Macland's not at all sexy Adventure Trailer build

[Macland]

While perusing craigslist I found a heck of a deal on a small trailer that had been made for hauling camping gear for a Jeep. The guy who owned it before the guy I bought it from is the one that did all of the modifications and he was pretty Macgyver like in some of his stuff. I hope to continue the style of this trailer as purpose built rather than something that you do a double take on, such as Casper's old trailer.

I drove to Chandler, OK from Altus for this thing and can say that it was as small as it looked in the craigslist ad. I had bought a 4" drop hitch and as you can tell from the pictures the trailer still say with quite a bit of rake. The little guy handled well going up to 72 once when I wasn't paying attention, most of the time I cruised at 65 and watched as people passed continuously in the 75mph turnpike. Also, I went from two axles to 3 so I was killed by all of the tolls 4 each way!!!

 

[Macland]

I need to get a trailer light harness for the Xterra as my trim is originally X and didn't come with one. I believe I can get one from courtesyparts.com for about $60 but wasn't sure what else I would need or how to actually wire it up so suggestions and pointers to how to's are welcome.

 

[Macland]

My trailer at the previous owners shop with his new project trailer. He's giving himself a little less than a year to finish his new one, it needs a lot of work but I would have loved to have had it.

Double checking things in Chandler before I got on the highway. Little bit of rake.....

Filling up with $3.21 gas in Moore. I got better gas mileage going 65 pulling a trailer than going 75 without.

Outside of Altus.

Rocking the XN hat and NORAC t shirt using my new cell phone mount to take a selfie.

The point I said screw it I'm not backing this little bastard any further, I'll just move it by hand.

All opened up, there's screw on legs for the lid, prop up tables on the back and side. You have to remove the spare tire to set the table down, I'm not too keen on that but it's not the end of the world.

The tongue has two spots for either water or gas cans and a spot for a propane bottle and a bar that pieces together to hold a lantern.

There's a few hooks for hanging whatever, wrags, paper towels, cooking utensils, etc.

And here are the supplies I stopped for when I first got back to town.

My intentions are to clean out the tub and remove as much of the rust as I can, all surface rust. Then I'm going to paint it this hunter green satin. I'm also going to replace some of the eye hooks and bungees that were being used to secure the side tables while traveling.

I've also picked out a new latch for the lid that I'm going to purchase tonight to get it on it's way. Plus one special mod just for me.

 

[Macland]

Reserved #3

 

[Big_THanks]

Where are the pics?


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[Macland]

Where are the pics? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Should be there now, you know me! I won't leave you without pictures for long!

 

[Big_THanks]

Nice find I'm thinking about shifting my build to something more like this instead of a teardrop.


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[Airmapper]

You'll hate me for saying this, but that little trailer is cute. I like it.

 

[metzican]

Nice to see you pulled the trigger on this. I know you where looking at it on Craigslist. It is defiantly a good start. Can't wait to watch the progression and what you add. A nice thing about a trailer like that is you can change stuff and add things for your convenience without to much hassle. are you going to increase the tire size and axle for better ground clearance and to help with that rake? Almost looks small enough to tow behind a motorcycle.

 

[Prime]

Needs a lift kit.

 

[Timrich]

Very nice Mac! Looking forward to seeing what ya do.

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[Macland]

You'll hate me for saying this, but that little trailer is cute. I like it.

Haha that's why the build is named not sexy. Cute fits. When I look at it with the Xterra it definitely stands apart, and not in a good way, but I like it too.

Nice to see you pulled the trigger on this. I know you where looking at it on Craigslist. It is defiantly a good start. Can't wait to watch the progression and what you add. A nice thing about a trailer like that is you can change stuff and add things for your convenience without to much hassle. are you going to increase the tire size and axle for better ground clearance and to help with that rake? Almost looks small enough to tow behind a motorcycle.

Thanks man, I would like to add lift somehow and was mulling over several ideas and will ultimately make my decision based on what more experienced people, XN members, have to say with their advice. I'll get into that in a sec.

Needs a lift kit.

It's been a sec, yup most definitely needs something.

I've been mulling over multiple options and only really am limiting myself with price and capability.

I don't have a welder and don't have ready access to one.

I don't want to put more into this trailer than I could reasonably get out of it if I decide I need to sell and move up a size.

I have considered changing the hubs from the four lug trailer hub to the five lug which allows me to move to bigger wheels and tires effectively giving me enough lift to level out the trailer with the 4" drop hitch.

I have considered just moving up in rim and true size on the four lug, but it's been brought to my attention that may be too much stress on the hub?

Swapping the axle. The problem here is that this will almost definitely require welding and could easily get to big for this little trailers britches. Don't get me wrong, I want something like this.

But I have this to work with.

 

[Timrich]

Hahaha

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[metzican]

Honestly, don't sell your little wagon short. Look into different leafs for trailers they are really cheap if you go with a stock size. Take measurements and go from there. Typically Big tires, require bigger hubs and bigger axles. But the beauty of it is you can order an axle with everything on it so no welding is required. Just make sure your measurements are accurate. Along with this axles are cheap for trailers.

maybe between doing a new leaf pack, Shackle lift and larger tires you will be where you want to be or close.

 

[Macland]

Honestly, don't sell your little wagon short. Look into different leafs for trailers they are really cheap if you go with a stock size. Take measurements and go from there. Typically Big tires, require bigger hubs and bigger axles. But the beauty of it is you can order an axle with everything on it so no welding is required. Just make sure your measurements are accurate. Along with this axles are cheap for trailers. maybe between doing a new leaf pack, Shackle lift and larger tires you will be where you want to be or close.

Lol! Thanks man. I knew coming to you guys would be the way to go. Who can I order stuff like that from. I'm having a hard time finding websites that aren't tractor supply, eBay, or Amazon.

