Vintage Travel Trailer options?
I've been knocking around the idea lately of setting up a classic looking trailer with both the ability to haul swap meet items and antiques as well as provide me with a place to sleep and shower on t...
Forum Discussion
It won't be headed anywhere for a while, at least not till the weather warms up.
I'm not real sure what to do about it not having brakes but a trip to the scales will let me know if they'll be required here or not. By the feel of this thing I doubt its over the minimum rating to need brakes. In NJ it has to weigh over 3,000lbs to need brakes, I'm guessing that the way it sits now its not going to be anywhere close to that. I can grab the tongue and lead it around the yard on the grass, and I can tilt the thing back and get the front axle to clear the ground with little effort. Granted all the weight now is past the axles and who knows if the tank is full back there or not. The belly area is totally clear from what I can see. I did crack the drain valve a bit and nothing came out, so either its frozen, caked solid, or its empty. There was water in the toilet tank but not much. Someone has antifreeze in the toilet and tank. The cold water inlet in the rear is capped and marked 'antifreeze'.
I'm pretty much ok with the way its set up now, I'll just be adding a real sleeping area and doing a major sanitizing job in the bathroom. The rest isn't bad at all, just a big empty white box inside. Maybe some tied downs in the floor are in order but other than that all the work is on the exterior.
Anything beats sleeping in the back of the truck or car in a sleeping bag with everything you brought with you outside under a tarp or canopy. Especially when it rains during a swap meet. I do both antique bikes and transportation collectibles, nothing is very heavy, a full load won't add much weight at all. The heaviest thing getting loaded will be the occasional outboard or cooler full of ice for the weekend.
I rarely travel more than a few hundred miles, and probably wouldn't try to cross any big mountain areas with the car pulling the trailer. The problem is the car is rated much higher for towing then my truck is, my 4 cylinder pickup is only rated at about 1100 lbs max. It would have big issues getting this thing rolling, let alone stopping it. My 10' utility trailer with a small tractor on it feels like a 40' semi behind my truck. The Lincoln pulls it like nothing and gets better mileage doing it.
The way I look at it, back when this trailer was new, most people towed with cars, I grew up next door to a guy who pulled a 30+ foot Holiday trailer behind his Ford LTD, he used to brag how he hit every state in the country one summer with it. The entire front was covered in stickers from places he had been. The car was a rusted out late 70's model with a 302 V8, those were the years when the HP rating took a dive to about 120hp or so. My Lincoln has 239hp and came fully set up to tow. It even came with a built in brake controller and 7 pin plug.
I was most surprised that this trailer didn't sway or track all over the place being it was on a straight hitch, no EQ bars or sway control.
A web search lists this trailer around 3500 lbs, I'd bet real money its not even close. I'll know for sure when I weigh it.
One thing I do want to do is lose all the glass, at least the front windows need to be covered up or secured better, maybe just some black paint inside will work but I can see them getting hit with debris on the road and getting busted. The corner windows are plastic but I'm sure their brittle after all these years. I've yet to find any tags or a vin number on this thing, any clue where it should be?
I also have to decide what color to make this thing, the army green don't cut it and its peeling everywhere. I'm figuring a good hot pressure washing will loose most of the olive drab paint. I'm thinking someone was using it as a hunting shack considering all the spent shells all over the place inside.
Being a big metal box though, I can't imagine what firing a gun inside would sound like.
I'm not real sure what to do about it not having brakes but a trip to the scales will let me know if they'll be required here or not. By the feel of this thing I doubt its over the minimum rating to need brakes. In NJ it has to weigh over 3,000lbs to need brakes, I'm guessing that the way it sits now its not going to be anywhere close to that. I can grab the tongue and lead it around the yard on the grass, and I can tilt the thing back and get the front axle to clear the ground with little effort. Granted all the weight now is past the axles and who knows if the tank is full back there or not. The belly area is totally clear from what I can see. I did crack the drain valve a bit and nothing came out, so either its frozen, caked solid, or its empty. There was water in the toilet tank but not much. Someone has antifreeze in the toilet and tank. The cold water inlet in the rear is capped and marked 'antifreeze'.
I'm pretty much ok with the way its set up now, I'll just be adding a real sleeping area and doing a major sanitizing job in the bathroom. The rest isn't bad at all, just a big empty white box inside. Maybe some tied downs in the floor are in order but other than that all the work is on the exterior.
Anything beats sleeping in the back of the truck or car in a sleeping bag with everything you brought with you outside under a tarp or canopy. Especially when it rains during a swap meet. I do both antique bikes and transportation collectibles, nothing is very heavy, a full load won't add much weight at all. The heaviest thing getting loaded will be the occasional outboard or cooler full of ice for the weekend.
I rarely travel more than a few hundred miles, and probably wouldn't try to cross any big mountain areas with the car pulling the trailer. The problem is the car is rated much higher for towing then my truck is, my 4 cylinder pickup is only rated at about 1100 lbs max. It would have big issues getting this thing rolling, let alone stopping it. My 10' utility trailer with a small tractor on it feels like a 40' semi behind my truck. The Lincoln pulls it like nothing and gets better mileage doing it.
The way I look at it, back when this trailer was new, most people towed with cars, I grew up next door to a guy who pulled a 30+ foot Holiday trailer behind his Ford LTD, he used to brag how he hit every state in the country one summer with it. The entire front was covered in stickers from places he had been. The car was a rusted out late 70's model with a 302 V8, those were the years when the HP rating took a dive to about 120hp or so. My Lincoln has 239hp and came fully set up to tow. It even came with a built in brake controller and 7 pin plug.
I was most surprised that this trailer didn't sway or track all over the place being it was on a straight hitch, no EQ bars or sway control.
A web search lists this trailer around 3500 lbs, I'd bet real money its not even close. I'll know for sure when I weigh it.
One thing I do want to do is lose all the glass, at least the front windows need to be covered up or secured better, maybe just some black paint inside will work but I can see them getting hit with debris on the road and getting busted. The corner windows are plastic but I'm sure their brittle after all these years. I've yet to find any tags or a vin number on this thing, any clue where it should be?
I also have to decide what color to make this thing, the army green don't cut it and its peeling everywhere. I'm figuring a good hot pressure washing will loose most of the olive drab paint. I'm thinking someone was using it as a hunting shack considering all the spent shells all over the place inside.
Being a big metal box though, I can't imagine what firing a gun inside would sound like.
