Thread: Looking to build a camper

There is nothing wrong with a solidly constructed centre bar for the hitch as opposed to an a-frame.
Not just light weight army trailers... have a look at a 2.5T rated boat trailer sometime

50mm Hitch Receiver at the rear is also good for a bike rack...

But if you have a compliant builder I would incorporate solid recover points to each rear corner of the rig.

Often when trailers are all messed up - you will be disconnecting and then cornerpulling for the win.



Steve

Although light enough not to warrant it on the road, electric brakes will help you in sticky spots.
I had a tradesmans trailer set out as a camper, I had provision for brakes but couldn't afford it at the time of purchase. Did a fair bit of treckling into the high country with it and had a few scary moments where the trailer tried to overtake me on downhill runs

And as a point of interest, why the TV? Do you want to enjoy the bush/beach wherever, or watch the box?

Originally Posted by roverrescue

There is nothing wrong with a solidly constructed centre bar for the hitch as opposed to an a-frame.
Not just light weight army trailers... have a look at a 2.5T rated boat trailer sometime

50mm Hitch Receiver at the rear is also good for a bike rack...

But if you have a compliant builder I would incorporate solid recover points to each rear corner of the rig.

Often when trailers are all messed up - you will be disconnecting and then cornerpulling for the win.



Steve

Haha so its a pretty solid method of trailer construction?

Thats one of the main reasons i'm having the hitch put on the back. The girlfriend and I both enjoy our mountain biking (used to race before I blew out my knee)

Recovery points for sure, have had more than enough experience dragging stuck trailers out to understand the how necessary they are

Originally Posted by Chops

Although light enough not to warrant it on the road, electric brakes will help you in sticky spots.
I had a tradesmans trailer set out as a camper, I had provision for brakes but couldn't afford it at the time of purchase. Did a fair bit of treckling into the high country with it and had a few scary moments where the trailer tried to overtake me on downhill runs

And as a point of interest, why the TV? Do you want to enjoy the bush/beach wherever, or watch the box?

Yeah absolutely. Electric brakes are definitely on the cards. I will definitely include provisions for them down the track if i don't put them in to begin with.

Due to the uni student budget it will be a sort of rolling project for a bit i imagine

Haha again, to keep the girlfriend happy primarily.
I am trying to involve her in the design process (and some of the building) because its a bit of a joint venture. She saw the space between the cupboards and showed me a picture of a tear-drop trailer with a TV in it saying it 'looked nice'. I took the hint...

Originally Posted by Dizza

That's an excellent point, I hadn't considered that. Thanks.
I have seen a number of trailers with a single piece of box section along the length of the trailer. (mainly on the military types) Is that what you mean? I may have a chat with the trailer bloke about doing that. Ill include a Hayman Reese style hitch at the back, properly braced of course. To use as a recovery point.

Anything i should consider to help it track well?

Any other important points to consider?

Have a look at an ex-army trailer, they have LR stud pattern, rear tow point, proper springs with shocks, easy to extend single round drawbar, I'm extending mine 18" to give me some room for spare on drawbar. Heavy though at around 300kgs for bare chassis (no body), but will never break, am considering setting up chains from front corners of trailer to Disco so as I can back it without trailer turning off straight back, so as it will not jack knife while backing down a slope, still on the drawing board with that one, show you a pic of my bare trailer, if I can find it, Regards Frank.

Might be for sale if I get a trailer I'm after, Regards Frank.

Originally Posted by Tank

Have a look at an ex-army trailer, they have LR stud pattern, rear tow point, proper springs with shocks, easy to extend single round drawbar, I'm extending mine 18" to give me some room for spare on drawbar. Heavy though at around 300kgs for bare chassis (no body), but will never break, am considering setting up chains from front corners of trailer to Disco so as I can back it without trailer turning off straight back, so as it will not jack knife while backing down a slope, still on the drawing board with that one, show you a pic of my bare trailer, if I can find it, Regards Frank.

I had considered one of the military type trailers, would probably require significant modification of my plans and ideas so far. What does the top measure?

Originally Posted by Tank

Might be for sale if I get a trailer I'm after, Regards Frank.

Ill keep that in mind.



I have thrown this together, Is this the sort of thing i should be asking the trailer mob for? in this quick draft it has a 50x75 centre section and the rest is 50x50 box section.

I jacked up the truck and took off the back wheels to get a proper measurement of the rear axle's length and found with the offset of the standard rims it is quite a lot narrower than i had thought

It looks like i will have to shift around the design a bit so that the wheels are a little inboard and the mattress sits higher. It does mean i can add some storage under the bed though. It is a PITA though because it complicates things quite a lot.
The alternative is some new rims for the truck and trailer to gain some more space

Storage under the bed sounds like a good idea. Its important in our Aussieswag camper because it means we don't have to load as much stuff in the Disco and can leave the camper setup and ready to go at short notice.
Electric brakes would be a must, I reckon, for towing down slopes and pulling up suddenly from highway speeds.
You will have to think carefully about weight distribution to get the trailer balanced with a towball weight of about 100kg or so.
Dust/water sealing will need a lot of thought - it's a big failing with some campers I have seen (including my own).
Could you design it to add a standard awning or even a wrapround awning like a Foxwing, as a simple way to cover the outside?
Incidentally, have you researched registration/engineering requirements with your state transport department? And does your insurer have requirements for you to be able to insure the trailer? Your trailer manufacturer should be able to advise on this.
Its an interesting project - good on you for having a go.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Storage under the bed sounds like a good idea. Its important in our Aussieswag camper because it means we don't have to load as much stuff in the Disco and can leave the camper setup and ready to go at short notice.
Electric brakes would be a must, I reckon, for towing down slopes and pulling up suddenly from highway speeds.
You will have to think carefully about weight distribution to get the trailer balanced with a towball weight of about 100kg or so.
Dust/water sealing will need a lot of thought - it's a big failing with some campers I have seen (including my own).
Could you design it to add a standard awning or even a wrapround awning like a Foxwing, as a simple way to cover the outside?
Incidentally, have you researched registration/engineering requirements with your state transport department? And does your insurer have requirements for you to be able to insure the trailer? Your trailer manufacturer should be able to advise on this.
Its an interesting project - good on you for having a go.

As i am having the chassis built rego is pretty easy to do.
The plan is to include a spot on the side for an awning. I am going to talk to some people about having a linking section made up to cover the back and link into a side awning.

Thanks, im looking forward to getting started.



I have updated things to suit the new chassis and i threw in a Discovery 2 model to get an idea of how it will look. I think it looks good

I also got the quote back for the chassis with an off road hitch, electric brakes, a rear Hayman Reese style reciever and the correct hubs. I was quoted $3100. They also said they can fit Al-ko independent suspension at the same price.

Still waiting for a couple more quotes but i think that's pretty good. Opinions? Sound like a decent price?