Explorer I
So the story of the trailer is a long one but that's why you come to a blog, for long form stories. The idea of a trailer came to me rather quickly as I began to look at the possibilities of taking my adventures to the next level. I wanted to be able to take a trailer because of the convince of creating a centralized hub in a remote area and having offroading adventures from that base camp. This would allow me to set the base camp up and go out on longer day trips or multi day trips into more remote areas without having to take all my adventure gear along. I could leave the TW 200, bicycles, kayaks and even people back at camp while the FJ could go on a wheeling adventure.
This creates more flexibility for the family or bigger groups. The trailer can also double as a tailgating hub for events like Overland Expo or as a event trailer for my wife's adventures in beer sales. (Yes I am going to install a jockey box in the trailer with the ability to tap 4 different kinds of beer. This will be able to be removed) As I looked at my needs and what was available on the market I decided the best option was to build my own. I have seen lots of designs out there but ones that are commercialism available tend to be way over priced and never seem to fit what I need them to do. I like the design of the Patriot Campers but they were too small.
They could not hold two motorcycles and were WAY out of my price range. When looking at theses campers they reminded me of a utility work bed you would find on a work truck. That gave me the idea to take a ute bed and put it onto a trailer. I found several examples of this same type of trailer build on the internet.
I wanted it to be made of fiberglass simply to keep the weight down as much as possible. I knew I would be pressed to find one but low and behold I did and for free at that!
It was even on a "trailer" already. The trailer frame itself was in rough shape so I ditched it after I found a more stout trailer.
I came across a M116A3 military trailer for cheap. The guy wanted $600 for it originally. It still had the original steel flat bed on it. I struck up a deal that he could keep the bed and I would just buy the frame and axle if he would take it off. He thought he had me and he agreed to sell it to me for $300. For that $300 I didn't have to take off the bed and I didn't have to dispose of the bed. A great deal all around. So now in my drive I had two trailers and Mountain Mama was not in the least bit happy because parked on the other side of the house was another offroad trailer that I had been experimenting with for about a year. Fast forward about two months and we have found ourselves in a pandemic and I have a lot of time on my hands. LET THE BUILD BEGIN!
I first took the ute bed off the janky trailer. Even though the trailer is made out of fiberglass it is still a heavy beast of a thing. Since the trailer was made by the now defunked Astoria Company and it is a massive white beast that wants to fly I dubbed the build the Astoria Albatross. I had to free the bed from the trailer by taking off the lag bolts that held it to the frame. (yes that's right lag bolts...) Then I built 2x3 risers to put under the bed and a 4x4 post across the front two so that the trailer could be lifted off.
Not it was time to lift the bed so I did what any good Hoosier would do. I pulled out The Pride of Bloomfield Indiana....The Hi Lift Jack.
With the help of my friend Gene we got the ute bed up in the air and the trailer pulled out. Now to slide the the M116A3 under it. I thought I had measured everything correctly but the tires hit the underside of the bed so I used an old trick I learned from somewhere and deflated the tires. It work and we then jacked the bed back up and lowered onto it's new home. I promptly put the old trailer up on the KYTLCA Facebook page and it was snatched up by one of the members.
Lining up the bed to the frame was a give and take situation. If I had lined up the bed directly over the wheel it would have left a the trailer frame expose in the front and the frame not lined up with the rear of the frame. I may still change that later...
Now the M116A3 trailer is a beast. It come equip with a surge break and a 3 inch pintle hitch that weighs a ton. I decided to ditch the breaks. The weight of the trailer is of primary concern and the brakes seem like overkill for this project. I may change my mind on this once I get it into operation but for now it will stand as is.
Gone is the heavy front nonadjustable jack, replaced with a lighter unit. It also comes with two emergence brakes, one for each wheel which eliminates the need for chocking the wheels, a very nice feature.
The trailer also as a dump feature. While the trailer is hooked up the rig, if you pull two pins on the front and engage the e brakes then back up, the trailer tilts backwards. This will eliminate the need for ramps when loading motorcycles.
The plan is to put a winch onto the front of the trailer and winch the bikes up the slope, strap them down and then lower the trailer. We will see how this works out.
The plan is to put a roof top tent onto the ladder racks. I am re-purposing the racks sideways so that I can put Yakima load bars on the trailer and a Rocket Box. The load bars are as wide as the trailer and will give me lots of room for all the stuff needed.
