2004 Dutchmen built T@B T2 camper

GreatWhiteNorth

Edited for photo resizing.

Hi everyone.  I introduced myself and our new to us (we're 3rd owners) 2004 T@B in the introduction thread, and there seemed to be interest in seeing some pics.  There were a few interesting comments, and I thought I'd post up some pics, and discuss things in a running thread as I make a few changes.  We are long time (tent) campers, and after attending this Boler 50th meet up here in Winnipeg (more about that here: http://www.myboler.com/ ), I got the green light from the Frau (she is German) to buy something.  Well Bolermania has sure set in up here - I looked at 4 fiberglass trailers, and just couldn't bring myself to spend that much on an old fixer upper.  I kept my eyes on the classifieds (Kijiji, like Craigslist), got lucky saw this T@B advertised, responded within the hour (first to respond), got 1st dibs at it, went and had a good look at it, and committed to buy it.  Unfortunately, this was a late fall purchase, so we haven't camped in it yet, and it's deep winter now.  It's in really good shape overall, no damage of any sort, and the galvanized frame has no rust - looks like it didn't see much gravel, and was well taken care of.  I fixed a few minor things already, and upgraded the kitchen light to LED.  I'll post up a few pics.  Ours is a real oldie, the identiplate shows Dec 2003 production!



And here's a panorama shot of the interior:



First modification, upgraded that kitchen counter light... I like it bright!  I installed this double 1156 bulb light, and used LED bulbs.  Battery is out of it (it's -30C outside, deep winter here), but tested it in the house before installing it:



I'll post more on things I find, and changes I make, if there's interest.  We only got one key with the camper, and couldn't get additional keys cut locally.  It appears the key blanks are German, and not common here.  Because I'd read about the door handles breaking, I ordered and already received a new door handle assembly, with 2 new keys, from NuCamp - Thnx Whitney!  Good to have critical spares on hand... might not be many still to be had!?  I'll be ordering the wheel bearing kits, and a set of replacement brake pads from them tomorrow.

dragonsdofly

@GreatWhiteNorth, thanks for the update. And yes, keep it coming. Love the pics.

Sharon_is_SAM

Looks in good shape.  You have the surge brakes, too.  Does the frig still work?

GreatWhiteNorth

Hi Sharon.  Thnx for resizing the pics.  I need to figure out how to do that without losing quality!  I've not tried the fridge, furnace or stove yet!  The fellow we bought it from said fridge works well.  The battery it came with was shot, so I bought a proper deep cycle battery for it, installed it just to check out the lights, and removed it because of the cold.   I suspect the converter no longer charges the battery... will look into that in spring.  I "bought" the Richard Lewis book 101 Questions about T@B, TADA and T@G Camping Trailers thru Google Play, and read thru that - very useful.

Here's a pic of the battery shut-off switch... I mounted it to a steel strap I fabricated for the positive terminal:

Sneakle

Very cool to see the early model.

GreatWhiteNorth

Ours has a quite plain looking interior.  I really like the front kitchen, and the stainless steel backsplash... it reflects light very well.  I've got some outdoorsy themed wallpaper border, and will use double sided tape or something to hang some photos to make it more homey.

Sharon_is_SAM

@GreatWhiteNorth, fir re-sizing, from a smart phone or tablet, try the app Image Sizer.  You may have to do one picture at a time, but it was pretty brainless😁

GreatWhiteNorth

Thnx Sharon.  I found a free app, Image Resizer... that must be the one you mean?  I just downloaded that, tried it, seems to work well.  I was looking for the image posting criteria guideline, couldn't find it.  Is it file size, or how does that work?  I knocked this pic down to 1028 width, seems to be OK.

This pic shows the off center jockey wheel swivel jack set-up that it came with.  The Al-Ko frame is very lightweight, and I can see the frame rail flex where that's mounted, when I move the trailer around.  This morning, I ordered wheel bearings, brake pads, AND the stock original type center mounted "jockey wheel" from Elsie at Nucamp.  They are really great & helpful to deal with.

I read somewhere you've gotta be careful that jockey wheel doesn't slip down while towing, that it can get damaged (probably what happened there), and that it's smart to use a bungee cord to hold it up.

Resized pic:

Sharon_is_SAM

I use Crop Size, but it is not intuitive.  I just started using Image Size for single pics and found it very easy.  The forum limits got filed in the Category “Help - Computer/System” and it is now back under the announcements at the top.  

