my first trailer idea The Mattmosphere

[colorado matt]

ok ... lurking for a while and soaking up info .... 2 things that bother me ... this forum does not separate paragraphs (weird) .... and I will be too old to do anything by the time I save for the trailer I would desire in my mind .... new to all of this and of course I find that I want all the best of everything as I dream .... but back to reality ... just finished three years of working on this



more to do but it is running driving steering and stopping ..... we own a small popup tent camper coleman thing ... two big beds and keeps you dry ... tiny wheels and will go anywhere there is pavement ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** my attempt at paragraph separation..... I want kitchen setup ... hot water ... some lights ... roof top tent ... to start .... quick total of wish list quickly approaching several thousand dollars and no trailer to put stuff into ..... at the end of the month going to roommates house in Moab where she believes she has an old pickup bed trailer that I can have for free ..... this just came up for sale in the trailer section http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/137072-Pickup-Bed-UTILITY-TRAILER ..... it is very close to my latest vision ... add a tailgate and a topper and I have a trailer for a few hundred bucks ..... thought I would throw out my idea .... I know it is heavier than I would like it to be and have scanned a few threads about these type of trailers but they seem to fall off rather quickly and do not show much ..... I like the ladder rack (or similar) because you can still have a topper .... maybe keeping the gas tank for more fuel ... room underneath for water storage ... it has a lot of win win for me and my wallet and it will get us past the masses and should be able to contain all I want and give the scout freedom to roam around and leave the trailer as a base camp ..... opinions and ideas welcome ... thick skinned with a not fragile ego so for the bashers and naysayers bash and naysay away .... it may help my train of thought .... happy to be on this site .... Matt

 

[SoCal Tom]

I'm in the camp that would rather be using my stuff vs building my stuff. My junk is usually pretty ugly, but I spend more time using it, that working on it. That having been said, I think there is a lot of value in understanding what you need, and focusing your resources on what will work for you. You haven't really talked about what you intend to do with this trailer.
A lot of the P/U bed trailers still have the truck frame under them, and often they still have the truck springs and rear axle. This will suck lots of gas. Your tow rig ( nice job BTW) isn't know for high mileage, or lots of power, so a trailer like this will put a load on it. P/B bed trailers usually aren't well balanced either, so tongue weight can be way off the target.

What do you want to use the trailer for?
Tom

 

[colorado matt]

thanks Tom .... pretty is not a deciding factor for sure .... and using instead of building has great appeal to me .... the trailer is to haul gear ... at least that is what I have imagined ... Lara myself and two kids 3 and 4 and the dog will fill up the scout pretty quick .... our trips last from 3 days to maybe a week on some occasions .... we usually find a spot and hang there for the duration so "overlanding" is not what I would consider myself as doing .... the ladder rack would be for RTT and canoe and or kayaks for day trips to a close by lake .... have resolved myself to the fact that I will most likely be replacing the stock axle with a trailer axle .... seems like I can get set up with that for a few hundred bucks (read 5ish) ..... my main drawback as far a fab work is I am not a welder ... I struggled thru sheet metal work on the scout with no experience and a crappy welder ..but I did it all myself and most things I attempted were far beyond my ability and it worked out ok in the end.. bolt on things are my friends .... as far as gas mileage ... living where I live there are so many options for great camping here .... I could spend the next few years never getting more than three hours from the house ... one of the mods for the scout was a 33 gallon tank ... hoping with the trailer that would give me close to 200 to 250 miles of range ... and wheelbase of the scout is not the best for towing ..but it is a low torque monster with a motor that is happy working hard all day long ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
the trailer with a topper should have plenty of room (I hope) to bring along more than we need ... until now we have used the Subaru wagon and the popup and while we do ok we struggle with room to pack stuff that would make camping better and are limited to pavement .... as I type that last sentence I think that that is what I want the trailer for the most.... to go beyond the pavement ... past the masses .... further deeper quieter ..... Matt

 

[Phoenix]

I went with a military surplus trailer. Main reason is that I don't have the time to spend building an off road trailer from scratch. I'm also more of a how can I make this work, or how can I improve this person, than everything has to be perfect first. I'm not really interested in saving for years, or working on something for years before I can actually use it. Does this mean I may spend a few dollars twice, maybe, maybe not.

