Vorian's M101A2 Expedition Trailer

Vorian

New member
Hi all,

I'm Mike, aka "Vorian", and I've been lurking on here for a while now. I do a lot of wheeling with my '06 Nissan Xterra with my wife and dogs and we do a decent amount of camping. My X is starting to get cramped when we go on trips since we're now up to 3 big dogs now so I've been very interested in Expedition Trailers to make things easier than setting up a tent and also allowing us to easily carry more cargo.

A little over a year ago I came across a great deal on an M101A2 trailer that I couldn't pass up so I snatched it up. Here it is the day I picked it up:
Photo Nov 27, 3 38 43 PM (1).jpg
Photo Nov 27, 3 39 07 PM (1).jpg

Doing some hauling duty:
Photo May 02, 10 00 01 AM.jpg

So I've had this trailer now for just over a year and I'm about to start to use it for more than just hauling stuff so I figured it's time to start a build thread.

Once I got the trailer I started checking out lots of build threads to get ideas of what could accomplish. First thing I had to do though was replace the lights since they were busted. I also wanted an adjustable jack with a wheel to make it easier to move around. I put in simple trailer lights I got off of Amazon and also replaced all the wiring going to a box with a 7-pin plug. I was able to find a Seasense Trailer Jack 1500lb Big Wheel #50017571 to replace the landing leg.

So I had been looking at tent options.
Photo Dec 30, 3 04 06 PM.jpg
I came across this somewhere and this is what I was originally thinking but there was a problem with this... there's no room for our dogs and even if it were bigger getting our 3 dogs in there would be very difficult. Our biggest dog is 97lbs and the lightest is 62lbs. Not gonna happen with a traditional RTT unless we have an annex room but then the RTT would have to be mounted pretty high up. My wife wasn't a fan of having to climb a lot of steps so it was time to find another option.

I found these beautiful trailer RTTs:
Photo Dec 30, 3 03 49 PM.jpg
Photo Dec 30, 3 03 56 PM.jpg
A company from Australia called 3 Dog Camping makes these but they are ridiculously expensive! I couldn't unsee these though so I started saving and reached out to the US distributor. Unfortunately they seem to have gone under. I have found other similar trailer RTTs out there but most of them require a trailer top that is a good 8" or so lower then my trailer so those weren't an option unless I find someone that can stitch on a canvas extension to allow for a taller trailer.

Then I came across a FB post by a member here selling his 3 Dog Camping 'Pup' trailer RTT for half the price of new. I immediately checked out his listing and sent him a PM. Within a few hours I sent him a deposit. Now I had a new problem... how to get the tent home. I didn't want to pay a crazy amount to have it shipped from Ohio so I figured I would just go pick it up. When he sent me the measurements of the crate he had it packed in I realized it couldn't just be dropped into the bed of my trailer. A coworker suggested I build a quick deck on top of my trailer using some 2x6s we have in our warehouse from receiving shipments. He said they would just be getting rid of them anyways so I picked them up, built a deck and went for a little drive (750 miles round trip) to get my tent!

Photo Nov 15, 4 07 24 PM (1).jpg
Photo Nov 15, 5 12 54 PM.jpg
Photo Nov 16, 2 52 36 PM.jpg
Was building a deck on top of my trailer overkill??? Absolutely! :elkgrin: Of course the crate the tent was in was extreme overkill as well!
 

Vorian

New member
I finally got around to unpacking the RTT this weekend and here it is:
Photo Jan 09, 4 37 37 PM.jpg
Photo Jan 09, 4 37 51 PM.jpg
Photo Jan 09, 4 38 52 PM.jpg
Photo Jan 09, 4 38 09 PM.jpg
Photo Jan 09, 4 38 22 PM.jpg
Photo Jan 09, 4 39 17 PM.jpg
I also have a additional awning that I can attach to this but I haven't set it up yet.

Now for my next problem. How to properly secure it to my trailer? I can just bolt it onto my deck and call it a day but that deck is heavy. I would love to have a metal lid that I can open from the side with the help of gas struts but here's my challenge... I'm good mechanically, great with electronics, and a decent carpenter but I don't know how to deal with metal and welding at all.

A friend suggested I just keep things simple and look into unistruts or something similar so all I need to do is some cutting and mess with nuts and bolts to create a frame with 3 crossbars going into 3 holes on each site where the bows would go. As for anything I want to carry in the bed of the trailer, just put stuff in plastic bins to keep them dry. Sounds simple enough right? I would love to hear suggestions.

Thanks all!
 
Last edited:

RagnarD

Adventurer
Now that is a tent. A Unistrut rack would be a simple bolt on solution and you allow you to dial in the height. A lid will probably be pretty expensive to farm out.

Do the dogs get out and run while you drive or do they ride in passenger area the entire time?
 

dstock

Explorer
Very cool. I'm getting ready to do some sort of lid for my M101A1, was planning a similar rear opening lid in the back and then 2 side opening lids in the front.

Once you start modifying things, it's a slippery slope!! Have fun!
 

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