A New Twist on a Tent Trailer

[Backwoods Guy]

Hi All,

After lurking for quite a while and helping my friend, Backwoods Rick, build his trailer, I think it's time to get started on mine.

First off I picked up my trailer today.

Also in the background is my current trailer I'm using and that is my tow vehicle too, a Nissan Sentra. I get 34 MPG pulling my old trailer and hope to get the same with the new. First thing to do is get rid of that tail gate and maybe the railing too, I'm not sure yet about the railing. I'm going to add a little framing on the tongue to hold a deep cycle battery to power my CPAP machine and 2 stabilizer jacks to the rear.

Next thing to do is build a light weight plywood box something like this:

With a raised bed for storage underneath and a drop down tailgate on the rear (on the right in the drawing). This will be big enough for a queen size bed and still leave a little space to the rear of the trailer.

Then on top of that add one of these:

http://www.kodiakcanvas.com/canvas-truc ... long-8-ft/

The tents already on order and will be here soon.

Well, that's the plan for my new trailer, I'll keep everyone posted as the work progresses. Please chime in with any suggestions as I go along. I'm sure you will have many good ideas that I didn't think of.

Thanks, Guy

 

[canned o minimum]

Raised bed fer storage is a GREAT idea ! But ya HAVE the trailer... why NOT build a TD ? The storage area is DEEP and lotsa stuff will be rather difficult to retrieve ?

Are ya gonna build a sliding tray of sorts to store everything in there ?

It's YER build and I am behind ya 100 %...jus wonderin HOW you'll access the stuff UNDER the bed...

 

[Backwoods Guy]

I used plastic storage tubs under a bed in a pickup truck before. I used a piece of closet rod with a hook in the end to grab the tubs near the back and that worked out pretty well, the stuff less used went furthest under the bed. But I am contemplating a side door in this trailer and splitting the under bed area in half, one toward the front with the side door, the other toward the rear accessed from inside the trailer.

I did think about building a Teardrop, but decided I wanted the lower pulling profile this trailer will give me. Once the tent is down, the trailer won't even be as tall as the trunk lid.

 

[canned o minimum]

Build ON my friend !! let the sawdust FLY !

 

[Backwoods Guy]

Well it's been slow going so far, after working in the heat all day, I'm finding it a little hard to pick up a torch and work on the trailer. So far I've gotten the tailgate off, but that's it. I'm thinking this is going to be a weekend morning project for a while, till it cools off a little anyway.

No pics today, I'll get some pics when I'm done with removing the "extra" stuff from the frame, before I start adding again.

Take Care, Guy

 

[compactcamping]

Guy, Multi-purpose and softsided, that's a great approach to a lightweight camping trailer. Here is one I'm working on that uses a self-contained folding tent unit.

 

[Backwoods Guy]

Hi Scott,

I had thought quite a bit about using a 4X6' trailer and building a rack just tall enough to get plastic bins underneath one of your larger tent units. But my wife has RA and I'm not sure how much longer she could climb up the ladder into the tent and I have bad discs in my lower back so I was wanting a better mattress.

Now on with the build. I got some work done on the trailer yesterday and early this morning. After stripping off all the metal I didn't want on the trailer it came out looking like this:

I didn't weigh the trailer before I started work on it, but the paperwork that came with it said it's empty weight was 375 pounds, at this point it weighs in at 259 pounds. Here's the stuff taken off:

Now to add on the stuff I do want, stabilizer jacks:

A tongue jack and a rack for a battery:

And how it looks now:

At this point it weighs in at 290 pounds, so I think I can still make my target empty weight of less than 500 pounds, but just barely. Now to go buy the plywood and lumber for the box.

Take care, Guy

 

[compactcamping]

I understand ...

 

[canned o minimum]

I'm no welder or engineer but, will there be any gusseting to prevent the trailer from going "parallelagram" ??

I know a little about geometry and physics...

 

[parnold]

Wouldn't bolting the floor on take care of that? Or for that matter, the whole structure?

 

[canned o minimum]

TOUCHE' Paul... Fer sum reason I overlooked the "floor" and was thinkin that the teardrop was the ONLY thing on the bottom of the trailer...

To be taken off and on as neccessary...It would seem that I have egg on my face now...but if ya can't laugh at yerself... you aren't at liberty to laugh at anybody else ! at myself !!

 

[canned o minimum]

OH MAN !! Now "I" really am a NUT ! This is about the tent trailer...

You know what they say bout the first thing to go ?

"I" can't remember...Imma go to bed now...

 

[Backwoods Guy]

Hi All,
I got quite a bit of work done on the trailer this weekend, but didn't take the time to take any pics as I went along. So it looks like this now:

I did some painting where the wood would be hidden behind metal and I couldn't get to it after assembly. But the rest of the painting will have to wait. I decided to go with just one big cargo area accessed from inside the trailer and will use a closet rod with a hook for grabbing things:

I still have the tailgate to go and the painting, then install the tent. I'll work on the electrics and other goodies as I go camping and plan those out after I see how it works.

Take care, Guy

 

[Backwoods Guy]

Okay,

Now I have a question. I'm thinking about getting one of these tents:

I'm usually more of a road trip kinda guy, only staying in a place overnight and moving on the next day. But it seems one of these used with my trailer would add quite a bit of usable space if staying in one place for a few days.

Has anyone used one of these before?

 

[canned o minimum]

THAT tent would put you on the ground...sorta deletes the purpose of the trailer a bit.. quite a bit !

AFTERTHOUGHT : Are ya gonna make the top of the trailer weather proof ?In case it rains whilst yer on the road...or when yer campin fer that matter..

 

[Backwoods Guy]

Let's see if I can explain this better.

Imagine my trailer:

With this tent on top of it:

Parked where the SUV is in this pic:

This way I have my comfy bed in the trailer and use the extra tent more as a sitting space on cold weather campouts, someplace to get out of the wind. In the summertime I'd just use something like an Easy-Up awning.

Here's another pic of the SUV tent:

Or maybe something like this would be better:

Well, maybe that one's a little overkill.

Hope that makes more sense, take care, Guy

 

[Backwoods Guy]

Hi All,

Well, the trailers almost done, it's road ready anyway, but I haven't gotten my battery hooked up or any of the electrical stuff done. But I can camp in it, if it wasn't 107 degrees out.

I pulled the trailer out of the shop to get a few pics:

And a view of the back so you can see the bed and some of the storage tubs:

A view through the little window up front:

And one with the tent down, tarped up and ready for the road:

Very simple and not the prettiest on the site but I think it's going to work out great for me. Now I'm ready for the weather to cool down a little and then hit the road and do some camping. In a little luxury now, well, more so than usual for me anyway.

Take care, Guy

P.S. The rest of my pics are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/mrguy001/GuysNewTrailer#

 

[Wolfgang92025]

Looks like a nice set up.
In a way it reminds me of a covered wagon. Should be a nice step up from camping on the ground and trying to get everything back in the car. Looking forwards to seeing of you camping

 

[S. Heisley]

It reminds me of a covered wagon, too!

Good job. You did some quick thinking and some work and are ready to hit the campsites! It's sure to be lightweight, too. Enjoy!

 

[CapN-SKO]

Thats a cool trailer thanks for sharing