My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

For posting of Trailer, Towed Artillery and Hand Carts. As Found, Restored or Present Condition
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Marty, SoCal
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My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

Post by Marty, SoCal » Sun Apr 17, 2016 9:30 am

Guys, here's a link to my photobucket album slide show on the teardrop trailer I've been building over the last five months:
http://s551.photobucket.com/user/MartyS ... cape%20Pod

Basically, it's made to complement my CJ-8 Scrambler for my desert and mountain jeep trips using the same 33-10.50 15 tires and late CJ 15x7 wheels, The body is 8'4" long and 4'6" wide, almost 4' interior and 24" ground clearance. It fits a full size extra long mattress inside (80"x54"), has a slide out for a stove and 60 qt. cooler in the rear with three galley drawers and two interior drawers with a storage compartment in the interior. The hitch parts are all M416 as is the parking brake handle and tail lamps. The suspension is stock CJ-8 front springs and shocks. the frame is made from 2x2 and 2x3 .120 wall tubing. It has a 3500 lbs capacity axle with 10" electric brakes with a parking brake feature. I have not weighed it, but I'm guessing it's about 1100lbs loaded. It's covered in what's called "Poor Man's Fiberglass", an old wooden sailboat builders technique for waterproofing wooden structures. It basically is glued on canvas that is painted with exterior paint for waterproofing, it's painted with Sher-Cryl Industrial Marine coating the same beige color as the CJ.

It's a lot further along than the last photos in the album, so check back on over the next few days and I will add more recent pictures. I actually took it and the Scrambler to the UC Irvine car show yesterday, and the combo won best 80's vehicle! It helped that I was the ONLY 80's vehicle there, but I will take it! :mrgreen:

Some added pics!
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It will be at Tower park on Wednesday afternoon through Sunday, stop by if you are there and want to see it, we will be in sites 201 and 202!
Last edited by Marty, SoCal on Mon Apr 18, 2016 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
43 Ford GPW 92098
53 Dunbar Kapple M100
Sold: 61 CJ-5, 41 T207 WC-1 Dodge closed cab pickup
MVPA #8266
USMC Tanker (1811, 1812), 85-93
ASE Automotive Master tech, former Chrysler-Jeep Level 4 Mastertech, CA state EA smog license


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tamnalan
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Re: My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

Post by tamnalan » Sun Apr 17, 2016 12:30 pm

Nice job! Yours is much more complex than mine was.
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Re: My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

Post by Steve Webb » Thu Apr 21, 2016 5:28 pm

You should knock yourself silly with pat's on the back.
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Marty, SoCal
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Re: My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

Post by Marty, SoCal » Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:41 pm

Had fun at Camp Delta and a lot of G members stopped by and said hello! I had a lot of very positive comments and suggestions for further add-ons. I'll be going back to Camp Delta every year, God willing!

It was my first real outing with the trailer, towing it with the V8 powered Scrambler was easy, with only a very slight loss of gas mileage over the 820 miles there and back. I averaged 15 mpg. 16.8 over one leg in the flat lands. Next I need to test tow it behind my GPW. If the GPW has decent power with it, I will add on some removable turn signals and try the brake controller on six volts to see how it works.

One thing I had slight trouble with was the electric brakes, it has 10" drums on the 3500lb axle which are a bit too powerful for it's weight, even at the lowest settings on the brake controller, it will bark the tires a bit at slow speeds like pulling into a rest stop or gas station, Stopped OK on the highway. I'm probably going to install one of the old school resistors into the brake wiring to drop the power to the magnets. Maybe the six volts from the GPW would be perfect???

At Camp Delta this year, it rained pretty heavy on Thursday and the trailer stayed completely dry inside and under the hatch with the EZ Up set up over the back. Temps dipped down around 45 at night after the storm, it was a lot warmer in the trailer than the tents my friends were in!

