Yet another camping trailer build

I used to have wagons, pickups with caps, and vans for sleeping in while camping. When I got the Scion xB, one of the downsides is that the cargo area is too short for sleeping. I thought I'd build a camping trailer, because I decided tent life wasn't for me.

The budget will hopefully be <$800, including putting a hitch on the Scion. Hopefully, putting this in a public forum will keep me honest!

Here is the trailer. It was posted on CL for $200. I emailed the seller to ask for dimensions, and he replied that it was 11'6" long and, "want it gone. will take $150."

I went and saw it. It was what I expected and the size and weight were right. I offered him $160 delivered, and he agreed.

Day one was stripping off all the extraneous hardware and boards. That was easy with a quick soak of PBlaster. Even though this trailer has been submerged, one of the benefits of living in the desert is that things don't really rust, even if they get wet.

Next, I set out to get all of the decades-old bumper stickers off it. They were ALL over. After about half an hour with Mineral Spirits and a putty knife got me almost nowhere, I decided there had to be a better way.

Harbor Freight is right around the corner. They sell these:

...which work like the dickens for getting off old stickers and cruddy paint without damaging the metal. They don't last very long, though, but just like everything at HF, they're only $5.

This is what the results look like from that wheel:

Wiped all the sanding dust off, then wiped it again with Mineral Spirits. Then I primed it with Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer. Just for the record, that stuff flashes over really quickly at 105F, even when thinned with water per the instructions. By the time you finish with the first coat, the spot you started at is already dry and ready for the second coat!

Two coats of primer and we're here:

Okay, today was day 2 of labor (not consecutive days)

This bulkhead:

Was added to the trailer at some point by the PO. I wanted to keep it, but the lynch pin brackets had to go. First I tried grinding off the welds, but they were big, ugly, and goobery, and some were inaccessible with the grinder.

I wound up just cutting off the tangs with a cutoff wheel.

A little work with a grinding wheel cleaned them up well enough.

When the bulkhead was welded on to the frame, there was some burn through that was pretty ugly, so I cleaned it up with a brass cup brush on the drill:

Then I primed the bulkhead and spot-primed the inner frame rails.

I also got a title and a plate this week at the DMV. With that, the budget of $200 per paycheck (every two weeks) is blown. During the week, I hope to get the trailer flipped over so the bottom sides can get cleaned up and primed, because I don't need to spend money.

More next week.

Prior to getting the scamp, I was collecting parts to build my own camper. In the long run I’ll bet they are easier to build then to restore.

Anyway, a buddy was getting rid of a 30 ft round above ground pool and I let me have the aluminum pool walls. I had planned on using the aluminum walls to side the camper with. I have no idea how it would have looked, but that was my plan.

During the week, the trailer was flipped up against the wall. The bottom bits were scraped, sanded, and primed.

Went from this:

To this:

Also borrowed a coworker's table saw to rip down some 2x4 to 3". These boards will mount on the crossmembers to bring them up level with the frame. That means this weekend I can begin to deck the trailer. Progress!

I can't see the pics but I can't wait. This'll be right up my alley. I'll "camp" out here for a while and be sure to keep a fire lit under you. I hope you have lots of conTENT to add.

Ok I'm done

In reply to ebonyandivory:

One s'more bad joke out of you and I'll scream.

Im sorry, I didnt mean it. Im just a little tents after a hard day at work.

logdog wrote: In reply to ebonyandivory: One s'more bad joke out of you and I'll scream. Im sorry, I didnt mean it. Im just a little tents after a hard day at work.

Well, that was a little in-tents! Who dumped a can o py in your Cheerios this morning?

But I do love this... Starting out with just A-frame, great! You probably want to kick me in the bivy-sack about now huh? (Which would be easy if my rain-fly was unzipped)

Get a room, you two!

Sweet project, looking forward to more.

More work today...

The wood for spacing up the crossmembers was primed during the week, and today it was carriage-bolted to the frame:

Yes, you can haul 4x8 sheets on a Gen1 Scion xB. It isn't pretty, good thing HD is under 2 miles away:

1/2" BC plywood cut to size:

Total spent so far: $380.

This is very relevant to my interests. I just got done building a camping trailer that was no where near as cool as this has the potential to be. I'll be watching.

Slow progress. I have to re-learn carpentry skills I haven't used in a couple decades...

Here, I've primed the edges of the floor, and pre-primed the knots on what will be the bottom. Kilz2 primer is pretty good stuff.

Over the past couple days, I've laid out, cut, glued and screwed chunks of 2x2 to the floor. These are what the bottoms of the side walls will screw to. Angles are not my friends, but it eventually came back to me.

Next steps: prime and paint the bottom side and actually bolt the floor to the trailer!

Conceptually- what kind of camper are you making? A teardrop or more square?

alfadriver wrote: Conceptually- what kind of camper are you making? A teardrop or more square?

More of a Bull-nose style. The sides taper to follow the frame, and the front portion of the roof will taper down for an attempt at aerodynamics.

Keep following the thread. You should see the rough shape develop in the next week or 2.

EvanR wrote: Keep following the thread. You should see the rough shape develop in the next week or 2.

That, I will. For some reason, i'm quite fascinated by the recent camper build threads.

May never do something, but it's a nice distraction for my brain, as it stops some never going to happen challenge ideas.

that, and i have a great 14' car trailer that would make a cool bed for a camper. If I could come up with one.

The bull nose idea is intriguing. Especially with the bigger tear drops, and dan's recent A frame rental he showed. make it short AND stand up-able- my wife would be interested....

alfadriver wrote:

EvanR wrote: Keep following the thread. You should see the rough shape develop in the next week or 2.

make it short AND stand up-able- my wife would be interested....

Oh, Standing up is completely out of the question. With an approximately 4' x 7' floor, where would I walk to?

In reply to EvanR:

More about standing to be able to dress vs. walking around. Kind of a pain to dress yourself when you are prone.

Cool, looking forward to seeing it take shape, need some concept sketches!

CLynn85 wrote: Cool, looking forward to seeing it take shape, need some concept sketches!

Oh, wait. Was I supposed to do sketches? Well, hm. I did hack out some images on graph paper, but my sketching skills are worse than most 4-year-olds. The final product will probably surprise me just as much as it will surprise you!

Not much to update, the budget is stretched thin until payday, but I can't keep myself from spending more anyhow. I bought the HF LED taillight kit, because it was on sale from $70 to $40 and the sale ends this week, so I had to grab it now.

Two coats of primer on the underside of the floor:

And two coats of Rustoleum High-Performance oil-base enamel in Leather Brown went on the inner frame rails, and some other areas that will be difficult to access once the floor is bolted down. You can also see where I ripped off the forward deck boards. They will be replaced eventually, but I needed them off for more painting.

Next up, two coats of the enamel on the underside of the floor, then it can be bolted down!

Budget so far: $440

Minor update today, sorry, no pix.

Payday came, and I ordered the trailer hitch and wiring adapter from Amazon. That was $175, which comes close to blowing my budget for the next two weeks

Well, anyhow, I cleaned and primed the tongue, flipped the trailer back over, and finish-painted the bottom of the frame. Then I flipped it back down and finish-painted the tongue.

By next payday, the trailer should be towable, with the new light kit installed, etc. That means I can actually use the trailer to go buy the rest of the lumber!

every time I see these threads, all I can think of is the Top Gear caravan test episode...

irish44j wrote: every time I see these threads, all I can think of is the Top Gear caravan test episode...

I laughed so hard at that one I almost pissed myself, funniest episode of the new season by far IMO.