Marketplace trailer build

[CMARJEEP]

Picked up this trailer last year on Marketplace. With a wife, daughter and dog the Tacoma was getting too crammed, especially when we want to bring camping activities like paddle boards or our bikes. This will also allow us to setup base camp and still have the truck to drive places, which was a problem we were encountering more and more with the tent on the truck.

Pretty much everything on this build has been purchased on Marketplace, including the trailer itself. The only things that weren’t are the tent which I moved from the truck and tongue box which I got new on sale at HD.

This is how we bought it. The guy I bought it from built it and seemed to have done a great job. It’s a custom built fully boxed frame with 3500 lb axle with electric brakes. The box is from a mid 80’s Chevy step side. Fenders are apparently Jeep flat fenders. It also came with a Lock n Roll hitch.



First thing I did was get a rack for it so I could get the tent mounted up. Since it’s an older bed with nice flat bed rails and vertical bedsides any generic rack fits. I found this Rola Pick-up-Rack on FB for $100. It seems pretty beefy and the bars have L track so it’s easy to mount things like the awning. It also came with a paddle board and kayak rack which I resold so I guess technically it was free. You’ll also notice I removed the fenders which were pretty beat up and rusting and slapped a couple coats of roll on bedliner.



With the tent and 270 awning mounted. The awning I also moved from my truck but it was purchased on FB. I did have to get some taller awning brackets since the rack on the trailer sits lower than my truck and it was too low to walk under, at least for me. The wife and daughter were fine . I got the brackets from Rough Country and they are super beefy and less than $100 so I recommend if you’re looking to raise your awning.

You’ll also notice I added a tongue box to the front. This was a cheapo Vevor box from Home Depot but it gets the job done and holds trailer stuff like wheel chocks and some jacks I put in the back of the trailer so it doesn’t tilt back when we’re in the tent.

 

[CMARJEEP]

Something I’ve been really trying to figure out for this is secure and dry storage for camping gear. I wanted something large enough I could put my bins and random gear in and lock it for short amounts of time when going into a store or restaurant or whatever.

I was looking at tonneau covers and a bed slide but since this is an ‘85 step side there’s not a lot of options.

I also looked into making some kind of hard cover that could pop up and I could mount rails on to put a rack and other stuff, similar to what a lot of other factory built trailers use, but fabricating something like that is a bit out of my wheelhouse.

I settled on topside bed tool boxes. There’s a lot on Marketplace but the problem is they’re either too small or too expensive. It took some patience and a lot of scouring marketplace but I found these 5’ long x 18” tall x 24” deep boxes still with the protective plastic wrap for $500 for the pair. These retail for $1000 a box so I think it was a steal. The doors come down and make a nice flat surface for cooking or whatever and they’re plenty deep to fit my bins, chairs, stove and pretty much all my other gear.

They do cover a lot of the bed and take up cargo space there but for me it’s a good compromise between having a lot of secure storage and still plenty of space in the bed to throw in wood, paddle boards and other larger items.

Mounting them was tough. I got some 90 degree brackets that are made to mount awnings and used them to mount and support the bottom of the boxes. I also through bolted through the bedside and rack mounts. They were still pretty wobbly so I fabricated up some 3/8” steel straps that attach to the top of the rack crossbars and now they are rock solid. Now the boxes and rack are kind of one combined structure and it made both more sturdy.

 

[CMARJEEP]

Added a lot of weight so the suspension was pretty sagged. Picked up some longer shackles which brought it up to the right height again. The guy that built it used Jeep XJ leafs so parts are easy to find and cheap.

It’s still a little soft so I picked up an extra leaf to throw into the pack but haven’t gotten around to installing those yet. Probably will be a winter project.




I’m pretty happy right now with where it’s at. The trailer tows great at 75mph on the highway or on rough trails. The lock n roll hitch really makes a big difference off road. It’s like the truck and trailer are disconnected and I barely feel it back there at all.

Next things I would like to do are maybe some kind of water tank and a smaller power system. My truck carries the fridge and has a 100ah battery and 175w solar panel which is plenty for my needs but a separate system for the trailer would be nice for lighting and to run small stuff like a water pump.