Posted: 5/28/2014 1:06:11 PM EDT
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I have lurked long and hard (and occasionally post) here on the SF and have really learned a lot from all the guys here over the years. I finally have what I think is a topic that will have some value to others that may have a similar need. That need is a way to be able to carry a somewhat decent stash of supplies god forbid that we would have to leave our AO if the situation warranted it. I have seen the topic of bug – out trailers here before ( Die-tryin’s comes to mind, sorry bro) but not too often. I found a great source of info on a site called Expedition Portal and the folks there were super helpful and eager to offer advice (a lot like the guys here on arfcom ). I originally posted my trailer plans there and figured you guys might be interested so here goes:
My 13 year old son and I really enjoy to camp/hike/fish/canoe in wilderness settings as opposed to campgrounds and we usually go to Vermont or the Adirondacks in NY State. Like a lot of you guys, I like to get away from civilization as often as I can. As our adventures became longer and the amount of gear and supplies grew over the years, it became apparent that I needed a better way to haul this stuff. Stuffing all my crap into every cubic inch of space of my wife's Jeep got OLD. A couple years ago, my old man gave me his beautifully maintained Ford F250 diesel and I used it on a couple of trips but the truck had 2 major disadvantages: It was a 2 x 4 (Pop lives in Florida) and it was a diesel. I MUCH prefer to camp in the cool/cold temps of fall/early winter and where I like to camp there are NO outlets to plug in an engine block heater into. The 2 x 4 aspect is well, pretty self-explanatory. So as much as I liked the truck to tool around town, I decided to sell it and look for a small camping trailer. I read a ton of threads on Expedition Portal and learned a lot about what would work for me. I soon realized that this type of camp trailer was nowhere near as popular here on the east coast as it is "out west". I first thought of doing what a lot of guys do and look for a surplus military trailer but honestly, I did not really look forward to a big-time restoration project. I looked around for one in very good condition for a while with no luck. I came across a different type of trailer for sale on the ExPo website within a 4 - 5 hour drive of home so I looked into this brand of trailer called Outlander Trailers located in Arkansas. The Sherpa II is their largest model and what drew me to the design was its modularity. A lot of expedition-type trailers are a tub design in its most basic form. This trailer is rectangular, tubular steel "space frame" if you will, that is roughly a 4' wide, 6' long and 2.5' high. The tongue assembly is about 4' long and the trailer has 2 side boxes @ 10Hx10Wx38L and a large 48Wx48Lx30H main cargo box. A 24Wx48Lx30H open cargo area and 2 jerry can holders. Here are a couple of production shots the seller posted on his for sale ad: 
This is what it looked like when I bought it from the seller after he dragged it through 1500 miles of Canadian wilderness... 
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After realizing how well this trailer fit my needs and how easy it would be for a person of my moderate skill to customize this rig I asked "the boss" for the additional greenback approval to be able to close the deal with the seller. A week or so later, I was rolling home to NJ with my new big-boy-toy. I poured over this thing what seemed like every day for a week coming up with ways to customize it to suit my particular need and came up with this:
1. Remove the 10 x 10 x 38 side boxes and replace them with larger 18 x 18 x 48 steel side boxes 2. Buy a third of the original side box and install them stacked in the front of the trailer right over the tougue. 3. Relocate the jerry can holder on the right side over to the left side, next to the other JC holder to provide clear access to the open cargo area. 4. Add a swing-out spare tire carrier onto the back of the trailer. 5. Build a Camp Kitchen / Galley into one of the new, larger sideboxes. 6. Enclose the open cargo in the front with the same expanded steel mesh to create a "cage" where I can lock up my coolers, water cans and other bulky items that CAN get wet. 7. Install 11 lb propane bottles (the short/fat ones) and holders on the right and left side rear fenders 8. Clean and repaint the tube steel frame and expanded metal mesh. 9. Repaint all storage boxes ( or preferably have the boxes "wrapped" in a custom vinyl wrap - maybe a camo pattern or topo map design) 10. Electric Power 11. Install a rooftop tent. ( Waaaaaaay down the road cuz they is 'spensive  )
