This Jeep Cherokee Chief-Turned-Travel Trailer Features Incredibly Clever Storage Solutions. Let’s Look At Them

When I embark on my summer travels around America, I often see custom-built campers. These are often homebuilt teardrops or pickup truck beds with a tow hitch on the front. Sometimes, I see more ambitious homebuilds like the shells of cars that were gutted out and filled with camping gear. That’s what you’re getting here with this camper built out of a 1979 Jeep Cherokee. These things often look terrible but this? I love what you’re getting for the price of just $3,800.

Since moving to California, our David Tracy has been on the hunt for a cool camper. We write a lot about campers here and it’s only fitting for David to join in. He lives in a state with a ton of great places to travel to! As such, he’s been sending me camper after camper and asking for my opinion. David’s found some really cool stuff, from the Winnebago LeSharo that I wrote about to campers by a company more known for his hearses. Sadly, many of his finds are so far gone that they would need a full restoration, but this one is different.

 

A Little Bit About The Cherokee

This camper is based on a 1979 Jeep Cherokee. As Jeep notes, the 1970s continued a path of advancement for the brand. In the 1950s, America saw a rise in off-roading for recreation, which helped thrust Jeep’s popularity. This was followed by the 1960s, which saw the introduction of the Wagoneer in 1962. Designed by the legendary Brooks Stevens, Jeep claims the original Wagoneer to have the first blending of four-wheel-drive, independent suspension, and automatic transmission [Editor’s note: That’s such a ridiculous thing to brag about given that Jeep ditched the independent suspension almost immediately after launch, and has prided itself in solid front axles for decades. -DT]. The Wagoneer replaced the Willys utility wagon and strove to provide families with comfort and luxury with dependable four-wheel-drive.

Kaiser Jeep ended the 1960s by advertising all of the fun things that you could do with a Jeep. And in 1970, Kaiser Jeep was passed to American Motors for $75 million. This new era saw a number of fantastic models from the Dispatcher mail truck to the J10 pickup. In 1974, Jeep launched the Cherokee. This was a two-door version of the Wagoneer that targeted younger buyers with sporty aesthetics. That year, the Cherokee on Four Wheeler magazine’s Four Wheeler of the Year, back then known as the Achievement Award.

This Cherokamper

Normally, here’s where I would prattle on about engines, off-road gear, and how reviewers felt about the vehicle in its day. However, none of this really applies to this Jeep. According to the camper’s seller, about two decades ago this Jeep stopped being a Jeep and became a camper. It’s unclear why this Jeep lost its powertrain and its differentials, but it looks like a fair amount of work went into this camper. The seller says that it started off as a Cherokee with the Wide-Track option (there was a narrow track and wide track Cherokee; you can tell this is a wide track by the big fender flares), which Jeep says came with:

The Wide-Track option was available with key upgraded interior and exterior features: exterior stripes, larger wheels, three-inch-wider axles, larger front and rear wheel cutouts, Dana 44 front and rear axles, and a nicer interior.

It looks like none of this stuff carried over. Of course, you’re not going to need Dana 44s on your trailer!

 

Starting with the exterior, this camper is painted in tan and black, which for the most part matches its Cherokee Chief tow vehicle. There’s an awning on the roof, a roof basket carrying a spare tire, and the Cherokee’s body itself is largely unchanged. What is different is up front.

The area ahead of the firewall was buttoned up and tapered to to follow the lines of the trailer tongue.

I love how the builder turned this area into a storage area. Pop the small hood and you’ll find a box containing the trailer’s battery, and a propane tank. Behind that is a second box with more storage for equipment. I’m not sure where the hood comes from, but it looks like a car hood that was modified for this task.

Moving under the camper, the Dana 44 is gone and replaced with a trailer axle with a 4-inch lift.

At the ends of the axle are 9-inch electric brakes and full size Jeep wheels wrapped with 31-inch all terrain tires. A leaf spring suspension is retained underneath and there appears to be a fresher set of shocks and an anti-sway bar that the seller says adds stability when towing. When peeking underneath, you’ll notice some rust holes on the body. The seller states that there is “minimal typical Fullsize Jeep (FSJ) rust” and at least in the pictures, the floor looks rust-free and solid.

Other neat exterior touches are an electric tongue jack, a 7-pin electrical wiring harness connector, and stabilizer jacks.

Moving inside, the builder of this Jeep camper has created what seems like a pretty cozy space. There’s a mattress sitting on top of a raised floor. The interior has been entirely gutted, but the builder found a clever way to hide some of the camper’s automotive origins.

Where the dashboard used to be is a cabinet built out of cedar with different compartments and even a neat little “glovebox.” Power is provided by a 12V AGM battery that gets topped up by three solar panels. You don’t get residential power, but there are 12V ports to plug in your gear.

This camper’s trick feature appears to be the kitchen. Like a teardrop, the kitchen can be found in the back. The kitchen unit slides out and features a sink pulling from a 10-gallon tank, a two-burner propane stove, and a bunch of surfaces to cut food, store food, and store plates and utensils.

At least to my eyes, this camper is missing a few things. I’d love to see a bigger water tank. It looks like the undercarriage of the Jeep has plenty of space for it. I’d also love to see something like an outdoor shower, a cassette toilet, and some basic climate control. The good news is that there are a bunch of products that do just that. I’d grab an outdoor shower, a toilet, and a power station. You can even get air-conditioners that feed from power stations if you really needed it. Of course, you could also just pick up a generator.

Why Would You Buy This?

You might be asking why you would want to buy a car turned into a camper in the first place? Well, I like to think of this as like a teardrop camper. If you’ve read my camper work for long enough, you’ve seen me write about campers that don’t give you hard walls or smaller teardrops and all of them cost far more than the $3,800 this seller is asking. And keep in mind that those campers are often built with flimsy walls and put together in a factory that incentivizes putting things together as fast as possible.

This? It’s all steel! If anything, it’s literally tens of thousands cheaper than the Jeep-branded Addax Overland trailer with a tent on top.

If you can put up with the fact that it’s a custom build that’s a little rough around the edges, I think it’s a good deal. The seller says that this rig has been taken off-road, too, so you know it’s not something that stays only at manicured campgrounds. This camper comes with extra parts as well. The seller notes that the windshield is cracked, but you get the replacement with the camper. You also get door cards and the tailgate’s carpet.

If you’re looking for a distinctive camper to tow behind your Jeep, the seller wants $3,800 or the best offer that they can get. And if you want it, hurry out to Gilbert, Arizona before David Tracy does.

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