MOREGONE's Trailer Build and Pics

[MoreGone]

Hello fellow OB'ers

TL;DR

Picked up my 1st trailer yesterday and will be posting here with progress and upgrades, as well as some questions to pick all of your experienced brains. Pics start in post 2

THE STORY

I've been eyeing trailers for sometime but did not really expect to buy one anytime soon. I was laid off 2 months ago and while I saw it coming and welcomed it, making "big" purchases probably isn't the best idea. But it wasn't that much and the price for what I got was too good to pass up.

I thought I was pretty well versed with the local used inventory but I did a quick search on Craigslist to drum up an old ad I wanted to check out something again. That's when I saw my trailer for the 1st time. Ad was 20 days old, listed for an amazing price. Too good to be true? A couple quick texts and a call, I am on my way to check out this trailer.

The trailer looked a lot bigger in the pics, I was worried that it would be too big for my needs. Low and behold it is just the right size. I came with cash in hand but was actively telling myself not to buy it. The more I saw, the less I could resist. It's not perfect but it is well thought out for the builders needs and seems well built.

The trailer was being sold by a local Boy Scout leader. It sounds like a local restaurant owner donated it to the Scouts on his and his sons last camping trip with the Scouts. So the person I bought it from is not the builder and does not know all the details and information. The scouts apparently are more interested in a log splitter so the proceeds will go towards that.

WHY A TRAILER?

Sleeping in the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ) is doable for the wife and I, but add in our two dogs and it's just a bit much. I didn't want to have a RTT tent on my Jeep full time and I am short so setting it up would be a pain. Plus, I want a base camp that I can setup and go explore from for certain trips. I also like that I can now easily take 2 additional people since my back seats won't be full of gear.

THE BASICS

4' x 6' Cargo Box with tailgate
Soft cover that snaps on with adjustable center pole
Powder coated frame, marine grade would and paint
Diamond platted offroad squared fenders
31" BFG All Terrains in great condition on 15" rim, 5 lug
30 Gallon water tank and 12v water pump
Small ammo can with 12v motorcycle battery inside, dead at purchase
Full size Propane tank and mount welded on tongue
Tankless water heater, propane powered
Kitchenette with spray hose / sink and Coleman stove

WHAT WAS INCLUDED

New tent, looks big no clue yet. Unused air mattress and pump. Custom built side table that attaches to frame. Custom rack to mount included water heater and shower tent to. Floor grates to stand on while showering. Large canopy that uses extending shower post for center, 4 adjustable poles for legs and guylines. Kitchenette as a couple small drawers


THE CONDITION

All in all, everything seems to be road worthy. Tires are like new, need to determine age. Frame is in excellent condition. The wood panels are in good condition but the paint has seen better days. Originally the paint was a neon yellowish green kind of color. It has since faded to yellow (Phoenix sun has a way of doing that). Inside the box, the wood was treated with a bed liner type of material and is in excellent condition. To keep that sealed, I think if/when I pain the exterior, I will chose not to remove the wood and will instead mask off the frame and paint in place. The kitchenette is a bit warped on a couple pieces. Wasn't a big factor in the purchase, I may repair or ditch all together. The battery is dead and didn't seem to hold any of the charge I gave it. The water pump does work. Haven't tested the propane shower yet. There is a power distribution block on the bottom side of the trailer, no cover or anything. Wiring looks fine but the block is uncovered so I am concerned about it getting wet.

THE PLANS

Grease bearings and general service DONE
Rooftop tent
Rack for tent DONE
Hard lid with hinges DONE
Matching Rubicon Wheels and Tires
Solar setup with new battery, camp lights and electrical outlets Partially DONE
Permanent installation of the water heater instead of setting up each time
Paint eventually DONE
Trailer tongue box would be preferred which would mean I need to move the propane and ammo can DONE
Max Coupler instead of 2" ball hitch

Well that's about it for now. I am sure I will encounter more plans for the build. I will do my best to update the plans as I add them and to mark them off as I complete them.

Pics in next post

 

[MoreGone]

Pretty nice ride height with the 31's. Believe the matching 32" tire will make it ride perfect.


Rear view. Like to Jeep-ify it somehow

Look at those fenders! You can see the fade in the paint,




Water heater mounted and shower tent setup. I imagine I will upgrade to a pop up privacy tent and eventually mount the water heater so it does not have to be setup and hung for each use.


Custom side table that can be moved to a few different positions


Here you can see the original pain color and the kitchenette.

The center drawers are removable as is the top right shelf. Just need to screw on the faucet attachment to the hose on the right and use the included dish tub for the sink. Wood is a bit warped, I might be able to straighten it or replace it. The whole unit is just sitting there, so my load out may be to slide it back and place my cooler upfront. Unload cooler at camp and slide kitchenette forward.


