Advice sought for utility trailer conversion to light axle-less off road

[bluzcat]

Hi there. New member here, and I've been looking at dozens of off road camping trailers lately. Would love to own a Patriot X1GT or an X2GT, but the price is way too steep for me right now. I also looked at Turtlebacks, and Moby1 XTR, but they're all pretty pricey. Then I looked at FSR trailers, but $7K for an empty box on wheels seems a little overpriced to me. And it doesn't have a rear hitch receiver either, which is kind of a deal breaker to me. This whole camping trailer idea started because I wanted to get my roof top tent off the car and onto a trailer. Now I'm obsessed with having a little off road trailer. So I've decided to try to convert an existing utility trailer that I have. It's an 5.5' x 11.5' (rear to hitch) trailer with pretty dinky wheels on a skinny axle with leaf springs. No brakes. Probably Chinese made. The square steel tubing frame looks pretty sturdy though, and I've hauled some fairly heavy stuff on it without any issues. It has some surface rust, but nothing serious, and no structural damage. The drawbar is attached with three 5/8" pins. I was thinking about doing something really quick/simple to carry me through the summer/fall. I.e. remove the wheels/axle and replace with either a Dexter or Timbren system, bigger wheels with electric brakes and off road tires, a Max Coupler hitch (or similar), and then build a sturdy rack for a couple of kayaks and the roof top tent. If I have motivation and energy left after that, I could always build onto it later with kitchen, electrical, water tanks, etc. I'm definitely not going as far as building a full-fledged teardrop trailer. I'm still thinking that I'll be able to afford an X2 or something similar some day.

Essentially my basic requirements are:

- Individual suspension (ideally).
- Big off road tires.
- Articulating hitch.
- Rack for kayaks + roof top tent.
- Rear hitch receiver for mountain bike rack.
- Electric brakes.
- At least one spare wheel, ideally two.
- Waterproof, lockable storage box in the front.

Assuming there's nothing wrong with the trailer frame, does this sound realistic? How do you properly align the wheels with a Dexter or Timbren system? What might something like this cost ballpark? Anything important I've missed? Thanks, any advice appreciated!

 

[vartz04]

Before you go nuts have you checked out the intechrv trailers? There is a barely used one by me for $9k. Not sure on the rear hitch. Has a kitchen that pulls out roof rack etc.

Only thing that would concern me is the frame strength for mounting that style suspension.


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[JKChad]

You've got the basic idea. It's just a matter of putting the right pieces together at the right time, so you don't cause yourself to much extra work or unnecessary expenses.
Are you able to do the majority of the fab work, or have close friends/family that could help? That would be the determining factor of build vs buy. If you're able to then I definitely suggest going down the build route. I've spent the last year rebuilding/restoring a utility trailer my grandfather built 30+ years ago to be an awesome adventure trailer. It's pretty close to the size you have, just not quite as wide.
Just keep in mind, paying for someones labor, on a custom item especially, added up very fast! If you decide to dive into building it yearself, you'll quickly realized how these companies can ask the prices they do, for the high quality trailers. For me, it's a labor of love.

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[Porkchopexpress]

Only thing that would concern me is the frame strength for mounting that style suspension.

It is unlikely the utility trailer is designed to support the twisting moment on the tubes where the suspension would be mounted but you can attach a steel square tube connecting both sides to provide lateral support. It would reduce ground clearance but unless you reinforce the frame, I think it would be necessary. Here is a video about installing timbren suspension that shows the cross member I’m referring to.

https://www.etrailer.com/tv-review-timbren-axle-less-trailer-suspension-system-asr3500s05.aspx

Because you would not fully benefit from the ground clearance advantage and price seems to be a concern, maybe a torsion axle would be a better choice?
Or, maybe just flip your existing axle, add bigger tires and save your money to buy a purpose built trailer later?

 

[bluzcat]

Before you go nuts have you checked out the intechrv trailers? There is a barely used one by me for $9k. Not sure on the rear hitch. Has a kitchen that pulls out roof rack etc.

Only thing that would concern me is the frame strength for mounting that style suspension.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the response. That IntechRV is a cool looking trailer, but not exactly what I'm looking for. I think one advantage of building my own is that I can add new features along the way which may end up costing me as much or more in the end, but at least I don't have to shell it all out at once.

