Coleman Versa - RTT Trailer

demagxc

Member
For the past few years my wife and I have been mounting our Tepui Ayer 2 on top of my VW Golf whenever we can for camping trips. It was a major pain but for us it was more than worth it for the quick set up/take down time. I've been scouring craigslist for the right trailer ever since. Because i'll be towing with the Golf, it needed to be light. Because we live in an apartment without much work space, it couldn't require too much fab work on my end. In the beginning of May I was able to score this 1978 Coleman Versa for $150. Weighing in at just under 300 pounds with a capacity of 1250, it was just what I was looking for. Even better, it came with the lid!
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Overall it looked to be in OK shape. The lid had a handful of cracks, needed new taillights, the frame, floor, and sides were in great shape other than some surface rust. At first I figured I would re-grease the hubs, replace the tires and taillights, fix the lid, and take it out for a weekend for a shakedown to get a better feel for what I would add to my build list. I was wrong. The first issue was that one of the lugs was seized in the hub and no amount of pb-blaster, heat, or breaker bar extension would free it. Luckily It was easy to pull the hub off with the wheel attached. I figured I would just order a replacement. Turns out it was impossible to find a replacement hub because of the tapered spindle and odd bearing combination. The only thing I could do was order a new axle and hubs which took a month longer to be deliver due to COVID related delays.

In the meantime I decided to do a full teardown to fix as many rust issues that I could. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of the whole process. There isn't much to this little trailer and if all the hardware wasn't rusted in place, I could have had it apart in an afternoon.
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After a lot of sanding, priming and painting It all bolted back together quite easily. Rustoleum black for everything and Krylon fusion for the lid. Unfortunately, the axle still hadn't been delivered so there was only so far I could take it. I did get a set of rear stabilizing jacks that helped support the trailer while I waited.

I was able to straighten the original tail light brackets and replace the light housings. I bought a set of incandescent lights but decided to drop in some LEDs since I was planning on tapping into the accessory circuit on the Golf for the trailer wiring and wanted to keep the amps down. The trailer originally came with side markers but the ones that came with the kit did not fit the mounting holes of the originals. Because I liked the look of the marker lights and didn't feel like filling any holes, I epoxied the light sockets of the new lights into the housing of the original.

The flaking paint on the lid was pressure washed off the best I could before painting. I fixed the cracks by drilling out the ends of each crack, shaving down the crack itself to create a gap, and filling with JB Plasticweld. After I repaired it, I read about a paste you can make with Wendy's plastic silverware and acetone that will patch ABS. Might try that in the future if (or when) it cracks again.

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Here it is after the axle, hubs, and tires were installed.

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The eventual plan was to mount a rack to it so we could mount the RTT. The problem was that there wasn't anything off the shelf that seemed to fit the bill that wouldn't require significant modification or costing way more than I felt like spending at the moment. I figured I would enjoy the trailer for now and figure out the rack some other time.
 

demagxc

Member
I was talking with my father about it one day and he mentioned that there was an aluminum security fence at his shop that was scraped after being hit by a truck. The welder there would weld the rack for me and all I needed to do was send some plans. I sent them by the end of the day. Sorry for the cell phone photos of my computer screen for the 3D views but I didn't feel like booting up the software to print the images. While I waited for it to be built, I decided the trailer needed a tongue box. I used two Harborfreight ammo cans mounted to some aluminum channel. After mounting them, I realized that one of them cannot be opened when the jack is deployed. Oh well, Ill call it extra security when its parked.

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The rack would significantly limit the travel of the lid but I don't mind since the tailgate drops down and It only needs to open just enough to slide gear in and out. The rack was finished in no time at all and I rushed over to my father's place to get it mounted. The side walls are not too thick and we didn't feel comfortable allowing them to support the full weight of the rack and RTT. For now the upper bolt of each leg is threaded into a stainless plate on the inside of the tub that rests on the floor of the trailer above the frame rail. I'm keeping an eye on the mounting and will beef it up in the future if necessary. So far its solid as a rock.

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The maiden voyage was a 7 hour ride to a campground outside of Buffalo NY and there were a few more things that needed to be done before then. I got the tent mounted, the rack tubing ends capped, and installed a PVC rod carrier. I also realized a spare tire might be important. The spare is mounted to a piece of strut offset from the lid hinge. I had some marine vinyl I salvaged from the cover of my old homemade RTT that I used as a tire cover.

