Who has built there own Overlad Trailer?

[T.Shack]

What metal did you use or the frame, & why?
What Axel(s), & why?
Which couples, & why?
Hoping to find out others thoughts on this.

 

[Todd & Meg]

What metal did you use or the frame, & why?
What Axel(s), & why?
Which couples, & why?
Hoping to find out others thoughts on this.

I am building now and can give you some info. I am building a teardrop. I have a build thread in the trailer forum.

Axel I went with Timbren. I have read good things about them, I liked that thy make a set perfect for an off road trailer. 2000#, 4" lift, 3500# spindle, brakes. Lots of ground clearance. And it will give me room to add a water tank between the axles and still have plenty of ground clearance. I live in the desert and want to be able to carry plenty of water if needed. I also wanted a shower, so needed more water.

For the frame I went with 2X2X1/8 square tube. I know a lot of people go with 2X3X1/8" and I think that is way over kill. My brother is a welding engineer and after I had my frame 80% done I was talking to him and wish I would have talked to him first. He ran some numbers and came up with 2X3X1/16" which is 16 gage is stronger than the 2X2X1/8 and would have saved a lot of weight. My next build will be that route. It takes more planning on the design of the frame and the thinner metal can be a little harder to weld for beginners. 14 gage would be the next step up.

For the coupler, I have a 2.5" receiver on the trailer so it is the same as what you would have on the tow vehicle. That way I have options. For now I'll just put in a regular type hitch until I know I need more. Then I can get one of the articulating types for off road, and switch back to the regular type for mostly paved road trips. The other advantage is if I leave the trailer at a campsite I can remove the hitch, makes it a lot harder to steal.

Hope this helps.
Todd

 

[ohiowrangler]

What metal did you use or the frame, & why?
What Axel(s), & why?
Which couples, & why?
Hoping to find out others thoughts on this.

I built a m416 ish trailer to carry my camping gear on and off road.

I used 2x2x1/8 tubing for the frame, it's strong and helps manage the weight.

I used a 3500# axle with electric brakes. I don't know about other axles but I could get drums with a matching wheel bolt pattern.

I used a removable pintle hitch with an adjustable tongue.

Good luck with your project, Ron

 

[Sidetrekked Overland]

2x2 square tubing has worked for mine that was built in the early 90's. My friend who built it (and later gave it to me) used an axle from a small bass boat trailer because that's what was available at the time and we live at a lake so they are easy to come by. The "box" of the trailer is 8' by 5' and 4' tall. I've looked at the timbren axle setup but it's not worth the money for me to change it. We don't do hard core offroading and usually we set the trailer up and then drive the vehicle around without the trailer attached so the regular axle has never been a problem. Coupler is 2" which is fine with me.

There are plenty of little details I would change or things I would do different if I built one today. He built this thing long before "expedition trailers" were the in thing so he didn't have slide outs and rooftop tents to think about. I've made it work just fine though. I would look at as many as you can in person and compile as many ideas as you can and then go for it.

 

[The other Sean]

While I'm not building the frame, I'm planning on reusing the frame off my old Apache pop up camper. it is a 2"x3" square tube frame. I'm planning on replacing the torsion axles as they are lightweight, 4 bolt wheels and no brakes. I'd like to go with the Timbren axles and match the wheel bolt pattern to my truck.
My plan for the camper itself is to build it sturdy enough to eventually add a RTT to the top as we have a 3 month old and eventually, the extra sleeping space would be nice as well as the option to only run the RTT on my truck if I'm planning on leaving the trailer at home.

 

[Overland Commander]

I did mine - I had the tongue extended using the same metal sections as the stock frame. I replaced the original semi-military axle with a 3500 pound axle that had hubs matching my Jeep so I could run the same wheel and tire combo.

 

[Mark D]

What metal did you use or the frame, & why?
What Axel(s), & why?
Which couples, & why?
Hoping to find out others thoughts on this.

I used 2” sq tubing .06” wall everywhere but the main “T” where I used .125” wall. I went with torsion bar axles so there wouldn’t have trouble with the solid axle hanging up on rocks and I built a full swivel hitch that allows the trailer full rotation in all directions.

 

[Jorrie]

I am busy building one at the moment. Will upload a full article as soon as i am done.