We tow a Luna Rover by Intek. 1875# dry. I’ve moved it around with the TJ, and taken one trip in the 2-hr range. Felt fine, but I took it easy. Usually we tow with our Yukon.
Off-road Campers (Towing with LJ)
- Thread starter Shank
- Start date
I tow 2 trailers for camping with my LJ and XJ. Both meet your criteria of providing a place to sleep, getting out of the weather and provide a place to store camping equipment. They're quite different but they get the job done.
I built an expedition trailer and use it for solo trips. My wife is not crazy about the roof top tent. I don't blame her and that's fine with me.
I also have a "tear pop" that I bought and modified. We're able to stand up in it and it's great for trailering our kayaks (lid down).
I'm currently building square back tear drop trailer. It will replace the expedition trailer. Hopefully my wife will be enthused about it to the same extent she is about my expedition trailer and I will be camping solo in it. It will have an awning off one side of it an awning / annex off of the other side. It will also have a galley in the rear. I will not be able to stand up in this one and the annex room will be fine.
In each case the LJ and XJ have been a good tow vehicles. They both have a small 2" lift and tires in the 31" - 32" range. 3.73 gears in the LJ and 3.55 in the XJ. Both have automatic transmissions. The 1st trailer above is about 800 lbs. the 2nd one about 1,300 lbs. and I think the 3rd will be around 1,500 lbs.
My teardrop is for me. The wife has given up camping and it’s only hotels, cruise ships and VRBO for her. She has agreed to go to Sturgis next year and use it if I can’t get a cabin at Buffalo Chip.
I tow 2 trailers for camping with my LJ and XJ. Both meet your criteria of providing a place to sleep, getting out of the weather and provide a place to store camping equipment. They're quite different but they get the job done.
I built an expedition trailer and use it for solo trips. My wife is not crazy about the roof top tent. I don't blame her and that's fine with me.
View attachment 523145
I also have a "tear pop" that I bought and modified. We're able to stand up in it and it's great for trailering our kayaks (lid down).
View attachment 523146
I'm currently building square back tear drop trailer. It will replace the expedition trailer. Hopefully my wife will be enthused about it to the same extent she is about my expedition trailer and I will be camping solo in it. It will have an awning off one side of it an awning / annex off of the other side. It will also have a galley in the rear. I will not be able to stand up in this one and the annex room will be fine.
View attachment 523148
In each case the LJ and XJ have been a good tow vehicles. They both have a small 2" lift and tires in the 31" - 32" range. 3.73 gears in the LJ and 3.55 in the XJ. Both have automatic transmissions. The 1st trailer above is about 800 lbs. the 2nd one about 1,300 lbs. and I think the 3rd will be around 1,500 lbs.
Life changes between the original post and now. Baby will be here in July (or June). I have to consider options for the 3 of us now. Fortunately my brother is trialing that with his sub 1 year old soon.
Just got back from 4 days in the desert with 600+ of friends. Pulling 900# trailer with 400# gear, water and gas. Another 400# gear, water and coolers of beer and food. Not able to calculate milage on the way out. Was able to maintain 64mph @ 2490rpm in 6th gear and AC on with no issues. I pulled several 5-6% grades in 5th with only down shifting to 4th at the end of the 5-10 mile ones. On the way back with 200# less weight, no beer left, and fighting 30-40 mph headwinds the TJ got 9.7 mpg. Very happy with the performance of the TJ. Even with the tongue weight and gear in the back I had not noticeable rear end sag. I did get a stick through the side wall of one of the trailer tires.
Very small hole but in the sidewall. Glad the trailer has a spare. I was going to replace the tires anyway as they are 4 yrs old and I don’t know their history. It has 13” tires and they are relatively cheap online. My group does about 6 campouts a year so it will be well used. I’ll take it to Sturgis next year.
This is what we use. 06 rubicon lj with an auto and 5.13 gears. You know it’s there but we’ve towed it to Texas and back. It’s our tent on wheels and always a project.
Went to look at this yesterday on the way home from vacation and well…
They are about 1600lbs empty. I will be removing the roof top tent and working on balancing weight plus weight loss.
Wife, baby, and I finally got a chance to try it out after getting over a week of illness. Super happy with how it does in mild offroad setting.
Dinoot fiberglass kit trailer with a Go Fast Campers rooftop tent. About 1,600 pounds fully loaded with fridge, battery, kitchen, fuel, etc. 3.73 gears on 31s with a 4.6 stroker engine. Tent sets up and tears down in about 2 minutes. Always a work in progress. Photo above was taken in Death Valley near Antelope Dunes.
Had a real sketchy moment recently doing about 40 mph on a gravel road and attempting to slow down. Trailer brakes sitting on a shelf are the next project. I'm also going the Red Arc brake controller route.
On our last trip in November we road highway from Oregon down to Mexico, and then about 70/30 off-roaded back to Oregon. Pulling the trailer i stayed pretty consistently at 12 mpg both on and offroad.
Not as comfortable as most of the teardrops in this thread, but I'm confident that I can tow it anywhere the jeep can go.
A week later I was dragging it through this near Klamath:
Nice. The advantage of your’s over my teardrop is that I have to remove items stored in it to be able to sleep.
But how much that you store in the camper would you not want to deploy camping anyway? I bet having to move your stuff helps you prioritize what actually needs to be brought along or not.
The mattress and bedding get stacked up, 2 folding chairs, freestanding Awning, 3 44qt storage totes, cooler and my small suitcase go inside. The tubs fit under the camper nicely while camping. 10 gal of gas on the front. Generator, 5-10 gal of water, tools and recovery gear in the LJ. I’ve taken several 4 day trips with it in the 9 months I’ve had it and I’m extremely happy with it. Easy to pull and setup. I do plan on adding a 2.5” axel lift and brakes at some point.
If you look into plastic honeycomb panels you could quite easily end up sub 400. Structural foam is another option but it will add a little more weight.
If you acquire plans for a build, Carbon Core will cut the panels on a CNC for you. Then you just assemble like Lego's.
Many companies out there who make these products. Some come with fiberglass skins on them and some without, some have wood attached.
This would be a great project...now hop to it!
Maybe I should have, but a number of posts up you can see the Intech I bought instead.
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