up before. I'm pretty sure that anything which would overload the wire would also fry the box anyway, which would certainly be a bigger problem.

Gee ****, did you ever see a guy agonize so much over a daggone trailer wiring job? :icon_lol:

(I am really going to need this thing, though, and I appreciate all the help.)
 

al7fi

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I used an extender on my old 03 Liberty LE with 3.7L, 45RFE and factory tow package. Never a problem. 2 wheel 8X10, 2 place snowmachine trailer with a 2010 Polaris Widtrak IQ 600 (700lb dry), and once a year an A-Liner Expedition hard sided pop up maybe 2000 lb.

The extender made it a lot easier to hookup and the added length made it easier to back up..

Not a problem on the KL TH since the receiver is pretty much flush with the rear fascia.
(3.2L with factory tow (amongst other things).

Be safe!
 

John3seventeen

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Hey Prof here's an easy solution - throw the spare in the trailer!:ROFLJest::emotions34::happy175::shrug:
 

profdlp

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John, I honestly would have never thought of that. Thanks for starting my afternoon off by making me feel dumb. :happy175:

I think I'm going to leave it right where it is and decide when I pick the trailer up. Tossing it in the trailer would take three minutes, assuming it's even necessary at all. And I still have the extender just in case.

Now you guys watch very closely. At some point in the future another member will have questions about towing and I'll drop in on his thread and act like a big shot expert. :gr_grin:
 

profdlp

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Experience IS the best teacher

It truly is. On that note, since the power wire I have been asking about seemed to still bother me I went and replaced the thing today. Along the way I re-routed the wires a little bit and added a second inline fuse up near the power jack where the thing is tapped into. Getting a do-over allowed me to rectify the things I wish I had done differently and (***Magic Happens!***) made me quit worrying. My long suffering friends will be happy to know that I feel ready to roll and am going to find something else to worry about. :icon_lol:
 

profdlp

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After a lot of unnecessary confusion thanks to U-Haul unilaterally changing my reservation on me at the last minute, I picked up the trailer today (as scheduled; took some arm-twisting, though), loaded it up, then took it for a twenty-mile highway test drive. Lights work and I'm looking good for the big trip tomorrow. If anyone sees a 5x8 trailer in the ditch on the side of the PA Turnpike tomorrow you can wave to me as you go by. :mexsmoke:
 

profdlp

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Too much to catch up on, but I am now the proud owner of a junkyard steering column and a misprogrammed PCM. Thanks, random scumbag!
 

profdlp

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Roof Rack - Custom Crossbars

Bought myself four of these and some galvanized pipe to make some custom crossbars:

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Cut the pipe with a big ol' tubing cutter, added some rubber pads between the clamps and the roof rails, used U-Bolts to attach the roof rack to the crossbars, Plasti Dipped the works, then bolted it on. I still need to touch-up the Plasti Dip where the wrench and U-Bolts scraped things.

This thing is sturdy as can be and hasn't needed tightening down (I check it often) since it was installed July 2014:

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Looks like I need to investigate some rust drippage. Funny how these things are so obvious in pictures yet you don't notice them when you're staring right at them. :emotions34:
 
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twowings

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Did you buy the largest size clamps from FarmTek ? I'm thinking of buying their tubing as well...I'm going for the Rola basket from etrailer.com.

Any cons to the install setup yet ?

TIA
 
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profdlp

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Did you buy the largest size clamps from FarmTek ? I'm thinking of buying their tubing as well...
I bought these: 105957 Quik Klamp Clamp-On Tees 1" (for 1.315" OD Pipe) (I just checked my invoice to be certain.) Buying the tubing from them is a great idea. I went to four or five hardware stores and finally settled for "close enough". What I have works fine, but if I had a do-over I would have gone with "perfect fit". I think I have 1.25" OD Pipe. The set screws hold it fine and there is no rattling at all, but there is a teensy gap between the pipes and each fitting. I Plasti Dipped the works so it fills the gap pretty well. I'd see if FarmTek has U-Bolts to fit the pipe exactly, too. Mine are snug enough to stay on the pipe by themselves and I thinks that is helping the whole shebang stay together nice and tight. Of course, having the nuts on the U-Bolts nice and tight does much the same thing.

I'm going for the Rola basket from etrailer.com.
I almost bought that one before finally settling on the Rage Black Widow. I can't remember what my deciding reasons were, so it may have come down to a coin-flip. They are both very nice in my opinion.

Any cons to the install setup yet ?
Besides getting the perfect-fit pipe, I wish I had cut the pipe about 3/8" less in length. I cut the pipes to have as little play as possible and they ended up being a very snug fit. Having that extra 3/16" play at each end (3/8" divided by two ends) would have made the fittings a little easier to position over the existing roof rails. As deep as the sockets are on the fittings you will have plenty of overlap between the crossbar pipes and the fittings themselves, so the pipe doesn't have to go all the way to the bottom of the socket. The set screws will keep things in place so the whole works can't slide sideways anyway. If you have a good way to shave small amounts off the ends of the pipes you might shoot for a snug fit right off the bat and make adjustments as necessary.

I'd have the roof basket already on hand before you cut the pipe (I did, fortunately) because you'll want your crossbars to line up directly under a side-to-side bar on the basket. This allows your U-bolts to not have to sit at an angle. (See my second-to-last picture above.) The roof rails are not the same distance apart from the front to the back of the Jeep so if you cut them first and then needed to slide them forward or to the rear an inch or two to line up with your basket the distance between the roof rails will be slightly different. You'll also need to know exactly how far forward you want the basket to sit for the same reason. Once the pipes are cut (again, very slightly on the short side) you'll only be able to move them up or back a short way before the gap between the side rails becomes too large or small to go any further.

I did this seven months ago and have not needed to tighten anything down at all since, which surprises me. I figured the vibration of the road would necessitate some re-torquing from time to time. I suspect the cut pieces of heavy rubber gasket material I placed under the fittings to protect the roof rails are absorbing some of the shaking around they get when I hit a pothole or whatever.

I also used all stainless steel for the U-Bolts, washers, and nuts. As soon as it's warm enough they will be getting a layer of Plasti Dip but the pictures I took last month show that they haven't rusted at all as of yet. I also used lock-nuts on the U-Bolts along with lock washers to keep them from vibrating themselves loose. I got the right size U-Bolts and did not have to cut the tops off to keep them from sticking up above the bottom of the basket (see pictures), which has the added benefit of being able to tell at a glance if any are coming loose.

Overall, this ended up costing a little more than I expected. The fittings are terrific, both in quality and in function, but they are not cheap. I also went with heavier pipe and that cost more than the flimsy stuff. (I've seen some people use electrical conduit which looked too weak for my tastes.) Stainless Steel U-Bolts and fasteners were two to three times the price of the cheap stuff, but worth it. Plasti Dipping the crossbars was cheap and well worth it. And don't do like I did and drag your feet on the touch-up after you get the bolts tightened down or you'll have to wait all winter for a nice day to finish them off. :icon_lol:
 
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twowings

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Thank you kindly for all the helpful tips...I don't mind spending extra money as it's still far less expensive than the outrageous prices for manufactured crossbars...Thule and Yakima must make their stuff from Unobtanium dipped in gold crusted with diamonds!!
 

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