The Can

[KD7WCD]

So a friend of mine has given me what is left of his 1960ish Apache Tent Trailer.





It has been handed down to him and was originally his Grandfathers. My buddy brought it to Arizona from Wisconson and used it for a couple of years. Then the canvas got mildewed. Unfortnentyl he threw out the old canvas and worst the frame. He then was using it as a Camp Box kind of trailer and would throw a canoe on top of it.

He as sense started a DIY Teardrop project. So instead of hauling "The Can" to dump or to be recycled, (Most of it is Aluminum), he has given it to me figuring if anyone would do something with it, it would be me.

-- Challenge excepted.

So I am thinking I will make it into a little Camp Box - Bug Out Trailer. But there is some work to do to it.



The first Challange is to get some bigger wheels under it. It is stock with 12" tires more like you would see on a hotdog cart than on something you would want to pull down a dirt road or run 70mhp down the road on. My buddy did all that and more and it held up fine.



If I can get the suspension sorted out and functional then there are all kinds of project to do from there.

 

[ohiowrangler]

That is cool. I would rebuild it original design, either using fiberglass or extendable poles. Ron

 

[KD7WCD]

That is cool. I would rebuild it original design, either using fiberglass or extendable poles. Ron

I do want to keep some of the original soul of the trailer but back to original is not going to leave me with something useful. Those small tires are a deal breaker.

This is going to to be a budget build. I need to get it at least useful or it will just be in the way and I'll have to get rid of it. I only have so much money and time.

For now I think first thing is to get the suspension sorted out and start out fitting it as a camp box trailer. And it looks like my OZTent will fit perfectly in the pan.



Sent from my XT1650 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[amateurhour]

Damn that thing was $500 in the '60s!

That's $4000 by today's standards.

 

[Alaska.hermit]

Man towing that behind an old Chevy Apache pickup , or a Jeep Cherokee Chief would be awesome!

 

[KD7WCD]

So moving forward.

Keep in mind this is going to be a budget build. So far I have just the cost of changing the title in the project.

I have picked up some trailer tiers designed for agricultural use type applications. Not a sexy as my truck tiers but I got three of them on steel rims for under $300 and they are actually trailer tiers designed for the task. Going to the bigger tires I also picked up a new set of hubs to match the rimes and hub buddies.



I am thinking of doing some sort of lift to fit the now tiers. I was just going to put in a longer Shackel but it would be really long and I think with would change the suspension characteristics a bit too much. So maybe some sort of body lift.