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Last weekend after 7 hours we successfully landed in NY!

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We arrived after sunset and quickly realized that we needed some lights under the lid. To add to the to-do list, because I relocated the license plate to the middle of the tailgate rather than under the taillight, I didn't have a license plate light anymore. Also, the Rustoleum bedliner I used didn't hold up to the unsecured 5lb propane tank (dumb I know) so that would need to be addressed. Not to bad of a list for the first trip out.

Back at home I ordered up a pair of license plate LEDs that replace the mounting bolts on the plate. The only down side is that if I ever need to remove the plate, I will have to snip the wires. To get around that, I used a non waterproof LED connector and wrapped it with more electrical tape than I am comfortable with and hid it along the rear frame rail. Time will tell if that will work long term.

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The bedliner was fixed and I decided to install some cheap carpet to add another layer of protection. I also got a truck bed LED kit for under the lid. Because of the sharp transitions of the lid, the strip needed to be cut into sections to solder on some jumpers so that it would stick properly. A little silicone to seal the ends, and it was good to go. I found a little waterproof switch that fit perfectly into one of the existing holes in the side wall tube to replace the cheap switch that came with the kit. The extra wire from the kit was coiled and stuffed into the same side rail tube. It should be pretty dry in there because it is sealed by the lid when closed. The LEDs were wired into the side marker circuit of the tail lights so unless I add an additional connector, they wont work unless its plugged into the car.

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And that's it for now! I have a few more ideas for what to add to the trailer in the future but for now its more than I anticipated going into the project.
 
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demagxc

Member
Great job, a little small for me.

In the future you can use legos melted with acetone as well, that way you can try to color match.

I can totally see it being too small for a lot of people here but its perfect for us. The lid actually gives a surprising amount of extra storage that lets me fit everything we used to stuff into the back of the car with the exception of the cooler. The floor dimensions are 5' long and 4' wide with 1' tall sides. With the angle of the front and rear tailgates, the tub opens up to a little over 5.5' long at the top of the sides. Without the lid, it would be almost unusable.

I wish I had known about the acetone/lego ABS repair going into this. I imagine it would have done a better job of repairing the lid than the JB Weld Plasticweld although I am pretty happy with the results.
 

brian c

New member
hi demagxc,

I just bought a versa trailer, wondering how the rack has been holding up to the load. also can you send me a pic of the plate on the inside of trailer for rack?

thanks

brian
 

demagxc

Member
hi demagxc,

I just bought a versa trailer, wondering how the rack has been holding up to the load. also can you send me a pic of the plate on the inside of trailer for rack?

thanks

brian
As far as I can tell, the rack is holding up great. I would guess I've put about 3,000 miles on the trailer so far. The mounting bolts needed a little tightening after the first trip but they haven't loosened at all since. Here is a photo of the inner mounting plate. I am planning on replacing them with something that utilizes more than one bolt. The plate was more of an afterthought using leftover materials on hand.

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VersaRebuilder

New member
demagxc -- What new axle and hubs did you swap in? I need to replace them on my Coleman Versa too. (I might upgrade to 12 or 13" wheels too. Not sure.)

Any other tips on replacing the axle?

Thanks in advance!
 

demagxc

Member
demagxc -- What new axle and hubs did you swap in? I need to replace them on my Coleman Versa too. (I might upgrade to 12 or 13" wheels too. Not sure.)

Any other tips on replacing the axle?

Thanks in advance!
Unfortunately I couldn't find the order confirmation or receipt for the axle. I just measured the existing axle and searching for the best price with a reasonable lead time. I believe the hubs were ordered as an add on item with the axle.

I wish I had the documentation to include specifics but here are my tips. Check to see if your leaf springs are in good shape. I was considering replacing them but I couldn't find an off the shelf replacement due to their unusual dimensions. Because of the the leaf springs are wider than usual and were mated with a 1.75" square axle, I had to fabricate my own tie plate.
 

thedoor

New member
Sweet. I tried a similar thing a few years ago but it didn't handle the wind very well. Tent ended up going back to REI.

Thinking of trying again but this time remove the rack and use a clamshell tent link the Maggiolino columbus
 

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demagxc

Member
Sweet. I tried a similar thing a few years ago but it didn't handle the wind very well. Tent ended up going back to REI.

