After finding my M116A1 platform back in May and just sitting for 6 months, I decided to use the Christmas season and slow period at work to start on my trailer build. It has been a on again off again build since then with some great progress the past two months. I am gearing up for the maiden voyage to the mountains of North Carolina this fall so with the summer slipping away I am trying to step up my game. I just got around to posting on the forum.
I have used this forum for some great information and learning tools and made plenty of mistakes on my own. Anyone that wants to join me on this journey and is looking at the military platform as a potential starting point, I welcome to follow along.
My inspiration was from Oregon Trailers, love their product, the build quality, ideas and touches that they added, and would have loved to have purchased one, but they are way out of my price range. To their credit they have some great videos on their website.
Here is the Terra Drop that I used as a starting point when designing my trailer.
For the most part I am pretty flexible and this build has been fluid in the decisions that have been made along the way based on my lack of experience in building trailers and research of what I thought I wanted and maybe what I actually will end up with.
So my main requirements were something that was off road capable and rugged that I could put the same wheel and tire setup as my wife's Toyota 4 runner.
- AC and DC power for off grid, shore power hookup when available and future expansion to solar if desired
- Water tank and pump for sink and shower expansion if desired
- Full kitchen galley with plenty of storage
- Cooler for now, potential fridge expansion if desired
- Propane grill
- Queen bed
- Tongue Box to house electrical and storage
- Possible RTT in the future
So I picked up a Army surplus M116A1 trailer from a military guy here in Jacksonville, FL. She sat here for 6 months.
until I swapped out the axle for a Dexter 3500lb and bought the same wheels and tires on the 4Runner. Bringing her home