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

[PeeZed]

She’s landed home for a little while to figure out wiring and how it’s going to roll down the road.

A good friend who just upgraded to Toyo’s donated his “old” set of Hercules MT’s to the cause. They’ve got like 1000k on them and are 285/75/16. Let’s just say he’s got a lifetime supply of borrowing the trailer status whenever he wants pretty much.

Just gotta source a pair of 5x4.5 to 6x5.5 wheel adaptors now...hopefully someone local has some or Amazon.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Its been a whole week! What's up?

 

[PeeZed]

Its been a whole week! What's up?

Literally nothing...been super busy! I have next week off so I'll be cutting in the door, windows, and possibly starting some of the insulation in the ceiling.

I've ordered new 6 bolt hubs so as to avoid those stupid wheel adaptors and such...so I'm on the lookout for a set of 16" rims with less backspacing than those hidyodorous chrome shiny things that those 285/75/16 MT's are attached to.

 

[PeeZed]

Gonna need some 1” 6-bolt wheel spacers for the M55’s I got by trading the 285/75/16 for.

Now I have 255/85/16 all around with spares for truck and trailer.

It’s a little stancy but whatever. And I’ll need to sandblast the new white spokes and paint them black.

But she rolls...now the fun stuff!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Sweet man; looks good. I didn't want to say anything about the 285s, but I agree that 255s to match the truck is a good plan.

 

[PeeZed]

Got the wheel spacers today. And did some tests with fitment places for stuff. The box will stay but the tire is gonna go on the side of the trailer somehow I think. That way I can shorten the tongue about 24” and reduce my turning radius slightly.

The spring loaded fully rotating pintle is kinda nice but it also means I have no vehicle resistance if it wants to flop on its side...could go either way as far as a blessing or a curse I suppose.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Take the factory BJ74 tire rack from your rear door and mount it either on the front panel or rear sides depending on how your final weight and balance works out. If you find the tongue weight is too heavy without the tire then mount it aft of the axle. If you find that once it’s all done and you feel you want a bit more tongue weight then mount it above the alum box on the front panel. I’d save it for the final decider after the interior is done.
My .02, make it so you can have the tongue go 90 deg or parallel to the rear bumper in the event you need to maneuver tight turns. Nothing worse than not being able to turn around should the trail dictate.

 

[PeeZed]

Cruiserpilot...brilliant! I have two 70 Series spare tire carriers so that will work a treat! The aluminum box lid lifts up so I can’t mount it above that. And a window is going into the angled surface space so no go there either. Priorities

In the end I’m not sure the spare tire will offer much weight variance but I’ll see once the interior and kitchen is completed. Currently, without the spare tire and an empty aluminum box, it takes a good deal of my lifting strength to get it from bucket to pintle, so I’m happy with current tongue weight...but there’s still lots to get finished inside still, let alone if I’m going to install a fresh water tank somewhere.

The 90 degree thing is a high priority for sure.

I ordered a folding jack for the tongue at Lordco as it’s Trade Show month so it was half price off my usual discount so that will get mounted next week when it arrives.

 

[cruiserpilot]

I’ll pop down this weekend, if you’re around. How’s your schedule?

 

[PeeZed]

More progress...
- Door
- Front Window
- Aluminum Box Secured

 

[PeeZed]

Turned the cutouts from the door and front window into my side protection around the tires. Just sheared them in half and they worked pretty well. I’ll probably weld some tubing or angle underneath for a bit more strength, but the 3/16” is pretty stable on its own. Then shape them a bit more too.

Also got the rear door on. Still working out how it’s gonna stay closed but I have some ideas. I’ll likely build two sets (high and low) of brackets on each side that will receive a rod whereby you put the rod through a hole on one side and then pressure fit it against the door and into a slot on the other side (there’s probably a fancy engineer name for it but I’m not edumacated enough for that). That way those two rods will act as supports for when I lift the door as it will act as an awning as well. The cross members will somehow drop into the brackets to act as the legs to hold the door open in the awning position.