Thinking of trying again but this time remove the rack and use a clamshell tent link the Maggiolino columbus
If I wasn't able to get my rack fabricated I would have done something like this. I wonder if the wind issue could be mitigated by lowering the top of the rack and adding some extra lateral support or bracing. My tent isnt as high as I'd like, but I think by designing it so that the top of the tent was level with the roof line of my car helped a bit with wind and drag.

Whenever I get around to upgrading, I will 100% be buying a clamshell.
 

thedoor

New member
If I wasn't able to get my rack fabricated I would have done something like this. I wonder if the wind issue could be mitigated by lowering the top of the rack and adding some extra lateral support or bracing. My tent isnt as high as I'd like, but I think by designing it so that the top of the tent was level with the roof line of my car helped a bit with wind and drag.

Whenever I get around to upgrading, I will 100% be buying a clamshell.

Lower would definitely be better, I was a little leary climbing down in the middle of the night to remove the rainfly, when it was really noisy. It was blowing 30mph.

I am wondering if the side clamshell eg FSR odyssey or ikammper is more sturdy in the wind than the traditional clamshell
 

slowblow

New member
For the past few years my wife and I have been mounting our Tepui Ayer 2 on top of my VW Golf whenever we can for camping trips. It was a major pain but for us it was more than worth it for the quick set up/take down time. I've been scouring craigslist for the right trailer ever since. Because i'll be towing with the Golf, it needed to be light. Because we live in an apartment without much work space, it couldn't require too much fab work on my end. In the beginning of May I was able to score this 1978 Coleman Versa for $150. Weighing in at just under 300 pounds with a capacity of 1250, it was just what I was looking for. Even better, it came with the lid!
View attachment 605276

Overall it looked to be in OK shape. The lid had a handful of cracks, needed new taillights, the frame, floor, and sides were in great shape other than some surface rust. At first I figured I would re-grease the hubs, replace the tires and taillights, fix the lid, and take it out for a weekend for a shakedown to get a better feel for what I would add to my build list. I was wrong. The first issue was that one of the lugs was seized in the hub and no amount of pb-blaster, heat, or breaker bar extension would free it. Luckily It was easy to pull the hub off with the wheel attached. I figured I would just order a replacement. Turns out it was impossible to find a replacement hub because of the tapered spindle and odd bearing combination. The only thing I could do was order a new axle and hubs which took a month longer to be deliver due to COVID related delays.

In the meantime I decided to do a full teardown to fix as many rust issues that I could. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of the whole process. There isn't much to this little trailer and if all the hardware wasn't rusted in place, I could have had it apart in an afternoon.
View attachment 605278

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After a lot of sanding, priming and painting It all bolted back together quite easily. Rustoleum black for everything and Krylon fusion for the lid. Unfortunately, the axle still hadn't been delivered so there was only so far I could take it. I did get a set of rear stabilizing jacks that helped support the trailer while I waited.

I was able to straighten the original tail light brackets and replace the light housings. I bought a set of incandescent lights but decided to drop in some LEDs since I was planning on tapping into the accessory circuit on the Golf for the trailer wiring and wanted to keep the amps down. The trailer originally came with side markers but the ones that came with the kit did not fit the mounting holes of the originals. Because I liked the look of the marker lights and didn't feel like filling any holes, I epoxied the light sockets of the new lights into the housing of the original.

The flaking paint on the lid was pressure washed off the best I could before painting. I fixed the cracks by drilling out the ends of each crack, shaving down the crack itself to create a gap, and filling with JB Plasticweld. After I repaired it, I read about a paste you can make with Wendy's plastic silverware and acetone that will patch ABS. Might try that in the future if (or when) it cracks again.

View attachment 605282

View attachment 605283

Here it is after the axle, hubs, and tires were installed.

View attachment 605284

View attachment 605285

The eventual plan was to mount a rack to it so we could mount the RTT. The problem was that there wasn't anything off the shelf that seemed to fit the bill that wouldn't require significant modification or costing way more than I felt like spending at the moment. I figured I would enjoy the trailer for now and figure out the rack some other time.
If I wasn't able to get my rack fabricated I would have done something like this.
Hi there, I’m the guy who stopped you on I-95 in the black Subaru Outback a couple of weeks ago in Connecticut. It was pretty wild coming up behind you as I have never seen another versa in the wild in New England.

Glad to find you here and thanks for the detailed posts. Would you mind sharing your fabrication plans for the racks? My family has an extended journey ahead of us with an all-original versa and I’m trying to sort out some things.

thank you
 

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