“We encourage our members to share their photos with everyone on the forum. When attaching photos to a posting please take the time to re-size your photos as it will help us save space on the forum. Attached photos should be approximately 800 pixels wide maximum for landscape photos and 600 pixels tall for any vertical shots you post.”

If you have an iPhone, select the picture for resizing and email it to yourself.  It will ask if you want to resize at which point choose “Medium”.

Mouseketab

GreatWhiteNorth said:

Thnx Sharon.  I found a free app, Image Resizer... that must be the one you mean?  I just downloaded that, tried it, seems to work well.  I was looking for the image posting criteria guideline, couldn't find it.  Is it file size, or how does that work?  I knocked this pic down to 1028 width, seems to be OK.

This pic shows the off center jockey wheel swivel jack set-up that it came with.  The Al-Ko frame is very lightweight, and I can see the frame rail flex where that's mounted, when I move the trailer around.  This morning, I ordered wheel bearings, brake pads, AND the stock original type center mounted "jockey wheel" from Elsie at Nucamp.  They are really great & helpful to deal with.

I read somewhere you've gotta be careful that jockey wheel doesn't slip down while towing, that it can get damaged (probably what happened there), and that it's smart to use a bungee cord to hold it up.

Resized pic:

Glad you were able to get those parts. I'm not sure what converter you have, but I replaced mine on my 2007. (From what I understand they changed sometime in 06). But you should be able to get a decent converter for about $125.

GreatWhiteNorth

Not sure which way I'm going to go yet, should the charging portion of the converter be toast.  Apparently this is the converter that replaces my oldie:

http://www.bestconverter.com/WFCO-8725P-Power-Center_p_50.html#.XFOyLFxKjIX

I will certainly bring a battery charger along - I have a decent quality automatic deep cycle battery charger.  A friend of mine has two Honda 2000W generators, offered to sell me one for a very good price.  I've read the fridges are power hogs?

TABaker

Congrats on your new-to-you DM T@B.    I have a 2007 that I purchased in early 2010. I'm the second owner.  I love our original jockey wheel.  Most of us use a bungee cord to make certain it doesn't slip and fall with vibration.  I would recommend Richard's book, but I see you already have it.  Great!
If you haven't joined the "T@B Camping Trailers" Facebook page, you should.  Several of us are owners of Dutchmen (DM) T@Bs.  There's also a group "T@DA, T@B, and T@G Camper Trailer Owners". 

Mouseketab

GreatWhiteNorth said:

Not sure which way I'm going to go yet, should the charging portion of the converter be toast.  Apparently this is the converter that replaces my oldie:

http://www.bestconverter.com/WFCO-8725P-Power-Center_p_50.html#.XFOyLFxKjIX

I will certainly bring a battery charger along - I have a decent quality automatic deep cycle battery charger.  A friend of mine has two Honda 2000W generators, offered to sell me one for a very good price.  I've read the fridges are power hogs?

OK, yes that is an easy replacement. That is the same converter I have.

The three way fridge is only intended to be used on battery when towing and you have a charge line to your battery. Otherwise, it needs to be on gas or electric. On gas, it does pretty well. With hookups, no problem.

GreatWhiteNorth

Just received my (expensive!) order in from NuCamp.  Replacement wheel bearings, brake pads and the jockey wheel assembly.  The wheel bearings look like sealed needle bearing cartridges!

Mouseketab

Yes they are sealed bearings!. When we replaced ours, we took the hubs off ourselves and took them and the bearings to a local machine shop and they pressed the old ones out and the new ones in for $20. You do need a heavy torque drill as the one time use nut needs to be torqued to 220 lbs.

That is a nice jockey wheel (pneumatic).

GreatWhiteNorth

Thnx Carol.  Looking forward to installing that jockey wheel.  We had our driveway re-done and widened, so there's lots of room to swing the trailer around.  I hope I never have to replace those bearings actually.  I'll see if I can replace the brakes myself.  I found the "chassis" maintenance manual on-line!

I bought one of these trailer dollys too, haven't tried it yet tho:

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1-000-lb-trailer-dolly/A-p8681744e

Daryl

GreatWhiteNorth

One of the things I intend to do is install this small power panel in the camper, to both power my C/PAP machine (I bought a 12V adaptor), and charge USB devices such as my phone, and a small tablet/laptop I have.  I am thinking back RH cupboard over the bed, as it's concealed back there, and I can tap off the light circuit easily.  This wasn't wired properly, as the switch didn't interrupt the power!  Gotta have an in-line switch or there'd be phantom drain with the LED voltmeter always on, and USB outlets consuming power.

