TucsonWJ 5x8 Off-road CT

[TucsonWJ]

Hello Everyone,
I've been looking around the site for a bit now and I figure its time to start my build thread.
I'm starting with a 5x8 short trailer by I believe is from Allstate. I've had it since it was new and have used it to haul around tools and various stuff. Now its time to build the family off-road trailer. I want it to travel off road but I don't want to do any crawling with it, I want it more of a base camp for adventure.
The plan is to have a bench on either side with a center section that folds down and forms a sleeping platform. There will be a removable table that will double as the sleeping loft for the little man. I picked up a couple 36x24 windows from a guy on Craig's list for $25 a piece and a 42x26 RV door off EBay for the side. There will be some cabinets on the rear swing out door to make up the kitchen. I'm going to do some minor electrical for some lights, a roof vent/fan, a few 120v receptacle's and maybe a flip down TV/DVD player. Here are some pictures I have of the progress so far.


The spring over conversion

The windows for $25 a piece

The reason for the build

[TucsonWJ]

My tow rig, we call her ole girl.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Welcome aboard

Looks like a good plan so far , cute son - is his wagon a 4 x 4 ?
Also my thanks for picking a name & title we can follow....
"New guy with new build seams to be most used lately" everybody uses it.

I hope its easy to install that side door.

Cheers OTTCT

[TucsonWJ]

Door came in today. Now off to get some 1x1 steel tomorrow for all the new framing and hopefully install soon.

[dstock]

Nice start!

Are you going to be swapping out the hubs to run matching wheels to your WJ?

[TucsonWJ]

I'm actually going to be running adapters. In addition to changing the bolt pattern, I need the inch and a half spacing for the tires to clear he side of the trailer.

[TucsonWJ]

I got her hooked up today, so I could see how she would sit compared to the WJ. I put one of the tires I'm going to be using next to it to get some scale. It sits a little low but when the new wheels and tires go on I think it will be right on. Really need to extend the tounge, but other projects need to come first.



You can see roughly how much higher it will sit with the new wheels. Fenders need to come off, the new ones will be part of the running boards.

[dstock]

Very nice! I am seriously considering doing something similar but in my case I want to be able to transport my motorcycle inside and use a roof top tent for the sleeping quarters. Unfortunately, my motorcycle is roughly 5' 5" tall so I would have to go with a 6ft high trailer to clear it.

Looking forward to your seeing your build progress!

[TucsonWJ]

Possible layout for the spare tire and the battery box. I'm thinking of a wheel chock type holder so the tongue will support the weight of the tire, I want to do a metal battery box right in front of the tire. The center jack will be gone so there will be room. Does anyone see any problems with this? I am looking at roughly 150lbs on the tongue not including what is already there. All thoughts and ideas welcome.

[hankaye]

TucsonWJ, Howdy;

You have some excellent ideas moving around between your ears...
Looking forward to seeing the results.
Just remember the 60/40 weight and balance rule-of-thumb.
60% of weight in front of the axle 40% behind ...

hank

[TucsonWJ]

Thank you, I have done my share of poking around and am trying to find the ideas that best suit my needs.
I know about the 60/40 weight distribution but I have so little room in the rear. I'm trying to keep everything as light as possible. I know people don't like to keep the battery inside due to the possible fumes and other reasons, but if I moved it to the rear that could help a lot with the weight. My only issue with that is that it is going to have to be on one side or another and I would like to keep the heavy stuff more centered.

[bc toys]

what you going to use for Jack if you remove that one it will get heavy lifting it all the time

[TucsonWJ]

I'm going to be using 15" lift pipe mount swivel jacks on all three corners. They can all be removed and stored inside during travel then just slide them in put in the pin and good to go. I'm also going to put a mount by the tire just in case there is a flat I can use the jack to change the tire.
Here are the jacks I'm going to be using.
http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Jack/Pr ... 40303.html

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

I know people don't like to keep the battery inside due to the possible fumes and other reasons,

I've had 800 AH flooded L16 batteries inside my trailer for 2 years with 2100 watts solar.....
I should have blown up 2 million times..... BUT NO LUCK YET !!

Cheers OTTCT

[WoodSmith]

Are you sure those jacks can be quickly removed? The video didn't mention it, seems like that would be a valuable selling point.

I would definitely consider them if they really do detach.