 

[bluzcat]

It is unlikely the utility trailer is designed to support the twisting moment on the tubes where the suspension would be mounted but you can attach a steel square tube connecting both sides to provide lateral support. It would reduce ground clearance but unless you reinforce the frame, I think it would be necessary. Here is a video about installing timbren suspension that shows the cross member I’m referring to.

https://www.etrailer.com/tv-review-timbren-axle-less-trailer-suspension-system-asr3500s05.aspx

Because you would not fully benefit from the ground clearance advantage and price seems to be a concern, maybe a torsion axle would be a better choice?
Or, maybe just flip your existing axle, add bigger tires and save your money to buy a purpose built trailer later?

Hi there, and thanks for the suggestions! I watched the video, and now I'm more gung ho about modding my utility trailer
Definitely a bit of work, but I think it can be pretty rewarding if it turns out nice. The square tube crossbar definitely looks like a good idea.

 

[bluzcat]

You've got the basic idea. It's just a matter of putting the right pieces together at the right time, so you don't cause yourself to much extra work or unnecessary expenses.
Are you able to do the majority of the fab work, or have close friends/family that could help? That would be the determining factor of build vs buy. If you're able to then I definitely suggest going down the build route. I've spent the last year rebuilding/restoring a utility trailer my grandfather built 30+ years ago to be an awesome adventure trailer. It's pretty close to the size you have, just not quite as wide.
Just keep in mind, paying for someones labor, on a custom item especially, added up very fast! If you decide to dive into building it yearself, you'll quickly realized how these companies can ask the prices they do, for the high quality trailers. For me, it's a labor of love.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Awesome! Yeah, I'd probably do almost all the work myself. Great excuse for buying more tools ;-)
I took another look at the trailer today, and I'm pretty sure it would be fairly straightforward to modify it. I'm just hoping the frame is reasonably straight so I don't get a bunch of wheel alignment issues. Do you have any pictures of your build? It sounds very cool what you're doing.

 

[JKChad]

You've got the basic idea. It's just a matter of putting the right pieces together at the right time, so you don't cause yourself to much extra work or unnecessary expenses.
Are you able to do the majority of the fab work, or have close friends/family that could help? That would be the determining factor of build vs buy. If you're able to then I definitely suggest going down the build route. I've spent the last year rebuilding/restoring a utility trailer my grandfather built 30+ years ago to be an awesome adventure trailer. It's pretty close to the size you have, just not quite as wide.
Just keep in mind, paying for someones labor, on a custom item especially, added up very fast! If you decide to dive into building it yearself, you'll quickly realized how these companies can ask the prices they do, for the high quality trailers. For me, it's a labor of love.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Awesome! Yeah, I'd probably do almost all the work myself. Great excuse for buying more tools ;-)
I took another look at the trailer today, and I'm pretty sure it would be fairly straightforward to modify it. I'm just hoping the frame is reasonably straight so I don't get a bunch of wheel alignment issues. Do you have any pictures of your build? It sounds very cool what you're doing.

I've got a build thread and a few videos on YouTube. I'll post a link from my computer shortly. Here's a few pics from when I first started out with the trailer and recently trips we've been on in the last month.

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[bluzcat]

I've got a build thread and a few videos on YouTube. I'll post a link from my computer shortly. Here's a few pics from when I first started out with the trailer and recently trips we've been on in the last month.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I love it! That's very close to what I have in mind! Wicked cool. I'm getting inspired! I'd love to check out your YouTube videos. I have a few other projects I need to get out of the way before I can start on my trailer, but I'm pretty stoked about the project. Where did you buy the rack parts?

 

[JKChad]

I've got a build thread and a few videos on YouTube. I'll post a link from my computer shortly. Here's a few pics from when I first started out with the trailer and recently trips we've been on in the last month.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I love it! That's very close to what I have in mind! Wicked cool. I'm getting inspired! I'd love to check out your YouTube videos. I have a few other projects I need to get out of the way before I can start on my trailer, but I'm pretty stoked about the project. Where did you buy the rack parts?

The rack was custom built by a metal fabrication shop, I was still learning to weld and wanted to make sure it was all welded properly. It's made up of 1.5"x1.5x.125" sqaure tube and the base supports are 2"x2"x.125". Since the initial build of it, the fabricator just welded the legs to the rack and made some gussets. I have cut the leg away from the rack and made a hinged bracket to allow the front and rear of the rack to be able to raise/lower independent of each other. If I were to build another rack like it. I would likely try to use some .080 wall thickness tubing to reduce the weight or possibly just go with extruded aluminum t-slot tubing like most cargo rack manufacturers use.

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