Enthusiast III
Hey everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve been active but I wanted to hop on share what I’ve been working on lately and why.
So my wife and I are about to celebrate 3 years on Jan 22nd and we have a beautiful 4-1/2 month old son. I transitioned from solo overlanding to backpacking with my wife as our primary way of getting outside but now with the baby things are getting shifted around.
I’ve wanted to build a lawnmower trailer with a RTT for years because I initially saw the inherent issue of vehicle mounted RTT’s that camp has be broken down every time we would move. Long story short, I happened to get this 5x8 cargo trailer for free in fair condition and since it would save me quite a few beans I decided to base my build off of it understanding a few challenges that would surface along the way.
When preparing this build with research I can’t find hardly any examples of RTT on a cargo trailer anywhere. Obviously there’s pros and cons to anything but I decided to go for it. First things first, I bought some new leaf spring perches and wheel bearing kits to repair and lift the trailer. After making the trailer safe I started by building this super beefy 2” angle and unistrut frame for the rack.
I decided to go with the OVS Nomadic 4 EXT since I am going to have 2 adults and a baby for a while with the hope that the Lord will bless us with a little girl after a while. After mounting the tent my first real challenge came…the height of the tent makes things difficult for set up and tear down. I am looking into a few solutions to make this easier and safer. My primary consideration is a form of scaffolding (also used as a shelf when parked) I can hang off the 2” angle iron roof rack to use a step platform to work around and set up/pack up the tent.
I also ripped out all the plywood and shoved 1” reflective XPS (R-3 per inch) everywhere I could fit it including the roof. I left the floor alone for now since I can always do it from the bottom later. I am working on adding some thin bead board paneling, puck lights and other electronic accessories inside the camper for those awful downpour days (Georgia, WNC, E TN weather).
I’ll try to update things as I go but I wanted to share challenges, successes and ideas for those considering something similar.
Review so far: Tent is fantastic, build quality and design is top notch. My wife loves the mattress and I love that I can set it up by myself even as big as it is while she shows the baby around the new campsite.
So my wife and I are about to celebrate 3 years on Jan 22nd and we have a beautiful 4-1/2 month old son. I transitioned from solo overlanding to backpacking with my wife as our primary way of getting outside but now with the baby things are getting shifted around.
I’ve wanted to build a lawnmower trailer with a RTT for years because I initially saw the inherent issue of vehicle mounted RTT’s that camp has be broken down every time we would move. Long story short, I happened to get this 5x8 cargo trailer for free in fair condition and since it would save me quite a few beans I decided to base my build off of it understanding a few challenges that would surface along the way.
When preparing this build with research I can’t find hardly any examples of RTT on a cargo trailer anywhere. Obviously there’s pros and cons to anything but I decided to go for it. First things first, I bought some new leaf spring perches and wheel bearing kits to repair and lift the trailer. After making the trailer safe I started by building this super beefy 2” angle and unistrut frame for the rack.
I decided to go with the OVS Nomadic 4 EXT since I am going to have 2 adults and a baby for a while with the hope that the Lord will bless us with a little girl after a while. After mounting the tent my first real challenge came…the height of the tent makes things difficult for set up and tear down. I am looking into a few solutions to make this easier and safer. My primary consideration is a form of scaffolding (also used as a shelf when parked) I can hang off the 2” angle iron roof rack to use a step platform to work around and set up/pack up the tent.
I also ripped out all the plywood and shoved 1” reflective XPS (R-3 per inch) everywhere I could fit it including the roof. I left the floor alone for now since I can always do it from the bottom later. I am working on adding some thin bead board paneling, puck lights and other electronic accessories inside the camper for those awful downpour days (Georgia, WNC, E TN weather).
I’ll try to update things as I go but I wanted to share challenges, successes and ideas for those considering something similar.
Review so far: Tent is fantastic, build quality and design is top notch. My wife loves the mattress and I love that I can set it up by myself even as big as it is while she shows the baby around the new campsite.
