Has anyone used a Venturcraft Trailer?

[91xlt]

just scored a venturecraft trailblazer trailer!! wondering has anyone used these? seems and looks to be good with Plenty o' ground clearance!

[calamaridog]

Pics:exclaim:

They are out of business, right?

[Grouseman]

91,

I have seen them via net pictures. Great little design. Actually the best I have seen. I have a M101 trailer and I'm going to have a tent made bascially like their design, just a little better for the trailer. Let's see some pictures too. When you get a chance pm me. I need to see alot of photos of the tent if possible. I will be ordering my tent soon, and need to get some construction details from you.

Gman

[91xlt]

yeah, i have just come into the new millenium....digital camera!!

have a weekend camp trip set up for this coming weekend, will take and post pics.

Gman...no problem, these tents seem great, as does the trailer. i will modify as i see fit and as needed. i actually came across a gentleman who has a few of these trailers in different trim/option packages....A HUGE AND RARE FIND!! trying to work out some #'s with him for another trailer or possibly 2. Possible modify and re-sell. These have been sitting unmaintained and un covered outside in all types of weather for a couple years, sun rain snow, etc...

Gman- let me know what in particular you want pics/measurements for, be glad to send them to you, Jeff

[Grouseman]

Yes it sounds like you have found a goldmine. I need pictures of the framework on the inside. You know the aluminum tubing. At present I believe I have a mfg for my design on the tent, but need to figure out the framework also.

Thanks
Gman

[91xlt]

GMAN

trying to post pics with no success....pm me youe email address:beer:
Jeff

[91xlt]

GMAN

added section for "tent" to supermotors link, let me know whatr else you may be looking for.:beer:

Jeff

[91xlt]

gman,
yes i sent an email to the gentleman to find out if any still avail. reply was he is out of town until wed. as i stated to you in pms i am working alot of OT, 12 on 12 off , there is not a lot of time for too many extra cirricular activities, i am working on this for you. there is no finder fee necassary, just a little patience! if you call this guy out of the blue, he is going to hammer you on the price! hope this helps.

[Grouseman]

gman,
yes i sent an email to the gentleman to find out if any still avail. reply was he is out of town until wed. as i stated to you in pms i am working alot of OT, 12 on 12 off , there is not a lot of time for too many extra cirricular activities, i am working on this for you. there is no finder fee necassary, just a little patience! if you call this guy out of the blue, he is going to hammer you on the price! hope this helps.

91,

Thanks man. Sorry to pester, but they are just so hard to find.

Thanks
Steve

[Scott Brady]

I have one... (sold, kind of)

http://www.expeditionswest.com/vehicles/ewvehicles/VenturCraft/index.html

Nice score. They are great little units, though the suspension is pretty lacking.

[91xlt]

I have one... (sold, kind of)

http://www.expeditionswest.com/vehicles/ewvehicles/VenturCraft/index.html

Nice score. They are great little units, though the suspension is pretty lacking.
hey scott, can you give any details of probs? i think it is going to work for what i need for now. this is not a solutuion for me, just a stepping stone. but if you would be able to tell me what i may expect from it...good...and..bad.

[Scott Brady]

The VenturCraft uses a torsion axle, with about 1-2" of wheel travel. That really slows you down on the corrugated roads and rocky surfaces. On technical trails (slow) and the highway, its great.

The drawbar is also subject to bending. I had to replace mine

[atavuss]

GMAN

trying to post pics with no success....pm me youe email address:beer:
Jeff

if you want you could send me the pics and I will post em up for all to see.
what did you find out about the other Venturecraft trailers that the guy had, are they for sale?

[91xlt]

The VenturCraft uses a torsion axle, with about 1-2" of wheel travel. That really slows you down on the corrugated roads and rocky surfaces. On technical trails (slow) and the highway, its great.

The drawbar is also subject to bending. I had to replace mine
i kind of figured all of the above...looking into some mods, that will hopefully help.

