[reeceh]

So as some of you might of seen in my zook build thread i purchased a ex army half ton cargo trailer from manheim auctions at eagle farm. I purchased it for an absolute steal. I was searching for 2nd hand/new box trailers for about a year to turn one into a camper trailer. But it was the same ol same ol with all the 2nd hand ones being rusted out or to old and the new ones to expensive for my liking for a box trailer. I discovered these trailers from the auctions in a just 4x4 classifields magazine.


I was excited! i did some research on the net and turns out these are pretty much a purpose built offroad trailer and near indestructible and being fully sealed they can float. So i picked one up for a measly $700! They have a solid heavy duty chassis, heavy duty tub, heavy duty single bar drawbar, massive leaf packs with full shackle suspension not slipper leaf, deep tub, plenty of ground clearance, greasable hubs.


To get something like this from a trailer yard your looking at least triple from my research. Originally i thought it would be cool for the sierra but its way to heavy so it will be getting towed behind a dualcab ute that im yet to purchase. I want it to be a semi camper so i can still use it as a trailer otherwise its just a waste in my opinion. So the top will be removable.

Plans will be:

Camper tent which ive already purchased (castle campers 12 deluxe)
Heavy duty removable hinge setup with gas struts to pop it up
Making a rear tailgate that swings open from the passenger side
Some jerry can mounts
Water tank underneath with a stone guard
Slideout/removable kitchen that hangs off the tailgate or slides out and stands up but will be completely removable
A few storage boxes on the front sides and a drawbar storage box.
A couple of 12v points around the trailer. Id like to be able to setup that led rope shit in the tent and around the kitchen
Fab up some drop down legs for the rear of the trailer for stability


A few other things i guess but time will come when i start camping and using it. Ill be getting my lisence back in july so im itching to take it out and get back out there camping. Im still yet to decide what dualcab 4x4 i want as a family/work ute.


The day i got it. had to make up a tow hitch mount.

Behind the zook looks pretty wicked, it would probaly tow it around town and to dirt road access spots. But any sandy beaches or rutted/muddy tracks i dont think it would cope dragging it.

Size comparison

This is a hinge from a truck body door at the rear. There pretty heavy duty and have a removable pin


Roughly setup in the front yard. It has full walls to enclose the annex and a vinly floor. The trailer tailgate gets closed in with a piece aswell. Note how high the trailer is. Ill be pulling out a couple of the leaves from each pack. There is 9 leaves in each one. Also if it is still too high ill be taking a shove and digging two holes near the trailer wheels so it sits down another 100mm. i tried everywhere for a 1200mm high tent but anyone who had them wanted ridiculous money for them. A canvas shop wanted near a grand to modify it so i just thought fuck it ill dig the wheels in, drop the pressure and take out 2 leaves.

So my next step is to properly attach it to the tub with some of those hinges and some gas struts. They have to be 700mm and rated to 1000n apparently from the camper trailer mob!

[christover1]

A spring under axle may help?

Nice find.

Moke Club had the Moke version of an Army trailer, it lasted very many years

[christover1]

A normal trailer spring pack of 3 0r 5 leaves would drop it a heap too.
Assuming tyres have room in the guards

[abclarke]

Haha saw one of these driving through liverpool the other day! They look great imo!

[bailey08]

Those trailers are great, there from the veitnam era (not that your one is anywhere near that old). if you put the 2 bungs in on the front you can use it as a boat lol, never tried it but heard they will float.

[reeceh]

I will put up a photo with its test run in a dam shortly!! They float wicked!

[reeceh]

At a mates dam

[abclarke]

Put a little outboard on it then double it as a tinny

[reeceh]

Lol was thinking of taking it down to the bris river for a laugh! Strap on a 6hp. Wrap the drawbar with a few pool noodles and wait for the looks lol!

[Bushbasher]

One thing I might suggest is putting on some electric brakes on that trailer mate I wouldn't want to be the one trying to brake that trailer down a hill considering your zook is only 1100kg and has a legal towing load of 500 kg other then that looks awesome love your paint job to mate I'm painting my zook the same colour

[reeceh]

Yeah I'll be putting some brakes on it. It's not really intended for the zook. But for the odd trip to a easy to get to campground I'll be using it!

