Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi all, first time posting so be gentle! I searched for this thread but couldn't find a previous one so I hope I'm not duplicating anything. We are having a hard time finding cargo trailers to fit our needs and would like some suggestions. We are looking at 6x12 v nose enclosed ( would also maybe consider a 7x14 for the right price), but the interior height has to be at least 6'3" to accommodate one of us and we would like to get the most depth out of the v nose section as well.

Any thoughts? Any suggestions on dealers or specific trailers? I have scoured the web and ebay looking, but can never seem to find the best combo of the two. We live in CO as well so anything not local would most likely need to get shipped.

Greatly appreciate any thoughts or suggestions that you all may have on this. Really looking forward to getting our hands on our new (or used) trailer and starting our conversion!

The problem with manufacturers is they tend to be pretty regional.

I had a great experience with Lark, but do you want to drag a trailer home from South GA to Colorado?

I bought through an outfit called trailershowroom.com that works with about a half dozen manufacturers and you can spec your trailer down way past the detail level you're even looking for, but it will likely be a different manufacturer from mine even if you buy it at the same place.

I got my 6x12 v-nose with a 6'6" interior coupled with a drop axle to make the overall height of the trailer kind of a wash. I specified a single axle, RV door handle, dual rear doors, extended tongue, insulation, electrical, etc - all those kinds of things can be specified with just about any custom build.

Looking and forward to seeing what you get!

I agree with khigh. You should see what what brands are available either in your area or at a distance you are willing to drive. Then do the research on the various manufacturers to see what works for you. My folder of info was two inches thick and I ended driving about 400 miles one way to get it. When you find simething that looks good, get dirty, look underneath and see what the frame tubing looks like, etc. Look for other areas where the attention to details and quality can be seen. Search for that brand name in both this forum and on the internet.

Spending the time just reading this section of the TNTTT forum can also produce brand satisfaction comments. Me, I probably took too much time and took too long ot make up my mind. The "point of diminishing returns" comes to mind.

Good luck.

2Tornados, I have owned a Pace trailer, Stealth trailer and now a Team Spirit trailer. My favorite brand is Stealth because of the aluminum frame and led lights. Problem is, I sold it because it did not have the ceiling height and it was a 6x12. This was part of the process of experimenting / camping in a cargo trailer. I thought a 6x12 would fit two adults and all the equipment I needed. Wrong. The new one has the high ceiling and is a 7x14 which is the perfect size trailer to tow with a SUV or truck. My plan was to build another trailer (order a Stealth), but a member on this board was selling his Team Spirit trailer.

Good luck

Here are some dealer locations for you....
http://teamspirittrailers.com/find-a-dealer/

http://www.stealthtrailer.com/page/21/About-Us

http://www.paceamerican.com/page.php?page_id=619

A lot of this will depend upon how much you want to spend. If you have a high budget, aluminum frame can't be beat. However, if you are on a budget like me, you have to decide what's important. I'm analytical, so built a matrix for all of the regional manufacturers. Here are a few of key items that I considered.

- Luan or 3/8" plywood interior walls. I wanted 3/8" plywood, as this is easy to screw to during your build. Expensive to switch once you own the trailer.
- round or flat top. I wanted a round top because the trailers I evaluated gave me more height in the middle with the same wall height. I also felt round would be better for water runoff, but no proof of this. round top trailers are harder to build out, as you need to shape all of you cabinet top pieces to the contour of the ceiling for everything to look factory built. I have a step by step guide on doing this in my build post. Not that hard, just takes more time.
- I spent a lot of time measuring v-nose versus round nose. This would have moved me to a flat top, but at the time, I had not decided. I found that while i gained length in the middle, I lost length on the wall edge. Based upon the trailers I measured, I would have opted for the flat front for the longer walls
- How much room from the front corner to the man door. Since I was building cabinets up front, I wanted as close to 2 feet as possible.
- weight difference, as weight is an issue for my tow rig
- wall vent. didn't want one, and some trailers have one in the front up high and one in the rear down low. I would have had to fill these, so a deal killer for me.
- single/tandem axle
- rv door or bar lock man door. rv door was all i considered
- wood frame or steel frame in walls. I saw some wood framed trailers online, but wanted steel frame
- barn door or ramp. ramp doors are heavy, and since I have an aluminum ramp to load the bike, I opted for barn doors
- roof vent. If you are ordering, you can get anything, but I was buying from stock, so wanted a roof vent if this was the deciding factor.
- man door size. I wanted 32 inch, but not a deal killer either way. If this were the only difference in evaluation, this would make the decision.

You have indicated 6 foot or 7 foot wide. When I looked at these side-by-side in the same trailer, the decision to go 7 foot was easy, as it just felt bigger. I also settled on 14 foot long for the same reason, just felt bigger. Also, I wanted a queen sized bed to fold up to the wall vertically, which is only possible with a 7 foot wide. 6 foot wide means you have to fold up horizontally, which means less room when the bed is down.

Once I built my matrix and began to add information for trailers I found in a 500 mile radius, the right trailer was obvious.

Enjoy the process....

