Hello! I've been lurking here for a while and recently joined. I've been interested in building my own off-road camper for a while. I love camping and being outside. However, my wife does not care for tent camping as much as I do. We live in Oklahoma and 95% of the year, this is a pretty uncomfortable place to tent camp due to the weather! We have a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon that is lifted and on 35s. I love going to Colorado and Utah and other places like Death Valley where I'd love to camp out. One of our biggest problems, is that my wife and I are both 6'1". We're both pretty thin, fortunately. However, we pretty much can't sleep on anything less than a queen size bed. I also don't want the trailer to be wider than my Jeep which is about 77" from the sides of the tires. I figure that I'd need to have the bed platform above the tires if I wanted to keep it under 6' wide. I'd need a 5' wide platform for a queen size bed. I also want 1.5" thick insulated walls. That will be 63". I'd like to use 30 or 31" all terrain tires that are about 10" wide each. Giving myself an inch of clearance, I'd be up to 85". That's too wide for me. I figure I can have the wheels recessed and the area under the bed platform used for storage.
I'd also need this thing to be air conditioned and heated. I'm thinking a window style AC unit at the front of the trailer. I have a Honda inverter style generator to run that. Then, some sort of propane furnace for heating in the winter or on cold nights. I'd also lie to have a roof rack on this thing that could hold something like a roof top tent if I wanted to. I'd also like a small kitchen area on the back where I could cook and have a sink. I could build a water tank and just use a 12V RV style water pump. An outdoor shower too. I'm sure my wife would want a small TV or something inside that we could watch if it were raining outside.
So, I have a welder. I'm not a great welder but can get it done. I'm a lot better at working with wood. I have tons of wood working tools and quite a bit of experience building things. I'm thinking that a steel cage might be better for strength off road and for a roof rack. I'm also trying to decide on a Timbren style axle or a more traditional 3,500 pound axle. It seems like the traditional axle might be easier and less prone to problems. I also like to over build things. I'm thinking 2"x3" square tubing for the frame. I'm just not sure how thick it should be?
I'd appreciate any advice or links to builds that you guys know of like this or that are similar. I've seen some on here and have been gathering inspiration. I'd like to hear your thoughts on a few things based on what I'm looking for such as the thickness of material to use for my frame. Wood or metal box frame? Timbren or traditional axle? I do some really tough trails in my Jeep that no trailer would be able to go down. I'd leave it somewhere while I went out and did that. But I also like overloading stuff too like the long trails in Death Valley. Thanks for any advice!
I'd also need this thing to be air conditioned and heated. I'm thinking a window style AC unit at the front of the trailer. I have a Honda inverter style generator to run that. Then, some sort of propane furnace for heating in the winter or on cold nights. I'd also lie to have a roof rack on this thing that could hold something like a roof top tent if I wanted to. I'd also like a small kitchen area on the back where I could cook and have a sink. I could build a water tank and just use a 12V RV style water pump. An outdoor shower too. I'm sure my wife would want a small TV or something inside that we could watch if it were raining outside.
So, I have a welder. I'm not a great welder but can get it done. I'm a lot better at working with wood. I have tons of wood working tools and quite a bit of experience building things. I'm thinking that a steel cage might be better for strength off road and for a roof rack. I'm also trying to decide on a Timbren style axle or a more traditional 3,500 pound axle. It seems like the traditional axle might be easier and less prone to problems. I also like to over build things. I'm thinking 2"x3" square tubing for the frame. I'm just not sure how thick it should be?
I'd appreciate any advice or links to builds that you guys know of like this or that are similar. I've seen some on here and have been gathering inspiration. I'd like to hear your thoughts on a few things based on what I'm looking for such as the thickness of material to use for my frame. Wood or metal box frame? Timbren or traditional axle? I do some really tough trails in my Jeep that no trailer would be able to go down. I'd leave it somewhere while I went out and did that. But I also like overloading stuff too like the long trails in Death Valley. Thanks for any advice!
