my off road trailer build

[hugh]

I have just started my off road trailer build, here's a couple of pictures of the frame unpainted then painted. It,s made of 2x2 3/16ths wall tubing and runs a 2000 lb axle set up spring over with 31 by 10 1/2 inch goodyear tires. It uses a pintle hitch and will be approx 5 feet wide by 8 1/2 feet long with an interior height of roughly 5 feet. The angled piece at the rear is to give a good departure angle and offer galley/storage space. The walls will be 1/4" inside and out with 1" insulation and the floor will be 3/4 plywood with 2" of insulation.

 

[Curtis in Texas]

Interesting!
I want to watch this one.:lurk:

DId you build the red one parked next to the house too?

How about some background on it as well?

Curtis

 

[hugh]

The red one was bought from a fellow a few blocks away and used to carry some gear for a 3 day camping trip on our may long weekend holiday a couple of weeks ago. It has a samari rear axle is is built way too lightly for what we do so I decided to build a better, stronger trailer that can be slept in and is insulated for cold weather camping. The following picture is just inside the trail where we often go off road, we call it the gatekeeper. Just for the heck of if the moderator doesn,t mind the next shot is a flex out spot just past where we set up camp.

 

[G-force]

Thats looking to be a sweet build.

Looking forward to see you continiue this.

 

[OlympiaFJ60]

Looks like a great start. I'll be interested to see how it progresses.

 

[sseaman]

What are the plans for the trailer?

 

[hugh]

the red trailer will be dismantled and repaired/sold. The new trailer will be used for off road camping plus on road camping. Since its gonna be insulated a bit of winter camping is also on order. The next 3 pics are with the deck installed. Its 5/8 " plywood ,tarred on the underside with 2" insulation fitted between the frame rails held on with strips of plywood also tarred. The pintle eye goes in a reciever tube bolted to the tongue and then I applied some waterproofing to the floor since the trailer will sit outside for a couple of weeks while I gather more money to buy wood,etc. I may tow it as is out to my fav area to see if it clears the ledges tomorrow, if so a couple more pics will be posted.

 

[Hilux_Max]

may I ask why you are using wood instead of steel?

 

[hugh]

Thats a good question, i was going to make the camper frame of 1" tubing and then possibly sheet the outside in either light gauge steel or aluminum. But I have been reading a lot at another forum about teardrop trailers. They are made almost exclusivley of wood. The 2" tubing frame on this trailer coupled with an 8' by 5' wood box should be very strong and also light. They call it a torsion box assembly once its all glued and screwed together. Plus a couple of other reasons, I like the warmth of the wood, my friends and I go 4 wheel camping when the temp drops down to 15 below zero as long as the snow isn,t deeper than around 2 feet. The The body of the camper has 2"of insulation under the floor and will have between 1 and 1 1/2 " in the walls and on the ceiling. That should make for a nice warm place to sleep. When we go off road it,s always in 4 low and the speed never goes over 3 mph so I,m not worried about damaging the body of the trailer. Here,s a picture of another trailer I made to try winter camping. The tarp on the rear extended the box long enough to sleep in but it was freezing, kind of a failed experiment.

The same trailer in the summer behind my CJ7 that I sold to build the Cherokee

 

[Titanpat57]

Looks like a good concept...just make sure to have enough length to sleep streched out and comfortable. Cold is one thing..cold and cramped takes it to a new level.

Good Luck, Pat :REOutCampFire03:

 

[hugh]

took the unfinished trailer out to my test area today, it passed, heres a couple of pics

 

[1speed]

I see nothing wrong with your concept and build so far, except... I would humbly suggest you put a 3500lb axle under it. Regardless of the weight of the trailer the spindles and bearings on a 2000lb axle are not up to the task. This is my plywood on metal frame trailer with 34" tires, 1,200 miles of paved roads and 150 miles of dirt roads into it's maiden voyage.

My friend built a plywood on metal frame 4x6x4 cargo trailer with a 2000lb axle and 31's and his bent worse than mine with about the same amount of miles. This topic has been dicussed before on this board and Martyn will tell you the same thing.

Looks good overall, cant wait to see the finished product!

 

[mekcanix]

:coffeedrink: looking good Chiefy wiefy

 

[granitex1]

I have to concure with everyone else about the 3500 axle, and it is from experiance. Started out with a 2k that was ok for around town on pavement but was not up to the task of 3000 miles with a bunch of offroad miles. Both sets of bearings failed, one fusing the castle nut to the hub assembly itself, but the tire never stopped turning.

Wound up ordering a custom length axle from southwest wheel for the same price that I could get it locally, then have to cut it down myself. All that I had to do was weld the perches on where I needed them.

 

[hugh]

I admit I was worried about the 2000lb axle, so for now I,ll keep it till the build is done, then order the larger 3500 lb. I don,t have any longer trips planned at the moment so it should be ok for awhile. Thanks for the advice, it is much appreciated and I will follow it.:safari-rig: