My First Trailer

[ljrunner05]

Well I am finally joining the ranks of the adventuress trailer overlanders! I hope to get some more pictures, but I'm new to doing build threads so I missed large sections. When you get excited it's hard to stop and take pictures! :sombrero:



The picture above was the ad on Craigslist. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to be getting it. The pictures below are how it looks a couple weeks later. This trailer is pretty heavy. It's all steel, with 2x6's for the floor. It pulls straight, but the home made hitch makes a LOT of noise. I'll be cutting it off and adding a new Lock N' Roll hitch before I make too many long trips. Their is only one spot where the rust has eaten though the side, but I'll be patching it up soon. The tailgate makes a ton of noise because it's not pulled up tight to the trailer. The tailgate probably weighs 40 pounds. It's pretty hefty to raise and lower. I've added a little foam to help it seal up better, and rattle less. This will be a work in progress, but a very solid starter trailer.






When I bought this trailer a couple of weekends ago it had no lights, no jack, no rack or RTT and the homemade hitch had a nut that kept coming loose. I was almost afraid to pull it home. After a couple weekends of work it's starting to come together. I'll get some more pics this weekend of the suspension and such. It's a starting point, and for the money I can't complain.

Next up will be mounting the water tank, plumbing it in with some quick disconnects on the side of the trailer and starting a kitchen build. I'll do my best to take some more pics soon!

 

[tarditi]

Nice work-in-progress. Any bracing to keep the rack legs from folding/twisting? Hard to tell from the pics.

 

[ljrunner05]

I was really surprised at how stable that rack is. It's actually a ladder rack for trucks with a 500# rating. It's braced across from left to right, and the trailer keeps it braced front to back. It's extremely sturdy! I can't get any movement from the rack.

 

[ljrunner05]

Last night was my wife and my first time sleeping in our new RTT. We decided to make a spur of the moment trip up to some families property and enjoy the beautiful weather, stars, and a nice fire. The trailer was super stable, the tent did good in the wind. The only problem was the mattress isn't great for side sleepers. Soon to be remedied by a mattress topper.

Tho I don't have any good pictures from last night, the tailgate on the trailer was perfect to lay out the water container, small burner for hot coco and all the fixings for hot dogs and smores. I had my 6' folding table with me, but decided not to set it up. The plan is to eventually cut out a place in the folding table for a collapsible sink and put netting under it for drying. This is the "sink" I was looking at: Link

Obligatory Pictures

 

[ljrunner05]

Took my trailer for another round of "testing" this last weekend. After adding a two inch foam pad on top of the current 2.5 inch pad I slept much better. I'll upload more pics once I get them pulled off of my camera.

 

[Trailpsycho]

The foam mattress that comes with these tents softens too much in response to one's body heat. Adding a pair of self inflating mattresses under the mattress that comes with these tents makes them very comfortable. I bought a pair of Alps Mountaineering mattresses that have Velcro, so they can be connected. They work great! Just enough extra cushion to keep you from bottoming out.

 

[ljrunner05]

The foam mattress that comes with these tents softens too much in response to one's body heat. Adding a pair of self inflating mattresses under the mattress that comes with these tents makes them very comfortable. I bought a pair of Alps Mountaineering mattresses that have Velcro, so they can be connected. They work great! Just enough extra cushion to keep you from bottoming out.

Not a bad idea! My problem was I'm a side sleeper and it was a little too hard for both my wife and I. Once I added a little softer foam on top, I slept like a baby. Either way I am super impressed with these tents. After a pretty strong rain storm all night, I was perfectly dry and content in the tent. As much as I love hammock camping, these tents are pretty amazing.

 

[Rutdigger]

Nice build bro. What else ya got planned for your trailer?

 

[ljrunner05]

Thanks Rut, to be honest my plans are to put in on Craigslist and sell it.... My father and I have been sneakily working on another trailer before our week long Kentucky Adventure Trails trip. I'll start a full build thread on it soon, but here are a few sneak peak pictures:



My father already built version 1.0 for himself a few months ago, and we are taking his ideas and building version 2.0 for me. It's for a lot more clearance, 30 gallons of water storage and a telescoping RTT Rack.

 

[Dsmskyline]

Any updates?

Your new trailer looks pretty similar to what I plan to build. What are your dimensions? I'm looking at around 50"w x 70" l for the box and about 36" high. Side pull out kitchen drawer and have the floor of the main box be able to slide out for full access to the items in the front.

 

[ljrunner05]

Hey Dsmskyline! I do have some updates, but on a different thread. Check it out:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/159505-RTT-Expedition-Trailer-V2

With the wood storage rack I'm about 4.5' x 8', but I'll have to go measure it this week. The enclosed part is closer to 4.5' x 6'.

I'd love to see your progress. I still need to add the side boxes to mine. So far I've done 6 days of camping and around 1500 miles with my trailer and love it!