The Trailer Source in Wheat Ridge is a Haulmark Dealer. I have a haulmark 6X12 V nose, and its been good to me so far. Ordered it with insulation (roof and walls), plywood walls, luan ceiling, lights (I replaced bulbs with led's), windows, rv door, and roof vents. That didn't leave me much to do at all! All I had to do was furnish it, add a heater, some flooring, and little things here and there. I've just about worn through my second set of tires on it, and no problems at all. Hundreds of nights spent in it now.

I think this brand is sort of "middle of the road" in quality. Some on here say there are a couple other brands that are the top notch, and this is all I've ever had, so don't know.

Here is a video of the Mirage trailer manufacturing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebhmriRMgvU
Maybe it will give you more of an idea on how they are made and what to look for. The Mirage uses a tube steel frame in the walls, about 1 1/4inches X 1 inch.

I have a Mirage 6X12 that I am very happy with. The only thing I didn't like was that the interior was put up with pneumatic nails that look a lot like screws, but aren't. They are a pain to remove. Whatever brand of trailer you get, make sure that you request screws on the interior.

When I did my research similar to what Professorkx has outlined, I knew I wanted an all aluminum trailer, tandem axle, 32" RV door, ramp at rear, 7' interior height, etc.

When I checked local suppliers in and around where I was living in Nova Scotia, all the available trailers were steel and/or galvanized - way too heavy for what I wanted.

I decided on NEO Manufacturing (http://www.neotrailers.com/. I worked with their local Nova Scotia dealer to order a trailer built with my options, but ran out of time (we had sold our house and had to be out in 6 weeks), so I ended up buying a "stock" NEO trailer from their New Brunswick dealer (13-hour round trip to get my trailer). But I'm glad I bought a NEO trailer! My 7x16 V-Nose NAVR was 1870 lbs empty with spare tire!

I used the trailer to haul our "stuff" to the west coast and now I am converting it. I started a thread on this forum but haven't updated it in a while 'cause I haven't done much on the trailer - waiting for parts - windows, skylights, electrical, plumbing, etc. They've now arrived so I will be back at it full bore!

BTW, NEO uses real screws to attach interior 3/8 plywood. Sooooo nice when I started removing the 3/8 plywood to insulate the trailer!!

Wow, you guys are all awesome! Thanks for the insight and suggestions on the different trailers. I've certainly got my work cut out for me! We are really excited to get this going, but just weren't happy with what we were seeing in the Denver area. We did visit the local TrailerSource but their Haulmark trailers were priced much higher than what I've seen online which had me a little puzzled. Guess the middle man has to get their slice too!

I'll be digging through all of these sites over the next few days. We'll let you know what we decided to get and I keep saying that once we start our build we'll have a thread for it too. Lets hope I can stick to my word on that!

Happy camping everyone, and thanks again for the great advice!

Here is the trailer I settled on. TW714TA2

http://www.continentalcargotrailer.com/ ... ilwind7WTA

Still building, but everything seems fine at this stage. Actual trailer weight was 1954 pounds delivered.

2Tornados, Howdy;

This is basically what I ended up with,
http://www.trailersplus.com/Utah/Murray ... XFK054127/
Mine is 'Plain Jane' white with barn doors at the back and an RV front man-door. I stayed with
the 6' width for Forest Service roads and the single axle with brakes for weight reduction.

hank

PS. Oooops, had the wrong link, changed to the correct one, sorry.

I have a snopro stealth (similar to the stealth mentioned above but different company). Other than the snap splice connectors on some of the wiring I have no complaints, it's a 7x14 with a 5 foot v-nose, it's still expensive but on the cheaper side of the all aluminum ones.

There are a number of manufactures located not too far from you in southern Idaho. I've owned an Interstate cargo trailer (Boise) and now a Charmac trailer (Twin Falls ID). Mirage trailer is also in Boise, ID. I've been happy with both trailers I've owned. Mirage seem to be okay too.

One point that I'm not sure has been mentioned is that many brands have different lines within their brand and the build quality can vary with the line. Interstate, for example, makes the "Victory" trailer as their entry level trailer, the "Load Runner" is their mid level, and their "Pro Series" is there top level trailer. Based on my experience, the Victory didn't seem to be made very well. The Pro Series line are excellent trailers. Wells Cargo is another brand I considered. Their top of the line trailers have legendary quality with a price tag to match. Their lower line trailers seemed so-so. Charmac trailers, in contrast, seem to have high build quality in each line. The higher level lines are just built heavier than the lower lines.

Have fun with your search.

If you want the best get CarMate.com ... Double the price 3 x the quality.....

The rest is pretty much the same..... 95% by GA trailers .......
so 95% are gonna tell you they are the best. Thats what they own.
I own both ....so I know the difference.....

Cheers OTTCT.

Well...since we can't afford double the price one option we've found is ordering a Cargo Craft from a dealer here near Denver. Seems like the best price and they'll install the windows for us, cheaper than aftermarket. Then we can build out the rest. Has anyone had experience with Cargo Craft? I did a search on the forum and nothing came up. So either I didn't search right or they aren't very common? We're looking at a 6x14 V-nose, 6'6 interior height.

Thanks for the words of wisdom! Obviously budget is a concern but I don't want to get a cheap POS.