justbecause
perpetually lost
I really like this trailer. Good job.
My offroad 5x8 Cargo Trailer Camper Conversion
- Thread starter Jmanscotch
- Start date
Jmanscotch
is wandering
Took some time to knock out two modifications on the trailer.
First, back up lighting. I went with two white 12V LED pods that I tied into the trailer wiring harness (it's a 7-pin, so it has a 12V reverse circuit). Put one on each side, mounted high and angled slightly down to help illuminate everything behind the trailer. They're nice and bright and should help be backup at night and see the tree before the trailer finds it.
Second, I added a large tilting vent to the passenger side of the camper. We usually sleep with the roof vent open, fan on and the door windows cracked open. We like to have air turning over in there for several reasons, some safety some comfort. The problem is the windows are right beside both our heads and camping at elevation means it's cold air blowing in right at our heads. It's quite uncomfortable at times and this new vent will help give air a passage through the camper and out the roof vent without it passing right over our faces.
It opens both up and down, has a seal when closed and is quite a large size. Found it on Amazon, a little pricey but a nice unit:
First step was finding the best placement. I landed on close to our feet but above the blanket line inside. Measured everything to ensure a clean pass-through would happen and height was good.
My jigsaw went missing, so I had to use my oscillating tool to try to cut a half decent hole, thankfully it went well enough, some pretty ragged edges but nothing that'd be exposed.
Installed it with pop rivets as I didn't have access to the backside of the trailers skin and didn't want to run bolts all the way through the interior wall to put a nut on it. Of course, used some silicone sealant behind the mounting flange.
The vent opens either up or down and closes completely with a weather/dust seal built into the cover. We'll run it down to keep the rain out and it has a screen in it that'll probably keep most bugs out, could add more if it doesn't filter the bugs we encounter.
Here's it on the inside, to open you push the bar down/up on the inside or center the bar to close it.
First, back up lighting. I went with two white 12V LED pods that I tied into the trailer wiring harness (it's a 7-pin, so it has a 12V reverse circuit). Put one on each side, mounted high and angled slightly down to help illuminate everything behind the trailer. They're nice and bright and should help be backup at night and see the tree before the trailer finds it.
Second, I added a large tilting vent to the passenger side of the camper. We usually sleep with the roof vent open, fan on and the door windows cracked open. We like to have air turning over in there for several reasons, some safety some comfort. The problem is the windows are right beside both our heads and camping at elevation means it's cold air blowing in right at our heads. It's quite uncomfortable at times and this new vent will help give air a passage through the camper and out the roof vent without it passing right over our faces.
It opens both up and down, has a seal when closed and is quite a large size. Found it on Amazon, a little pricey but a nice unit:
First step was finding the best placement. I landed on close to our feet but above the blanket line inside. Measured everything to ensure a clean pass-through would happen and height was good.
My jigsaw went missing, so I had to use my oscillating tool to try to cut a half decent hole, thankfully it went well enough, some pretty ragged edges but nothing that'd be exposed.
Installed it with pop rivets as I didn't have access to the backside of the trailers skin and didn't want to run bolts all the way through the interior wall to put a nut on it. Of course, used some silicone sealant behind the mounting flange.
The vent opens either up or down and closes completely with a weather/dust seal built into the cover. We'll run it down to keep the rain out and it has a screen in it that'll probably keep most bugs out, could add more if it doesn't filter the bugs we encounter.
Here's it on the inside, to open you push the bar down/up on the inside or center the bar to close it.
nice build! just made it all the way through the thread. Black bear Pass, i am impressed. I made it up and down yankee boy basin and decided that mountain pass trails in a vehicle are not my thing. I am/have built out a yukon xl camper. waiting for decent weather to test it out. i am torn between building a small camper like this or just use the yukon. hopefully i will get a chance to take mine out and give it a try. thanks for posting all this. good info.
Jmanscotch
is wandering
Thanks, yeah some people (my wife included) just don’t enjoy it.
My opinion on the vehicle camping vs trailer is pretty simple.
You already own the vehicle, if you find it to be an adequate space and setup, then why would you invest more to achieve the same thing? Try it for a while and see whatcha think.
