Box Rocket Homemade trailer build.
- Thread starter Box Rocket
- Start date
Curtis in Texas
Adventurer
Is your old Coleman buring gasoline, White gas or has it been converted to propane?
I converted my 60 year old Coleman to propane about 10 years ago and it is still working great. I'll never go back to having to pump it up again.
I use the little 16 oz propane bottles. Two or three and your set for a full weekend. Plus you can get an adapter to tie it into to a bigger propane bottle. Heck we enven use it at the house next to the BBQ to cook the beans outside.
Sorry no pictures of it right now.
Great pictures. Brings back a lot of memories of when my two were little.
And if anyone hasn't heard, Use Lysterene Mouth Wash in a spray bottle around your camp to keep the mosquitoes away. Works better than any commercial insect repellant on the market.
I converted my 60 year old Coleman to propane about 10 years ago and it is still working great. I'll never go back to having to pump it up again.
I use the little 16 oz propane bottles. Two or three and your set for a full weekend. Plus you can get an adapter to tie it into to a bigger propane bottle. Heck we enven use it at the house next to the BBQ to cook the beans outside.
Sorry no pictures of it right now.
Great pictures. Brings back a lot of memories of when my two were little.
And if anyone hasn't heard, Use Lysterene Mouth Wash in a spray bottle around your camp to keep the mosquitoes away. Works better than any commercial insect repellant on the market.
Poorboyota26
Adventurer
Wow! Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Great pics!
So the Raptor liner chipped? how bad? I was just about to order some, for my trailer.
Great shake down trip. Good thing you didn't go to Moab. Flash floods every where.
So the Raptor liner chipped? how bad? I was just about to order some, for my trailer.
Great shake down trip. Good thing you didn't go to Moab. Flash floods every where.
Box Rocket
Well-known member
Fantastic pics Adam. Sounds like the trailer handled everything well too. I couldn't really tell from the pics but do you have your lid done as yet? Did it rain and how did the contents of the trailer go?
And is the "desert" where you come from usually that green??
We also have twins and a single. We will stop at 3 however!Your pics just make me want to get out there as soon as with the family. I can't wait to get my trailer done for a trip away.......
Thanks. I was very pleased with how well the trailer worked. First of all I don't have a lot of fabrication experience. I built a few small things for my old FJ40, I built the rear bumper on my current cruiser but in many ways this trailer was the biggest fabrication project that I've tackled so far. Additionally I had zero experience with building trailers prior to this. So for a complete novice on many levels I'm happy with how it came out. It tows very well and tracks perfectly behind the cruiser. I was out walking while Michelle drove and as she pulled the trailer through tight corners and ruts the trailer seemed to follow in the exact same tracks as the cruiser so that worked out nicely.
I have not built the lid for it yet. I want to do that soon. We were able to dodge the rain this weekend so I didn't have to deal with things getting wet but finishing up the lid will be key to keeping things secure and protected from the weather.
This being the first time out with the trailer it was a bit like putting a puzzle together to find the best way to pack the trailer. I'm sure I'll learn some tricks about the best ways to pack things as I go.
Also, my old Coleman stove is a white gas stove. I'm planning on picking up a small propane grill to use. I think that will suit my needs a bit better. But I will likely pick up a replacement stove that will run off those small propane canisters as well to use as a backup.
Good idea on the Listerine. I'll have to try that one out.
Box Rocket
Well-known member
I do have a bag to protect the regulator, but left it home on accident. I can always just remove the regulator while it's not in use as well. Its surprisingly protected where it's at with the cooler in front of it and with it centered. Much less chance of rocks being thrown from the tires hitting it.
Good reminder to keep it protected. Thanks.
Good reminder to keep it protected. Thanks.
cruiseroutfit
Supporting Sponsor: Cruiser Outfitters
Awesome!
Glad to hear its doing the trick for you Adam. White Rocks is a really neat place, couldn't help but think it would be an ideal place for a rock-crawl
Glad to hear its doing the trick for you Adam. White Rocks is a really neat place, couldn't help but think it would be an ideal place for a rock-crawl
Maximus Ram
Expedition Leader
Great pics. Thanks for sharing.