I also recorded a quick walk around video for anyone interested.


If you have any thoughts, questions or ideas, I would love to hear them!

 

[MoreGone]

I have begun customizing and modifying the trailer to my needs.

I picked up a Trailer Tongue box recently from Harbor Freight and bought a Jerry Can with mount to mount the Eccotemp water into.


Initially I thought the paint job would come later down the line, but as I thought about mounting the Tongue Box it seemed smart to do the paint now.

The paint is becoming a bit bigger of a project that excepted but it will be worth the effort. I thought I would just paint it while together but there was a gap between the fender and body I knew I couldn't get to. After trying to mask off all the areas to paint I decided to just remove the boards.

I'm using Rustoleum Topside Paint in Battleship Grey. It is marine grade paint with UV protection so it should hold up good.



I sanded down the wood with 150 and then 220 grit paper. Looking like I will do the painting tomorrow.


While I'm waiting on some Amazon deliveries I went ahead and started mocking up the Tongue Box. I knew it would be tight with the Tongue Jack welded in place. Technically it fit with out any modification needed but I decided to cut out some sections of the square tubing welded to the outside of the frame for mounting the table or other accessories. With the way the lid hinges back it was really close and would probably rub and rust over time.



I've attached a pic from a Bivouac Trailer showing how I intend to mount my water heater. Hope to tackle that sometime in the coming week. Ideally it will be attached to the angle side of the Tongue Box but I really haven't sorted it all out yet.

 

[MoreGone]

Painting is under way!!

Got the wife helping me as we are doing the Roll & Tip method. The wood is pretty porous so I am not totally sure it was necessary but we are about to start the 3rd coat and it is looking pretty good.

 

[MoreGone]

Quite happy with how the paint job turned out!

 

[MoreGone]

Got a couple small things done the last few days.

1st, I am working with a local wheeler and fabricator to build a lid. Looking to make it 4" so my cooler and propane bottle can fit underneath.


I updated to a 7 pin trailer plug which matches the 7 pin of my Jeep. I determined the trailer was built with 6 wires, then trimmed to 4 for the plug. By going back to the 7 pin setup, I now have it so the battery will charge off the Jeep when connected. The 6th wire in the harness I wired to the backup lights, which would probably be wise to have eventually.


I have added a battery and battery box in the tongue and relocated the water pump switch. Holes were drilled through the box and trailer and the battery boxed secured in place. Both the battery and switch were previously in the ammo can on the tongue when I purchased the trailer. The battery is a Duralast Platinum AGM group 65. Group 65 is what goes in my Jeep, even though it has a dual battery already, I like the extra extra backup.







The lid of the battery box will serve as my power station. I plan to add USB/12v/Voltmeter panel which I expect to mount directly into the lid. There is good couple inches of clearance. The water pumps switch can be seen in the top right corner.

 

[MoreGone]

Amazon showed up early today :)

Got the Voltmeter, 12v accessory and USB ports wired up



Also took her for a spin, only the 2nd time towing it and 1st time since getting the paint job. The go well together!

 

[vegasjeepguy]

Very nice. Soon you’ll wonder how you lived without a trailer, if you haven’t already

 

[MoreGone]

Very nice. Soon you’ll wonder how you lived without a trailer, if you haven’t already

Soon we are taking it out for the first trip. Looking like a decent one, at least 9 days to northern NV, into OR and back home through CA

 

[vegasjeepguy]

Any thoughts on changing out the hitch for something a little more off-road capable like a maxcoupler?

 

[MoreGone]

Any thoughts on changing out the hitch for something a little more off-road capable like a maxcoupler?

It is certainly on the list of things to do. I would like to extend the tongue a little when doing it, which would mean I need to extend the wiring too.

Next thing on the list is a hard lid. I really want to get it loaded up so I can leave on short notice, but I don't have an RV gate and don't trust all my gear under a soft top.

 

[MoreGone]

Well, I can't say that it was easy or that it came out perfect, but I built a lid.

I have next to no welding experience, and have never created anything on this scale before. This was an undertaking for me. I borrowed a buddies welder and built the lid to best of my ability in 2 and half days or 30 hours. I used angle iron to keep with the look of the trailer but painted to lid black. Overall I am pretty proud of it but it is by no means perfect. A chop saw would have really helped getting the angles right. But for using a cutting wheel and a lot of grinding, it came out okay. Materials and supplies. I believe I spent about $250. Added 100lb x2 gas struts to help with the lifting and some latches to keep it secure that are lockable as well.

