Truck camper on bumper pull trailer for toy hauler

[kregernick]

Does anyone have any experience mounting a slide in camper to the front of a bumper pull trailer to have open deck space for toys?

[S_Davis]

I am planning on doing that with my 30' gooseneck, this will give me about a 5000lb capacity for toys.

[deltabravo]

Arctic Fox campers are delivered to dealers on a custom trailer, this way a truck driver with a dually can deliver two campers in one load.

Somewhere in my collection of photos I have a pictre of one of the trailers used.

[kregernick]

burningman wrote:

kregernick wrote:
So my decision is to slide my axles on the trailer forward to reduce tongue weight.

One bummer about the "redneck toy hauler" if you have deck space at the rear you'll be carrying anything on is you need to be able to get the door open.

The nice thing about that is I have 20 feet of deck the camper will take up 10 feet and the pair of golf carts take up 8 feet of deck space, leaving me 2 feet to put right in between the camper and carts to get in and out with the trailer loaded.

[burningman]

kregernick wrote:
So my decision is to slide my axles on the trailer forward to reduce tongue weight.

Now that's some smart, not-afraid-to-make-stuff thinking!
When I had a camper on a bumper pull car trailer it was over the axles because the guys are right, too much tongue weight for a bumper pull otherwise.
I did it because I needed to carry a camper 1500 miles with an '80s 1/2-ton Chevy with a Caddy 500 motor. It had no problem PULLING it, it just couldn't CARRY it.

One bummer about the "redneck toy hauler" if you have deck space at the rear you'll be carrying anything on is you need to be able to get the door open.

[kregernick]

So my decision is to slide my axles on the trailer forward to reduce tongue weight.

[Bedlam]

It's hard to find a toy hauler that can carry two golf carts unless it is a car hauler with living quarters. I was looking into those before we went the TC direction.

[KD4UPL]

Usually when I've seen this done it's been with a gooseneck flatbed, not a "bumper pull". These are designed for more pin weight anyway and the cabover portion of the camper fits right over the gooseneck area. I would think doing this on a regular type pull-behind trailer would put way too much weight on the tongue. I don't see any way around it. Yes, you could try and balance it out with the golf carts on the back but if you ever have to move it without them you're in trouble.
Many flat bed trailers are 8.5' wide. If yours is then most dually brackets won't clear and you'd need something custom built or some forklifts.
I think I'd just sell the TC and buy a toy hauler. You'll have more room, an enclosed garage, more sleeping space, it will be easier to tow, and it will have more resale than something rigged up.

[Bedlam]

I think the two golf carts would equalize the trailer carrying the camper whether the carts are forward or rear of the camper. Towing the trailer partially loaded at either extreme would be outside of safe tongue weight.

[Grit_dog]

That AF pic above is a sweet setup, but mounting a camper near the front of a bumper pull would put waaay too much tongue weight on the truck n trailer for the vast majority of trailers' axle locations.
Putting the camper at the front is pretty much only reserved for gooseneck trailers where everything can handle the pin weight.
While it looks like a cool invention......sometimes.......there's a reason it's call a TRUCK camper.
If you want a camper, trailer, toyhauler, would be much easier, more practical and less redneck to sell the camper and utility trailer and buy one of the dime a dozen bp toyhaulers out there.
JMO

[Bedlam]

The big question is what hangs under your skirts. You will either need to make cutouts for them in the deck, relocate them or raise the camper on a platform that sits on the deck to get the clearance.

If you side load the carts in front of the camper, you can set it on the rear and let the skirt hang off the rear. CG will be fine with the carts loaded but tongue light when unloaded.

Swing out brackets or temporary wider jack brackets should clear your trailer. I had plenty of room to slip my 8' flat bed under my Arctic Fox. Is your TC narrower than 8'?

[kregernick]

burningman wrote:
I measured mine just out of curiosity and my swing-out dually brackets aren't enough to clear my flatbed trailer. I'm not saying you can't do it - I have set campers on car trailers before myself - but it took a bit of creativity to get it on there.
I've done it by making an extra-wide steel brace that bolted across the front of the camper and held the jacks way out, then removed them, and I've done it with a boom truck crane.
I've thought about rolling one on steel fence piles.

I have a forklift and front end loaders I can use to put it on the trailer so that's not a concern.

[kregernick]

horton333 wrote:

kregernick wrote:
Does anyone have any experience mounting a slide in camper to the front of a bumper pull trailer to have open deck space for toys?

Wouldn't it be easier to put the camper in the bed likes it's designed for and tow an open trailer, is it a weight issue?
There are also trailers that have a large open section at the front for toys and then a trailer behind like this that would do the same(but I'm guessing you already have a unit you want to use?)

LIke this.

I've got a 9 1/2 foot TC and a crew cab 2500hd with the 6 1/2 foot box. Not real friendly to be pulling a trailer behind with the camper in the box.

I have a 7000 lbs 22 foot flat deck trailer that I plan on turning into a camper/toy hauler so I can still fit my 2 golf carts on the trailer.

[burningman]

I measured mine just out of curiosity and my swing-out dually brackets aren't enough to clear my flatbed trailer. I'm not saying you can't do it - I have set campers on car trailers before myself - but it took a bit of creativity to get it on there.
I've done it by making an extra-wide steel brace that bolted across the front of the camper and held the jacks way out, then removed them, and I've done it with a boom truck crane.
I've thought about rolling one on steel fence piles.

[horton333]

kregernick wrote:
Does anyone have any experience mounting a slide in camper to the front of a bumper pull trailer to have open deck space for toys?

Wouldn't it be easier to put the camper in the bed likes it's designed for and tow an open trailer, is it a weight issue?
There are also trailers that have a large open section at the front for toys and then a trailer behind like this that would do the same(but I'm guessing you already have a unit you want to use?)

LIke this.