Lately I seem to be able to convince myself of just about anything, so with my annual Moab trip in October including several good friends from all over the country and my parents, I thought it might be nice to have a good “basecamp” setup. This thought, coupled with the fact that I bought a maggiolina airland tent was all the fuel I needed to say “you know, I should build a trailer” and here we are. I really want my parents to be comfortable on this trip, so let’s buy them a tent and build them a trailer for a one time trip, totally makes sense.
I’ve owned 3 m416’s and a few other utility trailers over the years, and modified them a bit, but always found myself wishing I could start with a simple, stout utility trailer and go from there, a sort of blank slate. This certainly isn’t an “expo” trailer, but instead will be a utility trailer that happens to have a nice hardshell roof top tent bolted to it.
Design requirements for “stage one”
About 4x6 inside
Flat tailgate
It has to weigh less than a billion pounds (roughly)
Same width axle (or really close) to my 80 series land cruiser
It can’t cost me a billion dollars to build (roughly)
It has to be useable as a utility trailer, stout enough to be borrowed by friends, be able to do many things, and be ready to roll by the end of september.
So with that in mind I ordered up some steel to get started. I chose to go with 2x3x.120 wall for the frame, 1x2x.065 for the floor support and cross members and hitch steel for the tongue and rear receiver. I originally planned on running a solid spare of hitch steel front to rear, but chose not to in an effort to save weight (see build requirement number 3). The box portion will be constructed of 1x2, and the top rail will be more of the same material, laid on its side to create a nice flat surface for a future lid to lay on. The floor will be 14 gauge steel and have several tie downs, the tailgate will be faced with 16 gauge stainless steel to function as a work bench and food prep surface. I’m not too far into the process right now, having only spent a total of about 8 hours on it, but when I return from vacation, I hope to be able to devote more time.
Some pics of progress so far, and a one of the land cruiser for good measure.
I’ve owned 3 m416’s and a few other utility trailers over the years, and modified them a bit, but always found myself wishing I could start with a simple, stout utility trailer and go from there, a sort of blank slate. This certainly isn’t an “expo” trailer, but instead will be a utility trailer that happens to have a nice hardshell roof top tent bolted to it.
Design requirements for “stage one”
About 4x6 inside
Flat tailgate
It has to weigh less than a billion pounds (roughly)
Same width axle (or really close) to my 80 series land cruiser
It can’t cost me a billion dollars to build (roughly)
It has to be useable as a utility trailer, stout enough to be borrowed by friends, be able to do many things, and be ready to roll by the end of september.
So with that in mind I ordered up some steel to get started. I chose to go with 2x3x.120 wall for the frame, 1x2x.065 for the floor support and cross members and hitch steel for the tongue and rear receiver. I originally planned on running a solid spare of hitch steel front to rear, but chose not to in an effort to save weight (see build requirement number 3). The box portion will be constructed of 1x2, and the top rail will be more of the same material, laid on its side to create a nice flat surface for a future lid to lay on. The floor will be 14 gauge steel and have several tie downs, the tailgate will be faced with 16 gauge stainless steel to function as a work bench and food prep surface. I’m not too far into the process right now, having only spent a total of about 8 hours on it, but when I return from vacation, I hope to be able to devote more time.
Some pics of progress so far, and a one of the land cruiser for good measure.
