Vintage Camper Trailer Build

[Dirtco]

I've been going back and forth for a long time on what camping set up I wanted to have. I love camping but at the same time it can be a real pain too, lugging and packing all the gear in your truck, setting up tents in the dark, leaking air mattresses, tearing down camp and repacking the vehicle while being hungover . There's got to be a better way, right? For a long time I wanted to build a camping trailer based on a Toyota pick up bed and topper, but I was a little concerned about the weight and really just never got around to it. A couple weeks ago I had made up my mind on getting a Tent Cot, but I couldn't afford to spend the money, with shipping and the rainfly it was going to be $300-$400. It seems like a great product, but it's still pretty much a tent.

While looking through the local paper a week ago I stumbled onto the solution. There was an ad for a vintage 1965 pop camper for $50.00, it had been in their family since day one. I decided for the price that I couldn't go wrong and pretty much bought it sight unseen (I knew I had to jump on it, otherwise someone else would). He even delivered it to my shop, for $50.00, with a clean title!

So here are the spec's. It's a 1965 Bethany Chief pop up camper, weighs in at 900 pounds and has a tongue weight of 60 pounds. While it's a little heavier than I like, for the price it's worth giving it a shot!

Here is all the the paper work that came with it, including the bill of sale from 1965! :ylsmoke:

 

[Dirtco]

Here's how it looked when he dropped it off, in pretty good shape for it's age.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Man... now I want one...lol

 

[Dirtco]

Man... now I want one...lol

Not bad for $50!

 

[Dirtco]

The plan is to keep it retro, but be able to take it down mild to semi-moderate trails to set up camp. All while not spending much more than $500 dollars, it should be interesting.

The first order of business, (not including the pink) was to lift the thing. At first I thought about putting a Toyota rear axle under it but that would have been more expensive and more work than I wanted. There is not much of a wheel well on the camper, which makes things complicated.

Instead, I lifted it using the stock axle. While the tires are small, so is the axle tube, which means more clearance with a smaller tire. If I have problems with this axle I will upgrade it, but for now it's worth a shot.

Stock, on the lift, getting ready for surgery

 

[Dirtco]

After some thought, and some more thought, I decided 10" of lift sounded like a good number. There was around 17" between the truck and trailer, with a 10" lift that brings things in the zone of a normal drop hitch. It also give's me around 25" of clearance to the camper body and I can always step up in tire size and get a different ball mount.

Here is how I got the lift, I decided to build a sub frame that would be welded to the frame of the camper and the stock axle assy. would bolt to.

Geting the measurements right

Welded up

The install

 

[Dirtco]

I also added a support (side to side) and under coated the whole thing.

 

[Bcghosttowns]

I had one of those and i wish i had never gotten rid of it.

 

[indiedog]

Nice find! And I wish I had a full on garage to play in:drool:

 

[bigwalton]

Very cool! Are the tires in the later pics the ones you're going with?

I'd recommend triangulated supports on that subframe though, with all that weight/leverage. Like this:

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Yeah, you really need cross bracing on that. It doesn't have to go all the way to the middle.

 

[ntsqd]

Third some diagonal bracing under there.


Then get out, go somewhere, use it, and post pictures!!!
:sombrero:

 

[Funrover]

Holy cow,you scored a hell of a deal! Take some interior/set up shots when you can

 

[Poorboyota26]

Good looking trailer buddy!!!!

I got a 3500lb axle custom width and spring mounts for 140. It comes with hubs to fit the toyota 6 x 5.5 lug rims, and for an additional 150 you can add brakes. just a thought down the road for ya, my 4 runner gets pushed under braking on a flat road.

 

[OlympiaFJ60]

I bet that paper work alone is worth $50 to a collector. Original invoice even. You know if they kept all that the kept the trailer in good condition.