I came to off roading and back country adventures a little later in life, and enjoy doing this with my friends and my son. I also want to be able to do this with my daughters, and on a rare occasion my wife. This is primarily due to their desire to enjoy an adventure that does not include a stationary bathroom. My point in sharing this, is that I literally don't have the time to wait. Teenagers become young adults sooner than you can say install all the bells and whistles.

My main priorities included having a trailer that could go almost anywhere my Jeep could take me, a RTT to shorten up the time it took me to set up and break down, some type of awning set up in case of too much sun or two much precipitation, and a place to store all my kitchen gear and food.

Converting the trailer to what I wanted included building a telescoping steel rack for the RTT. This allowed me to utilize the tent in either the up or down position and kept a lower center of gravity and minimized the drag caused by tent while travelling. The rack also gave me a place to anchor the awnings. I also bought some surplus Hardigg and Pelican cases to store all my gear.

In 3 months I went from no trailer and a healthy savings account to what my minimal needs were and saving for the next round of mods.

I got feedback that my trailer was too big, too heavy, wouldn't get down tight trails, and would need to carry large amounts of gas to get me from civilization, into the great unknown and back. What I found was that I lost about 3 mpgs while pulling the trailer over my normal mpg, and I could go down any trail my Jeep could take me. Does this include serious rock crawling for hours and hours, no. Does this include unmaintained forest trails, fording streams, medium rocks, yes. Did I learn how to jack knife a trailer on a tight trail and how to move the trailer 6 inches to the right without taking out local flora and fauna, yes.

Based on my current trips, I can handle the lost mpgs. But at this point, as my adventures are 4 - 7 day trips, I need neither. If I was doing a cross country trip my priorities and modifications would change. I would probably look into another gas tank for the Jeep, as well as have a few gerry cans of gas for emergencies. I'm currently looking into how I can lighten my load, so I can add a water tank and batteries. My point being, I need neither or can deal with both based on what I have now.

Figure out what you want to do with your trailer and create a long term plan. Then figure out what you need to do to make your short term plan a reality and get off tarmac as soon as possible. Then repeat each season. Don't wait for perfect, by the time you get there, the idea of perfect will have changed.

Bald Eagle State Park - breakfast for 12


Bald Eagle State Park ready to roll - 90 minutes later than first picture


Vermont Overland Rally & Workshop base camp

 

[colorado matt]

ok been reading up on tongue weight .... I could see where it might be heavy given long tongue and tool boxes and such in the front part of the trailer .... not sure how you would solve that without the ability to slide axle forwards or backwards .... and also as tom stated not well balanced ... not sure what that means but guessing there would not be a whole lot you could do about it .... seems like it is what it is .... just gonna have to wait and see what I am getting to work with ..... I have looked at dozens of builds during my lurking .... phoenix's build being one of them ... I like the lifting racks ... very cool .... and in that thread his friends telling him to pull up his skirt and start welding .... the more I read and the more I learn the more I realize really how much talent I lack to take on a custom build .... for free carries quite a bit of weight now and gets me excited to have a platform to start on .... even if it is to throw money at a learning experience it wont be much money to decide if I will continue or start another path ..... I have been looking at many different options as far as used trailers ... military being one of them .... I still come to the same conclusion .... free gets me excited ... and so free (for now) is how we will proceed ... great site and thanks for the input ......... Matt *******************************************************************************************************************

 

[SoCal Tom]

Just make sure it has trailer brakes, a heavy trailer, and a rig full of kids can get sketchy.
Tom

 

[highlandercj-7]

Nice looking binder.

