In this thread I will discuss and solicit help for my trailer build.

Backstory, I drive an SUV (Lexus GX460) and I have never owned a trailer of any kind. I know that as a home owner I probably should, just for picking stuff up or whatever, but just never got around to it. I did get a hitch cargo thing and have a roof rack, so we've always gotten by but it's annoying sometimes. But anyway I've been wanting to get into something like a camping trailer that could also be used rarely for general utility, or on the off chance we need to bug out.
I'm married, and we have a 1.5 and 4.5 year old, and while we all like being outdoors I'm not sure how the camping aspect will go so I don't want to spend a fortune on this adventure if I'm just going to give up and sell it in a year.

I was half searching and reading about Overland trailers, plus watching Expedition Overland on Amazon and it's pretty cool what they have. Basically it's used for general cargo, cooking, and they have a roof top tent on the top. Theirs is light and mobile and when I looked into them, start at like $8,000+ and up. I could rent one locally to try for $100 a night.

So the other day this puppy pops up, for sale locally, for $100. It came with a Lock n' Roll hitch set up for mobility. It has FJ cruiser wheels and tires, which are the same lug pattern as mine. It comes with 2 of those hitch carriers, a roof top cargo carrier, 2 mortar tube surplus boxes,  some jerry cans, and a few others. It's already wired for lights and formerly sported a RTT, so I figure what the hell let's do this, worst case I can get my money back out or part it out for my money.

Picked it up today and I was really surprised how easily it hooked up and towed. It didn't really feel like there was anything back there, and I had no trouble starting, stopping, or with turns. My 460 will start to roll a bit on it's own from a dead stop with no foot on the brake, and it would still do so even with this puppy back there.

First step is going to be cleaning it up, pressure washing, maybe some sanding and then rough paint. I figure we'll touch up the black areas and then decide if we want to do anything differently. I may rhino line the whole damn thing, too.

What suggestions, ideas, tricks, or hacks would you suggest for making this thing better, nicer, and more user friendly?

The trailer is 6'6" wide including the boxes, which hang over the sides a bit. It's 7' long without the tongue. The box opens (lid is heavy as shit) and it's 4' wide by 5' long. I believe the bottom of the box is the original trailer and the lid thing was added on, but don't have a ton of info since it's obviously not new.


this is how the previous owner had it all set up with the roof top tent. One side was devoted to cooking stuff and the other was recovery.

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This is the ass end as it sits now. Box opens from the back and is hinged so it goes up (hinge is to the front)
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This is the front end. I thought the jerry cans were all mounted and stuff when I saw the first pics but they were just propped on. Oh well, for this price I really can't bitch.
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Looks super cool.  Tagging this for progress.

I’m calling the police. You stole that thing.

It appears you got an extremely good deal on that!

Pressure washed it today and I’m pretty sure that made it worse somehow? Chunks of black paint were coming out and it’s peach/pink under that. Oh well, I think I’ll be stripping more than I thought. Here’s from the side:
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And this is inside the tub. This seems to be the thickest area of funk.
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What’s the best way to clean this up? Paint scraper? And then what’s after that, wire brush with an air tool?

I have never rehabbed a trailer or anything, but I have air tools and a compressor.

first, figure out what you want to do with it camping and bugging out
how much food, water, electrical do you need?  etc
how much crap do you have to carry?
camping stuff, guns and ammo, whatever

post a list of each of those

then assess what it's going to take to get that on the road.
does it have brake and turn lights?  does it have to be registered in your state?
make sure it has appropriate chains, and get someone to show you how to connect them properly
and decide if you need to do anything to the suspension, and what your loaded ground clearance will be and departure angle


you'll also want to think about security.  how are you going to lock all the storage boxes and keep the whole trailer from getting stolen

@taliv, I'll answer above.

6/1 update. took some time to start taking the random stuff off, and getting it cleaned up. It's cleaning up well, but the paint is too bad to keep as is and there are a few rust spots. Nothing major and those have been sanded away. I'll prime and get the ball rolling there soon.

Going to undercoat it to keep that clean. Bought stuff and prepped today, will probably do it tomorrow if the weather is good.

I did find out the lid is easy to remove. It opened all the way up and then that lets it slide off, so I'm excited about that. I'm still not sure which direction I'm going to go with all this but it's good to have options. I'm reading up on Expedition Portal and drooling in the trailer build threads about some ideas. I'm leaning towards a steel frame coming up out of it, so I can do awnings and the tent up a bit higher. Only problem there is I have no idea how to weld.

I already have enough equipment to camp (ground tent, stoves, etc) so even if it just hauls all that it's a win.

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Convertible?

Got into it a bit since the last pic. Lots more scraping and sanding. Then priming. Then hired this professional painter Attached File


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Looks likethey did a good job painting.

6/11 update


It has a couple of coats of paint now and is looking pretty good! I took off the mortar tube boxes and painted them. Looks like they are a perfect fit for the coleman camp stove I already have. So I think I'll set one up as a kitchen, the other with recovery or something.

I got the rear cargo holder off and that shrinks the footprint pretty well.

I was also able to find an order a key for the cargo carrier that went on the roof. It's This Carrier . The key was $3 but shipping was $8. those bastards! but either way that seems like a pretty decent value for the carrier. I'm going to mount the crossbars up there now that I can attach the carrier and see how it goes. It's actually made by Thuli so I know it will hold up well, I have one of theirs for my SUV. Between those carriers and the wagon itself I think it will be well suited for carrying crap on adventures.

I am also in the process of cleaning up and painting the jerry cans and it looks like they are in good shape. What is the cheapest way to mount them to the trailer's outside, like sitting on a fender or the rack? I can't weld, and all the mounts seem to be $40 or more. was hoping to keep this budget thing going

6/16

The trailer came with this cargo carrier on the back hitch. I already had one and figure I don’t need that many. Fresh coat of paint and sold it to a neighbor for $80.

I’m officially into the trailer for $20 at this point :)

May end up selling the top cargo carrier but undecided.

Part of me wants to finish this up and sell it to put the money towards a cargo trailer instead. The wife is not a fan of the idea of this at the moment, and would prefer AC and a bathroom inside.

Know anyone that wants to buy an adventure wagon? Family is leaning more towards a pop up camper now... what do y’all think I should list this for?

Damn, I wish you werent so far away. I've been looking for a trailer like this for a few years now!