If you want a little more room, the ability to setup a base camp and then go wheeling (which it sounds like you don’t) and you like the idea of leaving a trailer packed and ready, using your rig for more daily driver stuff and then just hooking up to a camping setup, then maybe the trailer is worth the hassle and expense.
Jmanscotch
is wandering
I have some recent awesome news, the wife and I are expecting our first child!
Along with that news is the realization that the camping trailer will need to go. It’ll likely be a while before we go camping as a family (babies can’t go to ultra high altitude) and I’d rather it not just sit, as well as the wife’s request for a slightly larger RV with a bathroom, water, etc. for the pending new needs.
I recently ordered the solar setup and need to touch up a few things then it’ll officially be for sale. If anyone’s interested, feel free to message me for my cell number or reply here and we’ll talk in more detail.
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Included: Everything you’d expect, aka anything currently mounted in the most recent pictures, like awning, front landing accessories if wanted, lock-n-roll hitch for trailer and vehicle, bed if wanted and any spare parts I have. I’ll install the solar panel and controller and clean it up nicely.
Title: clear Colorado title in hand
Price: SOLD
Let me know your thoughts and if you have any interest. Just took it down to New Mexico a few weeks ago, she’s serviced and ready to go for the season!
Cheers!
Jake
Along with that news is the realization that the camping trailer will need to go. It’ll likely be a while before we go camping as a family (babies can’t go to ultra high altitude) and I’d rather it not just sit, as well as the wife’s request for a slightly larger RV with a bathroom, water, etc. for the pending new needs.
I recently ordered the solar setup and need to touch up a few things then it’ll officially be for sale. If anyone’s interested, feel free to message me for my cell number or reply here and we’ll talk in more detail.
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Included: Everything you’d expect, aka anything currently mounted in the most recent pictures, like awning, front landing accessories if wanted, lock-n-roll hitch for trailer and vehicle, bed if wanted and any spare parts I have. I’ll install the solar panel and controller and clean it up nicely.
Title: clear Colorado title in hand
Price: SOLD
Let me know your thoughts and if you have any interest. Just took it down to New Mexico a few weeks ago, she’s serviced and ready to go for the season!
Cheers!
Jake
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Jmanscotch
is wandering
Appreciate it, it’s been a fun build and great setup these last several years.
I finally got around to posting it for sale locally, last week, and have had some interest in it, and a gentleman did ask the exact questions of finished height and overall length for the same reasons, so I do have those to share:
Ground to top of crossbars (so not including the solar panel) is 75” (rounded up due to slanted driveway, likely ~74.5” in reality).
It’s also 13’ 2.25” long from an angled sideways LNR hitch to the rear jack mounts.
Cheers,
Jake
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Jmanscotch
is wandering
Trailer has sold.
It’ll likely be a year and change before we get into another trailer. With a young kid and other life events happening, we plan to buy this time instead of building again.
We will likely buy and modify some though, so I’ll likely be back in some capacity to share that.
I appreciate all the ideas, motivation and support from you all along the journey of the build.
Cheers everyone!
Jake
It’ll likely be a year and change before we get into another trailer. With a young kid and other life events happening, we plan to buy this time instead of building again.
We will likely buy and modify some though, so I’ll likely be back in some capacity to share that.
I appreciate all the ideas, motivation and support from you all along the journey of the build.
Cheers everyone!
Jake
Nice build what tire size you have?Last year I built a steel 4x6 camping trailer that we adorned with our roof top tent. We really enjoyed that setup, but after only a few uses, I decided it was time to sell it to fund adult life (aka a ring for the lady) and ultimately we've decided we want to build another now and do it a little different this time. We're in Colorado and the high elevations we tend to camp at can make the tent weather season short, so we're going the way of enclosed camping. Here's the last build:
So our use is primarily going to be 2 day 1 night weekend warrior trips into the Rocky Mountains. We do have some ideas for more long distance trips, but those would be primarily pavement to a destination then off the beaten path. We don't intentionally get into hard trails, rock crawling, miles of washboards at speed, water crossings or anything drastic but we do enjoy getting back far enough to enjoy great views and privacy which tends to put us traversing some rutted roads, tight "jeep" trails and switchbacks.
