Father and Son’s Off Road Expedition (Overland) trailer build v2.0

[lacofdfireman]

Well my boys have convinced me that we need to build another trailer. We had such a good time with the last one we decided we could make another one and make it even better this time. We loved our last trailer and had a great time building it. I thought it was a great build but we have learned a few things from the last build that we will do different this time. The plan for this one will be to build a smaller, lighter trailer with less features. We pulled our last one with a 03 Jeep Cherokee WJ.

Both my son Tyler and I have since upgraded to Jeep JK Unlimited’s. My 20 year old son has a 2018 JKU and I have a 2012 JKUR.

We will be towing this trailer with one of our JK’s with intentions of building a 3rd one later on so both of us have one. We will also include my youngest son Logan (14) in the build where he will help with the wood structure part of the build. My son Tyler will do all the welding and I’ll do the cutting so this will be a team effort. It’s going to be a ton of fun. My biggest issue is going to be time to actually work on it. My work schedule at the Fire Department right now has been rough. Getting a day off with over 200 vacancies hasn’t been an easy task this summer for me. And my Son Tyler has been working 2 Jobs and about 60-70hrs per work. He works for the Local Fire Department here in St. George and also at a local bike shop part time also so he is super busy. He’s also taking a few classes here and there to help further his Fire Department certifications. And my son Logan has started back at school now so can’t help me during the days. Maybe I can convince my wife to help me during the day. That would be cool. So this one will take a little more time than the last one but I’m still shooting for less than 2 months for this build if possible.


So here are the plans. Build another hard sided trailer Expedition-Overland style trailer capable of holding a rooftop tent. Features will be a queen bed inside with a small galley area in the back. Not sure if we will do a sink with a manual pump or not but probably won’t. Well probably just have a 5 gallon water jug with a spigot for washing hands, dishes and cooking water. The interior will be basic and I will most likely carpet the interior walls and ceiling like we did on the last one. I really liked it like that and it seem to provide some sound deadening and maybe even insulation also which was cool. It will have a vent fan on the roof and 12v lighting.

Dimensions for this build will be a side profile of 4x8 and an width of the structure at 5ft. The structure will be built with 3/4” Baltic Birch sides and most likely 1/2” Baltic Birch front, side and rear. Bracing will be 2x3’s for the roof The axle we ordered was a Dexter ez-lube with a 76” Hubface with spring centers at 58”. The axle also includes brakes with a 5 on 5 Jeep wheel bolt pattern that will allow us to run our same Jeep JK wheels on the trailer. We will also be running a 2” wheel spacer because the Jeep wheel center bore is smaller than a trailer axle so won’t fit. The 2” spacer will allow the Jeep wheels to fit on the Dexter axle.

So the axle was ordered and took about 2 weeks through Henderson Wheel in Salt Lake City. Cost for the axle was about $430 shipped for axle with brakes, springs etc. Seems like a little more than I spent last time but maybe that’s just the way things are right now.


Day 1 of the actual build process


I happened to get a few days off last week and was planning to leave for work at 5pm when I got a knock at the door and it was my axle. My boys were so excited and asked if I would go buy steel so we could get the frame cutout before I left for work at 5 and my son Tyler could start welding it up. I didn’t even have a cut list at this point but I figured since my days off we’re going to be few and far between I might as well buy steel and get some pieces cut before I left for work. So I made a cut list and headed to The Steel Yard in St. George and bought enough steel to build the trailer frame. OST of steel,was about $400. Got home at about 4pm so didn’t have much time to work on this as I wanted to leave for work at 5pm but ended up just getting after it and cutting the entire trailer frame out and helped my son get it tack welded up so he could do the finish welding on it. So about 8pm I finally left for work. This is where we are at currently with the build.

Axle will be placed on the trailer using the 60/40 measurement with the center axle axle placed at the 60% measurement from front of trailer box structure.

Quick little video of some work getting done by Tyler.



I know my garage is a mess. I absolutely hate a messy garage but my summer has been crazy and just haven’t had time to get into it and get it all organized for a bit. But I’ll get on it.

We are just your average builders here and would love to hear input and suggestions from you. We for sure don’t know it all and gladly welcome any critique or anything anyone notices we are doing wrong or any tips or tricks they may have. I’ll keep it updated as we build and make sure I take a ton of photos because if any of you are like me I like the pics best. A pic is worth a million words they say so I’ll try and document this build with plenty of pics.



Come along for the build.








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[ottsville]

I'm following!

