Any campground I've ever been to had a place to plug in. No need for a generator. When I was racing dirt bikes and camping out with other racers, I was pretty much the only one with the quiet generators. The others had the cheap generators that were about 200 decibels and they ran them all. night. long. So, I know the pain! One of the things I'd like to do with my trailer, is have a good battery or two with an inverter so that I can run a vent fan on the roof, lights and a few other things. Most of my motivation for building this trailer though, is to get out and camp in places where there are no other humans around other than the ones I brought with me. There won't be anybody around to be bothered by my generator should I choose to run it.
I need to build an off-road teardrop with a queen size bed! Need advice.
- Thread starter KC10Chief
- Start date
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/153929-Sb_Moto-Overland-camper-build
That might give you some ideas. I am in Arkansas (Fort Smith) if you were interested in purchasing my project. I ended up going RTT and havent had much time to finish it.
That might give you some ideas. I am in Arkansas (Fort Smith) if you were interested in purchasing my project. I ended up going RTT and havent had much time to finish it.
Another great thread! I like your project and it's pretty similar to what I'm thinking. I like your drawer too. I have a 50qt ARB fridge in the back of my Jeep that runs 24/7! I love that thing and it's one of my favorite mods.
Part of what I want to do, is build the entire thing myself. I love building things and working with my hands. I think I'd find it very rewarding to build the entire trailer myself.
So, I've been playing with my welder and getting the hang of it again and making my welds look nice. Using argon gas is so much better than the flux core. I'm rethinking my frame though. Is the 2"x3" 11ga steel overkill? I do plan to drag it off road to places like death valley and the White Rim trail in Utah. Those places are at the top of my list. My Jeep is pretty capable and if I were hitting some more extreme trails in Utah or Colorado, I'd leave my trailer at a campground. But I'm thinking that 2x2 11ga steel might be a better choice and lighter in weight. I'm guessing my trailer will be around 2,000 pounds by the time I'm done. Will I gain a significant advantage by using 2x3 vs 2x2 steel for my frame? Here's a picture of my tow rig.
Vegas_Nick
Adventurer
I built one. Queen sized memory foam mattress and all. The build can be seen at:www.wkdfj.com and on this site at: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/140573-My-offroad-teardrop-build
Randy (Lead Dog) that posted up has an awesome solution to home building.
To be honest, it is a learning experience, and building one is a challenge and at times frustrating as hell. I have maybe $3500 in mine. It has heat but no AC as I prefer to winter camp. I have a very basic galley/cook area in the back but no water tank. I have done pretty much any kind of terrain from mild rock crawling to desert roads. I've taken it to Baja and headed to the Arctic Ocean with it next year.
Randy (Lead Dog) that posted up has an awesome solution to home building.
To be honest, it is a learning experience, and building one is a challenge and at times frustrating as hell. I have maybe $3500 in mine. It has heat but no AC as I prefer to winter camp. I have a very basic galley/cook area in the back but no water tank. I have done pretty much any kind of terrain from mild rock crawling to desert roads. I've taken it to Baja and headed to the Arctic Ocean with it next year.
old_man
Adventurer
Get in touch with me about some tips on your framing and sheeting that will save you a ton of work and $$$.
tom@testengineeringconsultants.com
970-391-8927
tom@testengineeringconsultants.com
970-391-8927
Awesome! I love your build. I especially like your sliding shelf in there. One of the things I've been laying awake at night thinking about, is how to get three people in this thing. My 18 year old son is moving out here real soon. My daughter is only 10 years old. I was thinking about a slide on the front of the trailer or maybe a flip down type of bed. All of that stuff adds more weight. After seeing your shelf, I'm thinking about a slide out bed over the adult's feet. Kind of hard to explain, but I think it may be the solution I've been looking for! They sell heavy duty drawer slides on Amazon that can hold 500 pounds.
I'd love to live out west! You're close to Death Valley and tons of other great places. I'll actually be in Las Vegas next week for work. I wish I had more time to run around!
I was doing some sketching tonight and trying to put my ideas down on paper. I have designed a lot of RC airplanes over the years and this is how I like to do it. Sheets of paper taped together and then I draw my plans using rulers, compasses and protractors. That's it. I use my computer to design the airfoils for the wings of the planes but that's it. I'm doing the same thing with my trailer.
