Converting a cargo trailer to a camper or ?

I've been looking for a small, lightweight trailer to pull behind my Wrangler. I like the teardrop style but the cheapest one I can find is $2500 new:

Linky

And they are located about an hour north of me.

I'm not really a fan of popup campers. Yeah, they are lightweight but I'm looking for something I can camp in and haul a small amount of stuff in. The funny thing is, is that I can buy a brand new 5x8 v-nosed cargo trailer for like $1300. There are 2 problems I see with that:

1. I'd spend probably about $1k anyway making it habitable. Not like luxury RV habitable but comfortable.
2. The weight is still more than a teardrop/minimalist camper. Add in interior enhancements and I wouldn't have any room for stuff. The tow rating on my 2 door Wrangler is a whopping 2000lbs. The camper I linked to weighs about 630lbs.

When I move in September, I plan on stopping in Omaha, where I was stationed before and have a few items in storage that I couldn't take with me (toolbox, small air compressor, ect). I'd really like to be able to throw those in a small trailer (since cargo room in a 2 door Wrangler is nonexistent).

The place I'm moving to in Idaho has a ton of camping and recreation spots. I figure I could knock out two birds with one stone by getting a trailer I could use for both purposes.

Am I crazy? Am I making it harder than it should be? What does the hive mind think?

rent an RV, a big one, and tow the wrangler behind it. or buy said RV, and sell it after the trip.

-J0N

I spec'd an enclosed trailer for the racecar so that I could sleep in it. This required a man door and a couple of windows, one with emergency exit capability. I also had AC and insulation and a 30 amp land line installed. Those are all things your typical cargo trailer won't have.

I'm still planning on a diy version of this. I did see this too the other day while day dreaming. I already have a 5x9 utility trailer. I've seen and spent the night in a Sylvan Sport and it's very nice, not $8k nice, but nice.

Since you brought up the tangent, where are you going in Idaho?

stanger_missle wrote: Am I crazy? Am I making it harder than it should be? What does the hive mind think?

Lot's of people have done what you are thinking. Resource

I have a friend who uses his 5 x 8 enclosed as a hauler and camper. He's quite happy with it. I'd love to do the same thing, but Mrs. Woof doesn't share my enthusiasm for the idea.

Where do you get a new 5 x 8 for $1300?

On subject- so you are thinking about taking a closed trailer, and making it possible to sleep in?

While they are very far out of the basic idea you are thinking about, you may consider one of the really nice car trailers that are also campers for ideas.

The biggest things I see are: 1) windows, 2) floor and wall coverings, 3) (related) insulation, and 4) basic confort things.

Adding tinted windows that have coverings that can be closed tight when you carry stuff should be pretty easy. Floor and wall- use high quality flooring that can take hard abuse, say some kind of tile or vynl floring- that should work well. Insulation will cut some of the bulk space for carrying stuff, but it will be nice to have.

The rest of the comfort things, you probably can get a POS pop up camper and move them from that to the trailer you like. You should be able to package some of that in the less useful areas of the trailer. In terms of beds, tables, etc- that should be easy to come up with a design that either folds up to the wall, or doubles as something else.

It may end up looking kind of odd, but I'm sure with some creative design, you can take a basic trailer and camp in it. Heck, Curtis converted a basic boat trailer to a close camper on the projects board....

Zomby Woof wrote:

stanger_missle wrote: Am I crazy? Am I making it harder than it should be? What does the hive mind think?

Lot's of people have done what you are thinking. Resource

Oh boy, lots of time to be wasted there. Thanks!

For a really low budget setup, would you be averse to a HF 4' X 8' trailer, build a storage area on the deck, then a platform on top of it for a tent? You;d have to take more time to set up when you get a to a campsite(but no more than regular tent camping), aND it'd be easy to keep it under your weight and cost limit.

I'm thinking, put a sheet of plywood on the deck, then build up walls about 18" or so, including doors, then another shEet of plywood on top to keep everything dry, and to provide a smooth surface for a tent to be set up on. Come to think of it, didn't Tom Suddard do something like this?

In reply to alfadriver:

I'm moving to Mountain Home. I'm pretty stoked because I was born and raised about 6 hours north (Lewiston). It will be nice to be a little closer to home for a change. I've lived in Texas, Mississippi, Nebraska and Florida. My folks just retired and it will be nice to spend some time with them.

In reply to Zomby Woof:

One other issue that I forgot to mention is time. I don't have any. I am moving in 3 months. I work 12 hours almost every day, switching between 0700-1900 and 1900-0700. I'd love to build a sweet DIY camper but I just don't have the time. Or the room.

I saw these trailers on the Tampa CL. Here is their website: Snapper Trailers

They seem decent.

In reply to alfadriver:

I'm really hampered by the ridiculously low tow rating on the Wrangler. And I'm poor. I think I could scrounge up around $2.5k but that would be the very top end of my budget. Another issue is that I don't have a lot of room at my house. It is a small townhouse with pretty limited parking. I'd have to store a larger trailer if I couldn't fit it in my garage.

If I ever become financially stable, I'd love to build my own custom built camper. Like a 53' custom built Taj Mahal palace on wheels.

