using a utility trailer as a truck camper dolly

I have a boat trailer that has been converted to haul canoes. I have it set up so I can remove the canoe rack and use it as a flat bed. It has a long tounge and the COG would be good to use for moving around a truck camper. Maybe look into that if you cannot come up wit hanything else.

I have a buddy with a front hitch on his Mits Monterro. It can move around his boat with ease, and he can 'back' the boat up to a friend's house at high speed, about 2 blocks away.

You might want to think about a front end hitch, it can be something that will make a great attachment point for a winch, or if you already have a winch bracket, it might be easy to attach a receiver on to that, and move the trailer around while looking at it!

Yes the small trailer idea would work for 'low speed' movement of a 2,500 pound camper. I don't know if I would trust the tires at much more than 10 MPH, depends on how strong they are, and their weight rating!

Key as stated above is getting the center of gravity ahead of the trailer axle. It does not need to be really far ahead of the axle, but you do not want a situation where the hitch mount will be lifted off the ball, because of negative weight on the trailer hitch. You should be able to set the jacks down once parked, and level the camper, then use it for whatever, even stock it for the next trip, and then be able to relocate the camper to the driveway, to allow mounting it on the real trip for the vacations!

You can also use a long hitch extension to put the trailer a little farther from your jeep, so that the cabover will clear. You can buy 18" long 2" receiver extensions, or build one out of 2.5" square stock (with 1/4" thick walls) and some 2" stock to slide into the hitch. Because your speed is less than 10 MPH, and weight is minimal, this should work fine. Change things to higher speed, or sudden stops, and it might bend something (hitch on the Jeep, or frame or the extension itself, or something.)

Good luck,

Fred.

The tongue won't be long enough to clear the cabover portion of the camper.

RV dealers that sell camper use a small trailer to do exactly what you want to do, but there trailers a specially built with a really long tongue.

I saw another such trailer when I was delivering an RV (travel trailer) to a dealer in Kalispell, MT Thursday, but I didn't think to take a picture of it.

I have another delivery planned for Monday to a different dealer, so I will look around and see if I can find the trailer they use.

One key factor is the CG (center of gravity) MUST be forward of the axle.

In my travels doing RV transport, I've seen the trailers used by drivers who deliver Arctic Fox campers... pretty interesting trailers. It's a tandem axle job with a tongue that must be 6-7' long.