Off-road Teardrop Camper Build Thread

[Wolf 335]

Very nice!

Any shots of the interior with final touches or furnishing?

[OkieSnuffBox]

Very cool! Looks very similar to what a good friend of mine's company builds.

For those of you without the skill or inclination to do your own.

https://badacadventureco.com/

[///d]

After weeks in the garage finishing up final touches we were able to take the trailer out on its first trip to Michigan! 5 days and 1600 miles later the trailer is still in one piece.

I do have some things I want to add/change, but overall it worked great! With kayaks I was getting around 22mpg. I tested the shower but found some leaks in my plumbing, so we did not use it yet.

Things to add/change:

- I did not get my solar installed, but I have a 100w Renogy panel and PWM controller, with battery shunt monitor. The weather was perfect and we did not have to run the fan during the day and kept it on low speed at night, so I suspect we did not use much power at all, but once the monitor is installed I'll see where we are at.

- I want to add a removable table to the exterior that easily stores in the back.

- Second awning with sides for the right side. This will be used for changing and showering with the cowboy shower. Cedar or bamboo shower floor that easily stores in the back.

- Bubble level on the tongue so I know when it's level without having to eyeball it.

- I forgot about curtains for the windows, so we hung shirts over the windows.

- Need more net storage inside for things, and will add a small cabinet shelf thing along the bottom of the inside back wall.

- Better mattress or a memory foam top.

- Rear galley will get different material thats more moisture resistant. The current stuff I have is laminate shelving and bubbles up easy with any moisture.

- Rear galley will get 3 cabinets built with some bungie net type storage on top of them. Under galley storage will be shortened and doors moved to clear the gas struts for the door with more clearance.

- Will also have some graphics made up by a buddy of mine. The inside of the galley door will be wrapped in printed vinyl of a photo from one of my previous trips. Outside I have a few vinyl ideas to run by him.

[///d]

Small update:

I got my lift kit in the X5 done which means new wheels and tires for the trailer!

All wheels and tires are the same for vehicle and trailer, allowing me to use the spare for both. Tires are 265/60R18 Falken Wildpeak AT3/W.

We have a 2 week trip from MN to Washington and back end of the summer that will really put everything to the test. Lots of miles, boondock sites, minimum-to-zero maintenance roads and trails. It shall be fun!

Things I'm starting to work on:

- Raising fenders. I have a little less clearance with the new tires than I thought I would have.

- Moving battery box forward to fit new tire size. This will require a little re-wiring of the battery box, but nothing big.

- Ordered a 12v 42QT chest style fridge. This will get installed in place of he cooler in the galley. It will be nice not having to replace ice every couple days.

- Fixing plumbing for outdoor shower. It has a leak in one of the fittings. Also looking into adding a propane camping water heater so the GF doesnt freeze during showers.

- Will be talking to a buddy about some graphics soon. Got them drawn up, just gotta get em made and applied.

[///d]

Update:

Rear galley is done! I re-did the entire thing. Added a 12v cooler fridge, slide out for the grill and a drawer. Storage for 2 propane canisters above the drawer. I like the white FRP paneling for the easy cleanup and it wont absorb moisture, but it marks up really easy, so probably won't go that route with the next build.

Also raised fenders 2 inches but I dont have photos of that.

Also got it weighed finally!

With spare tire, battery, both awnings, and empty inside its 1,465lbs. Unsprung weight 1,329lbs. I estimate around 1,800lbs with a full tank of water and all things we store inside. A little more than I was anticipating, but still not bad. I am contemplating upgrading to 3.5k lb axles, but we will see how it performs first.

[Our03z4]

Looks really good! Only I would suggest is maybe not having that 12v cooler where it is. I have a feeling it's going to have a rough time cooling with no ventilation.

[///d]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

Looks really good! Only I would suggest is maybe not having that 12v cooler where it is. I have a feeling it's going to have a rough time cooling with no ventilation.

Hopefully thats been addressed. Manufactuer calls for a few inches clearance around the one side for heat, which I have plenty of clearance. It's also very common with overland rigs to have coolers and fridges on rail systems that tuck into enclosed compartments. I did add a vent from the cooler space into the cabin so that when our vent fan is running it should pull air from the cooler into the cabin and out the fan.

[///d]

Update:

Tested the power system with the fridge. Outside temp was in the 90s with decent direct sunlight, but clouds passing through.

Fridge on max cooling draws around 50W, and combined with my fan running I see around 55W total. With both these going I have about 24 hours of battery life.

It took about 20 minutes to cool from an inside temp of 71deg to 35deg. Once the fridge gets to temperature it only kicks on a few times an hour to maintain temp, so this drastically increases battery life.

ECO mode the fridge draws about 35-40W, but with how well the system has been working I should not need to run in ECO mode.

