Coleman Colorado Frankenstein Trailer Project

[jet noise]

Fellow Colorado owner here. This might be the coolest build I've seen yet. Looking forward to watching this.

 

[highlandercj-7]

Nice build!

 

[DblD]

Not a lot of progress this weekend. I did get the surge brake removed and worked on the lunette mount. I copied Mark Harleys design and had a piece of pre-made C channel welded onto the existing surge brake mount.







I'll need to cut the safety chain mounts and figure out a different way to attach new chains.





I got the right and left sides welded up and temporarily clamped them in place to take some measurements for the front a rear panels.







I've had the old axle listed on my local Craigslist for a week now and no interest whatsoever.
I may need to see about buying a premium membership on Steel Soldiers and see if I can generate any interest there.

http://springfield.craigslist.org/rvs/3955526928.html

Any questions or comments are welcome.

dd

 

[Mark Harley]

Don't cut the mounts......On my 116A2 I used two short 3/4" bolts and nuts instead of the long through bolt.
The tricky part is holding the huts inside the V mount to start the bolts.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/78083-A-sister-for-my-M101A2

 

[AnzaJeep]

Love it - that is going to be a great set up. I did something similar with mine, but made it removable. I can't tell you how often I use it as just a flat bed trailer without the tent trailer on. Here is my build:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/80288-Colorado-Combo-Killing-Two-Birds-With-One-Stone

 

[Jr_Explorer]

Yeah. Good gawd don't cut the chain mounts to turn them into giant spaces/shims! You can use any old hunk of steel for that. I'm sure you can find a usabe configuration to move them to a usable location.

 

[DblD]

Love it - that is going to be a great set up. I did something similar with mine, but made it removable. I can't tell you how often I use it as just a flat bed trailer without the tent trailer on. Here is my build:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/80288-Colorado-Combo-Killing-Two-Birds-With-One-Stone

Very slick trailer. I'm not sure how I missed your build thread while searching endlessly for Coleman Colorado info. When the time comes I'll have some questions for you on replacing the canvas.

dd

 

[DblD]

Don't cut the mounts......On my 116A2 I used two short 3/4" bolts and nuts instead of the long through bolt.

Good gawd don't cut the chain mounts to turn them into giant spaces/shims!

Ok, got it. Thanks for the input. Wish now that I hadn't cut the chains off the mounts.

dd

 

[jet noise]

DD, I'll second Anza's endorsement of Bear Creek Canvas replacements. I got a road tarp for mine and the quality is as good or better than factory. Mine is stored outside and two Midwest summers have not even made an impact on it.

 

[Mark Harley]

Sorry I did not advise on the chains sooner,
I learned from the first trailer that you dont need a shim if you use two seperate bolts.
Same clamping power. and I sold my military safety chains on ebay for $40.00.
That paid for my safety cables which I like much better.

Get a pair of repair links at the hardware store, spray it OD green and sell them on the bay.

 

[DblD]

A couple rainy weekends have slowed progress on the trailer. I did get the front and rear panels mocked up.







After having the panels welded together everything got a coat of primer and paint.





The boxed in area is where a small window unit air conditioner will be mounted. I would like to mount it on heavy duty drawer slides so when the tent is deployed it will slide out. When the tent is packed up for travel the air conditioner will slide in and be stowed away.





The opening is for the door that swings out to the rear.





I’ve had a good plan on how to proceed up to this point. Now I’m sort of stuck. I’m not sure what to do next. I plan on skinning the outside in aluminum. This will require some seriously accurate measuring and communicating those measurements to a sheet metal guy. I also plan on doing an engineered wood floor in the camper. Then it’s on to the bench seats, table and storage areas.

dd

 

[TheThom]

Looking good! Can't wait to see it when the camper guts get installed.

 

[OverlandZJ]

Nice build... looking fwd to progress.

I gotta get me one of these Colorado's.

 

[silvrzuki77]

Be carefull on the aluminum. I just skinned my teardrop and it scratches very easy.

 

[Mark Harley]

A military landing ladder would look cool on the rear.
What are the plans for the front deck beside the a/c unit?
Fab work looks great.