Verna

Please check the fuse and the wire size going to the light to make sure both are large enough to support your CPAP.  

The wire size to the lamps in the nüCamp T@Bs would not be able to handle the light, voltage meter and the CPAP. I added a voltage meter and a dual USB outlet to the light circuit on my former 320 and I could only charge one electronic device at a time, and I could not charge my iPad from that USB outlet. 

GreatWhiteNorth

Verna said:

Please check the fuse and the wire size going to the light to make sure both are large enough to support your CPAP.  

The wire size to the lamps in the nüCamp T@Bs would not be able to handle the light, voltage meter and the CPAP. I added a voltage meter and a dual USB outlet to the light circuit on my former 320 and I could only charge one electronic device at a time, and I could not charge my iPad from that USB outlet. 

Hi Verna, the C/PAP machines draw very little power.  That lighting circuit in my T@B is fused 15A, which is really quite a lot when you think about it, and the wire gauge I found used is certainly up to the task, is a fair sized gauge.  I've got replacement LED bulbs for the lighting fixtures, so they will use only about 1/4 to a 3rd of the power of normal incandescent bulbs.  I wouldn't have everything going at the same time, ever... lights out when I sleep.

I do however think if one was using a cigarette lighter adaptor set-up to run something with more load, like maybe a portable fridge/cooler, it would be prudent to wire it in with a dedicated fused circuit.

I actually have the original owners manual that came with the camper, and it has a section for the power converter.

GreatWhiteNorth

Yesterday I made this panel insert to fit that DC power panel.  I used a scrap of 1/4" thick oak veneer plywood... still have to oil and/or clear coat it.  I'll glue in some supports behind for velcro attachment.  I still need some kind of door hold open set-up - seen a few good ideas in mod threads, and the Richard Lewis T@B/T@G/T@DA on-line book (money well spent IMO).

GreatWhiteNorth

Now that it's finally warming up here a bit, slipping into spring, I've been out getting a few things done to the camper.  I replaced the power converter with a Made-In-USA Progressive Dynamics unit.  I made a dedicated thread to that:

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/8580/progressive-dynamics-pd4135-power-converter-installation#latest

I took a page from the Richard Lewis book, am in the process of upgrading the tail lights to LED.  The white reflector is replaced with conical turn signal lights:

GreatWhiteNorth

Finally got out camping.  I was delayed plenty, by health issues, and crazy hot weather, which wasn't very conducive to working on the camper.  I think I'd mentioned in another thread, that I'd bumped the back end of the camper in the winter with the car, shattering the plastic.  I had to order replacement plastic, installed it myself - no small job, not easy to do either, but it turned out OK.  Got the LED tail lights installed too.

Mouseketab

  

Sharon_is_SAM

Looks like a pro job!

Obeshawone

Do you still have the source for the LED tail lights? I have a new to me 2005 as well and will embarking on following your leads in many of these projects. 

Thank you for sharing all this great information.

Sharon_is_SAM

@Obeshawone, GreatWhiteNorth has not logged on since February.  Seems like someone else recently installed these same lights.  Check out this thread:  https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/134724#Comment_134724

dragonsdofly

@bamboofly, please look at the categories column at the upper left of the page (screen). Near the top is a category listing of Dutchman t@b resources. Some useful information may be there. Otherwise, I suggest you start your own thread regarding your specific structural Dutchman t@b question. That way your question is available to the entire forum, including other Dutchman t@b owners. Where you have posted your inquiry may be obscure to some as it is at the end of a year old, unrelated topic. -Denise

GreatWhiteNorth

Sorry, hadn't checked out the site in a while.  The LED tail lights came from Princess Auto.  I don't remember brand name or part number to be honest.

mash2

Did you find keys.  I have an 06 and the blank was a Porsche key.  Looks very clean.

GreatWhiteNorth

No, I never did get a key blank & spare key cut.  I bought a new old stock door handle, that of course comes with a new key set, but haven't swapped it in.  Most recent camping trip to Birds Hill, just north of Winnipeg.

Pattie57

@GreatWhiteNorth, your T@B looks just like mine...towed mine home 2 days ago but have to get some things sorted out before I go camping with it!