 

[Prime]

Why not just flip the axle and run it SOA? that will give you ample lift d you I got not need a drop hitch?

 

[Slasa]

Good looking trailer! One of these days I may have to look into one for myself.

 

[Macland]

Why not just flip the axle and run it SOA? that will give you ample lift d you I got not need a drop hitch?

 

[Prime]

Oh.....................


Lift blocks? Lol

 

[Macland]

Oh..................... Lift blocks? Lol

Yeah I've thought about that too. Or replacing the shackles.

 

[MadMike]

Nice looking little trailer there Mac, lot of potential.

 

[metzican]

Here are some of the websites I have found while doing research for my Teardrop camper. I currently have not ordered anything yet so I don't know how customer service is. But I also have found out a lot of local trailer places can order this stuff without to much mark up too. With the custom axle you can order it with everything including springs or alll the way down to the bare axle and piece it together yourself. I would like to say the possibilities are endless unless you want 6 on 4.5 bolt pattern as this is not provided. **** 2nd gens.

http://www.easternmarine.com
http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/index.asp?url=IND
http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Parts
http://www.redneck-trailer.com


Also Dexter is a trailer axle brand. They do custom axles. You can order them from them directly or from many online trailer parts stores or even from most local trailer suppliers.

 

[OKXterra]

Very cool, Mac!

 

[Macland]

Nice looking little trailer there Mac, lot of potential.

Thanks! I thought the same thing when I first saw it.

Here are some of the websites I have found while doing research for my Teardrop camper. I currently have not ordered anything yet so I don't know how customer service is. But I also have found out a lot of local trailer places can order this stuff without to much mark up too. With the custom axle you can order it with everything including springs or alll the way down to the bare axle and piece it together yourself. I would like to say the possibilities are endless unless you want 6 on 4.5 bolt pattern as this is not provided. **** 2nd gens. http://www.easternmarine.com http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/index.asp?url=IND http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Parts http://www.redneck-trailer.com Also Dexter is a trailer axle brand. They do custom axles. You can order them from them directly or from many online trailer parts stores or even from most local trailer suppliers.

Thanks so much man. That gives me a lot to look at and think about.

Very cool, Mac!

Thanks Mike! I'll have to bring it to Lawton sometime.

 

[Macland]

I might get some painting done this weekend.

 

[Maxterra]

Since everyone was throwing out wagon pics...







What a threadjacker...

 

[granitex]

Southwest wheel company, which is trailerpartsdepot.com is where I got mine, The prices were just about the same as if I had picked up an axle at Tractor supply and cutit down to size myself.

Customer service was good considering they sent me exactly what I had ordered, and it showed up at my door just as expected. The UPS guy was not really happy about it, but he wasn't happy about dropping off sliders either.

 

[caseycamby]

I never really understood the little off road/adventure trailors but the more I see them the more I want one!! Looks like you have some fun ahead of you, man! Looking forward to following it.

 

[Macland]

Southwest wheel company, which is trailerpartsdepot.com is where I got mine, The prices were just about the same as if I had picked up an axle at Tractor supply and cutit down to size myself. Customer service was good considering they sent me exactly what I had ordered, and it showed up at my door just as expected. The UPS guy was not really happy about it, but he wasn't happy about dropping off sliders either.

Thanks man. I'm torn on what decision to make axle/hub/wheel&tire wise. I think I'm going to finish painting it, take it on this camping trip, and then work on paying it off before I decide on the all of that stuff.

 

[Macland]

I never really understood the little off road/adventure trailors but the more I see them the more I want one!! Looks like you have some fun ahead of you, man! Looking forward to following it.

Thanks man! If I can I plan on getting a little color on this thing tomorrow

 

[J Everett]

Just be careful how far and how fast you pull that little trailer. The smaller diameter wheels are ridiculous hard on bearings because they have to go through more revolutions per mile than a taller tire. Bearings heat up more and then fail. When you are shopping for you axle/wheels/ tires, get some thing taller with serviceable hubs.

 

[Macland]

Just be careful how far and how fast you pull that little trailer. The smaller diameter wheels are ridiculous hard on bearings because they have to go through more revolutions per mile than a taller tire. Bearings heat up more and then fail. When you are shopping for you axle/wheels/ tires, get some thing taller with serviceable hubs.

Yeah, there's no doubt I'm going to change out the hubs at some point. If I want to just swap the hubs and keep the axle that's there how do I know which hub to get to replace the ones on there?

 

[metzican]

The only way I know is if you take off the wheel, hub, and bearings you can take measurements on the spindle to find it's size then you can start looking at what hubs/bolt patterns you can get for it from there along with bearings.

If you go here, you can see the spindle for different weights and the dimensions. I don't think your's would be any bigger then this. But honestly it might be smaller.

http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Trailer_Spindles.aspx

 

[metzican]

Most likely looking at your pictures the tire is a 4 on 4 bolt pattern. Due to this it will be a 1250lbs axle -2200lbs axle. Is ruffly the range it would fall under. Depending on the spindle dimensions depends on the bolt pattern you can go with the hub. And axle rating along with this will limit tire and wheel size.

 

[Macland]

I sanded everything down, cleaned everything up really well and got started painting.

 

[Prime]

Looking good!

 

[metzican]

That ***** cleans up nice!!

 

[Timrich]

Sweet Mac!

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[Macland]

Thanks guys, I did one last thing before touch ups and that was finish the table portion of the trailer to make it look a lot better and give it a little durability. I also finished painting the blue today after I got a couple more cans.

I've got to replace a tail light and touch up a couple of spots with black paint but other than that this thing will be ready for it's first expedition in a week.