Two RTT Trailer

Nuclear Redneck

Adventurer
I've had the pleasure of renting an Adveture Trailers Horizon and owned a Chaser for a few years. I sold the Chaser to pay for some house upgrades and found myself in need of another trailer. I now have two kids, a 6 year old boy and 4 year old girl. I wanted to have a separate sleeping area for them as they both flop like fishes while trying to go to to sleep. Sometimes for an hour or so.

The Adventure Trailers are awesome. However, they were not in my price range this time around. I decided to build my own trailer and aim for 80% of the capability at about 30% of the cost.

My goals:

- 2 RTTs
- Organized kitchen
- 12 volt power
- Keep onboard everything wanted/needed for camping with the exception of food and clothes.

Here is the nearly final sketch. It was drawn in SketchUp.


Here's the as built picture:


The top RTT is a Tepui Kukenam. The lower one is a Tepui Ayer. The kitchen is a Drifta DPOS. You can see the Engel MT 45 and Ark Pak power supply here:


The rear RTT is mounted to a subframe made of 1"x1" 1/8" steel tube. There are stabilzers for both the rear of the trailer and the subframe.


The trailer stabilizers are mounted to the trailer using 2" receivers. They unpin and rotate 180 degrees for support. When stowed they act as a failsafe for the RTT in case the strap holding it upright breaks.

Water is just 4 5 gal plastic water jugs. There are issues of course. One is that the trailer is too tall for the stabilzers on anything other than level ground. I need to figure that out. Another issue is that the doors are not quite right. I need to rebuild them and figure out a better method of sealing them.

The trailer frame itself is a modified Harbor Frieght 4'x8' heavy duty trailer. I added a 3500 lbs axle with brakes and a stud pattern that accepts Jeep JK wheels. There is a cargo rack on the front to carry the propane, gas, wood, and spare tire. The tongue was extended using 2"x2" 1/8" steel tubing and 2"x2" 1/8" angle steel. All hardware is grade 5 or higher. I've installed a breakaway kit for the trailer brakes.


So far, we've camped in it 2 nights. No camping for the next 2 months as I am stuck in VA at a school. Looking forward to some weekend getaways this fall. And a Death Valley trip during Thanksgiving break.
 

grogie

Like to Camp
Neat idea for the two RTTs! Thanks for sharing. Very well done and looks like you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of the trailer.
 

Nuclear Redneck

Adventurer
Here are the trailer stabilizers turned down to stabilize the trailer. The 12" long 2" receivers are from Harbor Freight and bolted to the frame with grade 5 hardware. You can also see the 2" square tube that I used to weld the hinge for the smaller RTT subframe.



Here's the stabilizers for the subframe.



I didn't leave enough room for the ladder to be installed on the RTT, so I had to use a RV stabilizer and an aluminum bench to get into the tent.



Here's a shot of the top RTT deployed:



Another shot of the curbside. There is a bottom door on the right for the Drifta DPOS, The top door on the right is a pantry/ storage area. The middle door on top is the access to the Engle fridge and the left most door is one of two into the cargo area. I keep the water jugs, sleeping bags, 1st kit, chairs, tool kit, and various other stuff. There is another door to the cargo area on the streetside:



Here's a shot of the tongue extension:



I filpped the piece where you bolt the coupler on the trailer over to help center the tongue extension. The tongue is bolted to it as well.



Had a slight monkey infestation to deal with:



Actually, they helped build it:

 

elmo_4_vt

Explorer
Looks like you used some nice hardware on the doors. Shame you said you're going to have to re-think them. What's the main issue?

Don

-
 

Nuclear Redneck

Adventurer
Looks like you used some nice hardware on the doors. Shame you said you're going to have to re-think them. What's the main issue?

Don

-

Poor quality control on the door frames. I got in a bit of a rush and the door frames are not all the same depth. So the weather seals don't seal right. Also, the seals are vulnerable to damage when taking things in and out of the trailer. I'll figure it out.
 

6btEX

Observer
Poor quality control on the door frames. I got in a bit of a rush and the door frames are not all the same depth. So the weather seals don't seal right. Also, the seals are vulnerable to damage when taking things in and out of the trailer. I'll figure it out.

I have the same problem with my toy hauler storage compartment doors. Loading and unloading has damaged the seals. What if you move the seals to the doors?
 

Nuclear Redneck

Adventurer
Got a chance to take the family out for a quick over night trip to Anza-Borrego State Park.

All setup at the campsite:



Sunrise:



All set up:



Trailer did well with a few exceptions.

1) I used the tongue jack to level the trailer a bit without unhooking it from the Jeep. I over cranked it and broke one of the two jockey wheels. I need to find a stronger one.

2) The pintle hook system has got to go. The banging is not something I like. Looking at a max coupler or lock-n-roll hitch.

Overall, while I have some ideas about how I'd do it differently, the trailer does what I want. It took about 2 hours to be ready to roll for this trip. And if I hadn't been in such a rush when I got back from the last trip and done the proper gear checks and restowing as soon as I got back, then we'd have been on the road in about 30 minutes. I did everything the night before, but this time I'll spend a couple of hours after work and get it ready to go again.

One of the things, I'm doing is buying some dedicated pillows, hygine items, and other things that just need to stay loaded. Moving items like those out to the trailer and then back to the house upon return took around 15 minutes and led to some forgotten items (toothbrushes in particular) Goal is to add food and water, then be gone.
 

JIMBO

Expedition Leader
:sombrero: Sounds like you're a dedicated father and have some great ideas, but

I wouldn't/didn't use two RTT-

I just got my RTT (Box Robert), but I've been using "AirZone" air tents for grandkids and game playing-

The bigger one (Odessy) weighs about 10 lbs and sets up in 1 minute, I had the smaller one (GoldFinch) on my trailer and now the TEPUI RTT, but

I suggest the airtents, because they take up very little space inside your trailer and setup quick where ever the kids wantit--

My trailer is setup year around and the only changes I make when we go somewhere is "food/water"--I have a special kitchen unit that has utensils for up for 4 people and compacts into a carrybag the size of a Dbbl bowling bag-

You'll figure out things as you go-

Good luck

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,530
Messages
2,875,582
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top