The idea is to build up a 5x8 to be slightly more robust to both handle the extra off road forces as well as handle all the gear we'll be hauling with it. Insulate for cold Spring/Fall camping, install a basic storage bias type galley, add windows, vents, tongue storage, and a few other tweaks.
To begin, we shopped trailers, new and used, and ultimately settled on a 2018 Carry On 5x8 with side swing single rear door and curb side door as well. Out the door it was a touch over $2,000. I researched cargo trailer brands and found some opinions on each, hearing good general info on the difference in say a Carry On and a higher priced/quality Interstate/Wells Cargo/PACE/Etc, with a common theme that one should avoid Georgia's mecca of cheap trailers. I decided to go with this unit as it seemed to have the same notable draw backs as most cargo trailers in it's price range yet had some pros I appreciated. The main pros being the side door (saving us on a pricey RV Door), a nice Dexter 3,500 lbs axle already equipped and a main base frame made from 2x4 boxed steel. Some of the notable cons that we're wiling to work around are: poor workmanship on assembly (we'll circle back to this), really cheap wiring and install techniques, Z style vertical wall supports (but 1" square tube roof bows), two-piece curved roof, multiple piece aluminum siding and some general cost savings materials.
Here's the trailer we brought home:
We started with wheels/tires and suspension to help dial in final height so we could determine a few other things of priority. Here's a few pictures of the setup:
One thing that might be a little different than some cargo builds is we are going to CHOP the top on the CT about 8 inches to lower the overall profile of the trailer.
We plan to reinforce the main box frame with a few more cross supports, some smaller metal vertical wall supports and ultimately extend the tongue with 2.5" receiver tube to offer some more truck/CT clearance for turning as well as make room for tongue cargo solutions.
Jmanscotch
is wandering
The first set were 265/75R16, then I swapped those for some 285/70R17.
Jmanscotch
is wandering
We recently tried renting a potential trailer we’d replace the old one with, but quickly realized it wasn’t up to our needs.
We spent our second official anniversary (8 years together though) in Georgetown, Co, Breckinridge and Buena Vista. Here’s a few shots:
It’s just too big, has crap ground clearance and since returning it, the rental company has come at me for hundreds in damage repairs ? for one 3 day trip….piece of junk, so annoyed.
It fit what we thought might be the right improvements, but even a quality built trailer just doesn’t compare to the robust DIY cargo trailer. We took it up a small trail just SW of Breckinridge and ended up backing down a mile of trail because it simply wasn’t going to make it where we needed it to without simply forcing it over stuff it wouldn’t comfortably get past. Add to that, the wife said the interior space was a waste and I agreed. It wants you to do everything inside (cook, shower, sleep, hang) yet doesn’t really do any of those things comfortably.
We’ll keep exploring options.
The wife and I and our pending daughter:
We spent our second official anniversary (8 years together though) in Georgetown, Co, Breckinridge and Buena Vista. Here’s a few shots:
It’s just too big, has crap ground clearance and since returning it, the rental company has come at me for hundreds in damage repairs ? for one 3 day trip….piece of junk, so annoyed.
It fit what we thought might be the right improvements, but even a quality built trailer just doesn’t compare to the robust DIY cargo trailer. We took it up a small trail just SW of Breckinridge and ended up backing down a mile of trail because it simply wasn’t going to make it where we needed it to without simply forcing it over stuff it wouldn’t comfortably get past. Add to that, the wife said the interior space was a waste and I agreed. It wants you to do everything inside (cook, shower, sleep, hang) yet doesn’t really do any of those things comfortably.
We’ll keep exploring options.
The wife and I and our pending daughter:
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justbecause
perpetually lost
Congratulations on the baby girl! I want another girl but my wife said shes done having babies.
Jmanscotch
is wandering
Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
Not that I care but you might get more input in the custom diy trailer thread as opposed to this retail trailer thread
Jmanscotch
is wandering
Didn’t notice this thread ended up in the retail model subforum…not sure when that happened as it’s not where I started the thread years ago. Hmm.