Tandem Axle Bespoke Overlanding Trailer Build With VW Suspension (picture heavy)

[WanderingVWBus]

Hello, Welcome to my build. It has been a brainchild of mine for the last year. The basis of this project was two VW Bus spindle axles and the rest i have build off those simple parts. The plan is to get lost this summer with it being towed behind my 1976 VW Bus powered by a Subaru EZ36. If your looking for normal this definitely isn't your jam. I walk and build projects to my own beat. Its not done yet but we are getting close. Enjoy the thread.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

Here we go, i started with a stack of steel and two mid 70s Volkswagen bus spindle axles. The first step was to mark up the layout then make sure everything is square and start building from there. After I got the frame built, I had a vertical steel structures and a full steel roof To support the roof rack that will eventually have the rooftop tent on it. The plan on this was to have plenty of ground clearance and decent articulation for mild off-road situations. I chose the Volkswagen bus spindles because I didn't wanna have any axles between the wheels that could possibly get caught on rocks or roots.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

I when I first started this, I tried to do it with one single axle, then found that my tongue weight was exceeding the range I wanted. I happen to have had a spare axle in the workshop, so I just grafted into the chassis. By doing this, it took 75% of my tongue weight away and gave greater stability to the chassis. As I did more research, I found out a lot of people do the tandem axles because it helps so that one wheel doesn't fall into a hole and it goes over bumps better.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

At this point, I was happy with all the fabrication, and it was time to send it off to get sandblasted in preparation for paint and installing the walls. Once I got it back from the sandblasters, I did a full Epoxy primer on all the exposed metal. The walls for this trailer are toy hauler tailgate panels that I cut down and glued in place. There's a product called panel bond that allows you to glue fiberglass to steel and it actually is a stronger hold then welding it. Although you can't really weld fiberglass.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

The fiberglass wall installs is really cool because it's actually sandwich board between fiberglass panels small bit of wood, foam, and another bit of wood and an additional fiberglass pan on the other side. It is super strong and super lightweight so works great for the walls.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

Well, you can't have a overloading trailer without cool spare tire holder. I got inspiration for this from the Baja trucks. Because the bus in the trailer, a different size tires that's why the tires are different. I also needed to add recovery boards and a spare fuel cell, one for gas and one for diesel for the heater.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

I cut in to the panels with some RV access panel doors. I simply just glued them in place with the same panel bond product. While looking online, I also saw some people making fly fishing rod holders out of old ammo boxes and PVC pipe so I figured why not.

 

[pith helmet]

Nice build. Love the ammo box rod holders. I may have missed it, but do you plan to color match to your bus?

 

[HaveeBear]

Nice build. very creative. Where did you source your RV access panel doors from?

 

[WanderingVWBus]

Nice build. Love the ammo box rod holders. I may have missed it, but do you plan to color match to your bus?

Im super excited to use the rod holder. I saw that some people use foam insulation for piping on the inside of the tubes to keep the fragile fly rods from getting damaged. That will be next week. I didn't and I didn't color match it to the bus, I kept it the same color as the top half of the bus so that if for some reason it did not tow well, I could sell it easier being tan, then green and tan. Hopefully that's not the case and toes just fine behind the bus.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

I like the industrial look but I hope it weighs less than it looks like.

The 50? year old Honda Scrambler .... we need more info on it. Looks like a CL450 ???

The current estimate for the trailer is 1600 pounds dry. I've got one of the hubs that I have to replace one of the bearings and then I'm going to take it over to a local nursery that has a scale. Hopefully my estimate is correct because even fully loaded I don't want to exceed 2200 pounds. At 2200 pounds it should give me approximately 100 pounds of tongue weight. You are correct it is a Honda CL 450. Originally instead of the spare tires and generator it was supposed to have that motorcycle parked on the back of the trailer. I built the sub frame to accommodate it but as I continued to build the trailer I found that, having the motorcycle back there might cause some tail wagging. The motorcycle rides well considering its age. But compared to a modern motorcycle after about 45 minutes you don't feel anything between your knees and your belly button. Its fun though

 

[WanderingVWBus]

Nice build. very creative. Where did you source your RV access panel doors from?

Johnson's Supply and Bontragers Supply in White Pigeon Michigan, these places buy up RV surplus then sell it real real cheap. Its overwhelming how much stuff they have. When i got these i had several hundred to choose from.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

Once I got all the panels fit and the glue dried, I proceeded to put on primer on all the metal surfaces and the fiberglass surfaces then top coated it with the single stage beige to match the top half of the bus. I then installed the water inlet and shower terminal box. Eventually, I installed a hot water system with a freshwater tank underneath similar to that of an RV.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

Once I finished up the exterior, I proceeded to start on the interior. I took two 60 inch 500 pound full length, locking slides, and built a stove and sink assembly. I used a two burner stove in conjunction with a small fiberglass sink. For the refrigerator I did a similar slide just 28 inches shorter, that way it can accommodate a fully filled fridge freezer. I was also able to purchase a rooftop tent that was bought locally by somebody from Leer topper corporation. It appears they just white labeled it from Thule.

 

[WanderingVWBus]

You will notice that I have no problem buying something preowned if it's been well cared for. A perfect example is this awning that I purchased from my guy locally. For $50 it was perfect for my application. Would I have loved a 270° one for $900 absolutely but I have 850 reasons why I went this route. The electronics in this trailer are both shore power 30 amp service and a dual battery 12 V system. As you can see from the photos I have a dual battery charger for what I'm hooked up to the generator or to shore power. I am also running an inverter so I can have 120 V when I'm running off the batteries. The hot water heater is not designed to run off the battery system. It just draws too much amperage. When I am off the grid and conscious of my energy use I've got a propane, hot water heater that I can use in conjunction with the, 12 V water pump system. Underneath I mounted a 16 gallon freshwater tank and a 55 psi water pump.