Off Road Camping Trailer Build (Aluminum) (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jan 4, 2015
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Location
Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Well, after two years of gathering parts and pieces, I’ve finally committed myself to building an off road trailer.

Although slightly taller than many of the off road trailer being built today, I think it will function well for our family with the bit of extra space.

I’m still not 100% sure what the interior will look like as there are some ideas still costing around, but likely sleeping in the front section and some type of kitchen and storage in the rear.

This will be a bit of a journey to fully complete, but I hope to be rolling into my backyard backcountry soon enough.

Should be rolling on rubber next week sometime...then the little details.

I used 3/16” Aluminum body panels with supports above and below.

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My buddy tells me to come over and pickup my new bunk bed system for the trailer yesterday so when I get there there’s this...we’ll see what happens.

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You collect the weirdest s***......😳
 
Awesome Paul! Can't wait to see how this thing turns out. I'm looking forward to your updates as it progresses. I never would have thought to look at a sleeper cabin from a freight truck for bunks, but makes total sense! That is quite the shop btw; what a HUGE press brake.
 
Yeah, that brake can bend 8’ wide and 1/4” thick steel. It’s a beast.

I’m very fortunate to have a friend as resourceful as him...never ceases to amaze me what shows up there. When he said he had bunks for me I had no idea.
 
I guess see what the bunks weigh, what a semi can haul is somewhat less weight sensitive
than your off road trailer.
 
I guess see what the bunks weigh, what a semi can haul is somewhat less weight sensitive
than your off road trailer.

Are you saying a BJ74 isn't a semi? :)

I'm betting the bunks are reasonably light as they are mounted to a tall (frameless?) fiberglass structure.
 
I think you already found an axle, but saw this one on used vic this morning and made me think of your project. Nice that it has brakes I suppose, but the weight capacity is a bit on the low side.... $160 · 3500lb Trailer Axle

Excellent price on a fridge if you don't have one yet: $50 · AC/DC MARINE FRIDGE
 
Cool man.

I can't imagine those semi bunks are too savagely heavy, ya gotta build them out of something either way.

hopefully plywood rather than particle board but even then the frames would be useful.

I've been plotting a little camper/canopy thing for the back of the 45. I might mess with pullouts so it can be expanded once parked. Carts and horses tho for me...:lol:
 
Picked a couple of these matching doors up from a local RV place because some rain had penetrated between the plywood and rubber wall adhesive covering and made a small bubbling effect. I paid a drastically reduced price compared to the $800+ retail price! They came with the frame and keys for the locks too! I’m only going to use one for this build though. However, they kept the window for some odd reason.

That’s okay though...had some 1-1/2” thick bullet proof plexi kicking around for the past 20yrs that finally found a new home :)

Some Sicaflex should hold it in there half decently.


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That's a serious window! Trailer can double as a submarine!
 
I think that’s a port glass for a survey plane. They are usually round and about that thick.
Worth a couple of bucks $$$
 
I think you already found an axle, but saw this one on used vic this morning and made me think of your project. Nice that it has brakes I suppose, but the weight capacity is a bit on the low side.... $160 · 3500lb Trailer Axle

Excellent price on a fridge if you don't have one yet: $50 · AC/DC MARINE FRIDGE
$50... that’s crazy. Worth so much more if it’s the compressor based fridge it appears to be.
 
Yeah, that brake can bend 8’ wide and 1/4” thick steel. It’s a beast.

I’m very fortunate to have a friend as resourceful as him...never ceases to amaze me what shows up there. When he said he had bunks for me I had no idea.

Ever thought of using the brake to bend up some 1/4 panels? I’ve been wanting to replace mine for years... torn between 1/8” and thin sheet metal that can be rolled.
 
Cool. I like aluminum.

What are the suspension plans? I've seen some cool air struts that allow for independent suspension (therefore no axle tube) that look neat. That said, the little M101 I have rides super smooth on the bumpy bits with its leaf sprung axle... smoother than my truck in fact. Lol
 
Axle installed last night. For those wondering, this is a low budget build so regarding the axle, it was free so that’s what went in. I mean, I rebuilt the hubs and put new ubolts on so there’s that.

Changed some bed setup plans and rear door ideas so back to the drawing board for those.

Because it’s 3/16” Aluminum, I’m thinking about welding some hinged folding shelves onto each side for added space to do food prep or fish cleaning or whatevs. We’ll see...

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Looks great Paul, if you get a chance take some more pictures in better light...Those jack stands are seriously beef.:):cool:
 
Looks great Paul, if you get a chance take some more pictures in better light...Those jack stands are seriously beef.:):cool:


Yeah, everything he has is pretty beef! I’m hoping to get back there during daylight but I’m mostly heading over in the evenings so light is sparse. Soon it will be rolling and I can bring it home to do the finishing touches.
 
When you get it home I would like to see if it in person if that is alright..heading to Adams cabin up the road from you in a few weeks..
 

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