A TJ sized camper

Mine says the same thing. I haven't brought up the fact that a bear could get in to a popup just as easy as a tent, or she might poopoo that idea too 🙄
There’s always an excuse. I think the idea to get over is the small space. But small space means simplicity.
 
Great looking teardrop! Most still look like they could have been built in my neighbor's garage. That front really sets it off nicely. I'm surprised the kids would even want to pack in at night. When I was young I would sneak out to spend the night under the stars many summer nights. Whenever I've gone camping either as a kid or with the kids, youngsters never wanted to be inside with the old folks snoring and such.
10 minutes and the kids would be out! Unless it’s movie time...😉
 
That's not the cranking I'm referring to, I'm talking about the crank at the rear of the trailer that raises and lowers the top which takes 75-80 cranks. That one from Reese is not for the top crank.

Jerry - I didn’t read all 10 pages of this post to see if someone already threw it out there but when I had my tent trailer I used a portable drill to run that crank. I can’t remember exactly what the connector looked like on my Coleman but when paired with a cordless drill it raised the roof easily.

Throw your cordless drill in your TJ tool box on the way out the door, buy a $20 adapter and enjoy. - Much cheaper than a new trailer.
 
Have any members looked at any of the following tiny campers?

Runaway camper

My tiny camper

They both come in multiple sizes.
 
Two weeks of nights in the Luna Rover
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We’re at Glacier Nat’l Park. Not sleeping wonderful, but we’re bad sleepers and nothing could fix that. Enjoying the great outdoors.

EDIT: last two nights we took Benadryl, slept like champs.
 
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Update on the Luna Rover. I wanted to be able to transport four bikes on the Luna. I tried to mount them on top of the Luna on the Intech rack, but it was just too high to get the bikes up there, so I resorted to finding a solution on the 2" receiver that is rated for 100lb. The problem is the giant four bike carrier weighs 90lbs and the four bikes weigh about 150lbs, so a total of 240lb. I designed an aluminum mounting plate underneath to provide more rigidity to the receiver, had it welded on by a guy on CL who was looking for work. We took the bikes over 500 miles on the recent trip to Wallace, ID, and West Glacier National Park. Works great, more modifications in the works!
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Update on the Luna Rover. I wanted to be able to transport four bikes on the Luna. I tried to mount them on top of the Luna on the Intech rack, but it was just too high to get the bikes up there, so I resorted to finding a solution on the 2" receiver that is rated for 100lb. The problem is the giant four bike carrier weighs 90lbs and the four bikes weigh about 150lbs, so a total of 240lb. I designed an aluminum mounting plate underneath to provide more rigidity to the receiver, had it welded on by a guy on CL who was looking for work. We took the bikes over 500 miles on the recent trip to Wallace, ID, and West Glacier National Park. Works great, more modifications in the works!
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No room in the front? Looks good
 
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No room in the front? Looks good
Assuming you mean in front between the pull vehicle and the Luna Rover. I looked at that, but we have a GMC Yukon with the rear door that swings up to open. When open there is only about 3 inches between it and the leading top edge of the Luna Rover. So, not really enough space. It also increases the tongue weight substantially. In the end, this seemed like the most reasonable solution. It makes the whole rig longer, but worth the ease of loading and unloading.
 
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Assuming you mean in front between the pull vehicle and the Luna Rover. I looked at that, but we have a GMC Yukon with the rear door that swings up to open. When open there is only about 3 inches between it and the leading top edge of the Luna Rover. So, not really enough space. It also increases the tongue weight substantially. In the end, this seemed like the most reasonable solution. It makes the whole rig longer, but worth the ease of loading and unloading.
Yes That is what I meant. Your solution was both elegant, and practical.
 
Yes That is what I meant. Your solution was both elegant, and practical.
Thanks! That’s nice. Maybe help someone else who’s trying to add more weight to a receiver on a small trailer. Actually, my design was stronger. It had another 1/4” aluminum plate on top of the aluminum frame. I could still add it without the need to weld it on, but the guy who welded the present plate on said this was plenty to support 250lb.
 
We have a 10' popup that I can pull with my XJ (haven't tried with the new LJ yet - gotta get it regeared before I can tow).

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Before that, I got a little obsessed with getting a teardrop trailer but couldn't afford the ones I liked. I really liked the Inka campers with gullwing doors, but sadly it looks like they went bankrupt and screwed a bunch of people that had deposits.

