Taxa Outdoor Tiger Moth Trailer Rebuild Thread

[TrailJustin]

This is the opening post. I bought a trailer! Now let me start with I tested the Second Wind Flight XL trailer with my wife and newborn and it is awesome. Having a trailer with a dog and baby at this season is life is certainly the way to go for now. From there the search was on.

I was able to find a used Taxa Outdoor TigerMoth for 4k. The inside was in outstanding condition and he said he only used it a couple times. The outside is showing some wear from being stored outside but it nothing we can't resolve.

From here there is a few things we need to resolve on the build list.

1. Get it registered. Currently does not have a VIN or a license plate assigned to it.
2. Rebuild the electrical system and upgraded to 200ah Lithium Batteries as well as an inverter to run electric appliances.
3. Rebuild the rear pull out kitchen as the wood has been rotted.
4. Clean up the exterior and wrap it.
5. Organize the interior space with camping gear
6. Upgrade rear water holder to Backwoods Jerry Can Holder
7. Upgrade interior lighting to be brighter and dimmable.
8. Mount my Propane bottle for camping.
9. Upgrade interior roof fan
10. Install heater or AC pass through port.
11. Fix door messing to allow bug screens.
12. Add exterior camp scene lighting.
13. Upgrade to Lock and roll Hitch
14. Upgrade front jack.

If I am able to complete everything on this list it should be one heck of a unit to use for the next couple years then sell it for me. It for sure has been a blast to work on and experiment for now. The follow ups to this thread will be documentation after each one of these steps are completed.



Once these are completed

 

[TrailJustin]

Testing Phase 1​

Ok lets talk. I got the truck out for a test trip this weekend with the trailer and there is lot to report here so lets start with the goods and then the cons.

Goods
1. Towed pretty well and got to learn how to use the trailer brakes which turned it into a game changer when going down hill.
2. The rebuilt outdoor kitchen (more to come) is pretty sweet and was able to cook breakfast easily.
3. The rebuilt electrical system (more to come) is bullet proof and worked so well but needs improvement.
4. The trailer is so well insulated even at 42 degrees at night we only turned on the heater in the morning.

Cons

Notes - by far do these cons discredit how awesome this set up is so far. It is simply a list of stuff that needs improvement that I am already working on as we speak.

1. The microwave stored under bed (for baby bottles) does not work well! Having to move the bed to get to it is hard to do at night.
2. Need front storage for 12v fridge. I had it stored in the camper and then took it out. This fridge really needs its own tongue box.
3. Need more storage above the bed and less stuff on the bed. Unlock the previously testing trailer we need more storage in the trailer to access stuff at a moments notice.

Here are the action items I wrote down from on the trip. Full transparency.

• Microwave needs to be accessible up top.
• More storage for baby stuff up top
• Dump area up top for random items
• Heater needs to be plumbed in with diffuser
• Phone charger needs to be mounted
• Exterior table and phone charger
• Fridge slide out box
• Mis hooks to hand stuff in the camper.
• Inside trash can for the middle of the night
• Larger Max air fan with speed control.

Conclusion:
I am trying to really build this trailer out to be supportable until we have 3 kids. You can put a RTT on the top of this thing to expand the sleeping area and that is also the current plan.

So all systems on board have to be build with that in mind. So far it is working but gives me a whole lot of respect for the Viato system and how well I had that thing dialed in.