Can you buy an empty travel trailer?
Hi there! My husband and I are just starting to consider getting a travel trailer. I'm pretty attracted to 5th wheel trailers, but we'd have to get a truck to tow it. Either way, I'm kind of intereste...
Forum Discussion
Probably not from an RV dealer, as an empty trailer is not a travel trailer, it is just a trailer. There may be trailers that are built light travel trailers available from a specialty division at a large diversified vehicle manufacturer like Forest River, but most "empty" enclosed trailers you find will be cargo trailers, with quite different construction.
For most modern RV construction, the furnishings tend to be structural, e.g. interior walls and floor to ceiling cabinetry will be used to help keep the walls in place and keep the structure square. Box trailers designed for cargo will have sturdier construction of the box, to be self supporting empty and for many, to carry the loads of tying down heavy cargo.
For gutting, you will likely have more luck with an older trailer with framed walls (house-like construction) as those shells, while not necessarily stronger than modern RV paneled wall boxes, were at least built to stand alone, rather than depend on interior bulkheading.
Or, you could start with something like an Airstream or Avion, with a shell built something like a 1930's aircraft fuselage. Those will stand alone.
For most modern RV construction, the furnishings tend to be structural, e.g. interior walls and floor to ceiling cabinetry will be used to help keep the walls in place and keep the structure square. Box trailers designed for cargo will have sturdier construction of the box, to be self supporting empty and for many, to carry the loads of tying down heavy cargo.
For gutting, you will likely have more luck with an older trailer with framed walls (house-like construction) as those shells, while not necessarily stronger than modern RV paneled wall boxes, were at least built to stand alone, rather than depend on interior bulkheading.
Or, you could start with something like an Airstream or Avion, with a shell built something like a 1930's aircraft fuselage. Those will stand alone.
