My HSTRU (M116A2) Camper & Overland Trailer

[Overdrive]

I could have sworn I posted a year or so ago about the camper conversion on my ADC 1000A Hydraulic Repair Trailer but I see there are no posts from me so I wanted to share a few pics of my rig.

I did a complete transformation on the trailer including adding on board water supply, water heater, 12V power system, Propex furnace, a complete propane distribution system and enough awning and tent craziness for a circus tent.

 

[Viper8]

Pretty sweet! Man, that is a LOT of canvas!!

 

[Overdrive]

New Side Awning

Thanks Viper8. I just recently replaced the Rhino Rack passenger side awning with the new ARB 2500 with removable room. I lost the matching OD green but I can deal with it.

The new awning is crazy at just over 8' both length and width.

 

[harleyhouse]

Nice work! They make the perfect Expo trailers.

 

[T. Highway]

Very nice setup.

What is the height of the tent/awning areas? Do your have pictures of the interior of the trailer?

Bert

 

[Overdrive]

Hi Burt, thank you for the reply.

Awning height: I fabricated a roof rack for the trailer out of 1.5"x1.5"x1/8" square aluminum and mounted it on 1" spacers that attach to the top of the trailer using some of the sling mount holes (I have a dislike for cutting into stuff . The awnings are attached to the rack and put the height at just over 6' at the lowest points. The Foxwing awning, the fan-out thing progressively gets taller as you open it. The new ARB awning is a little lower than I would like but I just used the same mounts as I had for the previous awning so I might space it up another inch or so. Right now it is still just around 6' at the closest point to the trailer and I am 5'11'' so I can walk underneath it with no issues.

I had to relocate my solar panel to mount the OZTent RV5 rack so you will notice the panel isn't bolted down yet but you should be able to make out the square tube rack I made and the Foxwing bolted to it.



The inside of the trailer has its own story I pretty much gutted it saving as many parts as I could to reuse when/if needed. This is "Main Engineering" (yes, I am a Star Trek geek) at the rear of the trailer that contains the FrontRunner 10+ gallon water tank that fits perfect in the spot where the original hydraulic fab machine was at, the 12v marine battery and Genesis charger, Propex propane furnace, instant water heater, water pump and fuse box.

I have two quick disconnect propane connections at the rear sides of the trailer but I haven't plumbed in the water heater yet so you see the hose coiled up in the pic. The furnace is plumbed with a propane supply line and the intake and exhaust ports exit the right side of the trailer (the little silver and black tubes you see attached under the heater).



Here is a pic of the left side, over the wheel storage. I removed the toolbox rack and cut it in half for gear storage. Pardon the mess in the main open area as I keep all my adventuring goodies inside the trailer when stored.



And last pic is of the main front area where I made a little shelf to store stuff as well as the solar panel charge controller, master switch and light panel, and a little compartment for a boat faucet with hot and cold water. I kept the solvent sink (which is awesome by the way) and just run a hose to a water jug for grey water for now. Have not insulated the inside yet or really worked on making it look pretty.

 

[Overdrive]

The OZTent RV5 will zip into any side of the Foxwing awning so the whole setup looks humongous when everything is deployed. Since it is starting to cool off here in Missouri I need to set the whole fun house up and post some more pics. The idea is to have limitless setup options for fun and adventure. I have taken her out on about a dozen trips and love the setup. Trailer pulls behind my Jeep JKU like a dream.

 

[oddave715]

This makes me wonder what I should add into my contact maintenance trailer project. Nice build by the way.

 

[marchplumber]

Thats just plain "Purdy"

 

[T. Highway]

Very nice build, I look forward to seeing more pictures as you complete different parts of this.

Can you post up some pictures of the furnace please? Intake, exhaust?

Bert

 

[banjotx]

nice setup

I could have sworn I posted a year or so ago about the camper conversion on my ADC 1000A Hydraulic Repair Trailer but I see there are no posts from me so I wanted to share a few pics of my rig.

I did a complete transformation on the trailer including adding on board water supply, water heater, 12V power system, Propex furnace, a complete propane distribution system and enough awning and tent craziness for a circus tent.


very nice setup and lots of extras added.