[want33s]

Is there a plate on the trailer stating its unladen weight?

[reeceh]

From what I have read on aulro.com there about 300ish kg empty! I think I put down on my vin plate that I got from qld transport 250kg

[bailey08]

Its classed as a 1/2ton trailer, weighs 1/4 ton and carry's 1/4 ton.

I still have my old pam on military vehicles from when I was a truckie in the army, I can look for it and give exact specs if you want.

[reeceh]

Oh ok I thought it was classed to carry half a ton. Either way I reckOn it could take a tonne or more judging from the way they are built!

[bailey08]

My bad, weighs 360kg unladen, 860kg laden. your right.

[reeceh]

Yeah pretty epic for a Zook lol

[Dr_Snapid]

Man it does look good behingd the zook though

[Tim D]

You could go to the truck wreckers and get some 700 16's instead of the 750's, will drop it a little and still have a tough tire.

[dhula]

Nice find and great price to.
They will carry more and do no harm. I've had one (well over) loaded with wood plus other stuff on the odd occasion.
If not carrying much they do tend to bounce a bit, pretty easily sorted with tyre pressures or even better fitting some light duty shocks.
Full rated weight changed to 750kg a while back, more to meet up with rules (braked and unbraked towing capacities) than anything to do with it's true potential.
They can get a little sway happening if you load too much rearwards of the centreline so try to keep weight forwards if you can.
They can turn turtle unexpectedly if your not careful, especially off road or when going round corners a bit quick. Due to the height and relativly narrow track of the trailer. If you underslung the axel it should help a bit.
Biggest pains maintenance wise will be spring bushes, rust in the drawbar and wiring if it still has the NATO crap in there. Wheel bearings will last forever if looked after (they are huge for the size trl it is). Bearing seal might be hard to come by but a little research should see you straight.
If it still has the 1/2 ton trl wheels see if you can get rid of em in favour of proper LR wheels as the 1/2 ton wheels where prone to cracking. This has probably already been done tho I suspect. I'll see if I can find the details of what to look for and let you know.

[reeceh]

Brilliant info!! Mine has almost zero rust. I'll keep up the maintenance on the drawbar. The NATO wiring was stripped out so I ran my own stuff. What is turtling? A few weekends ago I reckon I had about a tonne of wet firewood in it. It towed absolutely brilliantly. When it's a fully dedicated camper I might put a shockie setup in it.

[dhula]

reeceh wrote:

What is turtling?

Turning upside down to show it's belly.
I've seen & fixed quite a few that have done this due to inattentive drivers or someone going just that little bit too hard off road.
Also happens when loaded above the top of the tub especially with heavy stuff.
Had a fair bit to do with the setup of the towing eye/pintle hook but still something to be mindful of I reckon.

[reeceh]

Cheers. Yeah I've changed the setup to a normal coupling. I've never seen a trailer that tows do quiet. You don't even know its there!

[reeceh]

Bit of an update. Getting ready for next weekend I installed some super dooper gas struts.

There's also some photos of it at straddy at New Years and the camp kitchen I knocked up. I would like to ditch it once I modify my tailgate and get a stainless kitchen.


Next plans will be under tub PVC pipe pole holders and jerrycans and gas bottle holder.

[reeceh]

[bulladean_]

Does the sierra have trouble staging trailer threw sand and in the bush ?

[Polar_Bear]

Holy crap dude...you towed all that setup with ya sierra?...hopefully the campsite wasnt too far from home

[reeceh]

I only towed it home from straddy. My mate towed it to the camp site but he left early. On our departure we had to wake up at 4am to get the low tide. Lets just say the whole camp site would of been awake when I was full throttle 2nd low through the soft sand to get to the hard stuff.

The sierra towed it fine to be honest. I took it very slow and allowed ample braking distance. Didn't even get warm and it was the middle of summer. If I had transfer gears and electric brakes I reckon it would of been fine. I won't have to tow it again as ill have a work ute soon.

[reeceh]

The under tub tent pole holders!

[Sixes350]

Bloody great setup you have! Good to see you bought the trailer with 2 taillights. These trailers tow a lot better with a set of shocks installed but be careful with tipping (in either case)