 

[MoreGone]

So I got to take the trailer out for our maiden voyage.! Overall we did 2700 miles across 4 states in 11 days and the trailer did great! I have some adjustments to make with regard to the hinges but overall it was a successful trip!

Now that I have taken it out, I know better how to pack for future trips and can really see the benefit to a trailer / base camp. I am looking forward to transferring the awning from my Jeep to the trailer and the eventual RTT.

 

[cerberus]

So I got to take the trailer out for our maiden voyage.! Overall we did 2700 miles across 4 states in 11 days and the trailer did great! I have some adjustments to make with regard to the hinges but overall it was a successful trip!

Now that I have taken it out, I know better how to pack for future trips and can really see the benefit to a trailer / base camp. I am looking forward to transferring the awning from my Jeep to the trailer and the eventual RTT.

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This is looking awesome, what are some of your packing conclusion from your first trip?

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[MoreGone]

This is looking awesome, what are some of your packing conclusion from your first trip?

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using OB Talk mobile app

So all my kitchen supplies used to be in a Plano storage chest. The trailer has a kitchenette thing (pictured above, bright yellow green thing). I cut the right half off and slid it to the right side of the trailer so I could put my ice chest next to it. I didn't put a lot of effort into getting everything organized before the trip so I brought the Plano chest as well. Just taking up room. I also found that I will probably be keeping my ice chest in the Jeep so I won't pack the way I started this trip. ANd maybe didn't need to cut the kitchenette in half. Day 2 cooler went into the jeep and stayed there the rest of the trip. I got a trailer so I could leave camp behind but need cold beverages when out exploring. Maybe a small day cooler can be added to keep in the Jeep.

Also the stuff in the trailer got bounced around a lot more than the Jeep. Actually might have put my stove out of commission. Have to address/account for that in future trips.

 

[MoreGone]

Haven't worked on the trailer in sometime, but finally got around to it this weekend with an upcoming trip in < 2 weeks.

The original bolt-on hinges I installed proved not be strong enough. The lid was leaning forward and the excess movement cause the mounts for the lift struts to fail. I purchased heavy duty hinges but soon realized they were 1/4" vs the 1/8" steel on the rest of the trailer which is more than the welder I had access to could handle. Fortunately for me, a local jeeper offered to help me out by welding them on.



I also installed some foam weather stripping around the perimeter.

To strengthen the lift strut mounts this time, I got new mounts that sit on the trailer frame instead of mounting to the inner sides of the trailer and lid.



I also reversed the orientation of the shock so that it was pushing up and to the rear when open, instead of forward and down.



Finally decided to do something with my sticker collection and mounted them on the tongue box.

Mounted the propane tank on the fender. I didn't want to do this, but I want to be able to use the shower with the lid closed. To make this possible the propane has to be outside and I have to be able to access the water outside. Not yet installed is a bulkhead to go through the side of the trailer. Out for delivery today is the final piece of weather sealing for the rear of the lid. I will soon install the bulkhead for the water and probably a spigot along with it.

All in all the trailer lid is far stronger now and I am able to better organize it with the propane mounted externally., Looking forward to my 2 day trip coming up.

 

[Todd & Meg]

Looks like a great trailer. I’m in Mesa also and if you need any help with metal work or woodwork I can probably help you out.

Todd

 

[MoreGone]

Looks like a great trailer. I’m in Mesa also and if you need any help with metal work or woodwork I can probably help you out.

Todd

Might have to keep that in mind. I eventually want to get an RTT and would need to make some kind of rack on the lid for it to mount to.

 

[MoreGone]

Weather seals for the lid is complete! Got a 48" door seal from Amazon for the rear of the trailer where the lid meets the tailgate. Fits like a charm.



Also put the bulkhead through the lid and added a spigot. This will allow me to mount the shower with the lid closed, but I can also get water any time now. Decided to go through the lid since I didn't want to compromise the actual, better built trailer.



Next up is figuring out how to mount my solar panel. I have a 48x24 panel that folds in half to 24x24. I originally expected the 48" width to match the trailer lid perfectly, but with the frame around the panel, it is about 2" wider. So I may separate the panels and have one permanently mounted to the lid and another ready to quick deploy. Still working out how to secure it properly since the trailer sits on the side of my house.

 

[MoreGone]

#excited

Guess it's time for an update. I bought a Smittybilt Overland RTT back around Black Friday when there was a smoking deal through 4WD.com


Yesterday I finally got a quote to have a rack built so I can mount it. Happy to say quote was a good price and I will be dropping off the deposit today. Plan is to get the work done in about 2 weeks.