Navigator's Offroad Camp Trailer Build

[navigator]

ok, I just scored this Trailer which I think will be a great platform for a camping trailer build.
I understand it is a former military generator trailer. It has a little rust in non-essential places and no springs so it will need a little work but not bad for $100.

My goal is something that I can use offroad that I can keep most of our camping gear in all the time to make camping easier with less prep work.

Here is a pic from when I got her home earlier today...

[navigator]

Here is a pic of the pintle hitch that will need a little work. He converted it to a farm trailer type hitch, I might try to convert it back.

Here is a pic of the tongue area

side view with door closed

[Gordinho80]

Woot! Another trailer build! Looking good man!

[navigator]

here is a side view with the door open.
He put a few racks and trays in to keep tools organized. It is actually pretty modular so I have some options.

A little rust in the bottom, it isn't nearly all the way through. I'll clean that up and put some rust preventive paint on it.

here is a removable rear rack

here is a pic of the top, it has height adjustments on it. He said something about using it like a portable scaffold for some siding work or something.

I think there are a lot of options here.
I think the first thing is to clean up some of the rust, do something about the hitch and see what I might be able to round up in the way of some springs for the axle. He had a bunch of ladders on the top rack and said the springs made it sway too much. I might check and see if he still has the springs that were on it. He left a few tools in the trailer he might want to trade them back for!

It actually wasn't too bad on the ride home. I expect with a different set of tires aired down some with a little weight it wouldn't be too bad.....
One thing at a time.

[Mudwheelin]

Great buy man. Looking forward to seeing this build.

[navigator]

here is a pic of the tools he left in it. It was lightening as we were finalizing the deal so we were both in a little hurry.
If you look closely about where the end of the middle pipe wrench is you can see a pretty good sized rust hole. I believe it is only part of the tray at the bottom but I am not 100% sure.
Because of that hole and the lack of springs I almost walked away.
He originally was asking $200. I told him I couldn't really tell how bad it was without tearing into it and didn't figure he would take $100 and he said for $100 he would clean it out and hook it up so we did. All the rest of the trailer is rock solid. I figure if I can't fix this part I could cut the body off and stick it on my little boat trailer and still come out ahead. I'm pretty certain it can be saved.

It is actually lighter than I expected. I can pick up the tongue without too much trouble and we were able to roll it out to my TB for hookup so no problems there.

[navigator]

I scored a set of these (not this set) with decent 265/75/16s for $100.

Wheels.jpg (61.36 KiB) Viewed 15090 times

I see these on CL all the time, I should be able to score another set in the next few months so the TB and trailer will match. They are actually pretty close in design to my stock rims. 2 sets should give me a matching set on the TB and trailer and 2 matching spares.

I'll have to figure out the lug nuts though. The trailer studs are the smaller design but these rims need a large nut to fit or maybe even the old type where it recesses in the wheel itself. I'll have to see what I can find.

My dad also came over today and I had him look at it. He is a machinist that has done a ton of welding as well and built several equipment trailers. He said he would be glad to help "when it cools off" He said he thinks he has enough steel lying around to do all I need to do. In the mean time I'll work on cleaning it up and getting the wheels on it.

I'm thinking of putting a 2" receiver for the hitch so I can use a 2" ball when doing mild stuff and switch over to a pintle if we plan to do anything more extreme. I might also try to build an extendable tongue, the longer tongue is much easier to back.

[NC_IslandRunner]

You could build one of these, I didn't talk to the guy so I don't know if it does anything else but it seems to be a power trailer for his camper, It has solar panels and wind turbines.

[navigator]

that's pretty neat. I take it the camper is a 4wd RV of some type and he towed his "powerstation" with him.
I had actually thought about someday maybe putting a solar panel on the top but haven't looked into it too much.
I would mostly use it to power some lights and run the water pump. Right now I am only likely to camp about 2 nights max and I would likely run out of clean water before I run out of battery.

First things first I've got to get the basics down before I do anything more.

[NC_IslandRunner]

I'm not sure how he hauls them as it is not a RV but a trailer camper, I don't even think is was a gooseneck but can't remember and didn't take a pic of the camper but he only had a truck so it took two trips or he has another truck hidden somewhere.

[navigator]

I was out the other day looking at "new" silverado rims and noticed that the lugs on the trailer are too small to mount my silverado rims.
I took my wrench set outside and an 11mm fits fine but not a 10mm. A 7/16 fits also, likely better.
Since when I search ebay I can find 7/16 lug nus but not 11mm, I figure they are 7/16.

I'm wondering since the silverado rim is likey a 14mm lug nut if I need something like this for my rims.

lugnut.jpg (8.3 KiB) Viewed 14927 times

I'm still planning to get the other axle from Rory but I will likely still use this axle and some of these wheels on another project so getting the lug nuts to won't be a waste.

I've also seen this style that might be a better fit.

lugnut2.jpg (6.82 KiB) Viewed 14927 times

anyone have any ideas?

[Trail X]

Chris, I don't think its required that you get the shoulder nuts. However it could potentially reduce vibrations by centering the wheel ever-so-slightly more. Since the nuts are conical anyways, they tend to center the holes to the stud pretty well either way.

[NC_IslandRunner]

Chris, I don't think its required that you get the shoulder nuts. However it could potentially reduce vibrations by centering the wheel ever-so-slightly more. Since the nuts are conical anyways, they tend to center the holes to the stud pretty well either way.

Fixed that!

[Trail X]

Doh, thanks. I always get you two confused!!

[navigator]

I've been called worse I'm sure, it is easy to get the two guys from NC mixed up .
Thanks JD, I wasn't sure if I needed them or how hard it would be to actually find the ones I need.
I don't like to buy stuff I can't put my hands on when I am unsure about it.

[navigator]

no real updates, I did receive my pintle hitch in the mail.
I can actually use the trailer now if I want while I am waiting for time to work on it.

PintleHitch.jpg (10.13 KiB) Viewed 14826 times

[mikekey]

Hey Chris, how has this project turned out? Still working on it? Any updates? I'm curious.

[navigator]

I've done nothing with it. Too many other projects going on.
I bought some drawer slides for slide out for my stove and I picked up a small stainless sink off of a scrap pile.
Other than that, nothing.

[navigator]

we are headed to Portsmouth Island on Sunday for a few days.
I was going to try to get my little trailer road ready to take with us.
I went to the DMV to apply for a tag/title. The lady there gave me a form with a VIN number.
We didn't really know anything about the make/model etc except that it was an old military generator trailer. She said to scribe the VIN on the trailer and take it to the "Theft Bureau" office.
She said once they review the number, they will complete the form and I can get the tag/title.

This week in anticipation of our trip, I head to the Theft Bureau office (they are only open from 8-10am) to get all that taken care of. When I talk to the guy, he asks for my form and my bill of sale....
I'm like Bill of sale, I didn't know I would need one.
I get a bill of sale and go back the next day and meet another officer.
He comes out and inspects the trailer but needs to fill in the make/model for it for tax purposes.
He spends I bet 30 minutes scouring the internet to try to find something that will work.
Long story short, I have to figure out what make/model the trailer is and get some type of company to "verify" it on their letterhead before I can get it tagged/titled.

I've spent a decent amount of time trying to figure out what the trailer actually is.
It closely resembles a Jaeger Air Compressor trailer from the 1940s but nothing definitive yet...
I don't think I am going to have time to get it all legal before the trip.

He did tell me that if it was a "pig cooker" that you don't need a tag in NC.
Hmm, I might throw a steel grate in it and call it a pig cooker!

[Hillbillybonez]

Man I cannot wait to see how you do on this.