Die-Tryin
New member
I have followed and studied the pics from 1speed's build up and really like the simple design and functionality of it. Im in the beginning stages of building my own Expedition "teardrop" type trailer.
It all started when I was looking for a popup trailer I could modify into an off roader, I studied websites and pics and wasnt really impressed with the builds and it was still a tent camper on a beefed up frame. Plus they tend to be pretty wide, usually 8foot wide or so. Ive gotten my Blazer in areas where ive rubbed the paint off the doors, so being wider than the tow vehicle wasnt going to work. I thought about buying a used or new "normal" utility trailer, but this will be an off roader and didnt want to re-engineer someone elses stuff. So, what is the solution, have a trailer built to my specs. :ylsmoke:
Anyways. I gathered all the parts that I wanted to incorporate into my BOT (bug out trailer). I realize Im dealing with limited size and space, so researching what would fit and wouldnt was paramount. Ive still got a few minor details to hash out, but got the gist of things figured out.
Anyways. This is my first time doing something like this, so it should be interesting.
All comments, suggestions, concerns, compliments are all welcomed, if I dont take your suggestion, dont be offended, we all have our own ideas on what we want in a build but I do consider what others say and always give it a thought.
I had a few "rules" to my build;
1) Must use same wheels/bolt pattern as host vehicle, but no wider than host vehicle (K5 Blazer)
2) Materials must be able to be obtained from a common store i.e. Lowes, Home Depot, with the exception of a few specialty pieces.
3) Must be off road capable (this includes suspension along with size and weight of actual trailer)
4) Must be self contained (power, water, etc)
Other than that, its a free for all for the build.
Here is my Lock N Roll hitch. They sent me the drop down version, but it had the trailer sitting 3-4 inches to low. The nice folks at Lock N roll sent me the straight version within a couple days even before I sent the drop down one back, so kudos to those guys.
I didnt have the facilities to do the chasis work myself, so I farmed it out to local trailer place, they were very patient with me on the changes I was making thru the build. They did pretty much exactly what I wanted. Ive got a few things to do before actually laying wood, like drilling some holes in the cross members and mounting up the extra shock mounts I plan to add.
Fenders mocked up, they will get trimmed on final assembly.
From the ground to the top of the frame is 26.75" , so itll be a tall one. lol.
Here are some parts that are going into the trailer, once I start building the "camper" part, ill show how this stuff is installed.
10gal off road water tank and carrier. I made a custom mount for the 1gpm water pump and added a shurflo filter.
Here I am testing the water pump, its a vid with a happy ending. lol *on another forums Im a member of, they just luv bacon, so as a joke, I just happend to be cooking up some bacon when I was in the kitchen and thought it be funny to vid that. lol.
Here is where some things changed. like 1speed's camper, I was going to mount my spare tire thru the front bulk head and had gotten a Land Rover spare tire carrier and modified it to fit my chevy 6 x 5.5 bolt pattern, but after more research and checking out google images, I decided to have the trailer chasis support the spare tire , not the bulk head, so I scrapped this idea and you will see what I came up with in the next few pics.
I really liked how 1speed put black diamond plate around the bottom and bulk head, this adds design and a lil support and protection to the wood. I couldnt find any black diamond plate locally, so I opt to get cheaper stuff and paint it. I used self etching primer, so lets hope it holds up. lol
Battery tray getting a once over.
Heavy duty commercial grade deepcycle batteries. Wired in Parallel (12dcv with more run time) All lighting in camper will be LED, with the expection of the car stereo/dvd player.
Today was the day to pick it up from the trailer shop. Here is where you can see what I came up with for the spare tire. Its not going anywhere now. lol. I will get a chain or kryptonite lock for the spare just incase.
And here it is at my buddies place, this is where we are going to do the "camper" work. This pic is an optical illusion. the trailer tires are 31 x 10.5, the Blazer tires are 33 x 12.5, the trailer tires look hugh. This is also with the drop down hitch still installed, I got the straight hitch after I came home. So the front will be level with the truck.
Anyways. Ive got a pile of parts sitting here waiting to go in, lol. Should be fun.
The floor and roof will be insulated. Ive got pre-fabbed tear drop doors and windows, I figured Id make a lil less work for myself on the first go around. My next project will be to loosely copy the SawtoothXL design, I really like that one alot. lol.
I havent figured out galley area exactly. I know where the battery and water tank will go will basically be a "live well" type setup. Im going to simplicity, so I dont think there will be any crazy wood working getting done.
Im still debating any skin on it. If anything, ill skin the roof. The outside will be Primer/Sealed and painted. The interior will be painted right now but may just get sealed/stained. I havent figured that out yet.
The "camper" is going to be based on 4 x 8. I wanted to build this camper with parts and materials that I could get locally, with the expection of a few specialty parts.
Anyways, that is where Im at right now. Ive got a few things to do to the frame and then the subfloor will be going down, hopefully tomorrow. The shell was supposed to be done this weekend, but we've got a tropical storm headed at us. so who knows.
