I know it's nuts but, how do I lift a pop-up trailer

[Sound_Man]

I know this is crazy but... I was given a pop-up trailer/camper and I want to be able to

(1) tow it with my XJ (that is lifted 6" with 32" tires)
(2) take it off road (not go rock crawling with it) just get it onto the trails
(3) not destroy it in the process of 1&2

It has a set of tortion bars to stabalize the trailer that I am sure will get trashed unless it is used on the highway. They work well at keeping the thing tracking behind the tow vehicle.
I have a drop hitch for my XJ that will work the way it is now (without the tortion bars). But the chasis is only about 8" off the ground.

If anyone has lifted one of these before or has seen it done please reply to this post.

 

[redrooster]

That sounds like a fun project. Does it have a torsion bar or sway bar? Never seen either on a trailer. How is it mounted?
Other than the torsion bar issue I would say drop the spring brackets down and there you go. I doubt you can cut the fenders like on the old Jeep. That may give you some extra un- wanted air conditioning. Put some big tires on with beadlock wheels just for kicks (or maybe some spinner rims).

 

[jeep90]

HID conversion

i would say that you could fabricate a new tow hitch that will angle down to compensate for the angle. BUT lifting that thing would be badass. the camper that i have isnt a pop-up but it has leaf spring suspension. i was thinking of doing a soa on that puppy or buggy leaves for shits and giggles. is there any kind of suspension on that thing or is it just sitting on the axle?

 

[Sound_Man]

It has leaf's, and a SOA would get me about 3" to 3.5" of lift. That really isn't enough for what I would like to do to it. It has these little tiny tires on it that are supposed to run at 80 PSI, I am not sure of the size but a standard car dounut would be huge in comparison. They have no tread on them to speak of, they are just street tires. I would like to get a 14" or 15" rims on it. This would get the straight axle up in the air a little more.

All of this is going to cause some other problems though.

The landing legs are not going to be long enough anymore. This should be an easy fix with a longer set that is available through my local RV shop.

The canopy on the side and the add on room that it has will not make it to the ground anymore. I think I can relocate the mounting track down farenough to make up for it.

The tounge jack or whatever it is called will be short. I have not thought of a fix for this yet other than a block under it when needed.

 

[Sound_Man]

That sounds like a fun project. Does it have a torsion bar or sway bar? Never seen either on a trailer. How is it mounted?

This is what it is
http://www.bobstravelcenter.com/cat...better_than_ez-lift_or_draw_tite__1486199.htm

 

[PatriotJeep]

Sound,

Pulling a pop up will not require the use of a weight distribution hitch. Just not enough weight there to be useful. But, if it makes you feel better go for it. As far as the height goes, why dont you try to find a D35 out of an XJ/YJ and fab it up with some leaf springs. That way you could have matching tires and wheels all the way around your rig.

Todd

 

[Sound_Man]

Sound,

Pulling a pop up will not require the use of a weight distribution hitch. Just not enough weight there to be useful. But, if it makes you feel better go for it. As far as the height goes, why dont you try to find a D35 out of an XJ/YJ and fab it up with some leaf springs. That way you could have matching tires and wheels all the way around your rig.

Todd

Agreed, I do not need the weight distribution at all with the XJ but it does provide a great deal of anti sway at the same time. I just pulled the trailer from Ft Meyers Fl to Colorado with a windstar. It needed the weight distribution. The anti-sway it provides was really nice on the road.

I thought about doing just that. Get an old axle and put on the same tires and rims. It sure would look nice but would really cause the other problems I listed to be exagerated even more. I have the leafs that were stock on my XJ and I have been looking at making shackle mounts/hangers/axle mounts for them. it would lift it but I am not sure the tailer frame is going to handle it well.

I may just SOA it and use my drop hitch and let it sway around behind me on the road.

 

[Junkpile]

Build a frame from 2x2 square tubing the same size as the pop-up's frame. Attach all of your new components to the new frame and use the same 2x2 tubing to make a new tongue. Strip the factory pop-up frame bare and bolt or weld it on top of the new frame. I've been thinking of lifting one of those myself, and that's the best thing I can come up with for the one I might get. The body of the pop-up just wasn't designed to hold much tire, and like Redrooster said, cutting isn't an option. It will have to sit really high, so all that room below it could be used for some storage and extra crap you might want to carry along. Going wider is also an option, running the tires outside of the pop-up, then the body wouldn't have to sit so high but the tires would get in the way of other crap on the one I'm looking at.
If you do lift it, post the results and let us know how you ended up doing it.

 

[fourtrail]

The pop-up trailer frame it stouter than you think. We had a tree fall through one of our trailers and it didn't bother the frame. It is now a travel trailer that has covered a lot of miles. They offer weld in spindles to make a new axle with the same bolt pattern as the YJ. You can build a new axle to put under the trailer. Do and SOA with the new axle and put on taller tires.
As for the jack find a pipe that will slide inside the original and drill some holes in it to put a pin through (drop leg).