 

[lacofdfireman]

Day 2 of the build ( Short day )

Had a short 3 days off from work and was all excited to get some work done on the trailer. I may actually get this one built before years end. Haha. My oldest son actually had a few days off also the same time I was home so we’re able to put in some good long hot days and get a few things accomplished. We finally got the axle mounted after a screw up from the local axle dealer telling me where to mount the axle hangers. They gave me measurements that had me mount the hangers to far apart which in turn wouldn’t have let the springs do there thing and would have been a mess. Unfortunately we fully welded the axle hangers on and didn’t test fit first so we ended up having to cut the hanger off and then grind it down flat again and reweld. One thing I can say is my son Tyler is a great welder and I never have to worry about a weld breaking. His welds are incredible.

So axle is now mounted correctly and we have a rolling frame.

So I personally can’t weld and my son doesn’t have a ton of time so for me I’m building out of wood. I don’t have the skills for building a metal or aluminum frame for the structure but I can frame a house so we’ll go that route again. We built our last trailer out of wood also but we went completely overboard on the build. With this one our goal is lighter and less frills but still very functional.


Day 3 of the build.

So first up is to put the deck (floor) on the trailer and treat it for water resistance. Last trailer we used Asphalt emulsion which worked good but took forever to dry and still after months with the near felt tacky. I was told buy other builders a better option is Gardeners Fence Post Paint. It still has some asphalt in it but has some better waterproofing and dries faster and will harden up. Here is what it looks like.

Once we cut out the 1/2” Baltic Birch for our trailer floor we put a couple coats of this fence post ain’t on the bottom side as well as all the sides to help it from getting any water in it. Easy job to just roll it on. Applies really easy.

While the floor was drying we decided to cut out our side profile for the trailer and start framing our walls. We used 1/4” Baltic Birch 4x8 sheet for the exterior skin with the front top corner 45’ed and the lower rear corner of the trailer 45’d to give the back of the some extra ground clearance.

We framed out the walls using 2x3’s. Now this is really overkill also but I’m building this trailer to support a rooftop tent and I want to also be able to stand on this roof and walk around. Makes it easier for setting up and removing the tent also. So my wall construction is 1/4” Baltic Birch exterior wall with a 2x3”framed wall which will also have 2” foam board insulation then a 1/8” Baltic Birch interior wall skin and then carpet walls, floor and ceiling. The front and top will be 1/2” Baltic Birch and framed strong enough to stand on and support a RTT.

Windows were framed in and walls built and outer skin fastened on. Holes drilled through trailer frame and bolts ran through the frame and the bottom plate to help secure it to the trailer. This thing will be built tough and able to handle off road terrain easily.

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[lacofdfireman]

Day 4

Going to be another short day today. Only have a few hours from about 8-2 that I can work on the trailer as I leave for work again tonight. Plan is to get the front wall on and the windows and doors cut out. Took a few hours to pickup all the wood and supplies I needed to get going this morning so that cut into my build time.

We started with the front wall and got it done then moved on to our next part that had a 45 degree angle with a window in it. Got it all setup and built with no real issues.

We’ve been pushing temps close to 100 degrees each days I’ve tried to work mostly inside the garage. I’d walk out to the chop saw to cut wood and come right back in. Can’t wait for winter. Summers have been killing me.

So have the walls up and am ready to cut out the windows and side entry door. I used a router to cut all the straight parts of the windows and door and then a jig saw for the radius cuts. Worked out perfect.

Ended up finishing cleaning up everything about 3. A little later than what we wanted but glad to get this much out of the way in the past 2.5 days. Next up I need to work on wiring up all the lights, switches, outlets etc. Plan is to make this basically a 12v camper so everything can run off battery power. I’ll have a fantastic fan, interior LED lighting and a couple flush mount LED Pod on the outside rear of the trailer. I’ll also run 2 110 outlets. 1 in the bedroom and another in the galley area. I’ll also run an external outlet that can convert from 30amp RV hookup to a 12aug extension cord for running a TV or the 110 outlets. Was thinking of doing a 30amp service on this trailer also but I’m not running an A/C so just feel it’s overkill for this application.

So hopefully I’ll be home Wednesday next week and can get some more progress made on the trailer. So far I’m loving it. The are so addicting to build. Already planning on building another one after this.

 

[bosox15]

This build looks awesome. I've debated building my own or buying a trailer. I think you've convinced me to build my own. I'm not a welder either so I'll probably have to buy a frame but I was a do-it-all carpenter for ten years so the rest should be simple enough. Will be subscribing to follow along with yours.

 

[lacofdfireman]

This build looks awesome. I've debated building my own or buying a trailer. I think you've convinced me to build my own. I'm not a welder either so I'll probably have to buy a frame but I was a do-it-all carpenter for ten years so the rest should be simple enough. Will be subscribing to follow along with yours.

Thanks for subscribing. We had a blast building our first trailer and expect this in to be just as fun. I’ve seen lots of great builds with prefabbed trailers. You can definitely do it. Just takes time and money. Best part about it is knowing you built it with your own two hands. I know mine won win any beauty contests but they are built strong and I know it will be capable off road for Expedition Overland adventures etc.


