Beefing up the tent trailer

[Trail100]

So after deciding that a RTT would be too small for us (I'm 6'5", my girl is 5'11" and my kid is 5'8" so far) I've decided to build a beefier frame for the tent trailer I've had for about 10 years.

It started out life as a 1973 Western Field (Monkey Wards) with dinky tires, and served me well on a few camp trips to non-remote areas. The price was right ($300) and my son loves it so I figured it would be way cheaper to just build it up rather than fork out the cash for a new one. It will be a little big for tight trails but once popped up it's large and comfortable for the three of us and should make a nice base camp. It has a slide out kitchen on the drivers side that includes a cooler, sink, stove, and small water tank. Ultimately these will be redesigned around the new wider/longer fenders that will take up some of the interior space.

The basic plan is to build the new frame to fit a 33/12.50/15 and gain some space on the tongue for batteries, fuel, and added storage. At some point it will end up with a water tank behind the rear tires, and get much more equipped for planned longer trips, but for now I'm just trying to hustle it out for our trip to Yellowstone at the end of May.

A few pics:

As it sits right now. The rear plastic/lighting will all go away and have three flat panels/doors in its place.

The general idea, cardboard cutout represents wheel well tire will be tucked into (just a 31" on the rim right now).

90* corners bent.

Mock up with some gear.

Making fenders: I had the metal shop cut out some 12 gauge steel and put a 1" kick along one edge.

Then I used a cutoff wheel to score along a piece of scrap 1/4" where I wanted the bends to be, cut a notch in the kick and then bent it up to the angle I wanted.

Tack welded to frame.

Basic frame welded with top welds ground smooth for decking to sit flat.

Decking cut and set into place. Tucker inspecting work.

Approved!

That's all I got done this weekend. The axle is on it's way from ABC trailers, hopefully next week, I had them make it a custom width/spring perch spacing to match my design. More pics when the work gets done...

 

[pcampbell]

Nice job. Just curious, what size square tubing did you use for the frame?

Any pics of it set up?

 

[john101477]

Sweet set up. Buddy of mine is thinking of doing something simular. His is a different brand but old as dirt. Still in decent shape for an old trailer. Needs new propane lines and some electrical done as well.

 

[nbleak21]

Looking Great! Can't wait to see more of this build. I would love to pick up an older smaller pop-up like this and do something similar. Seems so much more practical to me rather than one of those huge crank everything pop ups.

Dont forget to weather treat that wood! It'll see a lot of wetness down there!

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Man..this is going to be a neat build. I did something similar,but on a much milder scale, with an old tent camper..they are awesome and don't weigh much at all.

 

[Titanpat57]

Damn that's nice!!

Doggie approved too!

Keep up the good work..awesome project

Pat

 

[elmo_4_vt]

Will the tires sit inboard or outboard of the camper body? What modifications are you going to have to make the camper box?

-

 

[Trail100]

Thanks for all the compliments! I will do my best to keep the pictures coming as the work progresses.

Nice job. Just curious, what size square tubing did you use for the frame?

Any pics of it set up?

I used 2X2X.120 for most of the frame with 1X2X.120 for the interior cross bars. The tent/box itself is very light. I can post some pics of it all set up as it sits now...maybe not 'til the weekend though.

Looking Great! Can't wait to see more of this build. I would love to pick up an older smaller pop-up like this and do something similar. Seems so much more practical to me rather than one of those huge crank everything pop ups.

Dont forget to weather treat that wood! It'll see a lot of wetness down there!

Yeah, still thinking how to seal up the bottom, I was thinking something like Line-X but didn't necessarily want the added weight/cost. The decking needed to be wood because it will replace the exsisting tent floor.

Will the tires sit inboard or outboard of the camper body? What modifications are you going to have to make the camper box?-

They are a little of both, mostly inside. I will have to cut a hole in the side of the trailer box (the shape of the second pic). Basically the edges of the trailer fenders were designed to be a tad wider than the lift bars for tent, if that makes sense.

 

[nbleak21]

If line-x is some sort of bed liner, that's probably going to be your cheapest/easiest route... Fibreglass would do it right, but that's not cheep, or easy, even w/ experience. Anyways, it's looking like a great build, and that Xx2x.120 tubing will hold up to anything you can throw at it!... but then again, In this world there is no such thing as overkill!

 

[FLYFISHEXPERT]

Subscribed!

 

[adamha]

I would recomend this product for sealing the plywood:

http://www.rotdoctor.com/products/product.html#sealers

I can personally attest to how well it works on some rotted wood I sealed on an old Chris Craft. Wood that was soft and crumbling was rock hard. It will seal new plywood very well.

Most plywood these days is made with waterproof glue so you just need to keep water from penetrating. This will do the trick. Caution, the solvent used to thin the epoxy is HARSH. Proper mask and ventilation is a must. I cannot stress this enough.

You could go with just plain ole unthickened epoxy. However, you will not get the penetration that CPES provides. Additionally, you could scrape off or crack unthickened epoxy on a rock and then water would have a place to penetrate.

Cool project. My brother and I share a 1984 Coleman Sequoia that we just did a spring over on. Works fine for mild trail work. Yours should be perfect.

 

[Trail100]

Thanks for the link adamha, I actually was in my garage this weekend and noticed I still have almost a full gallon of boat resin and am likely going to use that followed by an epoxy boat paint, if for no other reason than because it's free and here so I can start sealing tomorrow.

Here's a pic of what it looks like set up in it's current state as requested by pcampbell and for anyone else curious.

And here's what got done this weekend, not as much as I would have liked but I fought the plywood fenders Sat. and had relatives show up Sun., so it looks like I'll be putting in some hours after work this week.



Here is one side of the interior with one of the new fenders set into place to measure out the side angle and see how much room they are going to take up inside.

Decking more or less finished up and ready for sealing.

Tongue tacked into place.
This is my first trailer build, so now that I'm to the point of building the tongue I have a question to those with trailer experience: How far out should I place the coupler?? I know that it will affect tongue weight and maneuverability, but I was just curious if there was some sort of quideline I should follow. I've read a few articles about trailer construction but haven't found, or somehow missed info on it.

Disassembly started to get ready for transfer to new deck.

Tucker observing as usual, he usually won't get out of the thing.

 

[4xdog]

Bravo on this build. :coffeedrink:

I grew up camping in a 1968 Apache Eagle, and have fond memories of it. I really like the idea of upgrading the suspension, wheels, and frame on an old tent trailer. Quite a few of them were surprisingly efficient designs, and your work is showing they can make a great base for rebuilding.

We'll look forward to more updates as your project continues.

Don

 

[nbleak21]

Build is looking great... and really making me wish I had one to play with! looking forward to more!

 

[elmo_4_vt]

Awesome... How is the kitchen going to work with the larger wheel wells?

-