HenryJ
Expedition Leader
For quite some time now I have been researching the best way to expand the gear and accommodations for the growing family. I think a good base camp for exploring is what we want. I do not want to be limited on where I can drag it though.
Last week I mentioned that I had been looking for a trailer to a friend and he suggested I come up and check out his old "Jeep" trailer. It was built for a person who hauled a Tee Pee. It has some racks on the sides for poles, that may need to be removed eventually. After some consideration I decided it was a good start and I could eventually take it where I wanted to to go. The investment would not be a loss. The thing that got me was that it was painted just slightly darker than my truck. Other than that a pretty good match. I bought it and towed it home.
The bed is made from heavy gauge steel. It looks to be 10 ga, or 1/8". The axle is sprung over and the hitch is set high for a good breakover. There is a nice big box on the front. It is shod with 31x10.5-15 rubber to give it pretty good ground clearance.
There are some things I don't like, but those can be corrected eventually.
It is a little longer than I would have liked. The bed is 7' long. A foot shorter would have been more to my liking. The tongue/drawbar is integrated into the front and the heavy gauge steel of the bed is the rear structure. This does save weight and increases clearance, but I may need to add a rear half frame eventually. Who knows I may make a suspension change too.
For now I am concentrating getting it functional. First I wired it for my truck and found a hitch to get up up high enough to sit right. Then off to email Fernando and get a tent coming. I ordered the big one from Campinglab.com A pretty good chunk of change for a tent, but I have seen these first hand and they are much more.
Now to work on the base.
The tailgate chains had to go. I installed a buckle latch for the closure and hinged straps to hold it while it is down. The old hook and chain holes are now for padlocks.
The front jack was too low so I added a removable wheel. Now it raises high enough for raising off the hitch and I can roll it around. A grab handle was added to the top of the hitch too. That helps when rolling it around.
Next I inquired about forming a lid. Some conversation with my welder guru and I decided upon .100 aluminum. He will form and weld the lid for me as I do not have a brake big enough or an aluminum welder. The lid will be hinged to one side and be 3" thick formed with lips for placing a seal around the top of the trailer. I picked up some gas struts and hardware from the salvage yard. The seal for the lid was ordered from McMaster-Carr and arrived a couple days ago. I have scoped out some latches at the hardware store that I think will work.
Last night I put together a 2" rear receiver that incorporates twin Highlift jacks to act as stabilizers. That really turned out great. Pull a pin and slide a collar and they are off to be used for other things.
The receiver can be used as a rear recovery point, or as a way to haul the Yamaha TW200. The hitch carrier does limit the declination angle, but once unloaded the carrier can be moved forward to a vertically mounted receiver on the front of the trailer for transport.
Today I bought a horse trailer mat. It is a heavy rubber mat for the bottom. 4'x7' fit perfectly. A nice tight fit. I like it.
Link to Picasa album
Once the lid is done and the RTT arrives things will start really taking shape.
I really am looking forward to having everything packed and ready to go on a moments notice. This really does expand the room we had and should make a good addition.
Last week I mentioned that I had been looking for a trailer to a friend and he suggested I come up and check out his old "Jeep" trailer. It was built for a person who hauled a Tee Pee. It has some racks on the sides for poles, that may need to be removed eventually. After some consideration I decided it was a good start and I could eventually take it where I wanted to to go. The investment would not be a loss. The thing that got me was that it was painted just slightly darker than my truck. Other than that a pretty good match. I bought it and towed it home.
The bed is made from heavy gauge steel. It looks to be 10 ga, or 1/8". The axle is sprung over and the hitch is set high for a good breakover. There is a nice big box on the front. It is shod with 31x10.5-15 rubber to give it pretty good ground clearance.
There are some things I don't like, but those can be corrected eventually.
It is a little longer than I would have liked. The bed is 7' long. A foot shorter would have been more to my liking. The tongue/drawbar is integrated into the front and the heavy gauge steel of the bed is the rear structure. This does save weight and increases clearance, but I may need to add a rear half frame eventually. Who knows I may make a suspension change too.
For now I am concentrating getting it functional. First I wired it for my truck and found a hitch to get up up high enough to sit right. Then off to email Fernando and get a tent coming. I ordered the big one from Campinglab.com A pretty good chunk of change for a tent, but I have seen these first hand and they are much more.
Now to work on the base.
The tailgate chains had to go. I installed a buckle latch for the closure and hinged straps to hold it while it is down. The old hook and chain holes are now for padlocks.
The front jack was too low so I added a removable wheel. Now it raises high enough for raising off the hitch and I can roll it around. A grab handle was added to the top of the hitch too. That helps when rolling it around.
Next I inquired about forming a lid. Some conversation with my welder guru and I decided upon .100 aluminum. He will form and weld the lid for me as I do not have a brake big enough or an aluminum welder. The lid will be hinged to one side and be 3" thick formed with lips for placing a seal around the top of the trailer. I picked up some gas struts and hardware from the salvage yard. The seal for the lid was ordered from McMaster-Carr and arrived a couple days ago. I have scoped out some latches at the hardware store that I think will work.
Last night I put together a 2" rear receiver that incorporates twin Highlift jacks to act as stabilizers. That really turned out great. Pull a pin and slide a collar and they are off to be used for other things.
The receiver can be used as a rear recovery point, or as a way to haul the Yamaha TW200. The hitch carrier does limit the declination angle, but once unloaded the carrier can be moved forward to a vertically mounted receiver on the front of the trailer for transport.
Today I bought a horse trailer mat. It is a heavy rubber mat for the bottom. 4'x7' fit perfectly. A nice tight fit. I like it.
Link to Picasa album
Once the lid is done and the RTT arrives things will start really taking shape.
I really am looking forward to having everything packed and ready to go on a moments notice. This really does expand the room we had and should make a good addition.
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