M101A to off road camper

[SWAMPMAN]

hey fellow jeepers , as requested by my freind overlandxj this is my story bout a little trailer build .. i have been camping all my life since i was a yr old with my parents .. from tent trailers to hard tops to backpacking, canoetrips , lots of winter camping. to whatever , anyway now that i am gettin older i am starting to like the creature comforts and luxuries just a little bit more.. so i decided an off raod camper was the way to go .. i searched and searched till one of my buddies put me on to a collector of military stuff.. thanx freddy.. so the collector guy had about 15 trailers and i bought the best one he had ,, it had already been restored and was in mint shape , i wasnt keen on the colour but it wasnt gonnna stay that way ..the tub and frame were mint , rust free the inside had been done with bedliner the wheels and tires mint michellinx 10ply and still have the nubs on them..

this is how it looked when i brought it home

the only other thing was the lights were not original but i could live with that too... i gotta go find the rest of my pics. i'll be back

 

[SWAMPMAN]

ok so i hap a palamino that i bought new in 2000 but it was too large for the places i like to go.. but sometimes when the whole gang is with me i need the room my girlfriend ,her 2 daughters and my 2 daughters .. thats me and 5 girls, .. NOT FUN ! the first season i used the new trailor as is til icould figure out what i really wanted and or needed

out with old and in with the older

 

[SWAMPMAN]

steak ,grilled peppers stuffed with feta cheese ,pasta salad and a bottle o wine..

 

[SWAMPMAN]

ok . back to the trailer so first move was a spring over and 33's to match the jeep . the spring over took me about an hour and half i just flipped and rotated the axle and made a new plate to extend the brake lines .. a new set of hubs from the local trailer shop . bought some sport king's cheap and a couple of rims for 40 bucks

 

[SWAMPMAN]

after much debate .. hours and hours searching for ideas, my buddy randy the welder/fabricator and i built the lid the top is one piece with the end caps welded on .

 

[SWAMPMAN]

the hinges were made with some stainless rod and pipe , grease fittings to be added later

one support bar underneath and racks welded to the topside

 

[SWAMPMAN]

by the way im a little embarassed bout the garbage in the fire picture . my campsite has been dicoverd by the atv group. and they messed it up good , garbage everywhere.. ropes in the trees, they f#&*ing cut down a huge live tree for firewood.. michelle and i spent an hour cleaning up " our spot " there is no reason why i should have to take home somebuddy else's f#*#%ing garbage... rant over for now..

 

[SWAMPMAN]

after much debate and wrestling with myself i made the decision to cut in a tailgate so out came the plasma cutter i had never used one before , what a cool tool..

 

[SWAMPMAN]

did you notice the springs?? 1979 camaro hood springs.. very strong but they did not work out unfortunately they open up, and out , they would have been cool if they worked .

notice also the frame of the tailgate 2''sq tube for support welded thru the bottom welded to the frame

 

[SWAMPMAN]

at this point we had to figure out the legs 1 1/2 sq. slid inside the 2'' for the tailgate frame, works perfect ..and simple i like simple..

 

[SWAMPMAN]

some acme threaded rod and a couple of nuts and now the legs are adjustable..

 

[SWAMPMAN]

i know im kinda jumpin around a bit but bare with me i will cover it all eventually
framed out the tailgate

 

[SWAMPMAN]

yes the lid closes over the tailgate.. i want to keep rain out and also there is the security issue.. cant open the tailgate with out cracking open the lid.. and the lid will be locked

 

[SWAMPMAN]

i think it was at this point were we started on the fenders, i needed tire coverage , i wanted , a place to mount stuff later and use as a table bench or whatever

although functional and what i wanted , i didnt like em . so we cut the corners off at the front

i re-used the support bar from the front of the trailer as a fender support had to modify it a bit but it turned out good i think , it looks like it supposed to be there so for the rear i used some round bar heated it up and bent up to kinda match the front..

 

[SWAMPMAN]

back to the lid, i need to open this thing, the lid weighs somewhere around 100 lbs. the tent on top will weigh about 180# .
2 gas struts 150# from mcmaster carr

now where to install them .. what a job !! to find the right location . we ended up drilling 5 holes in the side trying to find the right spot there are calculations to figure out the weight and positioning but im not that smart. i sat on the lid cuz i weigh just about what the tent weighs.. eventually we got it right and added some support to the support

 

[SWAMPMAN]

so thats just about it.. now its clean up grind up and smooth up stuff so i can paint it.. i didnt want to paint at randy's home garage so he gave the use of his shop for a couple of days and i painted it there..

all done .. painted to match the jeep i know i have left out lots of the little details.. but thats the way it is for now

 

[srimes]

:thumbup:

What tent are you putting on it?

 

[SWAMPMAN]

the tent is a serrengetti from MYWAT TENTS in south africa imported by fernando at camping labs

 

[SWAMPMAN]

first trip.

 

[SWAMPMAN]