[91xlt]

if you want you could send me the pics and I will post em up for all to see.
what did you find out about the other Venturecraft trailers that the guy had, are they for sale?
figured pic thing out...finally

yes, still has another for sale:exclaim:

[91xlt]

here is a link to my new(96) VentureCraft trailerhttp://www.supermotors.org/vehicles/registry/detail.php?id=12148&s=35319#content

let me know what you think!

the other trailer, the green one is going to go thru some changes...tent is being removed, is spoken for by a fellow member here. the roof tent that i have is going to be mounted on top and will go from there.

would like some feed back of pics, white trailer to be modified...just not complete sure of how just yet. i do have some ideas including replacing exhisting tongue with heavy duty, mounting kichen box long ways instead of across, adding another box longways, behind kitchen for other items incorporating battery, propane, and waterstorage systems.


open to any ideas....thanks:beer:

[ntsqd]

Searching for info I found this thread.

I was just given one of these trailers on long term loan from a friend. A PO mutual friend had a 4x4 shop re-build it to be Mexico rated. That shop's owner is well familar with what it takes to do that as he vacations down there himself.
In the trailer's current guise it has several peninsula trips and a 2 week trip into the Copper Canyon region under it's belt. Only issues are some rock chipped paint on the frame & a cracked lower tub aluminum perimeter frame. I think the latter is due to other causes, but I have engineered a fix.

The frame is scratch built from mostly 2x2x 0.090 wall. The shop kept the original suspension, but added RS9k shocks to the ends of the leading arms. Reportedly it does better on washboard than the last rig to tow it, a stock mini-Blazette.

[ntsqd]

Finally got home in the light so I could take some pics.

Under the tongue of the trailer, note the center tube runs all the way aft:
http://machinegenesis.smugmug.com/photos/i-G8VcC6N/0/M/i-G8VcC6N-M.jpg

Thru the undercarriage:
http://machinegenesis.smugmug.com/photos/i-FQVFDX3/0/M/i-FQVFDX3-M.jpg

To the rear receiver:
http://machinegenesis.smugmug.com/photos/i-CLrG5hW/0/M/i-CLrG5hW-M.jpg

The Extendable Tongue:
http://machinegenesis.smugmug.com/photos/i-PjMDTjL/0/M/i-PjMDTjL-M.jpg

And what sits on the tongue:
http://machinegenesis.smugmug.com/photos/i-X7r6M22/0/M/i-X7r6M22-M.jpg

[adventureduo]

That's awesome! Im so jealous. :bowdown:

Can you take more pics please.

[ntsqd]

I wish I could afford to just buy the thing from my friend.
Hard to get very far away from it in my driveway. Might just have to take a trip. Oh darn, I hate when that happens..........

[adventureduo]

Whos your friend? I wanna see that trailer... so he is selling it? I want i want!

[ntsqd]

No, he's not selling it. I'm first in line if he does.

[adventureduo]

Sounds good. Did i mention im jealous? lol

[Wildvisions]

I have a USA Venturecraft Trailblazer for sale if anyone is interested. Has every option available. 623-516-1975 Mike

[LexusAllTerrain]

I have a USA Venturecraft Trailblazer for sale if anyone is interested. Has every option available. 623-516-1975 Mike



It is Sold, I called Mike today at 2:38 pm and it was Sold, too bad I was ready to go to Phoenix to pick the trailer up, I am inpressed with this liittle trailer and I wish i could find another one.

This trailer belongs to my friend and we did a trip together in Baja, this trailer is so easy to set up that I am crying!

A video of the trailer in Action!

http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3040127060103002685rRNfBQ?vhost=outdoors

[ntsqd]

The single thing that I do not like about the one I have is the hard cover over the tent. From what I've been able to determine was an extra cost option in place the standard canvas cover. It does allow for kayak or bike racks where the soft cover doesn't easily lend itself to that. Why I do not like it is that I can not remove it by myself, and prior to her starting training for a Sprint Tri it was all my GF could do to help.

A marine canvas shop quoted me $250 to make a soft cover, but he really didn't like the idea of the normal securing methods given where and what it was. He suggested that I make stringers that secured to the hard cover's hold-downs, and then he'd attach the soft cover to those.