The doors will hold all the kitchen supplies as well as adventure gear and electrical systems that will be on the trailer. The plan is to put a heated shower on it as well as a 270 degree awning. Check back for updates as I finish this build.
Thanks,
This creates more flexibility for the family or bigger groups. The trailer can also double as a tailgating hub for events like Overland Expo or as a event trailer for my wife's adventures in beer sales. (Yes I am going to install a jockey box in the trailer with the ability to tap 4 different kinds of beer. This will be able to be removed) As I looked at my needs and what was available on the market I decided the best option was to build my own. I have seen lots of designs out there but ones that are commercialism available tend to be way over priced and never seem to fit what I need them to do. I like the design of the Patriot Campers but they were too small.
They could not hold two motorcycles and were WAY out of my price range. When looking at theses campers they reminded me of a utility work bed you would find on a work truck. That gave me the idea to take a ute bed and put it onto a trailer. I found several examples of this same type of trailer build on the internet.
I wanted it to be made of fiberglass simply to keep the weight down as much as possible. I knew I would be pressed to find one but low and behold I did and for free at that!
It was even on a "trailer" already. The trailer frame itself was in rough shape so I ditched it after I found a more stout trailer.
I came across a M116A3 military trailer for cheap. The guy wanted $600 for it originally. It still had the original steel flat bed on it. I struck up a deal that he could keep the bed and I would just buy the frame and axle if he would take it off. He thought he had me and he agreed to sell it to me for $300. For that $300 I didn't have to take off the bed and I didn't have to dispose of the bed. A great deal all around. So now in my drive I had two trailers and Mountain Mama was not in the least bit happy because parked on the other side of the house was another offroad trailer that I had been experimenting with for about a year. Fast forward about two months and we have found ourselves in a pandemic and I have a lot of time on my hands. LET THE BUILD BEGIN!
I first took the ute bed off the janky trailer. Even though the trailer is made out of fiberglass it is still a heavy beast of a thing. Since the trailer was made by the now defunked Astoria Company and it is a massive white beast that wants to fly I dubbed the build the Astoria Albatross. I had to free the bed from the trailer by taking off the lag bolts that held it to the frame. (yes that's right lag bolts...) Then I built 2x3 risers to put under the bed and a 4x4 post across the front two so that the trailer could be lifted off.
Not it was time to lift the bed so I did what any good Hoosier would do. I pulled out The Pride of Bloomfield Indiana....The Hi Lift Jack.
With the help of my friend Gene we got the ute bed up in the air and the trailer pulled out. Now to slide the the M116A3 under it. I thought I had measured everything correctly but the tires hit the underside of the bed so I used an old trick I learned from somewhere and deflated the tires. It work and we then jacked the bed back up and lowered onto it's new home. I promptly put the old trailer up on the KYTLCA Facebook page and it was snatched up by one of the members.
Lining up the bed to the frame was a give and take situation. If I had lined up the bed directly over the wheel it would have left a the trailer frame expose in the front and the frame not lined up with the rear of the frame. I may still change that later...
Now the M116A3 trailer is a beast. It come equip with a surge break and a 3 inch pintle hitch that weighs a ton. I decided to ditch the breaks. The weight of the trailer is of primary concern and the brakes seem like overkill for this project. I may change my mind on this once I get it into operation but for now it will stand as is.
Gone is the heavy front nonadjustable jack, replaced with a lighter unit. It also comes with two emergence brakes, one for each wheel which eliminates the need for chocking the wheels, a very nice feature.
The trailer also as a dump feature. While the trailer is hooked up the rig, if you pull two pins on the front and engage the e brakes then back up, the trailer tilts backwards. This will eliminate the need for ramps when loading motorcycles.
The plan is to put a winch onto the front of the trailer and winch the bikes up the slope, strap them down and then lower the trailer. We will see how this works out.
The plan is to put a roof top tent onto the ladder racks. I am re-purposing the racks sideways so that I can put Yakima load bars on the trailer and a Rocket Box. The load bars are as wide as the trailer and will give me lots of room for all the stuff needed.
The doors will hold all the kitchen supplies as well as adventure gear and electrical systems that will be on the trailer. The plan is to put a heated shower on it as well as a 270 degree awning. Check back for updates as I finish this build.
Thanks,
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