I have been working on a m116a2 and basically just a flatbed with the standard bows. Recently completely repainted and ready to start camper conversion.
After looking at the first pic with the back of your jeep hooked up to the trailer, I see all kinds of clearance between the spare tire and pintle hitch. Guessing the over size tires and rear bumper with a lift is helping that look so good and level. My jeep has 33" tires, but no lift and stock rear bumper. If I could get the spare tire raised up a bit, then I could adjust the receiver pintle hitch up enough to help level out the trailer. Looking again at your picture and appears to still have the stock third brake light fixture? Anyway, thanks for posting all this on the m116a2.


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View attachment 578954View attachment 578952

 

[Overdrive]

Burt,
Here are a couple of pics of the furnace setup.

It is a Propex 2000. Darn thing only uses 1.5 amps and I think its 6000btu but I have to double check. It comes with a 3" hose about 5 or 6' long and a little vent cover. I originally setup the inside of the trailer so I could sleep in it and it works great that way with the little furnace keeping it nice and toasty. It has a remote thermostat with a long cord. Sleeping inside was great although a bit like a coffin and was only comfy for one so I started adding the awning room and OZTent for relaxing outside and sleeping a little less cramped.


NOTE: Please don't judge me by the rats nest of wires under the furnace, I am still playing with adding some external flood LEDs on the outside of the trailer for lighting up the tent so it looks really bad behind the fuse box right now

The side pic is of the intake and exhaust manifold thingy that is right next to the drop leg to the left in the pic (oval shinny thing).

It is stainless steel and an extra purchase (of course). The exhaust hose is a little 1" or so metal hose that I just routed away from any wiring and the intake is a black version of the exhaust hose. Not sure if you can see the intake hose in the pics.


The furnace is computer controlled and sips propane. I originally bought one of the small travel trailer furnaces which I still have for the 2nd commando rig I am pondering, but I couldn't find a good spot for it in the trailer.

 

[Overdrive]

nice setup

Banjotx,
Thanks for the compliment!

My JKU has the factory Mopar 3" lift on it with the rear springs replaced by OME (Old Man EMU) "Heavies" to keep the rear end from sagging (they work freakin' awesome by the way). Tires on the Jeep are 34s. I actually have another two notches I can lift the spare tire up higher by about 2" I think. The rear bumper is a Smittybilt Atlas which has been nothing but good to me for almost two years. The bumper has a bracket that uses the stock 3rd brake light. You could probably gain a couple of inches on your stock spare by putting on an extension thingy on your stock spare carrier. I think I may actually still have the little extension on my factory carrier (I keep way too many stock parts off of my toys). That's what the dealer put on my jeep when they lifted it and put the bigger than stock spare on there.

The trailer has 265/75R16s on the stock military rims.

Oh, I just looked at the pic of the setup attached to my Jeep. That is the old pintle hitch I first had with no adjustment. I have upgraded to one that can adjust up or down a couple of inches witch also fits great under the spare and sits out almost as far as the one pictured.

OD

 

[banjotx]

Overdrive, thanks for all the info. I now see Extreme Terrain sells a brake light extension and will help the cause. I have plans to lift the jeep a couple inches and add heavier coil springs. thanks again.

 

[turnkey]

Nice build ,what do you charge per night??

 

[TurboMustang370]

I've been searching for a hydraulic repair trailer for quite some time. Anyone know where one might be for sale?
Your's looks great!

 

[Overdrive]

I just past one up on -bay a few months ago. I spot about two a year so I will keep my eyes open. Hey that would be a unique Forum to have kind of a pay it forward watch list where folks watch for a particular thing for someone else and not swipe it

Cheers!
OD

 

[T. Highway]

I just had a chance to look up that furnace and I will be keeping this in mind for a future project that I have.

Bert

 

[Landbarger]

I like that you have a pair of canvas wings to expand your covered area, but there seems to be no pitch to it at all. How does this work with rain? I like your setup and would like to do something similar (permanently mount equipment to the trailer while creating "living space" off the sides) on an M116A3. I'm starting to wonder if an M1101/1102 wouldn't be a better starting point than a flatbed, though.

 

[Overdrive]

No huge issues with rain. The Foxwing can be adjusted at each leg for height so during rain I can pitch it any way I like. I am probably going to switch to a higher bracket for the new ARB awning since it sits kind of low for heavy rain.