My relatively in-expensive offroad popup build thread

[euro.love]

Well I decided to start a thread based on my 1992 coleman colorado pop up camper. I am leaving Connecticut May 14th and going west for 3-5 months then settling down where ever. I have explored all the other alternatives in camping and expedition travel and have come to the conclusion that this is going to be my best bet based on my personal comfort requirements based off a 1995 Tacoma. Other alternatives being roof top tent, custom sleeping setup in bed of truck, slide in camper, and adventure trailer. The main reason I went with this pop up is mainly price and size. This camper measures 73.5" wide, which is only a inch and a half wider than my tire width. It is also huge inside when opened up. Its perfect and plenty of room for me and my girlfriend, plus a dog when the time comes. The only drawback for me is the ground clearance, with stock 8 inch wheels it measured a whopping 11" off the ground. In the following pictures you can see that some big tires and wheels were in order. I will caption prices and detailed info with the pics. My ultimate goal is to have a fully equipped camping rig with the capabilities to go on beaches, dirt roads, and some moderate wheelin trails. That way when I get to a base camp I can take the truck solo and do some more serious wheelin.

With that being said.Today I scored a new coleman Propane stove. I also ordered a Waeco CF-50 fridge. Tomorrow I am going to pick up a deep cell battery which I will use with my already purchased sure power isolator. That will power the fridge and


Heres some pics of what it looked like when I got it. It had a table that is not in the pics.

 

[euro.love]

Heres what I have done to this date. First step was to find some wheels and tires that are going to work for me. I explored alot of options, but I got a great deal on 5 jeep wheels with 32's from my buddy for $50. So that made my decision on what tires I was going to use.

I also ordered a complete axle and spring kit from northerntool. $200 shipped. 2,000lb axle, hope it holds up. We are gonna find out the hard way if it dosent.

I then stripped off all the decals and pinstripes and sanded down the box. Here shows where I marked it to cutout the side4 to make room for my tires.

Then took the plunge and cut it out! Looks sweet with the stock wheels. I should leave it. haha

This is one reason why I chose to just cut the trailer. I had my stock tacoma wheel trim kickin around and it would work perfectly to hide the rough edge. And it matches a stock Tacoma! Here is a pic of me holding it in place.

After all that cutting I kept the flow going and ditched the stock tail lights. They were very 80's looking. So I went with a simple round. Hard to smash it compared to the stockers too.

The trailer is primed and I am going to paint it tomorrow. I will post pics as soon as its cured. Then I can start workin on the fender wells. Waiting on my axle assemble to come in so I cant get the wheels on yet. But I have to keep going, time is getting low. Oh, did I mention I am considering a classy laminated wood floor?

 

[Martyn]

Check to make sure the hub on the new axle is going to clear the center hole on the Jeep rim. Stock Jeep rims have a very small center hole. Using 3500 lb spindles we end up fitting 2.5" thick adapters to make the rims work.

 

[jeepboyd]

looking good keep us posted

 

[euro.love]

Yeah I have herd that. The stock axle fits just fine. I ordered 67" axles. So If I need to use adapters its not the end of the of the world and I will still clear. Or I could open up the center hole. I run a CNC machine at work so that would not be a problem. You know where there is a site I can score the adapters you speak of just in case?

 

[Martyn]

Yeah I have herd that. The stock axle fits just fine. I ordered 67" axles. So If I need to use adapters its not the end of the of the world and I will still clear. Or I could open up the center hole. I run a CNC machine at work so that would not be a problem. You know where there is a site I can score the adapters you speak of just in case?

If you have the CNC opening up the hole is the way to go.

PM me for info on getting adapters if you end up needing them.

 

[Rezarf <><]

Now this is an interesting thread! Keep it up, I am excited to see what you come up with. How do you plan to re-reinforce the removed area? If this works well... watch out Craigslist, guys will be following you quick!

 

[Funrover]

Looking good! I like this thread!

 

[euro.love]

Yeah if this comes out as planned I would love to convert these things. Not to mention they would be worth a few grand afterwards.

 

[euro.love]

Now this is an interesting thread! Keep it up, I am excited to see what you come up with. How do you plan to re-reinforce the removed area? If this works well... watch out Craigslist, guys will be following you quick!

Believe it or not the stock fenders wells were just screwed in with a couple 3/4" wood screws. I am going to beef it up pretty good. I am def going to weld The fender structure to the frame. If it warms up at all today I am going to throw some color on it.

 

[JackW]

Looks like a great project - take a good look at the frame and see if it can hold up to the abuse it will receive.

One of the favorite projects I've seen on the web is a guy in Germany who took an old Eriba Puck travel trailer - unbolted it from the stock frame and set it up on a heavy duty motorcycle trailer (he works for the company that makes the trailers). It turned out to be a pretty neat rig. I've attached a few pics.

 

[BigAl]

How are you doing the inner fenders, prostreet style or like a box?

 

[euro.love]

How are you doing the inner fenders, prostreet style or like a box?

That was a question I asked myself. I am going to do a box style, with a nice flat top. Since the cutouts are so high the top of the fenders can be used as seats, or I can make some sort of bracket to hold my new Waeco CF-50. Im not that far along yet. I need to get this thing painted today so I can pop it up and start working on the fender wells and the interior. Did I mention I am going to let my girlfriend decorate the interior!!!

 

[euro.love]

Camper went into stealth mode today. Think I am gonna put some diamond plate aluminum on the front. This this is gonna get smoked with rocks. BTW, alot of that orange peel went away. That pic was taken about 5 mins after spraying the clear.

 

[Funrover]

Glad to see I am not the only one doing this to my poor camper. to save $ and weight you could herculiner the front. Diamond is exspensive right now! Another thought for your hitch, look up loc'n roll