Here are some links to a couple short video's my friend took during the rain storm. Click on the pictures to start the videos:
Overall view showing how hard the rain was:
Image
The water was diverting off the roof and rain gutter over the doors. I purposely left the "Wiley Windows" open in the vent position, the rain did not get in:
Image
43 Ford GPW 92098
53 Dunbar Kapple M100
Sold: 61 CJ-5, 41 T207 WC-1 Dodge closed cab pickup
MVPA #8266
USMC Tanker (1811, 1812), 85-93
ASE Automotive Master tech, former Chrysler-Jeep Level 4 Mastertech, CA state EA smog license

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zepher11
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Re: My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

Post by zepher11 » Fri Apr 29, 2016 8:00 pm

Hi Marty,

Nice trailer. It was a pleasure meeting you down at Camp Delta last week!
Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

Marty, SoCal
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Re: My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

Post by Marty, SoCal » Fri May 06, 2016 6:38 pm

Yes! I recall we had a nice conversation! Hard to believe it's been two weeks since Tower Park!

There is a good chance I will take it to the Hollister Hills Power wagon meet in June, and again up North to the big meeting at Pleasanton in August.
43 Ford GPW 92098
53 Dunbar Kapple M100
Sold: 61 CJ-5, 41 T207 WC-1 Dodge closed cab pickup
MVPA #8266
USMC Tanker (1811, 1812), 85-93
ASE Automotive Master tech, former Chrysler-Jeep Level 4 Mastertech, CA state EA smog license

thidisbogus
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Re: My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

Post by thidisbogus » Fri Jul 22, 2016 9:14 pm

Nice Marty!

Marty, SoCal
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Re: My homebuilt off-road teardrop trailer

Post by Marty, SoCal » Sat Jul 23, 2016 5:01 am

Thanks!

I've since added a solar panel to the roof on a custom made aluminum roof rack, it's a 150 watt one square meter panel with a MPPT 20 amp controller by Renogy. Seems to keep the battery charged up well even while running the stereo. It will make almost 9 amps if the battery is low from running the stereo and lights all night. I also put dual mounts for a ARB sun shade on the roof rack, I can switch sides on the trailer with the shade in under 1 minute using quick detach hitch pins. The awning will deploy in about a minute and makes a great addition to the trailer's functionality.

Image

I also built a removable spare tire carrier for the tongue to mount a spare 33x10.50-15 tire, so on an off-road trip I can carry two spare tires that will fit both the trailer and the CJ-8. The rack and spare add a alot of weight to the tongue, so I will add two can carriers to the rear of the trailer, to hold a couple water cans to counterbalance it. Since I will only use the cans and extra spare on off-roading trips, I will take the spare and carrier off the front for trips to regular campgrounds where most of the travel is on highways, which should save a little gas.

I added in the old school brake resistor into the brake circuit on the trailer, it works perfectly. No more locking of the brakes. I can now adjust it with the controller, light enough so as not to lock up on dirt, even. A little boost on the highway and it works great, with no locking. The jeep stops better with the trailer brakes working, for sure.

I didn't make it to the Power wagon meet in June, I couldn't get the time off from work, it was inventory week :x I will bring it to the Lytle Creek Power Wagon event in October that Ed Bateman puts on.

I did take it on it's first off-road trip, not much of one, just up dirt roads to a campground in Big Bear. 15 miles on a really dusty bumpy road. No dust got in the back or the sleeping compartment. I was trying to hit every rock, dip, bump and side hill I could on the way up and back from the camp to test the trailer suspension. Nothing came apart, but I did get some minor rubbing on the inside of one of the fenders so I added in one more leaf to the spring, which lifted it about 1" more. Basically, the springs are 100% stock CJ-8 front springs now, I had removed one leaf thinking it wouldn't need the extra lift, but with the load of the camping gear it seems to need them.

I will be up at the Pleasanton convention in August, in the dry camping area with my friend Steve and his wife. Stop by if you are going to go and say hi! :D We will be there on Wednesday afternoon through early Sunday.
43 Ford GPW 92098
53 Dunbar Kapple M100
Sold: 61 CJ-5, 41 T207 WC-1 Dodge closed cab pickup
MVPA #8266
USMC Tanker (1811, 1812), 85-93
ASE Automotive Master tech, former Chrysler-Jeep Level 4 Mastertech, CA state EA smog license


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