Jeep Camp Trailer

[Cook5]

Guys, Being new to the club, I apologize if this has been discussed but has anyone built a camping trailer for their Jeep that worked out well?  I'm starting a project to build one and am looking for ideas/feedback.  I plan to base it on the Jeep trailer made by Livinlite.  I have the tent portion and have ordered the aluminum for the box & frame.  I've also ordered a Dexter torflex axle for it. I'm going to use the old 33" tires I took off my jeep for it.  So...Feedback?  Ideas?

[CRAZY LARRY]

don't use old tires.

[mrfast]

We will all be watching your build! There are a lot of members interested in build!

[Cook5]

The tires aren't old, just the ones I took off my TJ.  Cooper Discoverer 33's.  Probably have 5,000 miles on them.  I'll try to post some pictures of the plans I've got put together if I can figure out how to do that.

[Cook5]

Here's a drawing I'm working from, I have several more that I've done but still have to figure out how to integrate them.

[Cook5]

I finally got some time to work on the trailer.  I have the aluminum for the frame, the axle, the tires/wheels and the tent portion all in-hand.  Today we mounted the tires/wheels to the axle, cut all of the frame pieces out, welded the frame together and mounted the axle to the frame.  I now have a rolling chassis.  I still need to get the hitch in order to be able to pull it.  Hopefully we can start next week on framing up the box and building the lid.  Attached are some pictures of the frame build-up. In these pictures, we mounted the wheels to the axle & cut the frame pieces and started the box of the frame.  We spent quite a bit of time making sure everything was perfectly square.

[Cook5]

Tires.

[Cook5]

This is the sketch I made for the main frame we'll be working from. 




**These are the tires off my Jeep.  33" Cooper Discoverers




**Tires/wheels mounted on the Dexter Torflex Axle



**Here is the pile of aluminum stock I am working from.  All of the frame is 2X3" tubing 1/4" Thick



**We decided to miter the corners to make them stronger



**We used a miter saw with a special blade to cut all of the aluminum stock




**A fair amount of time was spent making sure the frame was perfectly square



**We welded all of the joints using a MIG welder with an aluminum spool gun



**Once we got going, the frame assembled pretty quickly.  4 Hours from the pile to a rolling chassis!

[Cook5]

**Here we're putting the tongue together. 



**We welded the tongue tube to the bottom of the frame attaching to 3 cross tubes**



**We gussetted the tube for the tongue where it attached to the frame with 1/4" angle to help strengthen it**



**Here the frame is basically assembled.  We gussetted the front corners to strengthen them as well.  Just need to weld it all up!

[Cook5]

**Welding the axle mounts in place**



**Axle mounted!!  We measured front to back from both sides of the axle to make sure it was perfectly square with the trailer so it will track straight**











**Done for the day.  We started with a couple of wheels and a pile of aluminum stock about noon and by 4:00PM we had a rolling chassis. It went better than I expected, the miter chop saw made a huge difference in the cuts.  It saved a ton of time.  I think the frame/axle assembly probably weighs in at around 400lbs.  Target weight for the empty trailer is 800lbs. If anyone has feedback or ideas, I am open since this is my first stab at this.**

[mrfast]

Looks good! Is the trailer a 5' x 10' ? and what are you  going to use for flooring?

[Martinez]

Looks great!  Can't wait to see the finished product!

[Cook5]

The box of the trailer will be 60"X78", I added 18" to the front of that for a pull-out kitchen/storage box.  So the overall frame is 60"X96" plus the tongue. The floor will be aluminum plate that we'll put rubber matting on top of.  Using the aluminum keeps the weight down and avoids any future rusting problems. At this point, I plan to have A/C, heat, lights, a bench seat inside and a cook stove and small sink and possibly a small fridge in the pull-out drawer outside. I'm debating whether to add a zip-on screen room or not, probably will do that later.

[mrfast]

Have you decided on the tent yet? Or is it going to be an enclosed trailer?





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[Cook5]

I have the tent portion. I ordered it from the company that builds the Jeep branded trailers. It is exactly the same without the Jeep logo.