North American expeditions: roof racks vs. trailers

[Mark W]

If you are not pulling a trailer (and even if you are) the best place for fuel cans IMHO is the rear of the rig. Outside on the rear. We've got a couple of tire/can carrier bumpers on '40s which hold a spare on one side and 4 jerry cans on the other. I'm trying to get one finished on one of my rigs in the next few days which will carry 8 jerry cans and no spare on the back of a '40. Saem approach works on a '60.
Keeps the cans low, secure, outside and out of the way. Keeps the weight on the rig instead of in a trailer. But you may need to keep the weight in mind when picking/designing your springs 'cause thats a fair bit of weight.


Mark...

 

[lowenbrau]

I prefer the trailer. My expeditions tend to involve too many road miles to cram all that junk into and onto the rig. In 2001 I did 16,000 kms in one month. Much of it was the alaska highway but ten days was off road in Alaska. It sucks to drag a trailer through the muck but its do-able with a capable rig. I figure my BJ70 on 35s with the trailer is about as capable as another rig on 31's with no trailer. As Mark said, you can always drop the trailer, get the truck through a section and then winch the trailer through. I've only had to do this a few times. The discomfort of hauling a trailer on the most techincal parts of an expedition is easily offset by the convenience of having it for the rest of the trip.

It is very important to have the right trailer. I'm not yet convinced that anything beats a old military M100. I have a new to me M101cdn that I'm hoping will be as good.

I have a couple of surplus M101cnd as well if someone needs one. Located in Alberta Canada

 

[DaktariEd]

Would love to get an M101...but just a tad far to drive up and get!
Bummer....

Ed

 

[jonb96150]

I have pulled trailers through the Rubicon many times, and it is not that much more difficult than without it. It can be a biatch if all axles hit stairsteps simultaneously. Traction is almost always good on the 'con so I can't address mud but I imagine a trailer would be a big anchor.

But when I go on trails that I have never been on before, I never pull a trailer as I have had to back up almost 1/4 mile on old mine roads that are perched on the side of very steep slopes. It would have taken hours to back a trailer out of those situations.

I'm going to go with a roof rack for my fzj80.

 

[Godwin]

With the things that I do an M416 is, at times, very useful but it can also be a real pain. I don't have any substantial experience with a roof rack, but there are times when I wish I had one. During the course of a year I do a lot of field work, which is not expeditionary in nature but does involve some similar considerations. I don't have to carry extra water, fuel, etc. and seldom camp but I still lug around a pile of stuff. My work involves sampling for fish, mussels, turtles, cave life and in order to do this I have to carry seines, dipnets, minnow traps, SCUBA gear, wetsuits, cave equipement, plus coolers, clothing and other personal items. I don't take all of this on each trip but I often take enough so that packing it all in an FJ40 presents a challenge. Oh yeah, then there's the Hi-Lift, shovel, axe, tools, straps, chains, etc.

Depending upon the duration of the trip, the type of activity to be performed, and other considerations, I may decide to pull the M416. If I've spent all day snorkeling and diving in river the trailer comes in very handy as a receptacle to just dump the soggy wetsuit, tank, fins, and other gear. Same for caving. Nearly all of the caves I go in are wet and muddy, some extremely muddy, some require wetsuits. Often ropes and descending/ascending gear is needed. In cases like this having a trailer on hand is again very nice because all the wet, muddy polypropylene, cave suit (or wet suit), ropes, packs, and other gear can go into the trailer instead of the somewhat cleaner interior of the 40.

Plus I can simply load things into the trailer without regard to careful packing or having to lash it down, this would not be the case with a roof rack.

