Found this forum during some research and have already learned a plethora of tips, tricks and ideas from yall. I'm hoping to continue that trend and document my journey along the way, and maybe contribute back and help those entertaining the idea of making a CTC.
Last year I built a steel 4x6 camping trailer that we adorned with our roof top tent. We really enjoyed that setup, but after only a few uses, I decided it was time to sell it to fund adult life (aka a ring for the lady) and ultimately we've decided we want to build another now and do it a little different this time. We're in Colorado and the high elevations we tend to camp at can make the tent weather season short, so we're going the way of enclosed camping. Idea's here and on some other overlanding forums have really inspired us to go this route.
How we camped before the trailer life started, RTT on a bed rack.
Here's the trailer I built last year, there's a build thread on expeditionportal if anyone's interested in the details.
Essentially what I started with, but this is after a strip down:
Metal finished:
Finished finished:
A quick shot of the typical trails we'd plan to encounter:
So our use is primarily going to be 2 day 1 night weekend warrior trips into the Rocky Mountains. We do have some ideas for more long distance trips, but those would be primarily pavement to a destination then off the beaten path. We don't intentionally get into hard trails, rock crawling, miles of washboards at speed, water crossings or anything drastic but we do enjoy getting back far enough to enjoy great views and privacy which tends to put us traversing some rutted roads, tight "jeep" trails and switchbacks.
The idea is to build up a 5x8 to be slightly more robust to both handle the extra off road forces as well as handle all the gear we'll be hauling with it. Insulate for cold Spring/Fall camping, install a basic storage bias type galley, add windows, vents, tongue storage, and a few other tweaks.
To begin, we shopped trailers, new and used, and ultimately settled on a 2018 Carry On 5x8 with side swing single rear door and curb side door as well. Out the door it was a touch over $2,000. I researched cargo trailer brands and found some opinions on each, hearing good general info on the difference in say a Carry On and a higher priced/quality Interstate/Wells Cargo/PACE/Etc, with a common theme that one should avoid Georgia's mecca of cheap trailers. I decided to go with this unit as it seemed to have the same notable draw backs as most cargo trailers in it's price range yet had some pros I appreciated. The main pros being the side door (saving us on a pricey RV Door), a nice Dexter 3,500 lbs axle already equipped and a main base frame made from 2x4 boxed steel. Some of the notable cons that we're wiling to work around are: poor workmanship on assembly (we'll circle back to this), really cheap wiring and install techniques, Z style vertical wall supports (but 1" square tube roof bows), two-piece curved roof, multiple piece aluminum siding and some general cost savings materials.
Here's the trailer we brought home:
We're still very much in the planning stage, but that's part of why I'm here now, to suck up some more of yalls wisdom and guidance as we move forward.
Here's what we've done so far:
- wheel adapters to match lug pattern to tow vehicle, Tacoma with 6x5.5
- New wheels and tires to match tow rig 265/75 16" on 16x8 wheels
- New longer and softer riding and de-rated leaf springs (will be adding shocks eventually)
- Lock-N-Roll limited articulation hitch
We started with wheels/tires and suspension to help dial in final height so we could determine a few other things of priority. Here's a few pictures of the setup:
One thing that might be a little different than many builds I've seen here; we are going to CHOP the top on the CT about 8 inches to lower the overall profile of the trailer. We intend to use it more like a TD and not a RV so head room isn't a priority and managing the excess height wins.
We plan to reinforce the main box frame with a few more cross supports, some smaller metal vertical wall supports and ultimately extend the tongue with 2.5" receiver tube to offer some more truck/CT clearance for turning as well as make room for tongue cargo solutions.
