Idea for camp trailer / TC storage platform?

[SuaveGato]

So I had an idea (that may not be too original but it was to me) Since getting my TC, I have lost all of my room to take extra gear with me... shade canopy, BBQ, lawn chairs, ice chests, etc. I also need to find / build a platform to put my TC on when I want it off of the truck. So I thought, why not get a trailer like a Big Tex or similar that I can load all of my extra gear into and tow when I go camping, then when I get home, I can jack the camper off of the truck, slide the trailer under it and lower it onto the trailer! That way I have the support under it that is recommended, not just the jacks. And, I will be able to shuttle it around the yard too, if I need to move it out of the way.

Is this an obvious idea that everyone already does or is it a dumb idea that won't work for "X" reason? I guess my fears / concerns would be getting it on the trailer with the correct center of gravity, so I don't dump it. and I guess I could / should also strap it to the trailer with the mounts. Other than that ??? good or bad idea?

Thanks,

[Steelhog]

I found a used four wheel farm wagon running gear, welded a half dozen 2" square tubes longitudinally for a deck. Works great at 3-4 mph and easy to move. I deliberately kept it as low as possible so you can't cut the wheels as sharp as you would on a hay wagon. I store my Lance 845 on it with 70-80% of the weight on the trailer and the rest on the jacks. Don't have to worry about stressing he floor when using it as a lifeboat after storms etc.

http://www.killbrosequip.com/runninggears/

[SuaveGato]

@ Avion, Thanks for the info. I won't be towing the camper on the trailer however, ever... Just storing it and maybe moving it from street to driveway or back, that's all. The main reason for it is just cuz I was going to build a "platform" to store the TC on, to give it the bottom support that is recommended. And, I also have a sloped driveway and needing to store the TC with the "nose" the recommended approx. 4" higher than the rear, I can't back in to the driveway and drop the TC, the nose would be WAY lower, due to the slope. So with the trailer, I can drop the TC in the street, put the trailer under it, then back it into the drive way (so the rear entry door is at my garage door) and then level it out on the trailer, nose 4" higher than rear, VOILA! AND, I can use the trailer to tow all of my******that I can't put int he truck bed now! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Thanks Guys,

[69_Avion]

If you look around you can get new, take off truck beds for around $1,000. I got one that had the new bed, tailgate and bumper for that price. (a new tailgate goes for around $700 from a dealer) I made the trailer out of that. I can use the trailer for hauling if I take the camper off of it. It doesn't take much more money to make the trailer heavier from a 4,000#, 5,200# to a 7,000#. The price difference between the 4,000# and the 7,000# is probably less than $500. It is the price from 4" channel to 6" channel and the heavier axle and tires. I chose the 7,000# Flexiride axle because that is what I calculated that I needed, when fully loaded. My trailer weighs 2,000# empty, but it tows good empty or full. Remember, a trailer that is too short will not tow very well. I put a storage rack in front of the bed in order to make it longer so that it would tow good.

[SuaveGato]

Thanks again for all of the input everyone. I think what I'll do is take some measurements to see what I need to fit. The truck is a DRW, so I do have the hinged, "swing out" jacks, that might give me some more options on a wider trailer! I want to get the lightest trailer I can, so I can tow it with my little Tacoma at times too, so when I do store the camper on it, I might just put 4 jack stands under each corner as to not overwhelm the suspension while it sits there. I can also deploy the camper jacks too, so should be too much weight for a 2 - 4 thousand LB capacity single axel trailer. I will RARELY be moving the trailer with the camper on it, so not too worried.

thanks again,
biGjOhn

[MTRhino]

There are pro's and con's of all of these. The 2 axle wagon that Dan suggests will be way more stable and lower to the ground. The single axle truck box I use is easier to move empty and way easier to level using the camper jacks. Just depends on what your wants and needs are.

[Dan_L1]

Not quite what you're looking for, but I plan to build a "wagon" to store and move our camper around with. It will be a metal frame about 4.5 x 10 ft with a std trailer axel near the rear and an E100 ft straight axle at the front for steering. The expected cost is about $500. I plan to use std 480x12 trailer tires.

Dan

[MTRhino]

I think I already have what you are looking for. I have a trailer made from the back half of a 3/4ton pickup. I don't tow it behind when camping because we usually have a boat or the ATV trailer behind us, but I could. After unloading from the truck I can push the truck box trailer under the camper by hand and then let the camper down onto it. This type of trailer means the jacks don't have to go up/down so far when loading or unloading. I leave the camper jacks down when storing or unhooked from the truck as it is a single axle trailer, but most of the weight is on the trailer and the camper is very stable. I can hook up to the truck and move the camper closer to the house prior to a trip for loading and getting ready for the trip, or to move it out of the way for some project in the shop where it is stored. I would never consider hauling the camper down the road on this trailer, but is perfectly fine around the yard. The best part is I paid $400 for it used, and have no license or ins. costs because it never leaves the yard.

[69_Avion]

69 Avion wrote:

SuaveGato wrote:
So I had an idea (that may not be too original but it was to me) Since getting my TC, I have lost all of my room to take extra gear with me... shade canopy, BBQ, lawn chairs, ice chests, etc. I also need to find / build a platform to put my TC on when I want it off of the truck. So I thought, why not get a trailer like a Big Tex or similar that I can load all of my extra gear into and tow when I go camping, then when I get home, I can jack the camper off of the truck, slide the trailer under it and lower it onto the trailer! That way I have the support under it that is recommended, not just the jacks. And, I will be able to shuttle it around the yard too, if I need to move it out of the way.

