Flatbed Off Road Trailer?

[dzzz]

Any company building an off road flatbed trailer? I would like to have a modular camping trailer that I can also use for projects.

Also, how long is too long for rough road travel? How wide? (as a proportion of truck width?) How much of an issue is height if my rear view is with trailer mirrors and video? Do you have trailer brakes? What's too bog or too small on your trailer? Thanks.

This will be pulled by a heavy pickup camper or a full sized SUV. Weight is not an issue, except for fuel economy.

 

[Martyn]

Nothing available as far as I am aware.

In the past we have received calls from large military contractors who have been building similar trailers for the military, only to find out their performance is less than stellar off-road.

In addition to a strong and well engineered chassis you also need a responsive suspension system that performs well under loaded and unloaded conditions.

If you read the article at http://www.adventuretrailers.com/suspension.html you'll get an idea of what has to be dealt with, and of course why companies are calling us for advise (he says with a certain amount of pride :elkgrin.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

It really all depends on what you really want to do with it. You have to define what kind of roads or trails you want to use it on, as it all changes depending on your expectations. There's a huge difference between travelling on a gravel road vs. a level 4 trail.

IMO, in no instance should the trailer be wider than the truck. My trailer has the same track as the truck, and the body is overall a touch wider. I can still use my mirrors to see to the rear sides, but seeing to the rear is useless, obviously. If the track and/or trailer is wider than the truck, turning corners on trails is that much harder, but it doesn't matter much if you're using roads.

I think all off-road trailers should have brakes. Whether you're talking about going down a really steep decline, or trying to stop fast when blasting down a gravel road.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Pride very much deserved of course Martyn

Here is my old M116A2 flatbed trailer. The bows are removable so it could be made into a genuine flatbed, and it was a 3/4 ton, weighed about 800lbs empty so pretty heavy but with those big 36" military tires it could be pulled through pretty much anything. The stiff leaf springs were so-so, again better loaded then empty. These were the units that carried portable generator sets so they even have an exhaust port built into the floor. I considered it my "pickup truck" when I owned a FJ55 Land Cruiser, which is a SUV model. So nice for hauling garbage, wood or steel, or whatever... It was as wide as a full size truck as the bed extends over the wheels. It would have been an excellent trailer to cut up and make into something pretty sweet and a hair narrower for the trails, which was my plan. My Land Cruiser, in the photo there, is about as wide as a early-mid 90's 4-Runner I figure...

 

[dzzz]

Level 2ish. Good ground clearance for holes and water and big bumps. Figure payload 500-2000lbs. I would like to use 41" tires and 20" rims to match the truck, but that may border on the bizarre.
Heavy would be fuel and water. Light the trailer would be hauling more bulk.

 

[Martyn]

It really all depends on what you really want to do with it. You have to define what kind of roads or trails you want to use it on, as it all changes depending on your expectations. There's a huge difference between travelling on a gravel road vs. a level 4 trail.

IMO, in no instance should the trailer be wider than the truck. My trailer has the same track as the truck, and the body is overall a touch wider. I can still use my mirrors to see to the rear sides, but seeing to the rear is useless, obviously. If the track and/or trailer is wider than the truck, turning corners on trails is that much harder, but it doesn't matter much if you're using roads.

I think all off-road trailers should have brakes. Whether you're talking about going down a really steep decline, or trying to stop fast when blasting down a gravel road.

Don't fall under the illusion that dirt roads are easier on trailers than class 4 trails.

The most stress put on a trailer is from dirt roads.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I understand what you're getting at and think you're right. My idea is that they have different requirements. For dirt roads, the trailer can be larger, but it has to be heavy duty on the suspension and frame to take the pounding from washboards, etc. For trails, you could probably build it lighter, but want to keep it smaller for breakover/clearance/etc.

Yeah?

 

[dzzz]

...............

Here is my old M116A2 flatbed trailer. .....................

Nice, I like the size. Does it ever bottom out under load? Since I have a heavy tow vehicle, I'm not worries about the trailer moving the truck around. I might be able to do be like yours. Cutting off the bottom spring and adding shocks at angles might calm it down a bit.

What's the tire size? Thanks.

 

[OutbacKamper]

You mean like this:

This is made by Innovan to convert the slide on camper into a trailer.

http://www.innovan.com.au/interiorexterior.htm

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I never bottomed it out, and typically military ratings are under rated with the exception of the 1/4 ton M416 (which I have now) that is definitely 1/4 ton due to its thin frame. This unit was very beefy. I would consider this or one of the 1 ton trailers, which I forget their name. Oddly they get cheaper the lighter duty these are. You can get these for about $500 and M416s and similar are fetching as high as $1000-$1500 it seems...

 

[dzzz]

I had a problem last time I pulled a trailer. I'm being more careful now.

www.synthx.com/articles/trailerhitch.jpg

 

[The Swiss]

The Traverse series from Outlander Trailers is kinda-sorta off-road flatbed http://www.outlandertrailers.com/Traverse.html

 

[Cody1771]

I had a problem last time I pulled a trailer. I'm being more careful now.

that scares me.... :Wow1:

 

[dzzz]

The Traverse series from Outlander Trailers is kinda-sorta off-road flatbed http://www.outlandertrailers.com/Traverse.html

That's interesting. Have you seen one in person?

 

[dzzz]

that scares me.... :Wow1:

It's gotta be a photoshop. But what's unusual is the quality of the image. Normally the forger would make a low res creation. It made the rounds a long time ago.