Interior Build Out
Crafting the interior additions
First step... install the E-Track at the right height, on both sides of the trailer.
On our way back home with the highway trailer, we swung by Mac's Custom Tie Downs in Sagle, Idaho, and picked up several lengths of airline track so we could install a number of rows of it on the walls to attach things to. We also got some E-track so we could add additional cross trailer shelving above the area where the Defender would sit. This E-track was the first project.
Installing the E-track was just a matter of cutting it to length, and then drilling through into the aluminum tubing that the wall skins were attached to so we could install the 3/16" pop-rivets. Not a difficult job, but nevertheless time consuming because we wanted rivets on every wall tube.
The airline track installed on the trailer wall.
The left side of the trailer with the work bench and side door for getting out once the car is in.
We spaced the airline track so it would catch all the various items we wanted it to hold. We even had a length above the black wall cabinets, since we wanted to store the empty jerry cans on top of the cabinets. We also installed attachment points in the floor to hold other things like the blue jack stands seen in the photo to the left, as well as the ramps needed to drive into the trailer. A lot of the time spent was figuring out everything that we wanted to attach to the walls, and then space the track appropriately.
On the left side of the trailer, the track placement was a bit more broken up because of the side doorway, the workbench, seen folded down in the photo to the left, and the lift system at the front of the trailer.
The photo above shows the front of the trailer with all the wall track installed. We even put some down low on the front wall to be able to strap in full jerry cans that would be too heavy to put on top of the side wall cabinets. This photo also shows the lift mechanism in place, with the lift at half height. The lift is just cross rails. There is no platform on it because we needed the wheels of the off-road trailer to hang down below the cross rails.
Bringing the off-road trailer chassis home from Adventure Trailer. The photo at the left shows how the trailer chassis frame sits on the lift, and the wheels hang below. Rubber pads on the lift rails protect the trailer frame paint job. Here we just used clamps to hold it in place. Later, we made special grips.
The ceiling shelf we made for above the Defender had cross rails of 3" aluminum angle front and back, and then 3/8" plywood in between to create the floor. Holes drilled all along the angles provide lashing points to hold any material in place so they don't bounce out and land on the Defender. We also installed large hooks above the side exit door for air hoses and extension cords.
Above is the completed interior of the highway trailer. We even have a spot for a hydraulic floor jack by the back doors on the left side under the fold up work bench. The orange wheel chalks at the far end of the trailer were positioned to stop the off-road trailer at the precise position needed for the lift to engage and elevate it.
We found out after the first trip with the Defender inside the highway trailer, that its weight and knobby tires started to damage the rubber flooring material.
To counter this floor damage, we made aluminum chalk plates that keyed into the floor track. They not only protected the rubber floor covering, but they also positioned the wheels in precisely the same place every time, and kept the Defender from moving forward or sideways when in transit.
The off-road trailer tires had to roll over the rear lift rail to get into the right position to be raised up. That rail was 4" tall, so to make it easier, we made two little ramps. They just sat on top of the rail and really worked well. When not in use they were attached to the wall track near the back doors.
The off-road trailer mounted on the lift and secured in place by four heavy ratchet straps.