 

[colorado matt]

tom part of my research of late has involved brake controllers for the truck and electric brakes on a 3500 pound axle (is that overkill?) with the scout hub pattern ... I like this idea because if I scrap the truckbed trailer I can keep my axle..... also want to anticipate future mods to the trailer and would like the tow vehicle to charge battery in the trailer as I drive as well .... this is where it starts to get confusing for me ... thinking I might find a great helper (fingers crossed) or take everything up to uhaul and let them install for me ... it may become clearer when I have things in my hand but for now it is all still just theory ..... and then going back to phoenix's advise ... get the trailer ... load it up ... get out there and see what you really need or want ... for my idea of perfect will change .................................................................................................. thanks highlander .. I like it very much ... crazy how that old iron gets under your skin

 

[millerfish]

I'm with you. If I waited to have the trailer I really want I would have missed out on a lot of great times. I built a basic Pick Up bed trailer. It's tough does the job and was easy on the wallet.

 

[colorado matt]

I'm with you. If I waited to have the trailer I really want I would have missed out on a lot of great times. I built a basic Pick Up bed trailer. It's tough does the job and was easy on the wallet.

View attachment 265390

there ya go ... love it ...did you keep stock axle?

 

[millerfish]

No I think the stock axle is a bad idea. I used the read axle of a front wheel drive Dodge Caravan. Narrowed it and flipped it for max ground clearance.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I've been working on getting started on a truck-bed expedition trailer myself. I'm forgoing the truck's original frame and going for a custom trailer frame for ground clearance and safety, but I'm retaining the trucks springs, axle and even the fuel tank. The truck decided to not run anymore when I went to buy it, so the frame and basic assembly is being done out of province, proxing through my parents. Progress should start next week and should be ready to bring back March break.

 

[colorado matt]

No I think the stock axle is a bad idea. I used the read axle of a front wheel drive Dodge Caravan. Narrowed it and flipped it for max ground clearance.

I remember reading about one that used the caravan rear axle but now I can not find it...was that yours? ..... could you give me a little more detail .... did you use the springs also ... was it a pick and pull type of deal??? thanks.... Matt
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need for speed ... are you making the trailer frame yourself .... I wonder what a frame would cost out of pocket to have fabbed up ... have also thought about snowmobile trailer and adding a better axle ... I have seen a few that look like they would hold up ok .... .. nice little topper on that bed ... I will keep an eye out for your build

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crazy how many posibilties there are to achieve something that would work .... i really need to get something in the driveway .... hard to guess what i want when it is all so new to me .... i think that is why "free" truckbed trailer has so much appeal right now ... i will keep you posted ... 3 weeks until I have it and i will know a lot more about how to proceed

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

need for speed ... are you making the trailer frame yourself .... I wonder what a frame would cost out of pocket to have fabbed up ... have also thought about snowmobile trailer and adding a better axle ... I have seen a few that look like they would hold up ok .... .. nice little topper on that bed ... I will keep an eye out for your build

Not myself, I have no welding equipement nor experience welding. I do plan to learn on the minor stuff, but something major like the frame, I'lll get that done by a pro. I was quoted $900 (Canadian) for my trailer, but it also includes mouting the fuel tank and spare tire underneath, putting the trucks rear bumper and trailer hitch on, a basic basket on the front that will also hide the overhang from the fuel tank (until I get a proper box made up), and give the truck bed a 2" "body lift" over stock, so it could be significantly cheaper if it's not for all the detailed extras I want in my build. She won't have shocks right away because they won't be done by him; I'm going to get the 4x4 shop back in Quebec (the trailer is being built in Ontario) that did my inboard shocks on my Xterra to do the exact same thing on the trailer since they know how and have the maths to do it

 

[millerfish]

The caravan axle idea is out there. I have seen it on several sites. Yes it was a pick your part item less than $100 here in LA. I did not use the caravan springs. I just shortened the axel as needed.