tinyest light camper

[Greg Barrick]

Many years ago I had an old "sears"? or something aluminum box camper with a fold out & over canvas tent. My small kids and I just LOVED this old camper! Light, cheap and a home away from home. Anyway, I stupidly sold it for almost nothing and did without, except for a few tents over the years. Later, I had an OLD class A, then an old class C MH. A number of years ago I built a 4x8 TD from cubby plans. we had a great time. I sold it and built a larger TD (6.5 x 12) which the wife and I really enjoy. (even when we bring along 2-5 grand kids)
Anyway, we've been thinking of building another, but going back to our youth a lil bit. Has anyone seen "Lil Max Campers"? A throw back to the old "Apache" tent trailers. Just a tent in a box. Super light, bed in a box with some room to move around and stand up. Would even work with my motorcycle. I wouldn't pay their price or deal with the aluminum, but a wooden box is pretty quick and cheap to build. And I can get canvass sewn up here in my area. It may be time to draw up some more plans. (buy the way, mama has always loved these things when we see them. She wanted one when we went to the RV museum in Elkheart, In.)
I can't believe I havn't seen anything here regarding Lil Max or any other camper tents.

[swoody126]

interesting ponderment...

have you & the bridal unit considered what size "tent" you NEED?

in another group that i have traveled with and am a member on their social media network there is a segment of folks with tastes similar to your thoughts about going back to MINIMALISTIC

a few of them have built sailboats with the plan of erecting a tent inside/on the floor or seats...

some have seats that slide/fold in such a way as to accommodate a tent

some don't even have seats and erect their tent on the floorboards

some solo, some couples

my dad helped his father, my grandfather, build a trailer on a Model A suspension that had drawers and sideboards which provided carry space and a kitchen of sorts

a tent was designed to set on galvanized pipe poles that covered the top which had double bed springs & a mattress on it

eventually a side fly was created that extended 12' off to the right covering the sideboard kitchen area

the frame was welded up outa fairly heavy angle iron & pipe

as tyme went on it was handed down & down & sold & i now have the skeleton back in my possession

the tales that trailer could tell would get a lot of folks in a lot of trouble and make all who came in contact with it LOL

all that being said, is there a tent you could set up on a given surface that would fill your desires?

if sew then what about just building a storage/kitchen trailer w/ a flat top to pitch the tent ?

while you're just sitting there innywayz... search OFF ROAD TENT TOP CAMPING TRAILERS

some of those folks have it down to an art

now that i have stirred the pot it is tyme for LUNCH

sw

[Aguyfromohio]

If you want a minimalist approach to a tent trailer, Sylvansport seems to have it nailed down.
It's not for us, we want to sleep in a truly dry space during a rainstorm, so we need hard walls.

We've seen one at a campground, they are really slick.
The tubular trailer frame seems to be able to to covert to a little utility trailer if you take out the tent and beds.

[Cathy P.]

I'm not really sure what you are looking to build, but this came to mind as a possible model for someone that didn't want more than standing up room on one end, a weight of 663 lbs.: http://www.coachmenrv.com/product-detai ... =3543#Main It doesn't appear it would take a whole lot to copy this one.

[Greg Barrick]

Thanks everyone for your input. Love it.
Anyway, at my age I have to really think for awhile to remember when I was a kid. It's slowly coming back. So I've been doing some research today and had to look up stuff like: Sears, JC Higgins, Appleby, Montgomery Wards, Ajax, Apache, Nimrod TENT TRAILERS. These are from the 50's and early 60's. Take a look! Just a tent over a box with bunks. Perfect!!! And one I REALLY like is the Ben-Hur Jiffy Camper from Sears in the late 40's. ($275 back then)
Now THIS is what I'm after. Quick, cheap, easy to build. Weighs maybe 300 lbs. Can be built with wood or metal. If you don't like what you built, sell it and build another to your liking.
I'll be using my teardrop this year, but I do believe I'm going to draw up and price out building one of these yet this summer.

[deoc4114]

A modern version of those could be something like the Jumping Jack trailers. I know there's a few other modem brands out there like that, but this is the only one I can find at the moment.

http://www.jumpingjacktrailers.com