My one solar panel isn't quite enough to provide power to the fridge by itself on max, but it reduced battery draw to around 5-7W with both fridge on max and fan running. This will vary by how much sun the panel gets, so some days it might provide plenty of power to run the fridge, others it won't provide much.

While running the ambient temp around the fridge didn't seem to climb, in fact it even dropped a couple deg. Once at temp the outside of the fridge stays cool enough that it helps cool the compartment a little.

Since the fridge doesn't run constantly I will have zero issues maintaining a full battery on our trips unless I see an entire week of poor sunlight, and in that case I can run the fridge on eco mode and extend battery life a little.

[saphirschwarz.f48]

Originally Posted by ///d

Update:

Tested the power system with the fridge. Outside temp was in the 90s with decent direct sunlight, but clouds passing through.

Fridge on max cooling draws around 50W, and combined with my fan running I see around 55W total. With both these going I have about 24 hours of battery life.

It took about 20 minutes to cool from an inside temp of 71deg to 35deg. Once the fridge gets to temperature it only kicks on a few times an hour to maintain temp, so this drastically increases battery life.

ECO mode the fridge draws about 35-40W, but with how well the system has been working I should not need to run in ECO mode.

My one solar panel isn't quite enough to provide power to the fridge by itself on max, but it reduced battery draw to around 5-7W with both fridge on max and fan running. This will vary by how much sun the panel gets, so some days it might provide plenty of power to run the fridge, others it won't provide much.

While running the ambient temp around the fridge didn't seem to climb, in fact it even dropped a couple deg. Once at temp the outside of the fridge stays cool enough that it helps cool the compartment a little.

Since the fridge doesn't run constantly I will have zero issues maintaining a full battery on our trips unless I see an entire week of poor sunlight, and in that case I can run the fridge on eco mode and extend battery life a little.

This is one heck of a cool build man! Following this

There goes another item added to my bucket list…

[floridaorange]

You know what you really need to add next?























Nothing - well done!


I know building your own custom trailer brand new is more fun than buying pre-built, but I am curious what the cost would be to buy new vs build this particular setup?
Having just returned from AZ/UT I can certainly imagine lots of incredible nights under the stars, out in the beautiful deserts there.

[///d]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

I know building your own custom trailer brand new is more fun than buying pre-built, but I am curious what the cost would be to buy new vs build this particular setup?
Having just returned from AZ/UT I can certainly imagine lots of incredible nights under the stars, out in the beautiful deserts there.

With all accessories I probably have $8-9k into this. It's hard to know for sure because I've bought extra of some things, swapped other things.

The trailer I based this off of, without any accessories, starts at around $12k. Start adding solar, water, roof storage, etc and it gets up to $20k really fast. I've seen others start at $20k and go up from there. Anything marketed for off-road or overlanding you will pay premium prices for.

It is ridiculous what these things go for, especially knowing what goes into them. Some of them have a lot of features and accessories, and some do not, but I have found that most of them are still built very cheap but sold for a premium price because they are very popular right now. My dentist has a traditional teardrop design that was built in Wisconsin, I forget the manufacturer, but she has no power, no water, just a cabin and some storage and she paid $10k for hers.

[floridaorange]

$8-$9k is incredible, wow.

I see now - the off road trailers can start at $43k like this one:

Might have a couple more options, in terms of electrical components etc, but 5 times what you built yours for and yours is likely just as capable off road.

Congrats

[///d]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

$8-$9k is incredible, wow.

I see now - the off road trailers can start at $43k like this one:

Might have a couple more options, in terms of electrical components etc, but 5 times what you built yours for and yours is likely just as capable off road.

Congrats

I plan to build another one, hopefully this winter, but some changes.

- Instead of the sloped back I will go square without a slope. I lost a lot of potential storage space going with a sloped back, which I was aware of, but didn't realize how that would affect other aspects of the trailer as well.
- Current is 5x8 but I think I'll go with 5x10 so I can build slide-out storage in the rear, slide out battery and tool storage in the front, and still maintain a 6.5-7ft bed. This would also allow me to build the battery storage area into an interior seat, or table.
- Drop the roof 8-10 inches to help with fuel economy and combat some of the additional weight, and to make up some of that lost interior height I will build the floor into the frame of the trailer vs on top of the frame like I did with this one.
- Water storage will either be built into walls and frame, or still be underneath but thinner and spread out more so it doesn't have as large of a profile.
- Plumbing built in a little better so I can have easier hookups for a portable water heater without taking up rear storage space.

[spazzyfry123]

Sweet setup! My dad built one he pulls behind his Jeep a couple years back or so. What you can build yourself vs what it costs to buy ready to go has a staggering price delta. I can't wrap my head around why some of these are so expensive when they are just plywood and the like. Don't get me wrong, there is some very well built stuff out there that demands a premium, but these things that people are paying $30k+ plus for because it has some OVERLANDING accessories slapped on it?

No trailer for me. All of my equipment is stuffed into my old Toyota. It's impressive what these fridges can do with minimal space and being jossled around out in the sticks.

