Turning a drop deck moving trailer into RV

A continuation of THIS THREAD

I'm planning on turning a drop-deck reefer into an RV. Like this:

http://www.rbhightechtransport.com/RB022.jpg (I didn't use image code because its a huge photo)

I have tons of experience with RVs, and I have lots of Class B (bus) experience. I really feel competent engineering and designing an RV in an existing shell, but I need guidance on what brands, styles, etc would work best.

One of the things I would like to incorporate is a ramp or lift in the back that can be used for loading a car.

In that photo above, grey, black, and fresh water tanks can go under the belly in the boxes. A genset and propane tanks could go on a shelf up where the reefer unit used to be.

Aaaannnd GO.

That appears low enough that a drop down gate would work. Given the height of the trailer you could have a loft above it for additional living space or storage.

If you want a lift gate, get a trailer with one. This would mean a high end car hauler and probably more money. I don't think its monetarily viable to build one on though I could be wrong. if you just wanted a motorcycle lift, then get something.

Don49 is right about the drive on. Build something like what Thor Outlaw with a bed up top. With overall height you can have a nice garage under a crawl in bed area.

Smaller, easy to link photo:

Get a cab like this and much of your living quarters needs will be met:

Cool project!
Cool equipment. What do these guys haul?

JohnRW1621 wrote: Smaller, easy to link photo: Cool project! Cool equipment. What do these guys haul?

For the most part, these Kentucky drop-decks are used for moving. United, Allied, Mayflower, etc.

The only thing about that particular trailer that bugs me is the number of axles. Since I'm not carrying crazy weight, the fewer brakes, tires, and bearings I have to service, the better.

A good example....

At least this one only has 8 tires and 4 brakes to maintain, know what I mean?

I thought hard about what they call a "furniture trailer" but it has big wheel wells that encroach on space... like this:

For the car hauling section, based on my experience with our Pace hauler at work...

E-Track is the shizzle for tying down and securing pretty much anything.

We have it in the floors and the walls, a great system once you buy into it.

JohnRW1621 wrote: Smaller, easy to link photo: Get a cab like this and much of your living quarters needs will be met: Cool project! Cool equipment. What do these guys haul?

The turning radius on that cab must be terrible. Reminds me of the one semi/boxtruck we had at work. Basically a cabover semi with a 40 foot long box on it instead of a mount.. seemed like it took a county or two to turn it around

Having worked with the design of a 48' trailer for truck OEM R&D a few thoughts: 1. Putting the genset in the location of a refer unit on the front of the truck works fine. Just keep in mind the service aspects of this and plan for oil changes, ect since it will now be many feet in the air. You can carry somewhere around 100 gallons of diesel without any DOT concerns.

1. Watch how much weight you attach to walls or load in the middle of the trailers. They may have been designed to haul 30-50K lbs, but that is spread out across the floor. The Frito Lay trucks may have reduced weight ratings since they are all about volume, not GVW but that is unlikely a concern in your application.

2. Ramps work fine for loading a vehicle in the back. It worked in Smokey and the Bandit and it works with every rental car we've had so far. This will not be the case with low sports cars, but everything else is fine. A good set of ramps is going to cost several thousand, but I would expect a lift with cost at least 5X that. A loft over the parking area makes a lot more usable space.

4... A good set of stairs to get inside can be a challenge, as can climate control. Walls can be insulated with foam board relatively easily.

Go for it! This will be a cool creation, make sure to take lots of pics.

In reply to GhiaMonster:

Thanks... that's a lot of good info.

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3024/PageID/6084/Fall-Line-Motorsports.aspx

Scroll down for inspiration, and view the next page as well.

Oh yeah. I'm trying to decide if I want a loft space above the parking or just leave it open. I don't really have any need for lifting the car, so that could be space used for a second bedroom.

Here is a link to a trailer a friend built that sounds a lot like what you have in mind except his is designed to haul 5 cars. I think it was a Frito Lay Kentucky hauler in it's former life. Project Page

Ad Page If you scroll down this page you will see the completed trailer he has for sale with a link to a video of the trailer as well. Might give you some ideas. His lift gate works really well and is used just to lift to deck height then two 4 post lifts inside allow for 5 car capacity. You could definitely put a nice loft above a single car in the rear.

Most of what I have discovered puts interior height at or around 9'6" to 10'. So, in order to keep a decent living space below, I think the loft would be useless. I'm 6', so I would want at least 6'6" or 7' under there. That means until you eat up 8" for flooring you only have just a little more than 2' above it.

Might just leave it open space.

curtis73 wrote: A good example....

Something like that will most likely have lived an easy life, but you will always smell like potato chips.

Woody wrote: Something like that will most likely have lived an easy life, but you will always smell like potato chips.

That would be annoying, but at least better than a seafood reefer.

curtis73 wrote:

Woody wrote: Something like that will most likely have lived an easy life, but you will always smell like potato chips.

That would be annoying, but at least better than a reefer reefer.

If it came from Mexico...

I'm going to the RV show this weekend in Pittsburgh. I'm partly going for layout/design ideas and partly to see how NOT to do what they're doing these days with cardboard junk. The newest RV I owned was a 2000, and it was junk. Now I have (what I consider to be) the last truly great trailer, a mid-90s Holiday Rambler Alumalite.

I'm also hoping there might be a large-luxo trailer company there with some ideas. I'm taking a tape measure and a writing tablet and planning on crawling around on the floor under some RVs.

We should get a Pittsburgh grm meet together. I keep forgetting that you are from Pittsburgh.

Rob R.

Agreed, Rob.

For lack of a better idea... I'll be at the RV show on Sunday the 12th

Curtis, did you find a suitable trailer yet?

http://appleton.craigslist.org/hvo/4303060498.html

It even has hardwood floors!

Some inspiration for you:

and as for ramps, where there's a will, there's a way!

Dumb question and maybe it's not what you're looking for, but what about an actual racing trailer?

Something like this popped up for $29k: http://racetrailersales.com/trailers/84_dorsey/index.html

Then retrofit it to your needs.

Just what I was thinking. A lot of guys at our ice races have enclosed trailers. they often have heat and coffee.

www.icerace .com

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: but what about an actual racing trailer?

A very valid question.

1) I don't need the multi-car ability of most of them. They have lifts, hydraulics, and all sorts of garagey-type storage.

2) They tend to cost 6-7 times as much as an empty trailer.

I would end up paying $30k for a trailer that needs almost everything stripped out of it instead of paying $5k for a trailer that simply needs a few things put in it.

I think what I'm saying is... race trailers are purpose-built for transporting racing cars and can accommodate some rudimentary lodging. I need a purpose-built RV/home that just happens to occasionally carry a car in the living room.

The amount of time that a car spends being transported inside the trailer will probably be relatively small compared to its use as an actual residence. For instance, my current layout has the couch at the back of the trailer. When I uproot and need to load the car, I would need to slide the couch forward about 18'. That is something I only anticipate doing once or twice a year. I tend to go and squat for 9 months and then move on, so my trailer needs to be 80% house and 20% car transport. As opposed to race trailers which are 80% for car transport and 20% residence.