So, I'm thinking that the basic frame will be 72" wide and 96" long and made of 11ga 2"x3" steel. I've thought long and hard about the tires but I think it best if they match my Jeep. So, 35" tires it is, mounted on 3,500 pound Timbren axles with a 4" lift. If I have smaller tires, then I'll have the added expense and weight of a spare for the trailer. If the wheels and tires match my Jeep, I can use the spare for everything. The wheels will be recessed into the body hence the raised platform inside for the queen size mattress which will be 60" wide x 80" long. The walls of the trailer will be 1.5" thick. I plan to make the box out of 1" square 16ga steel. I'll have 1" thick foam insulation inside and sheet the inside and outside in 1/4" ply. Since the inside of the trailer will be 69" wide, I'll have 4.5" wide shelves and cubbies on either side of the mattress. Good enough for shoes and little odds and ends. I'll also have a retractable 3" thick mattress shelf that pulls out for my daughter to sleep on. It's going to be about 32" wide x 67" long. I'll have it slide on heavy duty drawer slides. It will push back all the way into the rear of the trailer where the kitchen and other stuff is. The mattress will be enclosed and separated from the kitchen area. Looking at it from the outside, there will be a 5" thick shelf. Above it, I'll have a small RV microwave and then storage that can be accessed from inside or outside the trailer. Below, I'll have a pull out sink and all of the other accessories I'll need including an inverter, LP on demand water heater, water pump, external shower, etc. Under the bed, and between the wheel wells, I'll have a water tank that can hold about 70 gallons of water should I choose. Summer time only, of course. In front of that, I'll have a storage area where I can carry a small 24"x48" fold up table and a grill. I'll also have conduit for running wires for my electric brakes and tail lights, tag light, lights that I'll mount in the rear hatch, speakers, TV, electric outlets inside the trailer for plugging in phones, etc.
The trailer from the front wall to the back is 9.5' long. My tongue is another 3.5' long. I have the axle mounted about 70% of the way back when I measure from the trailer hitch to the very back of the trailer, including the part that sticks out past the frame. I've read that this is better for off road use. Also, with 35" tires and the way I have it drawn up, it's going to be about 7' tall when it's done. My Jeep currently sits at 6'3" tall. I have 15" of clearance under my Jeep. The trailer is going to have about 24" but will line up with the hitch on my Jeep just about perfectly. My garage door clearance is about 6'8" so, I'd have a problem there. I thought about making the box 6" shorter too. Inside the garage is 9' tall. I could remove the wheels and dolly it outside if I had to when I'm done building it.
If you guys could take a look at my sketches here and give me any feedback, positive or negative, I'd sure appreciate it! I want to have a good solid plan before I take on this project! Thanks!
Here's the basic frame. 2x3 11ga steel except for the tongue and angled supports which will be 2x2 11ga steel.
So, I'm thinking that the basic frame will be 72" wide and 96" long and made of 11ga 2"x3" steel. I've thought long and hard about the tires but I think it best if they match my Jeep. So, 35" tires it is, mounted on 3,500 pound Timbren axles with a 4" lift. If I have smaller tires, then I'll have the added expense and weight of a spare for the trailer. If the wheels and tires match my Jeep, I can use the spare for everything. The wheels will be recessed into the body hence the raised platform inside for the queen size mattress which will be 60" wide x 80" long. The walls of the trailer will be 1.5" thick. I plan to make the box out of 1" square 16ga steel. I'll have 1" thick foam insulation inside and sheet the inside and outside in 1/4" ply. Since the inside of the trailer will be 69" wide, I'll have 4.5" wide shelves and cubbies on either side of the mattress. Good enough for shoes and little odds and ends. I'll also have a retractable 3" thick mattress shelf that pulls out for my daughter to sleep on. It's going to be about 32" wide x 67" long. I'll have it slide on heavy duty drawer slides. It will push back all the way into the rear of the trailer where the kitchen and other stuff is. The mattress will be enclosed and separated from the kitchen area. Looking at it from the outside, there will be a 5" thick shelf. Above it, I'll have a small RV microwave and then storage that can be accessed from inside or outside the trailer. Below, I'll have a pull out sink and all of the other accessories I'll need including an inverter, LP on demand water heater, water pump, external shower, etc. Under the bed, and between the wheel wells, I'll have a water tank that can hold about 70 gallons of water should I choose. Summer time only, of course. In front of that, I'll have a storage area where I can carry a small 24"x48" fold up table and a grill. I'll also have conduit for running wires for my electric brakes and tail lights, tag light, lights that I'll mount in the rear hatch, speakers, TV, electric outlets inside the trailer for plugging in phones, etc.
The trailer from the front wall to the back is 9.5' long. My tongue is another 3.5' long. I have the axle mounted about 70% of the way back when I measure from the trailer hitch to the very back of the trailer, including the part that sticks out past the frame. I've read that this is better for off road use. Also, with 35" tires and the way I have it drawn up, it's going to be about 7' tall when it's done. My Jeep currently sits at 6'3" tall. I have 15" of clearance under my Jeep. The trailer is going to have about 24" but will line up with the hitch on my Jeep just about perfectly. My garage door clearance is about 6'8" so, I'd have a problem there. I thought about making the box 6" shorter too. Inside the garage is 9' tall. I could remove the wheels and dolly it outside if I had to when I'm done building it.