12. Reserved for future additions... 
This was the list I came up with when I first bought it 2 years ago so I'll post up what has been done so far but I would really love to hear some of your opinions and ideas on how I can make this mo betta...I will start with the side box replacement and kitchen / chuck box mods shortly... |
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Quoted:
Very nice. I have an adventure trailer on the list, but not really sure which way I'm going to go yet. I tried finding a decent surplus trailer, but all that I found needed work and were $$$. Can I ask what you paid for it? That was my experience as well - the M101 and other .mil trailers are way cool when you first see them but when you start to look for one that is in good shape and then see what people ask for them, it takes a bit of the luster off the idea. The guy I bought my trailer off was a tough cookie who was NOT very flexible on price. He turned down quite a few offers and had it on the market for over a year before I bought it. He wanted $3,500 firm including a 100 Mile max delivery. I picked it up from his driveway for $3,200 and had him include 2 scepter MFCs in the deal. Not cheap, I know, but I WANTED it and 2 years later I'm still happy I got the thing. |
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I'm actually building one of these now, I've got a Build Thread over in GD.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1625343_Off_road_Trailer_Build_thread.html I'm building an M-series Dinnot. This is a fiberglass tub kit that goes on either an M416 frame or a homebuilt frame. In the end, I hope to have something that looks kinda like this, but the same color as my Jeep: 
I've got my frame built, and I'm going to get it registered. Haven't ordered my Tub yet. 
Edited to change the second pic. It has lights and stuff now. 
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Quoted:
After realizing how well this trailer fit my needs and how easy it would be for a person of my moderate skill to customize this rig I asked "the boss" for the additional greenback approval to be able to close the deal with the seller. A week or so later, I was rolling home to NJ with my new big-boy-toy. I poured over this thing what seemed like every day for a week coming up with ways to customize it to suit my particular need and came up with this: 1. Remove the 10 x 10 x 38 side boxes and replace them with larger 18 x 18 x 48 steel side boxes 2. Buy a third of the original side box and install them stacked in the front of the trailer right over the tougue. 3. Relocate the jerry can holder on the right side over to the left side, next to the other JC holder to provide clear access to the open cargo area. 4. Add a swing-out spare tire carrier onto the back of the trailer. 5. Build a Camp Kitchen / Galley into one of the new, larger sideboxes. 6. Enclose the open cargo in the front with the same expanded steel mesh to create a "cage" where I can lock up my coolers, water cans and other bulky items that CAN get wet. 7. Install 11 lb propane bottles (the short/fat ones) and holders on the right and left side rear fenders 8. Clean and repaint the tube steel frame and expanded metal mesh. 9. Repaint all storage boxes ( or preferably have the boxes "wrapped" in a custom vinyl wrap - maybe a camo pattern or topo map design) 10. Electric Power 11. Install a rooftop tent. ( Waaaaaaay down the road cuz they is 'spensive )
12. Reserved for future additions...
This was the list I came up with when I first bought it 2 years ago so I'll post up what has been done so far but I would really love to hear some of your opinions and ideas on how I can make this mo betta...I will start with the side box replacement and kitchen / chuck box mods shortly... Like your thinking. You're going to have to be careful that you don't get your tongue weight too far out of whack as you're moving stuff around. I'm looking at a RTT also and choking on the price. One item not on your list that I'm going to do - a 3-axis hitch. I'm probably going to go with a Lock-n-roll, but even a pintle is OK. Ball hitches aren't really suitable off-road (the one on mine is strictly temporary, it'll get to the DMV for inspection that way, and I had it, but it'll never go off-road with it.) |
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Not exactly what you are doing but my thread on a camper made from a cargo trailer might give you some ideas to help you out. There are also other links within the thread that might be of use to you.