So in general, for my purposes, a trailer is very handy. Then there are the times when a trailer suddenly becomes almost more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Overlord]

I know it’s not the cheapest option, but what about taking 2 rigs? I now have a 60 and an 80 (although the 80 is stock). With 2 rigs, the wife can drive to, plus we have tons of room for all the families junk.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I am more than a fan of the trailer option... Though I am yet to do a trip longer than 4-5 days with it, it has quickly proven its worth. My decision was completely based upon my use of course. Most of the wheeling I do is out of a "base camp" such as Moab, Utahs Uintas, AF Canyon, etc where the "harder" trails are usually dead ends or loops back to town... There is little reason for me to bring the trailer along when I am there. On top of that, I don't really like the idea of anything above my head, I get tippy enough as is and with the tight trees in the mountains here, I would destoy my equipment. The biggest factor for me came down to the "preperation" stage of wheeling trips, I don't like to track everything down and make sure its in (or on) the Cruiser. I do alot of local day runs, so leaving the camping gear in (or on) the rig is a waste for me... With the trailer, I can have everything loaded cept' fresh food and ice... can't beat that.

In the case I do need to take the trailer on a hard trail... it can literally go anywhere I can tug it, and if that doesn't work, it can easily be dismounted, winched, ditched, etc... One guy can lift one side off the ground unloaded, depending on the load, a couple could still move it. (fiberglass body, steel frame).

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

This is a neat thread. I just picked up a 3/4 ton M116A1 trailer, similar to Owyhee Jackass' M101A1 but a flatbed version. Problem is I have nothing to haul stuff in so for a while I have been looking at cheap, gas guzzling impractical pickups and such but just don't need another car. So the trailer it is. Plan is to steak bed it. My pig has pretty good power on it's own but I'll have to turn up the juice a little bit to pull this thing for any serious long term trips. Trailer weighs about 800 lbs, plus two 55 gallons or water and/or fuel and other things and next thing you know I am at 2000 more lbs. I will be heading to burning man this year for the first time, I think the plan is full roof rack AND the trailer. Should be quite a haul. Currently I prefer just the roof rack because it just drives easier and no major noticiable lack of power. If I could I would take a smaller trailler like a M416 that you guys have or one of the Canadian ones. This M116A1 is just supoer heavy duty and strong and tons of room, more square footage than a pickup bed easily. It has already been super useful in the week I've had it for hauling things around. And it will follow me most places, just can't bee too tight...


Photos:
M101 - 3/4 Ton basically a M116 flatbed with sides built in
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/december/M101A1/DSCN0762.JPG

M116A1- What I have - here is my rig:

 

[GeoRoss]

Mark,
For those of you who have been lucky enough to take extended (1month or longer) treks what do you find to be the largest/heaviest necessities?

No matter where you are going (if remote) you will need fuel. That has always been the number one weight thing for me when doing remote field work.

This summer the farthest I was away from reliable fuel was about 250km of dirt roads (about 1-2 days of driving if things go smoothly). We actually hired a big truck (~3 ton?) to haul stuff. We could fill up 6, 55 gallon drums and be good for a month.

I do quite abit of field work state side and one of the top things I plan on doing to the 80 is an aux. fuel tank.

Depending on where you go, water can be another big weight. There are spares and parts that could add up as well.

Ross

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Spare parts and tools are the heaviest item in my trailer... I could lighten it up a bit by removing duplicate tools, parts, etc... But when your broke in the middle of nowhere, the more parts/tools the merrier.

I am going to add a Jerry can holder to my setup... 10 gallons of water and 10 gallons of extra fuel, between the rack, the tanks and the fluid I figure it will add an additional 100lbs to the trailer (which is ~750 LOADED )

I need to get mine down on a scale when it is fully loaded... generator, battery, fuel/water tanks and all the tools/parts (in addition to the camping gear!)

Great thread!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

M116A1- What I have - here is my rig:

DAMN that thing is HUGE!!! We could just put my Cruiser on the trailer... so when yours breaks, we pull it off and drive mine.

I would look into building some killer storage units in the front of that thing, mabey some on the side too! What about a fold out bed?