Originally Posted by floridaorange

$8-$9k is incredible, wow.

I see now - the off road trailers can start at $43k like this one:

Might have a couple more options, in terms of electrical components etc, but 5 times what you built yours for and yours is likely just as capable off road.

Congrats

Have you heard of Patriot Campers? Depending on the model of course, but I think those start at like $60k?

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

$8-$9k is incredible, wow.

I see now - the off road trailers can start at $43k like this one:

Might have a couple more options, in terms of electrical components etc, but 5 times what you built yours for and yours is likely just as capable off road.

Congrats

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

Have you heard of Patriot Campers? Depending on the model of course, but I think those start at like $60k?

What kind of ridiculously expensive voodoo is going into these "off road" trailer to make them so expensive??

Our "road" trailer is 32' long has dual ac, seperate bedroom, full dry bath, water heater, full kitchen with island, recliners with 42" tv, outdoor kitchen, indoor and outdoor fridges, designated office desk area etc... I think I paid around $30k for it after taxes and all. Now that was 2019 or 2018 so I'm sure prices have gone up but daaaaaaamn!

I do agree though they are all built like shit. We toured a couple of the factories out in Indiana and from the cheapest brands to the most expensive they were pretty much built the same. They would also bang out a ton of these every day with basically 0 automation.

[saphirschwarz.f48]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

What kind of ridiculously expensive voodoo is going into these "off road" trailer to make them so expensive??

Our "road" trailer is 32' long has dual ac, seperate bedroom, full dry bath, water heater, full kitchen with island, recliners with 42" tv, outdoor kitchen, indoor and outdoor fridges, designated office desk area etc... I think I paid around $30k for it after taxes and all. Now that was 2019 or 2018 so I'm sure prices have gone up but daaaaaaamn!

I do agree though they are all built like shit. We toured a couple of the factories out in Indiana and from the cheapest brands to the most expensive they were pretty much built the same. They would also bang out a ton of these every day with basically 0 automation.

///Marketing is the expensive voodoo going into the trailers to make them 60k

[///d]

Originally Posted by saphirschwarz.f48

///Marketing is the expensive voodoo going into the trailers to make them 60k

Yep. Overlanding is the new "in" thing to do, so anything off-road camping is ridiculously priced right now.

COVID also pushed people outside more and it hasn't really slowed down, and with the cost of fuel, campground fees, and how it's becoming increasingly difficult to reserve sites a lot of folks are looking for small trailers that can be set up literally anywhere and can be pulled by a Subaru.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by ///d

...a lot of folks are looking for small trailers that can be set up literally anywhere and can be pulled by a Subaru.

...and 4x4 Sprinter "adventure" vans, especially on the west coast where there's open federal BLM lands to explore. Not as popular here in the northeast.....

[///d]

2 weeks, 8 states, and 4200 miles

Just finished the first BIG trip with the camper. Everything went pretty good. I had some small leaks in the doors and rear hatch, but nothing a bead of silicon couldn't fix. I now have a good list of things we would like to see in our next build., which I will hopefully knock out this winter.

[///d]

Update on the trailer:

My water tank has a leak!

When getting the trailer out for the spring I was testing the water system and found my tank has a significant leak from one of the lower welds. My guess is this is how I lost all my water on my last trip, which I apparently never mentioned here, so;

Last fall when we went out to Washington and back we found an empty water tank when we reached the badlands. Added water at the next stop to see if I could pinpoint a leak but I couldn't find anything and my only thought was maybe the drain valve was leaking from road bumps. At the next stop we again found an empty tank. Once we got home I added water once again, couldn't find a leak, so this winter I removed the drain valve to see if that fixed the issue.

Fast forward to this spring, I proceed to fill the tank to see if we would lose water on our way up north, after a few minutes of filling I see a drip start along the bottom side weld that eventually turned into a significant leak! My thoughts are since there is no real support across the center of the tank the welds gave out from the weight of the water. Not sure why I didn't see this last year, maybe I hadn't added enough water? Regardless, I'm going to remove the tank and get the welds fixed, and then come up with a way to add supports so the welds aren't subject to all of the weight.

I also sold the X5 and bought a Tacoma, and the Taco has +12v wired to the 7-pin, so I plan to add a charger controller so I can charge the battery from the vehicle while driving. The solar was sufficient enough to keep our heads above water last year, but after a couple weeks we would be down to 50-ish percent battery.

So obviously I have not built a new trailer yet. Since I bought a Tacoma I want to build that out for solo trips, so we decided to use this trailer again this year and focus on building the Taco. For the Taco I am building a GoFastCamper style cap/topper with removable roof top tent, and a drawer system in the bed that will have storage and a kitchen built in. We figure if we finish the truck first, then the next trailer can be planned around already having storage and a kitchen built into the truck.

I'll be sure to update as I go!