Vintage Camper Trailer Build
 

I've been going back and forth for a long time on what camping set up I wanted to have. I love camping but at the same time it can be a real pain too, lugging and packing all the gear in your truck, setting up tents in the dark, leaking air mattresses, tearing down camp and repacking the vehicle while being hungover :laugh:. There's got to be a better way, right? For a long time I wanted to build a camping trailer based on a Toyota pick up bed and topper, but I was a little concerned about the weight and really just never got around to it. A couple weeks ago I had made up my mind on getting a Tent Cot, but I just couldn't spend the money, with shipping and the rainfly it was going to be $300-$400.

While looking through the local paper a week ago I stumbled onto the solution. :D There was an ad for a vintage 1965 pop camper for $50.00, it had been in their family since day one. I decided for the price that I couldn't go wrong and pretty much bought it sight unseen (I knew I had to jump on it, otherwise someone else would). He even delivered it to my shop, for $50.00, with a clean title!

So here are the spec's. It's a 1965 Bethany Chief pop up camper, weighs in at 900 pounds and has a tongue weight of 60 pounds. While it's a little heavier than I like, for the price it's worth giving it a shot!

Here is all the the paper work that came with it, including the bill of sale from 1965! :smokin:

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...3622283-00.jpg

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Looks like a fun investment!!

Here's how it looked when he dropped it off, in pretty good shape for it's age.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020279.jpg

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Holy freakin tires batman, ah on your rig! :great:

Camper looks good too, have you had a chance to open it?

Wow, $50 and he delivered it!

I think it needs a lift or you're going to need one heckuva drop on your hitch.

:camp:

The plan is to keep it retro, but be able to take it down mild to semi-moderate trails to set up camp. All while not spending much more than $500 dollars, it should be interesting. :D

The first order of business, (not including the pink) was to lift the thing. At first I thought about putting a Toyota rear axle under it but that would have been more expensive and more work than I wanted. There is not much of a wheel well on the camper, which makes things interesting.

Instead, I lifted it using the stock axle. While the tires are small, so is the axle tube, which means more clearance with a smaller tire.

Stock, on the lift, getting ready for surgery :D

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020292.jpg

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or the trailer needs a lift.

For the price I can't really go wrong! They're 35's, but I keep them clean. :laugh:

Yea, it's getting lifted for sure!

Oh nice, this IS gonna be from project! Can't wait to see how the "lift" turns out!

After some thought, and some more thought, I decided 10" of lift sounded like a good number. There was around 17" between the truck and trailer, with a 10" lift that brings things in the zone of a normal drop hitch. It also give's me around 25" of clearance to the camper body and I can always step up in tire size if I get a different ball mount.

Here is how I got the lift, I decided to build a sub frame that would be welded to the frame of the camper and the stock axle assy. would bolt to.

Geting the measurements right

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020297.jpg

Welded up

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020302.jpg

The install

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020303.jpg

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I also added a support (side to side) and under coated the whole thing.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020312.jpg

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In the process of the lift I also repacked the wheel bearings, replaced the seals, re-painted the wheels and installed some new tires. I stuck with the stock size tire since it was only $30.00 each and it was the biggest I could really get on a 12" wheel. Down the road I plan on getting some larger tires and wheels.

Old hub caps getting ready to be painted

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020299.jpg

And wheels

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020301.jpg

Old tires full of Fix-a-Flat :barf:

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020300.jpg

Lookin good!!

You rockin' 155-12's? That's waaaaaay too big, you're gonna break something:P (this smiley freaks me out, but it's the only one that fit on the front page of smileys)...


Any reason you decided to do a solid lift instead of leaf springs? Seems like it would be easier to tow with the leaves...

Some new paint and tires, the whole trailer is going to be painted the red on the hub caps.

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4.80 -12's :D It's a torsion axle housing which has it's own suspension!

What size tires do you plan on running when all is said and done?

That's a nice red to match your rig! :great:

While adding the 10" of lift, I ran into a couple other things.

First I needed to drop the front jack the same amount, but I didn't want to get hung up on it so I made it removable.

Stock

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020319.jpg

New

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020326.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020328.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...r/P1020329.jpg

I'm not sure yet, I'm going to wait and see how it sets loaded up with all my camping gear. I won't be changing the tires and wheels until next year.