From Camper to Utility Trailer

[meledward23]

I had this 1970 Camper Trailer, Hard side. It was in terrible shape. I inherited through marriage and my wife had done nothing with it in 10 years. The seals were wore out and rain had been penetrating the interior for years. It was rotted and rusted out. I failed to take pictures of it before and during demolition. But here it is after it has been stripped.

I am going to make this trailer into a utility trailer. Dimensions are 62" inside the fenders and 14'7" in length.

 

[meledward23]

another

 

[meledward23]

and another

 

[meledward23]

one more

 

[meledward23]

another one

 

[meledward23]

more

 

[meledward23]

last one for now

 

[meledward23]

There is going to be a tailgate added to this trailer. I want to make it a 4' so I can get mowers on the trailer. But I was also wanting to make it complicated so I decided I only want two feet of tailgate sticking up in the air.

Double hinge, or removable expansion ? So far we have decided on removable expansion. I figure to use some square tubing with threaded nuts to bolt down on the insert from the outer tube to keep it from rattling to much. Probably add a few wing nut bolts to secure the two sections together as well.

Two more Trailer Projects Coming Soon.
20' Gooseneck requires new floor and adding a dovetail.
62"x113" hyrdaulic dump trailer to be redone.

 

[Spiffy]

That is one nice looking trailer! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Instead of a hinged tailgate you could go beaver tail (half of the "ramp" is permantently attached and slants down from the bed, the other half is hinged to complete the ramps when down and extend the bed when up).

Overkill for lawn mowers maybe, but you'd never need to worry about not having the ramps attached. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bowhunter]

Great looking trailer! Good work.

 

[Clyde]

A very professional job!! After adding that much steel, what do you estimate the carrying capacity will be? Electric brakes on both axles? Once again - A very nice job - Clyde

 

[meledward23]

Well I have crunched some numbers somewhere on how much the steel weighs.. It didnt add up as fast as I thought it would though. In the end I am just going to take it and have it weighed.

This particular trailer is for my v6 S10 to pull on the rare occasions I need to move stuff while the wife grabs the Dodge One Ton. Of course I can pull it behind the dodge but I dont think it will even know it's back there.

The axles are rated at 3600 pounds each. So I am figuring I should be good to go with 4000 lbs. Which is plenty for what I plan on using this trailer for. Anything heavy goes on the 20' Gooseneck I have. Any payload will go on the dump trailer I am getting ready to redo.

Naturally that leaves me without an enclosed trailer or a car hauler, thank-fully my brother has both. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Thanks, sometime during this project my brother and I have looked at each other and have said "How much just to buy one?".

It's not the destination, but the adventure.

 

[blackrams]

It's not the destination, but the adventure.

I whole heartedly agree. But, having taken this path a couple of times, I've found that (generally speaking) an old tandem axle boat trailer makes a much better trailer than any old camper trailer. Just my opinion but, I've found this to be true twice now. We all have to work with what we have or can acquire. I've done more with nothing than most folks have with a good head start. As we used to say in the military, if we can't fix it, it ain't broke.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I whole heartedly agree. But, having taken this path a couple of times, I've found that (generally speaking) an old tandem axle boat trailer makes a much better trailer than any old camper trailer. Just my opinion but, I've found this to be true twice now. We all have to work with what we have or can acquire. I've done more with nothing than most folks have with a good head start. As we used to say in the military, if we can't fix it, it ain't broke.

That's a little different twist than my moto:

If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is.