 

[cruiserpilot]

You doing your own aluminum welding now? Looks great. I'm thinking 30/70 split on the rear door, sort of
30 ramp, 70 overhead. Not sure if you like that idea. Might make the overhead part a bit lighter and more
manageable. Of course, entry ramp could help or not.

 

[PeeZed]

You doing your own aluminum welding now? Looks great. I'm thinking 30/70 split on the rear door, sort of
30 ramp, 70 overhead. Not sure if you like that idea. Might make the overhead part a bit lighter and more
manageable. Of course, entry ramp could help or not.

I wish I had the ability to do aluminum welding on site...not yet.

Door will be 100% awning. KISS principle (and laziness and no need for ramp because there will be a wall 24” in to separate kitchen from sleeping quarters).

Gonna get some 1” Plywood and rip strips that I’ll somehow (epoxy???) to the interior so I can insulate and then have something to pin the finishing Pine trim to.

Things should start looking more finished pretty quickly...that is, when I get another a few free hours

 

[cruiserpilot]

aluminum will sweat, make sure you look at a vapour barrier.

 

[PeeZed]

A few little outside details before I get to finishing the inside. Still have spare tire carrier to mount before finishing the interior.

- Rear door sealed with quick latches. Had about four other ideas before I placed these beside the doors and realized how perfect and simple this could be.

- Tongue Jack installed. The trailers almost 24” off the ground and taking scraping into consideration I needed a Jack that would extend a long way. These were on sale at Princess Auto for $39.99 and is 5000lb rated so it should do the trick. Kinda tricky cause the Jack is steel and the trailer is aluminum so I built a bracket and bolted that to the frame and welded the Jack to the bracket. Way more sturdy than any of those swing style dealios.

- Side window. Now I have a window on the two sides and the front so I can see what’s lurking outside if I’m curious. It’s high because I had to leave room for the bunkbed frame underneath it.

- Interior insulation is complete. The 1” plywood strips are to attach the finishing knotty pine panels to. The first round of “No Nails” was No Bueno and I pulled them off after 24hrs with my fingers, so I switched to Sikaflex and never looked back.

Things should start coming together rather quickly now and then it will just be adding little things here and there as field experience dictates.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Nice work; looking really good!

Have you put a fan in to help keep the humidity down? I wonder if there is a chance it could condense on the aluminum in your walls?

I can tell you that in our crappy but pretty breathable wood/fiberglass camper with the whole family in there the condensation is dripping off the windows in the morning....even when they're left open a bit. Humans loose a lot of water through breathing I think.

 

[seapotato]

Humans loose a lot of water through breathing I think.

Yep. About a half litre per day each. Adds up, especially if the humidity is already high and the air can't absorb any more moisture.

These little things work pretty well on boats if they get enough sun. Need a fairly direct hit from a wave to let water in.

Keep things from getting musty when it's stored for a few months too.

Trailers looking good. I've been debating whether to get a roof tent or to build a small camper for the back of the green truck...that could then also sit on a trailer if the green truck is "indisposed"

Something with a pop top and a slide out on one side.

Kinda depends on our dog situation to be honest.

Fidd, aka "Mr. 75 Pounds of Elbows" would not do well with ladders and roof tents. Our smaller dog could be tossed up into one with a little bit of a rugby spiral and she'd be happy as a pig in s***.

Not that any of this is a high priority for us. Current camping rate is once every 5 years, but I'm hoping I can bump that up to once every 3...

 

[PeeZed]

Gts...gonna install a fan venting out the back top right of the trailer that’s ducted to inside the trailer with a diffuser on a dehumidistat. That way there’s no home in the roof and the noise of the fan is in another compartment to keep things more quiet.

 

[PeeZed]

Today’s progress...feeling half decent about it.

- Spare tire mounted

- Rear cargo wall installed.

- Fatman helper handle at door.

- Poly & Pine Interior.

Next will be flooring, bunkbed, fan/vent, fenders, rear door supports when lifted, and a fat ribeye steak to grill on the barby!

 

[PeeZed]

Fenders done. Just need to weld them on. They're a couple inches less wide than the tires so I can install conveyor belt which will allow stumps and such to rub the tire instead of bending the fenders.