Alaskan Trailer

[PackRat]

No, I'm not gonna put my Alaskan on a trailer but I did do a shakedown trip and discovered one nagging thing......where do I put all the "stuff" that isn't in a drawer or somewhere? Yep, it goes in a box on the floor. That includes my propane tank, camp chairs, cooler, briquettes and anything else that does not have a home.

I had a WWII Bantam trailer I used to go to jeep meets with but it has no tailgate so getting heavy stuff up into and then back out of it was tough. So...I sold my beloved mint condition WWII trailer and found myself a civilian Bantam T3-C trailer in very good condition for less than half of what the military one went for.

My F-250 hardly knew the Alaskan was in on flat ground (thanks to a telescoping top!) and did just fine in the hills. So when I went to pickup the T3-C up in the foothills of the Sierras, I really didn't notice anything different in terms of added towing issues. All I need is some new tires for it and to complete the registration and voila! I'm good to go. It even cam with a home-made "covered wagon" frame and top.

I know guys complain that with a camper in the truck bed they can't do the dump run or materials run or stuff like that so I think a small trailer is the best of both worlds. It weighs in at about 485 lbs and will carry that much off-road and 1,000 on the highway.

I know one thing, when guys post that the just want to crawl into their Alaskan (or other pop-up camper) with it in the down position, I won't be unloading a ton of stuff after opening the door just to get into it!

 

[DavidGraves]

WANT ONE !

 

[JDeanP]

Very nice. Good catch.

 

[PackRat]

Interesting modification to this T3-C. One of the previous owners bolted some triangular sections of what was probably a 4x4 to the sloped angles from each side down into the bed. You can see in the photo that they also cut some plywood sections that span the bed and rest on those footings. I believe the plywood is maybe 3/4" thick and as such an owner could double up the trailer to use the lower section for carrying "stuff" and put a mattress on the upper plywood section to make a "bunk" for kids or adults not too tall. (trailer is 6' long). The "conestoga wagon" look described for the standard Bantam T3-C trailers made of wood can be achieved at a tidy sum as steam bending the three top bows is how they were originally made. This one has 1" x 1" square tubing for the frame.

It has a plastic front window and roll-up rear panel and another access panel on the right front side.

I'm going to use it for a group camping trip this summer and carry the ice chests, tables and "stuff" that won't fit into the jeeps for the last 20 miles of the drive (7 miles on unpaved back rod) and I figure the guys will quickly give it the name "chuckwagon".

 

[PackRat]

Two more...

 

[nelstomlinson]

I've started daydreaming about an eventual trip up the haul road, and a small cargo trailer to haul fuel, food, spare tires, tools and so on seems like a necessity. Last time I was in Deadhorse, the gas station wanted something like $5/gallon!

I'll be looking for deal on a trailer similar to yours, probably a humvee-era military surplus.

 

[smlobx]

I've had a similar thought process for needing to sometimes carry extra gear and ended up finding a Dinot trailer that was built by someone else and has come in very handy at times..
A small trailer can be a great help sometimes..

 

[PackRat]

The trailer above weighs about 550 lbs unloaded. It is factory rated to carry 500 lbs off-road and 1,000 lbs on the highway. By limiting your cargo to the 500 lbs for off-road usage you can easily carry a few jerry cans of gas, maybe one of non-potable water if you feel the need and all the camp stuff you need. They were and are great little trailers. Here is a WWII version being used to carry quite a few jerry cans: