Thinking about scratch building a trailer- am I crazy?

[jays0n]

You are basically describing my trailer to a tee, arb fridge, RTT, propane, etc, cook partner stove! Perhaps you've seen them through your searching but there is a company called Dinoot.com that builds DIY parts/kits to build offroad (or on road) trailers. They offer fiberglass tubs in two sizes that match the body profiles of a Jeep (j-series) and a fiberglass version of the m416. They provide instructions to build the floor from marine plywood and how to put the whole thing together. They can size the axle, build a frame and provide all the parts, or you can do any/all of it yourself. Once you have a rolling chassis you can get to outfitting, RTT, electric, lighting, solar, water, propane, etc. If you're interested you can check out my full build thread on their forum here and I included a couple photos as well. Good luck with your build and if you go the route of a dinoot or want more info feel free to hit me up with questions.

 

[Bayou Boy]

Why not just beef up the Casita? Why build a whole new trailer? There are plenty of people that have beefed up fiberglass trailers to take on fire roads.

 

[Bayou Boy]

Here you go.
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/new-offroad-casita-project.57209/

 

[Wm Hill]

Yep.... the concept sounds good but in reality not so much.

I welded a frame for mine, now permanently mounted. Love it way more.
Be conscious of weight.... most projects way over build the frame. Look at how light commercial retail trailers are before buying the steel..... and add up the weight while planning. There are a few threads from guys who were surprized at how heavy they ended up.

View attachment 789157

I agree with the weight aspect. I kept that in mind building mine and it weighed in at #880 total (minus battery, water, and 5# propane tank). When I had the frame revamped, a lot of the original steel was reused. The original construction aspect was followed - strength by design, not bulk materials.

 

[Ozarker]

Here you go:

Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers • Index page

All about home built small trailers, teardrops and others.

Gotta disagree with the second post on the first page, it is cheaper to build than buy, apples to apples, you won't have a dollar cost for labor, transport, building and overhead, marketing, commissions or profits that a commercial trailer will have. No question about it, building is cheaper, apples to apples.

Most customs I've seen are not apples to apples, hence-custom.

I like the idea of a box type camper that slides on and off. You can solve loading and unloading issues with a tilt trailer and a small RV winch. Not much harder to build than a straight ladder frame. I built (along with others) a 4x6 tile for my John Deere rider. Run some skids under the box and you should have no problem loading and unloading a small camper. (Cut the ends of the skids at a 45' angle so it climbs over the edge of the trailer bed when loading!)

Pick up bed tents can work well on a trailer too, build an open bed/box and a tent, even cheaper.

 

[Teardropper]

am I crazy?​

Well, yeah. Everyone here that's built stuff is a bit crazy. The only sane ones are the looky-lous that come to visit thinking they may build someday.


Tony

 

[FN4PAPA]

Some one mentioned watch your weight... I second that.. it really adds up fast, especially if you are using steel for your framing...

Don't under estimate the time and money involved either... I did both :-(

It was important for us to have a proper bathroom enclosed in the trailer so my design is maybe a lot more elaborate than what you have in mind so the cost should be a lot less, but not insignificant. If you want to hear a war story check this out...

Well, its 2 Heavy, 2 Wide (80") and 2 Tall but I got plates for it today....

This has been the trailer project from hell… I ended up building a tank ?. I wanted it to be tough enough to go anywhere the jeep could go so the frame and superstructure was steel. The frame was 3/16”, the Tounge ¼” and the Superstructure 1/8”… but all that steel really added up… On top of that...

forum.expeditionportal.com

 

[jwiereng]

For me, 60" inside fits the queen mattress from my grandson, we bought him a new one. On a budget, I got the windows for free when we tore down an old house. They were the 1/4" thick plate glass sliders. I just set them in slot in the wood with a bed of silicone. This was the budget experiment. I was sure the glass would break, but 3 years later they are still solid. 3 years later I'm thinking about sanding and a fresh coat of paint. So much for a cheap "prototype".

The most expensive item was the translucent panel for the roof. From any commercial trailer builder it cost $160.00, they sell it by the foot off a 60' roll x 10' wide, I needed 6'. I already had the trailer. The walls are 6 sheets of 7/17OSB plus some 1x4 and 2x4. The door hardware is hardware store gate latches and hinges. Everything fits well but there is no weatherstripping. Still, it is dryer than a tent in a downpour. I've spent about $800.00 so far and it took 1 month to build.

You can just see the fiberglass roof panel here.

View attachment 514548

Do you get some water ingress when travelling in rainstorms at highway speeds? No weatherstripping? Do some noseeums sneak in and pester you?

 

[rnArmy]

Here you go - build one off a Harbor Freight type trailer frame. Here's a thread I started when I built mine. It is long, but it has everything in there you need to build what the OP was describing he wanted.

Mini Harbor Freight (type) Trailer Ultimate Build-Up Thread

Let's face it; there's only so much you can fit in the back of a Jeep, even with the rear seat removed. Some folks get pretty creative with Rubbermaid tubs and receiver hitch trays and such (see picture below - pray it doesn't rain!), but bottom line space is limited. One option is to get a...

www.jeepforum.com