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[lilgription]

May I ask what’s your plans for final finish on exterior? Skinning or ? Thx

 

[lacofdfireman]

May I ask what’s your plans for final finish on exterior? Skinning or ? Thx

I’m going to be using a spray on bed liner called Raptor Liner. It’s like a Rhino Liner or Line-X. It’s really nice and dries hard as a rock.


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[rudee13]

whatcha gonna use seams? roof and side wall. trim over silicone caulk? I can never find the trim seal piece that I see on nicely done trailers. I know it's probably a standard rv product or maybe custom by shop.

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[lacofdfireman]

whatcha gonna use seams? roof and side wall. trim over silicone caulk? I can never find the trim seal piece that I see on nicely done trailers. I know it's probably a standard rv product or maybe custom by shop.

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Ya my plan is just to use 1” - 1.5” Aluminum angle for the sides and corners with silicone and then screwed down. I can’t ever seem to find the RV stuff and the time I did it was super expensive. This should work just fine and you can buy it at the big box stores like Lowe’s it HD. Comes in 10ft strips.


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[ROADRUNNER33]

Looks good! Your son's welding is great. The Raptor liner works great hides a lot of the imperfections and takes a lot of abuse. Here is a pic of the aluminum sides and the Raptor Liner. I will looking out for more updates.

 

[lacofdfireman]

Looks good! Your son's welding is great. The Raptor liner works great hides a lot of the imperfections and takes a lot of abuse. Here is a pic of the aluminum sides and the Raptor Liner. I will looking out for more updates.View attachment 471103

Thanks for the pic Chris. I’m definitely using some of your ideas in my build. Been having a ton of fun building this one. Can’t wait to start camping and using it. Shouldn’t be long now.


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[lacofdfireman]

Day 5,

Got home around 3pm from work today and my boys were home so we started to work on the trailer again. Figure I better take advantage because anytime we can all work together the 3of us we seem to get more accomplished. So far we have 3 walls up and my plan for the rest of today and tomorrow is to get the back wall up and the roof sheeted and the rest of the trailer sheeted. Then next week before we insulate and put the interior walls on we need to wire it up for electrical.

So for the rest of the day we worked on framing out the rear walls and also the roof. We have intentions on putting a rooftop tent on this trailer so we need to make the roof strong enough to stand on to be able to walk around to help setup the tent. Shouldn’t be a big deal.

Got Logan my youngest son out here helping out today. He loves helping with this project when he can.

Just finished sheeting the rear walls. Need to still cutout the the hole for the rear galley door with the router and jig saw but other than that it’s complete to this point

That’s about all we have time for on this day. Got some other things that need done tonight so this will need to wait until tomorrow to get anything else done.





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[lacofdfireman]

Day 6

Planning on putting in close to a full day today. Will work on it until at least 3pm then I need to go get a haircut. Haha.

Time to build the roof frame and also determine where we want our fantastic fan installed in the ceiling. Done

Next time to sheet the roof and cutout the holes with the router. You can see that I use the straight edge router bit for a majority of the cutout and leave the corner work for the jig saw. Not much roof for error if the router gets away from ya so this makes it a ton easier for me to do it this way.

Also you can see we had a few extra minutes to throw in a couple electrical boxes. My plan here is to run 2 110v outlets in the trailer. One in the sleeping area on a shelf and one in the kitchen galley area. No other 110v in the trailer the rest will be all 12v lighting.

Also fitted the rear galley kitchen door on the back of the trailer. We’ve decided to hang this door upside down so when you open it, it will swing down. Doing this will help us in a few different ways. 1. We won’t have to install struts on the door to hold it up. 2. We won’t have to worry about hitting our heads on it since my oldest son is 6’3 and I am 6’5.

That about it for today. Time for a haircut then it’s off to the mountains for the next few days. I’ve been wanting to take my youngest son camping for awhile and it’s time to get out of the heat so the trailer is out on hold until next week.


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[lacofdfireman]

Had a great 3 days and 2 nights up on Cedar mountain. We camped here about 3 weeks ago and saw a ton of deer and almost more bucks than does. Since then the archery hunt has started and the bucks are nowhere to be found. Probably saw 100 does though and a bunch of pronghorn antelope

One of the things we wanted to do was to get an elk to bugle so I bought my son a couple different elk diaphragm calls and a bugle tube and have had him practicing the past few months. An elk bugle during the rut is a sound that is absolutely amazing. And getting an elk to follow up after bugling yourself is even more amazing. We are still a week to 10 days before the rut is full on but they should be starting to talk a little bit so we are going to have a blast.

Got camp all setup and put some axis deer meat on the Traeger and let it smoke for awhile. Turned out amazing. I love the Traeger. Can’t beat it.

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