I'm a big fan of the Vistabule design with lots of glass and retro styling. Not great for offroading though.
https://vistabule.com/
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And there's a local company in Denver called Colorado Teardrops that makes some nice campers. I like their bunk bed options if you have small kids. Some of them look pretty stout for offroading too.
https://coloradoteardropcamper.com/




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One of these days I'd love to build a teardrop, but I don't have the time, space, or budget for it right now.
 
Just throwing this out there---Mr Blaine has bad things to say about using aluminum for structural things like that due to fatigue stress. This was in reference to using the Savvy aluminium bumper for towing and bike rack kinda stuff. I make zero judgements. Just passing along his input.
 
That's not the cranking I'm referring to, I'm talking about the crank at the rear of the trailer that raises and lowers the top which takes 75-80 cranks. That one from Reese is not for the top crank.
I use a battery operated drill for my jacks on mine, would that not work for your pop-up?
 
The one thing I've learned in all my research is your really need a 360 degree hitch and receiver, not your standard ball hitch/receiver combo, you really want something that can articulate well with the terrain. I was also looking to go with a axle-less suspension something like this:

Timbren Axle-Less Trailer Suspension System - 4" Lift Spindle w/Flange - Off-Road Tires - 2.2K

That way with trailer can articulate at each wheel unlike a solid axle to keep the entire rig more stable.

Looking into all of this again I'm getting excited about building my own off-road overlanding trailer!

-Grant
You are correct in that a ball hitch is not a good idea. Personally I have a pintle and lunette, a true military issue one. It is rated for 5,000#, not that I need that but it certainly alleviates any concerns for strength. The lock and roll hitches have their draw backs as well, when jack knifed during backing they have been known to break.
My trailer has plain old fashioned leaf springs (Rancho 2 1/2" lift springs for the front of an early CJ5), the Timbren system is really nice but $$$$.......
 
Just throwing this out there---Mr Blaine has bad things to say about using aluminum for structural things like that due to fatigue stress. This was in reference to using the Savvy aluminium bumper for towing and bike rack kinda stuff. I make zero judgements. Just passing along his input.
Good to know. I believe I remember him saying that elsewhere. The structure of the teardrop is aluminum or I would have had a steel plate welded on. I had another design that used a 3/16” steel plate and nutserts in the aluminum frame, but we decided against it due to questions there too.
 
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I use a battery operated drill for my jacks on mine, would that not work for your pop-up?
I think like 19 people have made this suggestion in the thread. 🤣

and they got the same answer 19x’s.
 
I use a battery operated drill for my jacks on mine, would that not work for your pop-up?
For ground jack supports a conventional battery powered drill works fine. But for the main top mechanism it takes a much stronger bigger than is common 1/2" battery powered drill. My old Craftsman battery 1/2" 1/2" 2-speed drill worked great for about a year doing that job until they burned up and they'd either replace it under warranty or I'd buy another.

Today's "compact" 1/2" 20v 2-speed drills don't last long either. I'm now down to either buying Dewalt's biggest full size 20v or Milwaukee's biggest full size 18v. Probably Dewalt's at this point. It's expensive but...

Trust me that multiple 1/2" 2-speed battery operated drills eventually burned up raising my pop-up tent trailer's top over the past 16-18 years.
 
Is it because there is that much weight/drag on the mechanism? Is there anyway to make it more efficient/mechanically easier? I have never messed with a pop up so I am unfamiliar with what is involved.
 
Update on the Luna Rover. I wanted to be able to transport four bikes on the Luna. I tried to mount them on top of the Luna on the Intech rack, but it was just too high to get the bikes up there, so I resorted to finding a solution on the 2" receiver that is rated for 100lb. The problem is the giant four bike carrier weighs 90lbs and the four bikes weigh about 150lbs, so a total of 240lb. I designed an aluminum mounting plate underneath to provide more rigidity to the receiver, had it welded on by a guy on CL who was looking for work. We took the bikes over 500 miles on the recent trip to Wallace, ID, and West Glacier National Park. Works great, more modifications in the works!
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I made something similar for the back of my tear drop. I welded it together and then bolted it to the frame. I can insert 1 rack for 1 bike and a second one for a second bike. The bike rack inserts also fit into my Jeeps. For the trailer though, the rear receiver tube is mainly used for a kayak rack I made. When we take kayaks and bikes, we just walk the 2 bikes inside and store them on top of the bed.

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