Figured I'd post up my build here and continue as I fine tune it and add on to it!
Started with a pile of metal / parts in the shop and got to it..
Got the top rack that the tent and awning will mount to in.. would prove to be a huge pain to get it dialed in and moving freely.
Getting all the sheet metal done. Originally I was going to try and figure out how to use a hand crank winch to move the rack up /down. Didn't work as well as I hoped so as of right now I'm just using a scissor jack and it's working good.
First test of the rack and checking heights.. I'm 6'3 so I needed to make sure I could stand under the awning and the annex. I didn't want the tent and stuff to always ride that high which is why I had to complicate things. This way the center of gravity is lower and it'll catch less tree branches.
Running 33s on it with Fox shocks.. leaf springs are out of a TRD tacoma and so far everything works great the way I have it.
One thing I'm not a fan of is how far I had to make the tires stick out to run the shocks. I didn't want really short stubby shocks and I also didn't want them inside the tub taking of cargo space. But all said and done it worked out and doesn't stick out past the width of the jeep or truck.
I bent the axle I bought in Mexico, so I ended up building a new one out of .250 wall DOM tube.
Next on the list is to get these boxes cleaned up and mounted, and i'm going to get a couple small propane tanks to mount as well. We have a 3 week trip going from AZ to CO and then to run the Rubicon Trail before heading back home next summer.
I don't have any pictures handy, but I'm running a dual battery setup with solar panels and I'll also have a water tank for it soon as well. It's been a trial and error thing for me as I've never built a trailer for this purpose. But it's been a blast!
Started with a pile of metal / parts in the shop and got to it..
Got the top rack that the tent and awning will mount to in.. would prove to be a huge pain to get it dialed in and moving freely.
Getting all the sheet metal done. Originally I was going to try and figure out how to use a hand crank winch to move the rack up /down. Didn't work as well as I hoped so as of right now I'm just using a scissor jack and it's working good.
First test of the rack and checking heights.. I'm 6'3 so I needed to make sure I could stand under the awning and the annex. I didn't want the tent and stuff to always ride that high which is why I had to complicate things. This way the center of gravity is lower and it'll catch less tree branches.
Running 33s on it with Fox shocks.. leaf springs are out of a TRD tacoma and so far everything works great the way I have it.
One thing I'm not a fan of is how far I had to make the tires stick out to run the shocks. I didn't want really short stubby shocks and I also didn't want them inside the tub taking of cargo space. But all said and done it worked out and doesn't stick out past the width of the jeep or truck.
I bent the axle I bought in Mexico, so I ended up building a new one out of .250 wall DOM tube.
Next on the list is to get these boxes cleaned up and mounted, and i'm going to get a couple small propane tanks to mount as well. We have a 3 week trip going from AZ to CO and then to run the Rubicon Trail before heading back home next summer.
I don't have any pictures handy, but I'm running a dual battery setup with solar panels and I'll also have a water tank for it soon as well. It's been a trial and error thing for me as I've never built a trailer for this purpose. But it's been a blast!