You may consider just getting the propane conversion for the Coleman. I bought one of the conversion regulators from sportsmans guide and it gave new life to my 3 burner Coleman. And it was cheaper than buying a new stove.
You may consider just getting the propane conversion for the Coleman. I bought one of the conversion regulators from sportsmans guide and it gave new life to my 3 burner Coleman. And it was cheaper than buying a new stove.
Hey your family'sjust like mine! I have a soon to be 10 yr old boy(Jacob), a 6 yr old boy(Caleb), and 2 yr old twins Abby & Luke. I now can show my wife that there a re other large families out exploring the world. I love your trailer and have watched the buildup from te begining. Another question where do you put all your kids? I had to buy an excursion and sell my 4runner to get a vehicle big enough for the family and all our stuff.
Poorboyota26
Adventurer
Land cruisers like his have a 3rd row foldable seats. perfect rig IMO.
Box Rocket
Well-known member
As Poorboyota26 said, the 80 series cruiser is a good option for my family. We've debated other vehicles but for the things we like to do it seems to be ideal for us. With the third row seat, we have seats for everyone and a 'little' room for gear. When we bought car seats for the twins we considered safety as well as size. The ones we ended up with are less bulky than many others, but might lack a feature or two. They still had a decent safety record and we can put the two car seats next to each other in the middle row (one next to a door and the other in the middle) leaving the other door seat for one of my older boys. That leaves the entire back area. Right now I only keep one of the third row seats in the truck. That's the seat for my other boy. The other side of the rear area is left open for normal day-to-day "stuff". We also found an awesome double stroller for the twins. It's a Peg-Perego Aria Twin. Peg-Perego makes great products and this is a VERY light double stroller which was key for my wife to be able to easily load it into the lifted truck. Also, the way it folds up is very compact and it will fit behind the third row seats so I can use the other rear seat if I need to. It was the only double stroller I could find that would fit between the third row and the tailgate of the 80. On a trip like this we also use the open area from the last third row seat for the dog kennel. Perfect spot for that and it can even be secured if necessary using the seat brackets in the floor. In that configuration we are pretty much full inside the truck with a little room left for just the necessities for the drive. And there you have the reason for the trailer. No more room in the truck.
Another larger vehicle would offer more room for sure, but hands down would not have the ability to hit the variety of trails that we can in the Land Cruiser. I can hit the mild desert roads and also wouldn't hesitate to take my cruiser on trails like the Rubicon. I wouldn't even consider that in a vehicle like an Excursion or Suburban or anything else for that matter that could still fit my family. There are other vehicles with a third row seat that can be capable on the trail, i.e. LR Discovery, Jeep Commander etc. but IMO they are not as capable as the Cruiser and even though they have enough seats, they are far more cramped.
Box Rocket
Well-known member
Awesome!
Glad to hear its doing the trick for you Adam. White Rocks is a really neat place, couldn't help but think it would be an ideal place for a rock-crawl
Kurt, I thought exactly the same thing and wondered why it hasn't happened yet.
cruiseroutfit
Supporting Sponsor: Cruiser Outfitters
Its been looked at, logistics (distance from the crowds) and the BLM permits have ruled it out. A good thing really. While it would be neat to watch I don't know if the tire marks everywhere would be worth the short term fun?
There was an RC rock crawl there a couple years back, I guess that would be fun to watch too. :victory:
dzzz
™
What a laugh. You go in some of the toughest high altitude areas of Wyoming and all you see are hunters with full size pickups from which the same base as suburbans and excursions. Oh, there is the occasional stuck little Japanese pickup with some confused guy from the suburbs.
What do you think the guys who constructed the infrastructure of mountainous areas drove/drive to work?
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
Well, where I'm from, they send in heavy earth moving equipment first, to build a roadbed. Then the workers in the full size trucks can get in. When they're done logging, they leave. Full size trucks can still use the road for about 5 years. After that, only medium size truck will fit due to forest encroachment. 5 years after that, only ATV's will fit.