Safari Sport 17 first road trip

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by jdthor

When my wife was trying out the kitchen I had to sit myself on the front couch and stay put.

Hmm... I see that as a feature, not a shortcoming.

Actually, I konw what you mean. My wife a I travel with our two dogs in our 20' with no problem, but we are only in the trailer for eating and sleeping. Perfect for us but not fulltimers.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by jdthor

Read your post on the fans, ordered mine yesterday. Now if only someone could tell me a safe way to increase ground clearance without voiding the warranty........as I said earlier, my wife and I are active outdoor types so I know we will be hauling that Sport 17 to all sorts of unlikely places. A little more underframe space would be a good thing.

JD,

New 16" rims and LT tires will give you about another inch+, or you can replace the axle with a greater degree of drop.

[overlander63]

Does the trailer have 14 or 15 inch tires?

[jdthor]

Measured ground clearance is 6 inches to the lowest points underneath, the box just forward of the axle (water tanks?) and the spare tire frame in front of that. The tires are ST215 / 75R14's (Goodyear Marathons). Can I go up to 16 inch without modifications?

[jdthor]

"....My wife a I travel with our two dogs in our 20' with no problem........" I was wondering about traveling with a canine companion. Three months ago we had to put down our siberian husky Cody who we had for 11 good years and she was a great travel dog. I mentioned in an earlier post that my wife and I were pretty active joggers, and our dog Cody was my daily running partner. One thing about huskies, those dogs can RUN. We were wondering about whether or not we could add a pup to our trailer travels. Not ready yet for another canine family member, but a well-behaved midsize dog would probably do ok with this little trailer. I shudder to think what a large, untrained animal could do inside this thing though. Wayne&Sam, is that an competition agility dog on your tag?

[Wayne&Sam]

Yes that's Luke and I compete with him. Our other dog is Molly, a Jack Russell. They are both good inside dogs despite being high energy. They get a lot of exercise hiking, mountain biking, agility, etc.

[TBRich]

Originally Posted by jdthor

Next project...build a shed-roof behind my workshop for this little fellow.

Speaking of shelters...we built a "Bambi Port" for our 19'...a sort of carport affair that comes off the roof of the house...we used to have a regular car port in this area, which we had taken down...but have recenlty re-invented/re-constructed it for the Bambi... We are so glad it's covered now...out of the sun and potentila hail we have during our stormy/raiiny season...much peace of moind! See our member photos at http://www.airforums.com/photos/brow...0&userid=21900

TB

[TBRich]

Originally Posted by jdthor

We were wondering about whether or not we could add a pup to our trailer travels.

Sure you can! We (2 adults) travel with 2 cocker spaniels in a 19' Bambi and they get along just fine and no one seems to get stepped on...a large dog may be present a different story...

TB

[lewster]

Originally Posted by jdthor

Measured ground clearance is 6 inches to the lowest points underneath, the box just forward of the axle (water tanks?) and the spare tire frame in front of that. The tires are ST215 / 75R14's (Goodyear Marathons). Can I go up to 16 inch without modifications?

Depends on the free space you have above the tires to the wheel well and the gap you have in front/back. I went from 15's to 16's. Not sure if you will find 16's with your bolt pattern, but it's sure worth a shot.

[jdthor]

TB: "Speaking of shelters...we built a "Bambi Port" for our 19'..." I like what you did for your Bambi-very clever. Two years ago I bought a 12 x 20 wooden shed that had been built about 20 years ago and was sort of sliding down into a pit out in the woods near here. We winched it up and out and onto a flatbed trailer and hauled it to my house. Refurbished the entire structure top to bottom, windows, doors, shingles, frame, floors, you know the drill. (ended up costing about what a new one would have cost, not to mention the hours and hours I spent on it). Since I make a practice of NOT learning from the past, I think I'm going to build a roof behind the shed for the Safari Sport, using 4 x 4 posts (10 feet high), 2x6 joists, 2x4 purloins, and standard steel roofing. A two-weekend project that will take me two months cause me to cuss a lot and inspire my wife to take several solo trips to visit friends in distant communities. By the way, INSIDE the shed is a 1937 Buick that I've been restoring for TWO years, and I had to relocate my 1951 Mercury cross town to my sweet 82 year old Mom's while I figure out what to do with the Safari Sport.