Kamparoo Transcontinental rear-fold

[JDM Journeys]

Just got word that's she is "pretty much done". I'm away for a bit but hope to pick it up shortly after I get back. Really happy with how it turned out!

 

[LDRF]

Nice looking setup. It looks solid and well built.

With the spare under the front, does it have enough ground clearance? How crazy does the off-roading need to be before it starts to ground out?

 

[JDM Journeys]

Nice looking setup. It looks solid and well built.

With the spare under the front, does it have enough ground clearance? How crazy does the off-roading need to be before it starts to ground out?

It's a good question. I've been pondering same. It's where they put it by default and tongue weight is a good thing but we'll see how high it is once I get it hooked up. At the very least I could reverse it to the top of the tongue if I had to? We are planning for some very challenging trails in May so I'll know pretty quickly how it works...

The tongue has a good offset so the tire sits pretty high from what I can tell but there's no replacement for getting it out and trying it.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Brought it home recently and am continuing to add a few things before we take it out for its maiden voyage. Really happy with how it turned out. And pulling it in the wind seemed an easier task for my 1HZ than the rooftop tent was...

A tongue box is the first order of business...

 

[JDM Journeys]

After looking at many possibilities, I settled on the Deezee tongue box. It's a few inches narrower than the body on either side, and the height matches the tub height nicely. It also has struts to hold up the lid. I just need to bolt it on to the angle that was provided on the frame. Down the road I'm hoping this will hold my diesel heater, etc.

There is plenty of clearance underneath so the spare will be staying where it was.

I opted for brakes on this one but because it's so light, you don't notice the braking like you do on something with more mass. With our 23 foot travel trailer behind our v8 100 series (admittedly still not very heavy at 4000#) you can feel the trailer slow you down if you have the controller dialled up. But on this one it is harder to feel it back there. I haven't cranked up the dial on the RedArc Elite yet but at about 5/10 it feels very neutral.

And handling wise, the max coupler is a dream. Almost no secondary vibes over bumps and always silent. Meaning this has almost nothing in common with my old pintle hitched military trailer except the footprint...

 

[Guyute]

Congrats! Such a great design. Tongue box looks natural there. Good call!

The feet come out for transport?

And

What's this place? My two favorite things....Burritos and pubs?! I'm in!

 

[JDM Journeys]

Congrats! Such a great design. Tongue box looks natural there. Good call!

The feet come out for transport?

And

What's this place? My two favorite things....Burritos and pubs?! I'm in!

View attachment 3886503

The feet are removeable. But they are kind of handy for actually seeing the trailer in my rearview... Otherwise it kind of disappears back there.

So they have great burritos but it's not a pub sadly. I guess more accurately it's a "burrito bar"? Too bad though.

 

[80t0ylc]

The feet are removeable. But they are kind of handy for actually seeing the trailer in my rearview... Otherwise it kind of disappears back there.

It's also much easier to back up if you can see a good part of the trailer in the rear view!

 

[JDM Journeys]

It's also much easier to back up if you can see a good part of the trailer in the rear view!

Yep. I'm actually thinking of putting some reflective strips on them to make it even more visible.

Also have some rectangular convex mirror add-ons that I haven't stuck on yet. I'd like to avoid actual trailer mirrors in this case since I'll be going down narrow tracks.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Had an old tray from a previous trailer that only got used once so I extracted it from the shed today to see how it might fit. Ended up bolting it on - it doesn't take up any room but might block trail debris and possibly serve as a place to strap firewood or lay things at camp...

 

[JDM Journeys]

Removed the chains and switched to cables. They won't drag on the trail and self coil when unfastened.

 

[JDM Journeys]

I've put about 6000kms on this trailer since my last update, from around Alberta, down through Montana, Idaho, and Utah. It has been absolutely flawless and has gone places I didn't think it would ever go.

Here are a few pics from various places...

I do need to get it on the scale, but I'd estimate its around 1100 pounds or so? Next project is to change those upper (which flip to become lower) landing legs to something with more extension...

 

[JDM Journeys]

The flip down jacks I added are much better than the landing legs.

.

Even if the level of the ground falls away I still have plenty of extension to reach it without stacking levelling blocks now.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Have gotten lots of use from this little setup... Hauled my kayak to some epic spots.

And we recently sold the 100 series and 22 foot trailer so this is now our one and only.

 

[JDM Journeys]

We moved this winter (after living at our last house for 19 years!), so not a lot new with this rig except that it got to park in a new garage this winter. But We have some big trips now booked for the spring, so there is now inspiration to do a few things to it.