It all started when I was looking for a popup trailer I could modify into an off roader, I studied websites and pics and wasnt really impressed with the builds and it was still a tent camper on a beefed up frame. Plus they tend to be pretty wide, usually 8foot wide or so. Ive gotten my Blazer in areas where ive rubbed the paint off the doors, so being wider than the tow vehicle wasnt going to work. I thought about buying a used or new "normal" utility trailer, but this will be an off roader and didnt want to re-engineer someone elses stuff. So, what is the solution, have a trailer built to my specs. :ylsmoke:
Anyways. I gathered all the parts that I wanted to incorporate into my BOT (bug out trailer). I realize Im dealing with limited size and space, so researching what would fit and wouldnt was paramount. Ive still got a few minor details to hash out, but got the gist of things figured out.
Anyways. This is my first time doing something like this, so it should be interesting.
All comments, suggestions, concerns, compliments are all welcomed, if I dont take your suggestion, dont be offended, we all have our own ideas on what we want in a build but I do consider what others say and always give it a thought.
I had a few "rules" to my build;
1) Must use same wheels/bolt pattern as host vehicle, but no wider than host vehicle (K5 Blazer)
2) Materials must be able to be obtained from a common store i.e. Lowes, Home Depot, with the exception of a few specialty pieces.
3) Must be off road capable (this includes suspension along with size and weight of actual trailer)
4) Must be self contained (power, water, etc)
Other than that, its a free for all for the build.
Here is my Lock N Roll hitch. They sent me the drop down version, but it had the trailer sitting 3-4 inches to low. The nice folks at Lock N roll sent me the straight version within a couple days even before I sent the drop down one back, so kudos to those guys.
I didnt have the facilities to do the chasis work myself, so I farmed it out to local trailer place, they were very patient with me on the changes I was making thru the build. They did pretty much exactly what I wanted. Ive got a few things to do before actually laying wood, like drilling some holes in the cross members and mounting up the extra shock mounts I plan to add.
Fenders mocked up, they will get trimmed on final assembly.
From the ground to the top of the frame is 26.75" , so itll be a tall one. lol.
Here are some parts that are going into the trailer, once I start building the "camper" part, ill show how this stuff is installed.
10gal off road water tank and carrier. I made a custom mount for the 1gpm water pump and added a shurflo filter.
Here I am testing the water pump, its a vid with a happy ending. lol *on another forums Im a member of, they just luv bacon, so as a joke, I just happend to be cooking up some bacon when I was in the kitchen and thought it be funny to vid that. lol.
Here is where some things changed. like 1speed's camper, I was going to mount my spare tire thru the front bulk head and had gotten a Land Rover spare tire carrier and modified it to fit my chevy 6 x 5.5 bolt pattern, but after more research and checking out google images, I decided to have the trailer chasis support the spare tire , not the bulk head, so I scrapped this idea and you will see what I came up with in the next few pics.
I really liked how 1speed put black diamond plate around the bottom and bulk head, this adds design and a lil support and protection to the wood. I couldnt find any black diamond plate locally, so I opt to get cheaper stuff and paint it. I used self etching primer, so lets hope it holds up. lol
Battery tray getting a once over.
Heavy duty commercial grade deepcycle batteries. Wired in Parallel (12dcv with more run time) All lighting in camper will be LED, with the expection of the car stereo/dvd player.
Today was the day to pick it up from the trailer shop. Here is where you can see what I came up with for the spare tire. Its not going anywhere now. lol. I will get a chain or kryptonite lock for the spare just incase.
And here it is at my buddies place, this is where we are going to do the "camper" work. This pic is an optical illusion. the trailer tires are 31 x 10.5, the Blazer tires are 33 x 12.5, the trailer tires look hugh. This is also with the drop down hitch still installed, I got the straight hitch after I came home. So the front will be level with the truck.
Anyways. Ive got a pile of parts sitting here waiting to go in, lol. Should be fun.
The floor and roof will be insulated. Ive got pre-fabbed tear drop doors and windows, I figured Id make a lil less work for myself on the first go around. My next project will be to loosely copy the SawtoothXL design, I really like that one alot. lol.
I havent figured out galley area exactly. I know where the battery and water tank will go will basically be a "live well" type setup. Im going to simplicity, so I dont think there will be any crazy wood working getting done.
Im still debating any skin on it. If anything, ill skin the roof. The outside will be Primer/Sealed and painted. The interior will be painted right now but may just get sealed/stained. I havent figured that out yet.
The "camper" is going to be based on 4 x 8. I wanted to build this camper with parts and materials that I could get locally, with the expection of a few specialty parts.
Anyways, that is where Im at right now. Ive got a few things to do to the frame and then the subfloor will be going down, hopefully tomorrow. The shell was supposed to be done this weekend, but we've got a tropical storm headed at us. so who knows.