 

[dawg]

Anyone tryed to pull one of these behind a 40 ? Thay are about 16' x 7' around 2500lbs

 

[dawg]

Anyone tryed to pull one of these behind a 40 ? Thay are about 16' x 7' around 2500lbs

Bump

 

[re_guderian]

This is a neat thread. I just picked up a 3/4 ton M116A1 trailer, similar to Owyhee Jackass' M101A1 but a flatbed version. Problem is I have nothing to haul stuff in so for a while I have been looking at cheap, gas guzzling impractical pickups and such but just don't need another car. So the trailer it is. Plan is to steak bed it. My pig has pretty good power on it's own but I'll have to turn up the juice a little bit to pull this thing for any serious long term trips. Trailer weighs about 800 lbs, plus two 55 gallons or water and/or fuel and other things and next thing you know I am at 2000 more lbs. I will be heading to burning man this year for the first time, I think the plan is full roof rack AND the trailer. Should be quite a haul. Currently I prefer just the roof rack because it just drives easier and no major noticiable lack of power. If I could I would take a smaller trailler like a M416 that you guys have or one of the Canadian ones. This M116A1 is just supoer heavy duty and strong and tons of room, more square footage than a pickup bed easily. It has already been super useful in the week I've had it for hauling things around. And it will follow me most places, just can't bee too tight...


Photos:
M101 - 3/4 Ton basically a M116 flatbed with sides built in
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/december/M101A1/DSCN0762.JPG

M116A1- What I have - here is my rig:

Wondering where the weight of the M116 is, the frame/axles, or the box? I'm looking at one for my 80, and like the 4' x 8' size between the wheels, but don't want to go too heavy. Anyone know?

 

[Rockrawler]

Great thread guys. I recently had to make this decision and went with the M101 trailer for several reasons. After the last TDS trip my wife decided that sleeping on the ground sucks. With no RV access a big travel trailer or RV it out of the question because I dont feel like paying storage fees. Many of the big events we will be going to have nearby hotels so that if the family is coming we can sleep there, if not I just sleep in the truck and thats fine. At events like TDS there isnt anything nearby, so a military trailer was procured from a buddy and a rooftop tent from the recent buy on this board. My reasoning is this will be more of a base camp setup; we drop the trailer, go wheeling, and come back to cleanup & sleep. For straight camping trips, we are up off the ground, have room for all the creature comforts we want to bring. But the reasons I chose the trailer is first I got the trailer for less than a quality rack and money is alwas a concern. I have room to store the small military trailer on the side of the house where a RV wouldnt fit, and I have a place to store all my camping gear in one spot so its always ready to go at a moments notice, and its out of the garage so I have more room in there for other crap I dont need.

 

[spressomon]

Great thread guys. I recently had to make this decision and went with the M101 trailer for several reasons. After the last TDS trip my wife decided that sleeping on the ground sucks. With no RV access a big travel trailer or RV it out of the question because I dont feel like paying storage fees. Many of the big events we will be going to have nearby hotels so that if the family is coming we can sleep there, if not I just sleep in the truck and thats fine. At events like TDS there isnt anything nearby, so a military trailer was procured from a buddy and a rooftop tent from the recent buy on this board. My reasoning is this will be more of a base camp setup; we drop the trailer, go wheeling, and come back to cleanup & sleep. For straight camping trips, we are up off the ground, have room for all the creature comforts we want to bring. But the reasons I chose the trailer is first I got the trailer for less than a quality rack and money is alwas a concern. I have room to store the small military trailer on the side of the house where a RV wouldnt fit, and I have a place to store all my camping gear in one spot so its always ready to go at a moments notice, and its out of the garage so I have more room in there for other crap I dont need.

Exactly the same reason we went with a 4x4 type trailer...it is relatively quick to pack up and go at a moments notice if we want; in garage storage (wouldn't be possible with a larger RV or traditional tent top camper); follows the 100 where ever; great base-camp; king size mattress; etc.