Vortex 510 N. Santa Fe Ave. Salina, KS 67401 (785) 833-6720

Mike and Carol. the price will vary a lot for Vortext coating. Pete's application was much more expensive. I recommend calling Vortext and tell them your application needs. They were very helpful giving me locations that were experienced coaters and do a variety of applications using uv stable / paint matched finish coatings. My coaters do a lot of work with uv coatings but don't have the tools to identify color. I had to provide them the paint color formula. I brought my propane cover to my local specialized automotive paint supplier. They were able to use a special camera on the propane cover to come up with the paint formula that I gave to the Vortext shop. Be sure to disassemble the trailer nose. You need to remove the aluminum plate that that is bolted through into the bath vanity to spray the surface under the plate. Vortex is too thick for the nose cover to side on if you tape off the plate and spray around it.

I joined this thread Nov 2019 looking for a solution to protect our trailer's fiberglass from rock chips/pitting. We have remained fustrated for a solution that met our needs. John Davies rock stompers were more than we want futz with while hitching/unhitching and bugeyed driver's Vortex appeared to be very good but very expensive based on his report and was available only 800 miles from my home. Six years later, even more frustrated dealing with rock pitting our fiberglass. I called the Vortex company and asked if they had experienced dealers near me. I was given two options: one in Sacramento and the other in Redmond Ore (near Bend). Both within a 5-6 hour drive. I spoke with Calvin, the owner of Interstate Coatings and Linings of Redmond Oregon. Clavin was very knowlgable and gained my confidences to spray our trailer with Vortex + an automotive UV stabilizer color match paint. Having solved finding an experienced Vortex services within shouting distances of home, price was the next Hurdle. Interstate Coating's quoted fee was $10 per sq foot + $65 per hour for disassembly / re-assembly of the propane nose and various hardware. One week later the job was done. The total cost was $695. We are pleased with the work and color match. We are ready put the Vortex to the test. Calvin and Alex (shop manager) are good guys and offer a what we think is a great service/product that let us roam the outback gravel roads stress free. We will let you know how Vortex preforms for gravel protection. For now we are happy campers. Thank you Bugeyeddriver for taking the time on the phone and sharing your experience with Vortex. You gave us the confidences to go forward with the Vortex process.

You don't mess around. That's a nice piece of hardware. Very Well done!! We are already ladder rich and only needed the platform to create scaffolding .

JD 1923, I purchased this direct from Little Giant factory direct sale for about $130 at the time. the other Little giant item that I love is the plank to walk between two ladders. they make a few sizes. I can walk the whole length of my f250 and about halfway the length of the trailer while easily accessing the roof. great for waxing your rigs. these are spendy but I purchased mine direct during a sale for around $150.. I'm on their promo list and get sale offers..

JD 1923, I purchased this direct from Little Giant factory direct sale for about $130 at the time. the other Little giant item that I love is the plank to walk between two ladders. they make a few sizes. I can walk the whole length of my f250 and about halfway the length of the trailer while easily accessing the roof. great for waxing your rigs. these are spendy but I purchased mine direct during a sale for around $150.. I'm on their promo list and get sale offers..

Thanks for all these great solutions. The hoist is amazing but standing on the tailgate per JD1923 or a platform per Steve and Ma should get the Jobe done. We also travel with very stable platform that folds supper flat (Little Giant Jumbo) to reach gear on top of the truck. Never considered getting higher to make it easier to lift over the housing. very wel done

Thanks for all these great solutions. The hoist is amazing but standing on the tailgate per JD1923 or a platform per Steve and Ma should get the Jobe done. We also travel with very stable platform that folds supper flat (Little Giant Jumbo) to reach gear on top of the truck. Never considered getting higher to make it easier to lift over the housing. very wel done

We are occasionally experiencing propane refill stations requiring the tanks to be on the ground (not on trailer) to fill. Additionally the staff has not been allowed to help remove / replace the tanks. I have some physical disabilities and lifting 30lb tanks is difficult. Is this a regulation that is loosely followed? Are other people being required to fill tanks on the ground ? Is anyone using alumiunum tanks that are much lighter to lift off the trailer? if using Alu tanks, any recomecdations on brand/tank model ?

Thanks for all the feedback. Got it, righty tight / lefty loosey. No mistakes with open valves. Discounted both tanks from trailer, tank valves closed no leaks.. lit stove top and burned off all propane left in the line until flame died. Hooked up propane tanks with valves remaining closed. Was able to lite stove top with modest pressure driving the flame. Able to burn modest flame on stove top as long as stove top valve is open. Clearly we have a leak in one or both valves when hoses are connected. Seems at least one a bad valve. The part I don't understand: why I'm not able to detect a leak when the tanks are disconnected. Do the hose interface pins release a gate in the tank valve?

Possible answer. I'll give it more time to see if the flame on the stove top dies

thank you this is great information..