If you guys could take a look at my sketches here and give me any feedback, positive or negative, I'd sure appreciate it! I want to have a good solid plan before I take on this project! Thanks!
Here's the basic frame. 2x3 11ga steel except for the tongue and angled supports which will be 2x2 11ga steel.
JandDGreens
Adventurer
I think your plans are spot on. I may go ahead and build something similar if I find myself wanting a better set-up than what mine will be.
As far as going with the same size tire as your own rig with out a designated spare for the trailer I understand your reasoning, I have been debating the very same thing for my trailer, but the tires to match what I plan on running on my vehicle would add to the cost of each tire. I am leaning more towards buying three 31" tires and adding a tire carrier to the back end of the trailer. I plan on allowing my son to use the trailer to go camping also. He won't have a spare that would work on the trailer.
As far as going with the same size tire as your own rig with out a designated spare for the trailer I understand your reasoning, I have been debating the very same thing for my trailer, but the tires to match what I plan on running on my vehicle would add to the cost of each tire. I am leaning more towards buying three 31" tires and adding a tire carrier to the back end of the trailer. I plan on allowing my son to use the trailer to go camping also. He won't have a spare that would work on the trailer.
I've been thinking about that as well. If I ever decided that I wanted to sell it, most people don't have 35s on their vehicles. With 31s, I can get it in my garage. Three 31s with wheels will cost me more than two 35s. I still couldn't get it in my garage though. Not without shortening the box about four inches. I was also thinking about my slide out bunk thing. It's ridiculous! All so I can have a microwave. It occurred to me, that we have a microwave here at the house that never gets used. I'm thinking about just moving the bunk further back and not having any storage on the aft back side of the trailer. It will be really high up anyways. I won't have to deal with the complexity of adding the heavy duty drawer slides and the mattress could be a couple inches longer as well.
Also, since the bottom of my door will be 36" off the ground, I'll need to fashion some sort of steps to get into the thing. I was at an RV show a couple weeks ago and saw a Keystone fifth wheel that had some really cool steps. The whole thing lifts up and is hinged on the floor inside the door. You open the door and lift it up inside. It latches inside the door and then you close the door. Kind of hard to explain but it was rock solid and I hadn't seen anything like it anywhere else.
old_man
Adventurer
I'm an engineer. The way I did my frame is way overkill and the main box is 2x2. The cross pieces are 1x2 underneath on 1 foot centers. I understand wanting to make it rugged, but I could park my Jeep on it. If I do another, I will sheet the radius portions with 2 sheets of 1/8 ply or Masonite glued together. The 1/4 ply was just way too hard to radius and ended up cracking, even after soaking it for days.
The biggest issue was having a backing support for the interior panels along the top. The exterior has the 1x1, but the inside only has the uprights. I ended up doing 1/2 angle on the top edge and a wood bolster along the bottom. Having though more about it, I think I would skin the outside and then glue 1x1 wood strips for backing along the top. Because my trailer is 60" wide, I couldn't find plywood to do the top in one piece so I had to have a couple lateral seams. Instead of using 1x1's there, like the rest of the trailer, I used 1x2" steel.
Spend a fair amount of time figuring out where you want your lights and stuff so you can run the wiring before sheeting and insulating. I had planned to put my lights on the sides, but ended up putting them on my hatch, so I had to run the wires on the inside of the hatch. Being the perfectionist, that drove me nuts.
The biggest issue was having a backing support for the interior panels along the top. The exterior has the 1x1, but the inside only has the uprights. I ended up doing 1/2 angle on the top edge and a wood bolster along the bottom. Having though more about it, I think I would skin the outside and then glue 1x1 wood strips for backing along the top. Because my trailer is 60" wide, I couldn't find plywood to do the top in one piece so I had to have a couple lateral seams. Instead of using 1x1's there, like the rest of the trailer, I used 1x2" steel.
Spend a fair amount of time figuring out where you want your lights and stuff so you can run the wiring before sheeting and insulating. I had planned to put my lights on the sides, but ended up putting them on my hatch, so I had to run the wires on the inside of the hatch. Being the perfectionist, that drove me nuts.
Yeah. I've been looking at lights and other electronics and figuring out exactly what I want. Interior lighting, brake lights, etc. I want an inverter/converter setup kind of like a modern RV. I'd like to be able to run everything except the air conditioner and microwave if I have one, off of the battery. I'd like to be able to plug it in if I'm at a campsite or run it off of my generator and have it charge the battery. I'd also like for my Jeep to be able to charge the battery when it's plugged in via the 7pin connector. I think I can do that. My plan, is to skin the inside first and then make the cutouts and run wires for everything. Then I'll install insulation and skin the outside. As for seams, I'm thinking that I'll just use bondo on the outside of the trailer and sand it flat so I can get a nice smooth finish on it when I paint it.