You know campers depreciate like a rock falling out of the space station, right? Buy used.

stanger_missle wrote: In reply to alfadriver: I'm moving to Mountain Home. I'm pretty stoked because I was born and raised about 6 hours north (Lewiston). It will be nice to be a little closer to home for a change. I've lived in Texas, Mississippi, Nebraska and Florida. My folks just retired and it will be nice to spend some time with them.

Cool- I was just in Moscow last weekend. My brother just moved back there- we both went to school at U of I.

Still- I think you can get ideas looking at the car trailer/campers- it seems as if they had to do some creative packaging of stuff to keep the trailer capaple of carrying stuff.

In reply to alfadriver:

I really miss the PNW. Besides Florida, it is my favorite region of this great country.

It annoys me that some of the campers are so expensive. $12k for a teardrop!? Uh, I'd buy a pickup and a used 15-17' camper for that price.

I'm still flirting with the idea of buying an enclosed cargo trailer and fitting it to my liking. I really wish I wasn't handicapped by the 2000lb tow capacity of my Jeep. Sometimes I wish I would of kept my Ram, which could tow 9000lbs. Then it would be a no brainer

chrispy wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote:

stanger_missle wrote: Am I crazy? Am I making it harder than it should be? What does the hive mind think?

Lot's of people have done what you are thinking. Resource

Oh boy, lots of time to be wasted there. Thanks!

Yea I have spent cubic hours reading that site!

There are two ways to look at this:

1. take a cargo trailer and spend $$$$ making it into a half-assed RV. As mentioned, there are numerous sources of info about doing this, from mild to wild. If you want things like plumbing, it gets very tricky since the big difference between cargo trailers and RV trailers is the floor height, which is much higher in an RV to allow for the below-floor utilities. Cargo trailers want as low a deck as possible for easier loading. This is why a lot of "toy box" RV's have ramped cargo areas, to sort of bridge the difference.

2. take a cargo trailer and pretty consider it a rolling tent with better security. Roll out a camping mat and a sleeping bad inside = done. There's not much to say about this. I've seen it done at races numerous times. Ventilation tends to be the tricky part. Sleeping in a hot box can be uncomfortable. Cargo trailers tend to have a roof vent at best, but they generally do little for air flow once the doors are closed.

Sultan wrote:

chrispy wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote:

stanger_missle wrote: Am I crazy? Am I making it harder than it should be? What does the hive mind think?

Lot's of people have done what you are thinking. Resource

Oh boy, lots of time to be wasted there. Thanks!

Yea I have spent cubic hours reading that site!

Holy crap! That is an internet rabbit hole if I ever saw one! Some of those builds are crazy. I wish I had more time (and money) to do something like that.

Out of your price point yet this is basically a converted cargo trailer, http://microlitetrailer.com/MLThome2a.htm

and this company, http://3feathersmfg.com/

Sultan wrote: Out of your price point yet this is basically a converted cargo trailer, http://microlitetrailer.com/MLThome2a.htm

I really like their Vymeron model. Needs a few tweaks, tho... I couldn't care less about having a kitchen. All I really want an RV for is my own bathroom facilities (toilet and shower) and a dry place to sleep that isn't a tent. Cooking can be done on a table under the EZ-up.

If you want to do it on the cheap, you could go like my son and I have a few times. 6x12 cargo (I'd recommend 7x14 just so it's not as claustrophobic), cut a hole in the front for a $99 window A/C, cots in the back and a port a potty. Tracks usually have toilets and showers, but we use a wash rag and a bucket inside the trailer. Not a big comfy RV, but better than a tent and cheaper than a hotel for a practice weekend.

-Rob

I'm updating this because I bought a camper.

I bought a homemade 5x10 teardrop camper from a guy in the local area. It has a TIG-welded aluminum C-channel frame, 2k lb torsion axle, aluminum skin, 2x2 framed walls with 5/8ths exterior grade plywood. It weighs about 940 lbs.

It tows great behind my Wrangler. I had it up to 70mph a couple of times and its nice and stable. It's built pretty well but I think I'm going to change a few things.

One of the issue I have is the torsion axle. It's a 2000lb Rockwell torsion axle. The angle of the torsion arm is nearly level or maybe 10-20° above the frame. The seller assured me that it is new and I found a manufacture date of 2009 on the axle. The suspension of the axle seems really stiff. I don't have much experience with torsion axles but it seems like I should be able to see the suspension compress a bit when I rock the camper? I am thinking about replacing the axle with another torsion axle but with one that the torsion arms point down 22-45° to allow more ground clearance and allow me to run 13" or 14" tires. It seems pretty simple and a new axle is about $350 or so.

What do you guys think?

You could lift it by installing spacers between the axle and frame.

In reply to Kenny_McCormic:

Yeah, that is definitely an option. The axle is mounted using top mounted brackets and it would be pretty easy to put some spacers in there.

Would there be any negative side effects? I'd like it to be about 4" higher or so. I had to buy an adjustable ball mount to get the trailer somewhat level when towing. I can move the fenders up since they are just screwed in to the sides. I'd like to make it a little more offroad capable. Nothing more extreme than a rutted dirt road. The axle currently has a 4x4 bolt pattern with 12x4.8 wheels. I'd like to put beefier wheels and tires on it but anything bigger than 12" is impossible to find in the 4x4 bolt pattern.