As prior mentioned, we had a broken spring. we replaced with same version as the old springs at the time. Our Alcan springs should arrive in the next day or two. We accounted the axles size (don't recall for sure but i think they are (3"??) and u bolts size (1/2") when ordering the parts. I was reviewing the thread about springs and came across some trailers were made with the smaller trailer 5,200 lbs running gear in 2015. Our trailer was made in 2016 (hull #124). I believe we have 3,500 lb axles. How can I confirm we have 3,500 lb axles?

how about this .. tows 40,000 ponds and is small

Any wisdom on how this is possible? Tanks standing alone (not attached to the trailer) with valves closed do not leak.

Replaced 7.5 year old Michelin's with Cooper Discoverer HT3 LT225/75R16 a year ago. Have run about 9,000 miles inflated at 45psi. Have had a few sets of Cooper AT3 on the f250 and my former Tundra. All been great tires.

wow, thanks for all the conversation regarding "sagging crossbeams". We have been off the grid and it's raining. I will get some images of the under-side of my frame posted and count the crossbeams when I'm in a dry clean place get on the ground. I discovered the beams were sagging when I was making a drilling template for installing a mid-trailer mud-flap per John Davies design. I clamped my drilling template (1" wide flat bar of aluminum) to the crossbeam in front of the axle and it clearly was sagging..

I'm coming very late to this party but posting because we broke a spring January last year on hull #124. We ran our tires hard for a long time and do a lot of off road driving. We replaced both springs on the axle with the damaged spring. This information about all the bad springs mades me uneasy because we are headed for an extended trip with lots of off road driving this week. We now run tires at 45psi and will check the springs each day. Will replace all when we return home. Grateful to all for sharing this information.

Bent / sagging crossbeams I have a related issue with some frame crossbeams. I have four and maybe more crossbeams that are sagging (have a belly in the middle). When putting a straight piece of bar stock across the bottom of the trailer's crossbeams, you can see about one inch +/- bow / belly in these crossbeams. Interesting that the beams that are bent are located in the front 1/3 of the trailer ( behind the bathroom and in front of the axles) and the back 1/3 (behind the axles and in front of for the cabinet between the twin beds. The bent crossbars have no apparent other damage other than the belly. I am a big guy, regardless these beams should not be bent. Does anyone have knowledge or experience with bent crossbeams?

I'm interested in what you learn and your process/cost setting up DC to DC charging. I have spoken with AM Solar located in Springfield, Or about DC to DC charging for my 2019 f250/Oliver. They seem to be experts in RV solar applications and DC to DC charging. You might want to speak with them. They were very open to share information but required setting up a phone meeting a week or more in advance. They quoted in the range of $4,000 to pull 2AWG wire through my truck / trailer to support DC to DC charging. The cost slowed me down and I put DC to DC charging on the back burner for now. I would appreciate if you would share your set up and installation process.

f250 comes in various sizes from The 2023 Ford Super Duty F-250 length ranges from 231.8 inches , 246 and 266.2 inches or 19.25 ft, 20.5 and 22.18 ft. with the height 78-82" . Payload will meet or exceed your needes...Fit will be very close but some configurations may meet your needs..

We spend most of our time off the grid boondocking. In addition to a full freshwater tank in the trailer, We have a custom 30 gal tank in the back of our truck. The spare tank in the truck has an open/close value with standard a standard hose fitting, fitted with quick release hardware. The truck tank also has a "breather vent" that allows water to flow out without creating a vacuum. We run a standard 25' water hose from the back of the truck water tank to the Boondock trailer port / passenger side rear port (use quick release hardware without check valves on both ends of hose (trailer and truck tank) for quick/easy setup. We open the truck tank valve and set the trailer water pump valves inside the trailer to draw water from the boondock intake port. Next, we turn on the trailer pump and it fills the trailer fresh water tank in a few minutes. When full, we turn off the trailer pump, close the valve on the truck tank, discount the quick release connectors, put the Q/R travel cap on the trailer and truck tank Q/R valves. Next we drain any water left in the hose (able to this because the Q/R ends do not have check valves). Then we wind the hose and snap the two hose end Q/R together sealing the hose from contaminates. This method of transferring water to the trailer fresh water tank is simple and does not require having your extra tank above the trailer to gravity feed. We can have the truck in any position with the trailer while still hooked up to the truck. Another tip: We generally take outdoor showers from the outside water port to keep from overfilling the gray-water tank.

Out and about boondocking remote parts of NW Nevada, SE Oregon, NE Cal.. Bog hotsprings Nevada, Alvord Desert Oregon, Medicine Lake Ca, Malheur Refuge Oregon, Sheldon Refuge Navada

Thanks for the help. Ollie got new boots. Put on new Cooper HT3's and still have a substandard spare. Don't want to mount License plate and plate light on the back of the trailer to mount an uncovered full size tire.