Is this an obvious idea that everyone already does or is it a dumb idea that won't work for "X" reason? I guess my fears / concerns would be getting it on the trailer with the correct center of gravity, so I don't dump it. and I guess I could / should also strap it to the trailer with the mounts. Other than that ??? good or bad idea?

Thanks,

I actually built a trailer to haul my 1969 Avion C-11 on. I have now owned the Avion C-11 for 30 years and it has been in the family since new. We had built a yard trailer to store it on, years ago, but it wasn't for hauling it down the road. My wife gave me an option, build a trailer for the Avion C-11 or buy an Airstream Bambi. After looking at the Bambi, I decided to build the trailer. I now have a trailer that tows very well, even over freeway speeds, and is rated at 7,000#. It uses the same tires and wheels as my truck and hauls 80 gallons of water, 100# of LP, 20 gallons of gasoline along with one quad and a 30,000 btu external stove. The nice part is that I can take it off road when I want to since it doesn't sit low to the ground, and it can be used without the camper. This setup wasn't designed to take the camper off when I get to where I'm going. I don't even take the jacks with me. Besides, the old Avions weren't made to be used without support underneath them.
I also own a 34' Avion that probably won't get used again, because the C-11 trailer is much more suitable for boondocking.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f417/new-member-restoring-1969-c11-90779.html

[69_Avion]

SuaveGato wrote:
So I had an idea (that may not be too original but it was to me) Since getting my TC, I have lost all of my room to take extra gear with me... shade canopy, BBQ, lawn chairs, ice chests, etc. I also need to find / build a platform to put my TC on when I want it off of the truck. So I thought, why not get a trailer like a Big Tex or similar that I can load all of my extra gear into and tow when I go camping, then when I get home, I can jack the camper off of the truck, slide the trailer under it and lower it onto the trailer! That way I have the support under it that is recommended, not just the jacks. And, I will be able to shuttle it around the yard too, if I need to move it out of the way.

Is this an obvious idea that everyone already does or is it a dumb idea that won't work for "X" reason? I guess my fears / concerns would be getting it on the trailer with the correct center of gravity, so I don't dump it. and I guess I could / should also strap it to the trailer with the mounts. Other than that ??? good or bad idea?

Thanks,

I actually built a trailer to haul my 1969 Avion C-11 on. I have now owned it 30 years and it has been in the family since new. We had built a yard trailer to store it on, years ago, but it wasn't for hauling it down the road. My wife gave me an option, build a trailer for the Avion C-11 or buy an Airstream Bambi. After looking at the Bambi, I decided to build the trailer. I now have a trailer that tows very well, even over freeway speeds, and is rated at 7,000#. It uses the same tires and wheels as my truck and hauls 80 gallons of water, 100# of LP, 20 gallons of water along with one quad and a 30,000 btu external stove. The nice part is that I can take it off road when I want to since it doesn't sit low to the ground, and it can be used without the camper. This setup wasn't designed to take the camper off when I get to where I'm going. I don't even take the jacks with me. Besides, the old Avions weren't made to be used without support underneath them.
I also own a 34' Avion that probably won't get used again, because the C-11 trailer is much more suitable for boondocking.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f417/new-member-restoring-1969-c11-90779.html

[ticki2]

I use a trailer to store the TC and although I don't use it to tow behind , I could . A few things to consider , the trailer needs to be rated for the weight . It needs to be narrow enough to get the wheels past the jacks , old camper frames usually have a narrow axle and are good candidates . Most utility trailers have the axle too far forward for a camper with an overhang , you might have to move the axle back or weight the tongue to compensate . Even with that it's a good idea to put a jack under the back so it doesn't tip when you try to enter . You may have to put some pallets under the camper to get it high enough so the jacks clear , trailers are much lower than truck beds . Good luck

[bobndot]

That sounds like a good idea to me . I'll take a stab at it , just some thoughts :
The trailer would need to be "beefy enough" to move it around your property w/o damaging it, even at slow speeds.I would not want to leave it parked like that, fully supporting the tc weight. I think in time you will stress the trailer if it's too light. If you compromise the axle suspension, you are going to feel every bump in the road when the trailer hits it . It's going to transfer to your trucks frame through the hitch. Do it right the first time.

I would mark the camper COG as well as find the trailers COG, then match them up to be level. On an empty unloaded trailer,I would use two small jacks on each side rail of the trailer to find the approx COG.
I guess you would need something low profile with a deck (lid)
which would act as a tc platform. Make sure you support the bottom of the tc edges, where they offer the most strength. The deck would need to be a little larger than the tc bottom.
A trailer that looks something like this with a flat lid added . http://www.keatrailers.co.nz/trailers/heavy_tipper_k85st_kea_trailer.htm

A lot of H.D. trailers might be too wide (with tires) to fit between the tc jacks. If you find one thats narrow, it might be too light to support the camper.
You might have to use the tc jacks to take some weight off a lightweight narrow trailer. You might have to fabricate one from a boat trailer ,narrow body with a H.D. axle. If you can't do it yourself, use a weld shop.


Good luck with your project , would be interesting to see the results, Bob

[SuaveGato]

Thanks guys. I have no intentions of hauling the TC around on the trailer, other than in my yard, under 3 or so MPH. so it would basically just be a trailer for towing gear, that I could also store the camper on. So if I needed to move it it would be easy AND so I get the support "platform" under the camper that I've read is important, instead of leaving it hanging on the 4 jacks. Oh, and would make getting the nose of the camper 4" higher than the tail for storing easy too, with a tongue jack! Think I'll start looking for trailer!

Thanks.

[Jaxom]

Google search for Redneck Toyhauler.
Not exactly what you have in mind but may give you ideas.

[robsouth]

Just be sure to get a trailer rated for the weight of the TC and go for it. I don't see any problems other than that.