My Off Road Build Journal

[big44g]

Here is the start of my Off Road build. It will be a 10 foot Benroy with 2 foot storage in the front. We mostly camp in the boondocks and BLM lands, therefore most of the time we will have no electricity. I have plans for a water tank and solar power. The frame may be over designed but I do not expect it to flex very much. I am just starting out and hope to get help from the board whenever I hit a snag.

Thanks Gary

[dales133]

Nice gary pretty much what im building.
Look forward to your progress and only to happy to help

[noseoil]

Gary, looks like a nice stout frame you've made. I look at it like the foundation of a house, if the frame is good, the rest should be easy & stay tight.

Any idea of the rolling weight so far? How thick are the frame members & tube dimensions? Looks like plenty of attachment points to hold the 'drop in place. Looking forward to more pictures of the build. Welcome to the party!

[big44g]

Gary, looks like a nice stout frame you've made. I look at it like the foundation of a house, if the frame is good, the rest should be easy & stay tight. Any idea of the rolling weight so far? How thick are the frame members & tube dimensions? Looks like plenty of attachment points to hold the 'drop in place. Looking forward to more pictures of the build. Welcome to the party!

I am not sure of the weight yet. I hope I can keep it under 2000 lbs. It's made of 3" square tube, 3/16 gauge. The fenders are 1/4 gauge. I thought if I "rubbed" a rock or tree It should survive damage. I do not do any serious rock crawling or anything like that but I do love to camp in remote locations. Which means very rough roads.

[big44g]

I am currently waiting for some angle iron to arrive so that I can mount my water tank. I hope to have the 19 gal water tank frame build and welded to the trailer this weekend. I think I will finish fitting the Aluminum fenders and drilling the rivet holes. I also need to drill and wire the trailer lights. I am dying to get this part of the trailer done so that I can prime and paint the trailer. I want to move on to building the actual camper.

[big44g]

Finished installing the hanger for the water tank Saturday. My original plan to hang it failed, I was off by a 1/2 inch had to change the design but it worked out. I like it better. Need to complete drilling out trailer wire locations, prime and paint.

[Vedette]

Yes, you have a very well built, but very stout Chassis! 3"x3" 3/16th wall tubing may have been a bit excessive.
But, if weight is not a concern, you are on the right track to a durable unit.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[big44g]

Been working a little at a time. I got it primed and painted. What a mess! Even with the make shift walls, you still get over spray everywhere.

IMG_0518.jpg (105.3 KiB) Viewed 2590 times

IMG_0525.jpg (98.88 KiB) Viewed 2590 times

[big44g]

Just completed the trailer wiring. I sent most of the wire in the trailer, fishing it through the 3" tube (driver side). I snapped about a half dozen drill bits trying to get the holes drilled. I used a step drill bit for the bigger holes. It also took me longer than expected due to the fact that the 7 way harness was not using the standard trailer wire colors. And to top it off, my back is killing me from being bent over this frame for two days.

This is the trailer 7 way harness, nicely installed in the tongue of the trailer

IMG_0530.jpg (78.37 KiB) Viewed 2579 times

Here is the trailer wire box I installed

IMG_0533.jpg (68.59 KiB) Viewed 2579 times

And this is me trying to figure out the wire issue. Once I realized what was going on; i went to etrailer and found that the Hopkins 7 way harness does not use standard wire colors.

IMG_0544.jpg (74.93 KiB) Viewed 2579 times

[big44g]

Lastly for this update is my tank, got it partially installed for fit. Up next; finish trimming the aluminum fenders for fit and the tank skid plate.

[big44g]

Finished up the fenders today. Below are the pictures of fenders mounted and the tank ready to mount with skid plate. Now its time to buy some plywood.

IMG_0582.jpg (85.68 KiB) Viewed 2515 times

[KCStudly]

That's looking particularly tasty! Yum.

[big44g]

Sorry, but I have not been updating my build journal like I should. I moved my build pictures to smugmug. If you are interested you can see them at https://bigg.smugmug.com/Teardrop/

I do have a question. What do you use to seal the electrical that exits the camper to the battery box?

Thanks

[big44g]

Here is what she looks like now

IMG_0077.jpg (61.91 KiB) Viewed 2191 times

[Wobbly Wheels]

Just found your build thread - you've got some skills !

What do you use to seal the electrical that exits the camper to the battery box?

Looking at your pics, I see a Blue Sea fuse panel. They also make a product called a Cable Clam. They are the only way I've found to make a reliably weather tight deck penetration on a boat.