trailer conversion...

[lagnar]

anyone ever try to convert an autohauler into a, autohauler/ toy box/ camping rig??

anything to avoid?

(I have always had the ugliest camp, too many tarps, ropes, way too much stuff for one guy etc etc.
thinking I could contain it into one hauler and sleep inside or on top?  drive to a good campsite, bike up to trailhead, any odd rules like I gotta show the animal as I drive home?  )

[sakoshooter]

I've drawn up a few plans for my utility trailer to make it a 'tow-low' that cranks up into the camp kitchen with storage for some other stuff. It would sure get shook up on the way to camp. Have to really secure everything. Not sure it'll ever happen but think about it every year.

[Jburke]

Couple of times a buddy and I have used an enclosed cargo trailer for our camp.  Fits two cots side by side with enough room in between to walk.  Camp table at the foot of one and mr buddy heater at the foot of the other.  Worked great.

[hoyt2002]

We put a truck camper on a flatbed goose neck trailer. used the rest the bed for the wheeler also made a great deck for cooking and whatever else.

[JackOfAllTrades]

I have a friend that uses an enclosed larger utilitiy trailer for a hunting trailer. It' pretty much a portable solid tent since he tarps out for a cooking area outside. Has a portable comode. Big water tank he puts on the roof, with hose and valve below. It becomes a great sleep place with room for cargo. Another friend uses a horse trailer. If you're converting an enclosed autor hauler to a camp trailer, the world is the limit on how you want to configure it.
 
-Steve

[SniperDanWA]

I was going to do the same as you.  I drew up plans like saki, but honestly, the cost and effort was more than I wanted to put into it.  So, I searched cyber and found this modular one.  It too was more than what I wanted to spend.

http://www.tealinternational.com/TICorp/products.htmlI really liked this idea.

A retired pastor basically gave me his 24' travel trailer.  Now I jut haul stuff in the back of the suburban or pickup and tow the utility trailer.  Yeah, sometimes two trips, but I guess I was just too lazy or too cheap to do it any other way.

I will say the travel trailer has been nice on three trips to the Midwest.  Stop when you want and you have everything ready - food, bathroom and bed.

[Ghost Hunter]

Working on a modified 20' truck box/trailer.  Haules the FJ40 and all my gear.  Used it for WA and WY last year.  Added a side door and insulation this spring.  Who knows how far I'll get before this fall   Hoping to have a wood stove for this fall.  Too much moisture with propane heat

[shadowless_nite]

I was thinking the same and looked into micro houses and the plans for them. On a budget what I came up with was a getting a dirt cheap dual axle  trailer from craigslist that needs fixing or title etc etc, find a free shed that needs removed from someones yard on craigslist. Chop up the shed and reassemble onto the trailer to your liking. You could practically put one together for free!

[Heredoggydoggy]

I've thought about getting a small cargo trailer to convert into a hunting RV.  For the more well-heeled, or someone needing more room, one of those Horse Trailers with the Room up front, and area for hay and tack, would be ideal. 

[CplRaines]

Insulated and built fold up/detachable bunks in my lil cargo trailer. I tie it in to my wall tent with tarps.

[Ghost Hunter]

anyone ever try to convert an autohauler into a, autohauler/ toy box/ camping rig??

anything to avoid?

(I have always had the ugliest camp, too many tarps, ropes, way too much stuff for one guy etc etc.
thinking I could contain it into one hauler and sleep inside or on top?  drive to a good campsite, bike up to trailhead, any odd rules like I gotta show the animal as I drive home?  )

You can hide an ugly camp in a hauler   No need to show your game, best to protect it from the elements on the trip home.  I have mine so I can hang quarters, or hang boned out bags, or pack a freezer with a generator in the tow rig.  I think most of us drive off the asphalt, so having a well built trailer that won't rattle apart is a good idea.  Thats what I like a about my truck box conversion.  It may be a little heavier, but it is stout.   It is a secure place to store everything if leaving behind for a base camp.  I can set up a camp cot, bunk or hammock in mine.   Leaving everything portable inside gives more versatility in how you can use the trailer year round.

[funkster]

Back when I raced  pro supercross, we converted a  18' Ford cube van. The front "living" quarters" had 3 bunks(including the mothers attic). The bottom bunk had 3 huge drawers for clothes etc. Each bunk had a drawer with enough room for fresh clothes for a month. We installed a wall separating the shop and living quarters.We insulated it and used a pocket door to save swing space. We then installed a shower and hot water tank and a 100 gallon fresh water holding tank. We built a entertainment center and added a microwave, TV, VCR/DVD player and back then, state of the art PS2. We also installed a door and folding RV steps to the front living quarters. The entire rig could run off the mounted generator that was hooked up to the gas tank or we could plug into a regular RV hook up. The shop could hold 4 bikes and had cabinets,counter space and tire racks. We had in line air compressor lines to run all air tools and could rebuild an entire bike out of the van. It was a fun project and we ended up selling it for $20,000! Sometimes I wish I never got rid of that rig, it would have made a awesome hunting rig.

[Heredoggydoggy]

That's exactly what I would do, Cpl Raines, without the upper bunks.  Nice job! 

[lagnar]

Anyone ever put a crank up floor system where the whole flat area could be cranked up to the ceiling for storage down below, and lower the pad/sleeping area to a level where you could have access to it...  kinda like what they have for the barbeque grills, raise and lover the whole tray with posts and wires placed at the corners.  I'm cheap but I can engineer most anything.

[jeepasaurusrex]

 

[CplRaines]

That's exactly what I would do, Cpl Raines, without the upper bunks.  Nice job! 

The upper bunks will unhook from the wall. Then the lower bunks will fold up on hinges and the uppers can be attached to the folded up lower and locked into place so that it all stays inside the line of the wheel wells. 

[farmin4u_98948]

I like that... add an axle... add a camper... add a few feet... etc

[Simcoe hunter]

I like cplraines idea.  You could get 3 bunks where you have 2 and still be comfortable.  Take it from a former submariner.  The old ships had bunks you had to trice up, or lift and hook the bottom one so it was out of the way for cleaning.  Your design should serve you well.  Did I see a wood stove in one of the pics?

[whacker1]

There was a guy in the Lewiston, ID area that had cut the side out of an enclosed cargo / snowmobile trailer and retrofitted it with the drop down side of tent trailer with similar bracing the tent trailer uses when down.   I wish I could find it, so I could share.  A friend of mine found it on craigslist. 

Rigid exterior when folded up for road use, and nice queen bed set for the tent side when set up for camp.

[CplRaines]

I like cplraines idea.  You could get 3 bunks where you have 2 and still be comfortable.  Take it from a former submariner.  The old ships had bunks you had to trice up, or lift and hook the bottom one so it was out of the way for cleaning.  Your design should serve you well.  Did I see a wood stove in one of the pics?

Yes. I tie the trailer into my wall tent with tarps and have the stove in the tent. Keeps the whole kit and kaboodle nice and warm.

One thing I have learned to do the last couple years is to haul up a few bails of certified weed free straw to pile up under and around the edges of the trailer to help insulate if from underneath. I also use the straw around the edges of the tent and on the ground in the tarped area to keep the mud down.

[Simcoe hunter]

How thick are your various pieces of plywood, and did you attach them by screw and glue?

[CplRaines]

How thick are your various pieces of plywood, and did you attach them by screw and glue?

3/8 plywood on the walls and doorskin on the ceiling. Screws to hold the plywood to the steel frame and short crown staples on the trimboard.