Beefing up the tent trailer
- Thread starter Trail100
- Start date
Trail100
Observer
It's not...well not in its current form anyway. The plan is to just use the sink and stove on the side the slide out is now on with a clamshell design having it stow away with the stove upside down on top of the sink. It will slide out and flip open outward with the stove farthest out. The other side will eventually hold a 12V fridge on a slide out and there will be a separate water tank, most likely under the floor just behind the axle plumbed into the sink somehow. That's the idea anyway, I'll have to see how space and working height end up when I get the box onto the new frame.
Started sealing the floor but we just got a bit of cold weather so it's making for longer cure times.
Axle will be here Thu/Fri though, so the frame should be flipped and on tires by the end of the weekend.:wings:
mudbutt
Explorer
I am by no means an expert, and have never ever built anything like this.... That said:
I saw a picture of an off road trailer about a year ago. A real nice one. It might have been here, I don't remember.
Anyway, first thing I noticed was how far the toungue stuck out, so I inquired about it. He said it was so the body of the trailer would clear the body of the tow rig in case he ever got into a situation where the trailer had to be jacked near 90 degrees..... Makes sense to me.
So if you want the same clearance, measure from the ball to the outside corner of the tow rig and that should be about minimum length.
HTH...
Trail100
Observer
I had both of these ideals in mind when I had my tongue piece cut as long as I did. The only problem is that with my T100 being the size that it is, it puts everything way back there as the photo shows. I wil likely come up with some sort of compromise, with maybe an extendable tongue being an option.
Tow it up close on the way there, extend it out on the trail so that it tracks with the vehicle well, shorten it up on the trail for a weird switchback.....ok it's obviously getting to late and I'm thinking crazy.
Here it is just setting on the bumper, no coupler.
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Trail100
Observer
Ok, so like most of my projects this one has gotten a little out of hand. My original plan to use plywood floor and wheel wells was a frustrating concept. Once I got it all together and sealed it was so warped that I didn't want to risk cutting and attaching the side walls to it only to have it buckle the panels once it was bolted back onto the new square frame. Soooo....Change of plan: I made a steel inner skeleton of 1X1X.065 that utilized some of the existing structure, adding some weight but a lot of strength as well. The bottom portion of the plywood will still be used, it just attaches separately from the inner structure now. So here's a few pics of the modified original plan....
The new skeleton sitting on the frame with the cut down floor inside its edge.
A side panel cut out for new wheel opening.
Panels temporarily installed to test fit,
Testing the fit of the top.
Priming/painting stuff.
Axle and some frame work (welding in inner fender panels).
Starting to stress, but still shooting for the Yellowstone departure on time and intact. Less than two weeks left now.:Wow1: Hoping for final assembly/detail work next weekend...otherwise.:camping:
The new skeleton sitting on the frame with the cut down floor inside its edge.
A side panel cut out for new wheel opening.
Panels temporarily installed to test fit,
Testing the fit of the top.
Priming/painting stuff.
Axle and some frame work (welding in inner fender panels).
Starting to stress, but still shooting for the Yellowstone departure on time and intact. Less than two weeks left now.:Wow1: Hoping for final assembly/detail work next weekend...otherwise.:camping:
Trail100
Observer
Shot myself in the foot and canceled the Yellowstone trip at the last minute, mostly due to bad weather predicted for the week we were planning on going. I had stayed up late nights and sacrificed my sanity to hustle it out at the last minute only to realize that it wasn't quite done and the weather would just be too cold for an unfinished rig (my girlfriend has Raynauds which makes her lose the color in her fingers in colder weather due to poor circulation). So, long story short, we went South instead. I picked up my son at Reno and headed into Death Valley and then on to Vegas where we stayed a couple of days then went to Zion and the Grand Canyon. Nice trip, just ill planned due to above stated conditions. Anyway, this created the lack of updates on this post...me hustling last minute to slap it together for a trip it never took. So here are a few pics of it I took after we returned, basically as far as I got with it...usable but far from done. Now that we have returned I plan to continue, including redoing some shortcuts I took rushing it out the last few days before we left....and I will update more often.:sombrero:
I realize there is a lot missing in between and will post some of those shots after we relax a bit from our escapade.
I realize there is a lot missing in between and will post some of those shots after we relax a bit from our escapade.
Titanpat57
Expedition Leader
Your fab skills on the box are amazing!!:Wow1: Sorry to hear you had to cancel, but it sounds like the build was nearing completion.
Great job on the trailer, now that the pressure is off a bit, you can forge ahead with systems..best of luck.
Pat
Great job on the trailer, now that the pressure is off a bit, you can forge ahead with systems..best of luck.
Pat
GroupSe7en
Adventurer
Finish it!
If you finish it quick - you can come with us to Labrador!!!
You can do it :victory:
If you finish it quick - you can come with us to Labrador!!!
You can do it :victory:
idaxj97
Adventurer
subscribed... i really like what you have done with this build i would like to do something along the same lines I think that an AT is way out of my reach at his time and i feel that a tent trailer like this would be plenty of room for my son, girlfriend, and I. Keep up the great work.