Look forward to seeing what you do with yours!! Link |
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One item not on your list that I'm going to do - a 3-axis hitch. I'm probably going to go with a Lock-n-roll, but even a pintle is OK. Ball hitches aren't really suitable off-road (the one on mine is strictly temporary, it'll get to the DMV for inspection that way, and I had it, but it'll never go off-road with it.) Actually you reminded me that I had wanted either a lonk-n-roll or a Max Coupler but I haven't done enough research on it yet |
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Its #5 on my list but it was the first thing I tackled - "The Camp Kitchen".....
The first thing I wanted to customize on the trailer is a galley, chuck box, kamp kitchen or whatever you want to call it. One of the most frustrating things for me about campouts was rummaging thru the big plastic tote that would hold all my cooking gear. After a few days, it would be a giant mess of half a dozen plastic bags and half-ripped boxes. My approach to this project was to replace to long, skinny side boxes with larger, more robust ones. After searching here and other sources, I chose steel "underbody truck boxes" that are commonly seen on wreckers, dump trucks etc... Now, if I'm going to get critiqued, it'll be for going with the steel material. Yes, these suckers are heavy, but I wanted something more secure than the original aluminum ones. They are OK for light storage, but I think I can open them with a can opener. I chose 18 x 18 x 48 Buyer Truck Boxes for this portion of my project. 
My concept was to build a plywood chuck box that would then be slid into the steel side box. I wanted the box to contain and organize the following: a coleman liquid fuel 2-burner stove, two coleman single burner stoves, pots/pans, disposable plates and bowls, forks/knives/spoons/utensils, extra fuel and whatever else I could reasonably fit into it. I chose to use pre-finished1/2" Maple plywood for the box – it’s pricey @ $92 a sheet but I LOVE this material. I have a sketch that I drew up but I keep forgetting to scan it at the office to post here. Hopefully I'll remember and upload it later on. There were 2 major hurdles to clear with these steel boxes themselves: 1. Removing the stiffener on the lid and 2. deal with the latches that the locks snap into - they would interfere with the chuck box. I would have to grind off the stiffener and design the chuck box to clear the 2 latches (you can see the 2 silver latches mounted on the top inside part of the box in the pic below). 
The next part was to build the chuck box. I designed the various compartments to the dimensions of the gear I wanted to store in it. The right side compartment would hole a 1 gallon can of coleman fuel, (2) single burner stoves (stacked) and 2 smaller fuel bottles. The left, and largest compartment would hole the main stove and the pots and pans. I decided to divide this compartment horizontally on adjustable standards in the event that I change the stove or cookware in the future. The remaining space in between these 2 compartments would be for everything else. So after laying this out on paper, I got to work cutting up, gluing and nailing/screwing all the plywood pieces together and ripping a couple of grooves on the top of the box to allow the chuck box to slide into the metal side box. I finished off the chuckbox by edge banding the exposed edges of the plywood with some iron-on maple veneer and filling/sanding the nail holes. 
You can see here where I cut 2 grooves in the top of the box to allow it to slide into the metal cabinet past the latches... 
To be continued.... |
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Quoted:
Actually you reminded me that I had wanted either a lonk-n-roll or a Max Coupler but I haven't done enough research on it yet Quoted:
One item not on your list that I'm going to do - a 3-axis hitch. I'm probably going to go with a Lock-n-roll, but even a pintle is OK. Ball hitches aren't really suitable off-road (the one on mine is strictly temporary, it'll get to the DMV for inspection that way, and I had it, but it'll never go off-road with it.) Actually you reminded me that I had wanted either a lonk-n-roll or a Max Coupler but I haven't done enough research on it yet If you can weld, there's this option, too - about $50, very similar to the Max Coupler 
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Quoted:
Here's a trailer that I saw at a local preppers expo and I am in the process of buying. It covers all the bases and comes completely equipped for my family of 4 for about $19K www.bibooutfitters.com You'd think for $19k they could put a actual picture of one on their website, instead of CAD models. |