I have been looking over this forum for several years, wanting to have/build a expedition trailer to pull behind my jeep. Got the ball rolling when 4 wheel parts put the smittybilt tents on sale at Christmas, I couldnt pass up the deal on the standard tent for 649 shipped. I wanted a trailer that would track behind the JK, the hardest part was figuring how long to make it. I wanted to be able to carry water, slide out fridge and the necessary pieces to camp aka (to much junk). I went went with 3x2x1/8 wall tubing for the fame and filled the same pieces in for the cross members because I had left over material. The frame measures 4'-0" wide by 8'-0" long with a 7'-0" long box for gear. Added a 2-1/2 square tube the length of the trailer for max coupler and to be able to haul a cargo rack or bike on the back of the trailer. Went with 3,500 lb dexter axle with electric brakes and 5 on 5 hub pattern to match the jeep. Ran into a problem the trailer hubs wouldnt work with my factory wheel, ended up having to cut the bore on the wheel about a 1/8" more to get it to slide over the hub. These are my 31" old tires and wheel that came off when I upgraded to 35's, I plan to get the trailer up to 35's at some point. I came up with a lift system fro the RTT and Foxwing Awning that used gas shocks that hinged up from a travel position, to keep the tent low and more aerodynamic. My first design of gas struts failed to work, but went back to the drawing board and add 4 more struts which proved to better. It defiantly help having a career in CAD and working with AutoCAD that I was able to draw the lift system and to figure out the lengths and location of the gas struts.
Jeep expedition trailer
- Thread starter tae73
- Start date
Some more pictures, checking tent out temporary to see if the lift was tall enough for the annex. Gotten rear doors doors mounted and latches installed also holes for tail lights and rubber stops to keep the doors from smashing the lights. Next was the water fill for the 30 gallon water tank and holes drilled for 12v cig outlet dual 2.1a usb plugs and 3 holes for push button lights and water pump. The push buttons are IP67 rated that I picked from amazon, to run lights and water pump. Putting this on both sides of the trailer. Using the harbor freight tongue box 2 6v golf cart battery's wanted to make sure I could jack knife the trailer with out any issues. Just waiting on draw slides to finish in inside and mount one more door and get ready for paint.