The last few years I've carried a Jerry on my rear ladder on the 70 series, but 20L of fuel is quite a bit of weight and depending on the corrugations, my normally very well sealed rear double doors have admitted a little dust when the can has been full. So... I thought it might be time to switch the fuel to the trailer?
My old green MFC was getting pretty worn looking, so I gave it to a buddy and went looking for a black one - not the easiest to find. Tongue weight on a little trailer like this one is rarely a bad thing, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and instead ended up trying to fit TWO Scepters on the platform in front of my box.

They were only available with red bands, so I bought a few yellow bands separately, and managed to swap them over without breaking them.

Putting two made the placement tricky. I still wanted to be able to get the metal straps off each one without interference from the other... This was what I ended up with, where I can still get the retaining strap off, and use one lock to secure both metal retainers at the same time.

I added a few cinch straps for redundancy. The plan is to use a battery pump to get fuel from the can to the truck, and then I'll only have to pull the caps while the can stays in place.

 

[80t0ylc]

We moved this winter (after living at our last house for 19 years!), so not a lot new with this rig except that it got to park in a new garage this winter. But We have some big trips now booked for the spring, so there is now inspiration to do a few things to it.

The last few years I've carried a Jerry on my rear ladder on the 70 series, but 20L of fuel is quite a bit of weight and depending on the corrugations, my normally very well sealed rear double doors have admitted a little dust when the can has been full. So... I thought it might be time to switch the fuel to the trailer?
My old green MFC was getting pretty worn looking, so I gave it to a buddy and went looking for a black one - not the easiest to find. Tongue weight on a little trailer like this one is rarely a bad thing, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and instead ended up trying to fit TWO Scepters on the platform in front of my box.
View attachment 4098254
They were only available with red bands, so I bought a few yellow bands separately, and managed to swap them over without breaking them.

Putting two made the placement tricky. I still wanted to be able to get the metal straps off each one without interference from the other... This was what I ended up with, where I can still get the retaining strap off, and use one lock to secure both metal retainers at the same time.
View attachment 4098255

I added a few cinch straps for redundancy. The plan is to use a battery pump to get fuel from the can to the truck, and then I'll only have to pull the caps while the can stays in place.

Don't know if you've thought about it, but an aux fuel tank mounted in the OEM spare tire location can eliminate messing with jerry cans permanently. I was so tired of the jerry can routine and had dreamed about filling the location after mounting my spare to the swing arm. I went with the LRA 24 gallon, which virtually doubles my range. I will admit that it became necessary to install air bags on the rear axle for when I tow my trailer. (24 gallons weighs about 162 lbs, plus the weight of the tank) They have really improved the installation and I was able to install it by myself. This was back in 2019 and LRA tanks have become pretty popular since then. Here's a thread for 80 series, but you might contact Ward (who is a main distributor for LRA, located in Boise, ID) and ask if an install would be possible for your rig. If you have the room underneath, it's just wasted space that could be very well used for an aux tank.

Couple pics:
Tranny jack was very useful...lol

Barely even visible and out of harm's way

 

[JDM Journeys]

I don't have a spare tire location underneath: my tire hangs on the back door OEM. And a larger replacement tank isn't really an option for my particular 70 series since it has a storage compartment behind the factory tank. But the factory 90L goes pretty far with a 1hz diesel if you drive it reasonably and a trailer doesn't make much difference. So an extra 40L is plenty and I will only need it ocasionally for long forays into the desert, or if I want more tongue weight to offset two mountain bikes off the back. I can also put water there too, although I already have 50L amidships in my truck.

These cans just add flexibility to my setup. And a battery fuel pump means I'm never lifting/spilling.

 

[80t0ylc]

I don't have a spare tire location underneath: my tire hangs on the back door OEM. And a larger replacement tank isn't really an option for my particular 70 series since it has a storage compartment behind the factory tank. But the factory 90L goes pretty far with a 1hz diesel if you drive it reasonably and a trailer doesn't make much difference. So an extra 40L is plenty and I will only need it ocasionally for long forays into the desert, or if I want more tongue weight to offset two mountain bikes off the back. I can also put water there too, although I already have 50L amidships in my truck.

These cans just add flexibility to my setup. And a battery fuel pump means I'm never lifting/spilling.

Yeah, I definitely can't brag about my 80 being fuel efficient. For me, it was survival trying to go 300+ miles between fill ups while over landing. That battery fuel pump sounds like it would make jerry cans more tolerable. I'm really liking the progress you've made with your trailer design. Versatile and capable make for a joy to tow while traveling.