Cargo Trailer 5x8 Overland Conversion - Cherokee XJ Content

[thatsagiven]

Got the toolbox/battery box all secured and wired up. Will eventually out the basket back underneath once I extend the tongue. For now I am happy with how secure and solid everything is.



I am planning on putting a fuse/circuit breaker directly off the battery so there is no chance of issues. But other than that it's mostly all wired up except Solar, that's next. I am happy with how much room I have for tools next to the battery. ( You can see how I mounted the u-bolts for more security)



Once I have the solar I am going to sheath all the wiring to make sure it's not rubbing anywhere and secured. I had a stainless vent from a previous project and cut a 3 inch hole in the toolbox to vent the battery and riveted this vent to the side.




Updated side profile with the toolbox. It's looking pretty clean and almost ready for a maiden camping trip. Still have to mount the fenders and fender lights. Don't know if I'll be lifting the trailer before I start using it for camping at least. I would like to but for now I want to get it usable for summer.

 

[thatsagiven]

Got an adjustable hitch fitted to the current height today. Have some issues with the trailer lights though, going to have to diagnose that another day. Ran out of daylight.



Added an inline circuit breaker to the positive lead thanks to some good advice from the squaredrop FB group. Mounted this in a more secure way with even more more space and wiring. Finally happy with this.

 

[billiebob]

very nice build
should last a lifetime
commercial cargo trailers are built for a life of abuse
great looking Cherokee too

 

[billiebob]

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Made some progress today, got the bed frame painted.

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Cut some plexiglass for the lights on both sides and the interior is getting close to being finished.

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Finished adding eternabond to the front and back finally and sealed with lap sealant. No longer need a tarp on the roof.

You do incredibly nice work, this is one of my favourite projects. Well done.
So many cool little details.

 

[billiebob]

Nice, but these pictures ARE HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are interested, but not that interested. Put some smaller pics so the page will load within a day, huge pictures are not needed, just keep them smaller than the width of the forum.400-600 width is plenty. On here of your many pics 4 loaded, and the page gave up and stopped loading

YES !!!

The pictures are HUGE.
One would think the admin could flag them, maybe do an automatic resize or tell the poster RESIZE.

Pic size is the biggest reason I move on.
The topic needs to be real inspiring to wait for the pics to load.

Even if I want to see the pics, I end up pissed that the OP thinks I am willing to wait for his ego to upload.

 

[thatsagiven]

You do incredibly nice work, this is one of my favourite projects. Well done.
So many cool little details.

Thanks @billiebob, appreciate the feedback and glad you were able to get through it. I have resized the images to 600px here but am uploading them direct from my phone to the site. Not much ability to resize or shrink the images unfortunately. Would be great if that was a feature since there are well over a hundred images so far. Don't see myself having time to resize and re-upload. Glad you were able to get to the end with slow load times. Documenting this for myself and others so if I can make it easier to view that makes sense.

 

[thatsagiven]

Got the trailer out for its maiden camping trip this weekend. We went out with a buddy and found a great camp spot far away from civilization.



watch out for the Guard dog.





This thing tows great, I was very surprised how capable the cherokee is with towing compared to what I have read, but my trailer is not heavy. This is partly the reason I went with a cargo trailer.



I am planning to replace the torsion axles with a leaf springs and a normal axle soon. But wanted to get this thing out for some camping. I was impressed by how the torsion axle handles off road to be honest, the trailer was predictable and didn't hang up on anything. Becuase I havent lifted it, the drop hitch did hang up a few times, but nothing terrible.





Didn't get too many pictures of the hard stuff but it was pretty cool to see this articulate behind the jeep.

 

[thatsagiven]

I found a way to resize images in bulk so I may go back and resize some of the earlier images.

My buddy is a good photographer and took some far better shots of the trip. Here are a few of the ones he sent from the trip.

(I had an issue with the mounts for my awning, I took it off and stored it inside for driving, I will be remaking those stronger but that's why its missing in some of the pictures.)





















Everything inside held up really well to some rough trails. The locks I had from the bed all shook open and the bed was moving around at some point so I will need to reinforce that. I also had cut vents but not wired them to 12 volt yet so having some moving air would be a win. The morning there was a little condensation in the windows and it was warm even with the large window open. blocked for light from the inside though so not much air was getting in.

With charging phones to full in the morning and use of lights the battery wasn't really phased so using that sparingly was not really a concern. I have a few other lights to mount externally and it will be nice to worry and use them as much as needed and have solar to charge back to full in the day.

 

[TroySmith80]

Nice build. I have a 6x10 i've converted for my family of four. I put two standard roof vents in it and they give so much light, i'm really glad i did. you might consider that if you're adding ventilation.

 

[87Warrior]

Man, this is a really well done build. Never before have I looked at a cargo trailer and thought 'that is nice, I bet my wife would like that'. Keep up the details and nice work!

 

[thatsagiven]

Man, this is a really well done build. Never before have I looked at a cargo trailer and thought 'that is nice, I bet my wife would like that'. Keep up the details and nice work!

Thanks @87Warrior!

 

[thatsagiven]

Nice build. I have a 6x10 i've converted for my family of four. I put two standard roof vents in it and they give so much light, i'm really glad i did. you might consider that if you're adding ventilation.

I am thinking this could be a good option. Not really lacking on light at the moment and didn't want to cut into the cedar roof and create more possible leaks if I can avoid it. But its a good call, I am going to try an additional side vent on the other side. We slept with the door open and it was pretty good overall but not realistic when its not hot out.

 

[thatsagiven]

Sorry for the lack of updates, We have been on a few short camping trips so far, some more rugged than others, but the trailer has been fantastic so far.



This spot is Upper Campbell River BC and free camp sites sponsored by BC Hydro. Pretty amazing view to wake up to.



Not sure if you can see from this picture but after some off-road adventures the bracket for the awning were starting to bend. Time for some bracket updates! Everything else has been working really well so far.



Another view of this great site and our setup

 

[thatsagiven]

Decided to get some updated shots of the completed (for now) Interior.

The cabinets have been really great for storage and the countertop is perfect for phones, keys, wallet and toiletries. (bottle of water)



Pretty nice to come into from outside. There is a good amount of room for a rainy night or to get in the shade. We have sat in here and watched a few movies on the laptop set up on the counter. Very comfortable couch and sitting area.


The couch mode is great for relaxing and easy to convert to a bed when you need. I am still not happy with the finish on the rear doors. It works for now though.

 

[thatsagiven]

Here are my new brackets for the Awning. I used some punched square tube and cut up a cutting board as a spacer. I needed something to seperate the aluminum and steel and act as a spacer to clear the roof.


Once I had the lengths I needed I painted them, (they are zinc coated) hoping they hold up to weather.

I ended up adding a few inches to the height so until I upgrade the axle or lift the trailer its now high enough to comfortable walk under at my height



Also added some aluminum flashing as a rain guard. I have it attached to the roof with some double sided foam tape. Should hold up and covers the door in the rain.
Still haven't decided on solar placement, but I am leaning towards to towards the front, more on this in a later post.





Also took this opportunity to clean and paint the roof sides and front with a coat of white paint.