[dizzyspots]

We found a well used Trailblazer for sale in Texas...rehabbed it by switching hubs to 6 lug to match the FJ Cruiser, LED taillights, color matched the body and top...added Harbor Freight tow bar caddy to front...we have been to Baja twice (see Euroroman's post for pics)...fully loaded, including 10 gals gas, 10 gals H2O and ice chest on the tongue...some bad washborads between Gonzaga Bay and Coco's Corner at 40-45 mph...seemed like it was bouncing a lot in the rear view mirror, but Euro says tires never left the ground. The hard top is a PITA by yourself but not impossible...the soft vinyl cover makes it a snap...easy to reach cargo on the road or when its set up in camp set up time AND into the premade queen size bed is less than 3-5 minutes...the mattress is really comfy!
Still working on some minor mods...but we LOVE it (Total cost involved= less than $2000)
PS I have a contact in Texas that still has misc parts from the auction of USA Venturcraft back in 99...tents, bed decks, etc...no complete trailers :(

[ntsqd]

The prime item criticized on these trailers appears to be the rubber torsion suspension axles occasionally loosing the trailing arm. Mine came to me 'baja hardened'. Part of that process included adding some RS9k shocks to the suspension system.

In thinking about this failure mode I think that the method of failure might be that the rubber in the axle housing gets over-heated from the rapid movement generated by washboard roads and de-vulcanizes from the surrounding steel. I think that adding a pair of shocks is very prudent modification. Adding the shock moves the damping function, which is a large heat generator, out of the rubber and into the shock. That isn't to say that adding shocks will completely remove all heat from the rubber in the torsions, just that a fair amount will be moved.

[jatibb]

what about air shocks? could they carry part of the load also, or are they too "springy" also? the trailer ive been working on has these axles too. an swap someday for springs and such pretty easily but for now would like to stay with these. no crawling, only dirt roads and such, which would worry me sometimes.
also, when and if these come loose do they or could they seperate from the axle beam or lose their rubber spring only. mine came off of a boat trailer that i dont know the history of except for fresh water only.
so far theve carried lots of weight ok, building a deck, but that was on paved roads.

[ntsqd]

Characteristically air shocks are poor dampers and air rapidly changes it's volume with temperature, making for large changes in charge pressure if the overall volume is too small.

With a small volume a high charge pressure is needed to carry the load. Spring force equals charge pressure times "piston" area. On something like a washboard road this means that the change in volume is dramatic, which heats the air faster than if the volume is large because the total volume has to move rapidly and over a relatively large distance.

With a large volume, like on the AT system, the change in volume from suspension movement is a much smaller percentage of the air spring's volume. They still suffer from the rise in pressure due to heat, but because the displacement volume percentage is so much lower the air isn't 'worked' as hard and therefore it does not heat up nearly like a small volume air spring will, which results in a more consistent charge pressure. If the air volume is large enough for the range of motion, the rise in pressure due to a rise temperature will be small enough as to be unimportant to the use or the user.

[LexusAllTerrain]

I just got the scoop, there is one trailer available for sale and the selling price is 2000.00 I guess I am taking a short trip to go check this one out!

Your thoughts!

[ntsqd]

Did you buy it yet?
:)

[LexusAllTerrain]

Did you buy it yet?
:)

No, I am going to take a trip this weekend to go see it live, I have not seen pictures I only got a description, no title, however they say it is in very good condition and it is ready to roll!

Will find out!:drool:

[LexusAllTerrain]

Did you buy it yet?
:)

A friend of mine bought it!

[highlandercj-7]

The single thing that I do not like about the one I have is the hard cover over the tent. From what I've been able to determine was an extra cost option in place the standard canvas cover. It does allow for kayak or bike racks where the soft cover doesn't easily lend itself to that. Why I do not like it is that I can not remove it by myself, and prior to her starting training for a Sprint Tri it was all my GF could do to help.

A marine canvas shop quoted me $250 to make a soft cover, but he really didn't like the idea of the normal securing methods given where and what it was. He suggested that I make stringers that secured to the hard cover's hold-downs, and then he'd attach the soft cover to those.

You are so so-cal.:sombrero: LOL, I would love to have a hard cover for my old Apachee. I am in the process of opeing it up and cleaning it again as water has penetrated the soft cover, again. I'm thinking of cutting down a F/S truck bedliner to fab a hard cover to keep the nasties and snow out.

[ntsqd]

A plastic truck bedliner would weigh less than 1/3 of what the hard cover weighs. Lifting it and the tent to access the lower part of the tub is all that I want to do. If it were as light as a plastic bedliner I'd be good and not at all interested in a soft cover. This thing is chopper gunned 'glass at least 1/4" thick at the thin regions and nearly 1/2" thick in the thicker flat panels.

If I had both covers I would likely store it with the hard cover on it, but I'd leave it at home.