An intro along with my hopes and dreams.

[bigred177]

Howdy,
New user here from the Austin, TX area looking to build my very own tiny travel trailer. I have been looking around the internet and cannot find one pre-built that I like so I figured I would just make one with everything I want and nothing I don't. That being said:

My hopes and dreams are to have a 14', ~1500lb, self contained, four seasons toy hauler. The toys I'm thinking of are either a dirt bike or two or my '93 Honda VFR (600lbs) so I'm not talking about needing a 3000lb payload. The length is negotiable but the weight is pretty firm. I'm giving myself a 2500-3000lb fully loaded weight limit and that way I can have plenty of weight to spare. I have a welder and decent framing tools so I'm hopeful I can make something happen. The big issue that I have is that I'm 6'3" tall and I'd like to be able to stand up in my trailer. That means whatever I build will have to be pretty tall. I have been doing some browsing around on the forums and online and come up with a few ideas but I'm open to any and every suggestion y'all have. If you think there is just NFW I can do what all I'm wanting this trailer to do feel free to tell me that as well, although I may ask you to explain your reasoning.

I'm hoping to find a cheap, ragged pop up that I can use for parts and use the trailer, but I've also thought about just buying a 3500lb axle and building one myself. I don't need a lot of creature comforts, just heat, AC, place to clean myself, and cook. I'm thinking about having the kitchen and toilet/shower in the front and then just an open area through the back with a fold down bed. I like the idea of a cassette toilet more than I like thinking about plumbing in blackwater and having to dump it a specific dump sites. Like I said I'll be alone so the little tank should last awhile. I was thinking about maybe a 15-20 gallon freshwater tank and I'm not sure on the greywater. Since I technically could just dump the grey I don't know if I'd need a very big one. I don't necessarily HAVE to be able to stand up in it but it's going to have to be pretty tall anyway to get the scooters in and out so I figured why not. I thought about converting a cargo trailer too but most of them start out heavier than I'm wanting my empty weight so that's kind of off the table.

So there's my novel for you. If anyone has any ideas or builds you want to point me to feel free. I'm very open to ideas but I'm also going to ask why a lot so no offense meant up front . I look forward to a fun build with y'all's help.

P.S. Has anyone been to that RV salvage near Dallas? Would it be worth a trip to buy a lot of my stuff?

[Junkboy999]

Welcome to the forums.

Well if you not looking for a Cargo trailer conversion that makes it tougher.

Will your toys need to be inside while traveling. Will they need to be inside at night while you sleep. Some people have their toys on the front in a rack or Tray like arrangement. If you can pull a wider trailer to place the bikes sideways I can imagine you can modify a Squidget. This is a small standie ( might be too short for you ) and his sister camper a Pop up Squidget. The pop up is designed to fin in people garages. you can make the pop up area the size you need to stand, wash, cook and dress. The front area of the camper will have to pull double duty as day and night living quarters. This guy sells the plans all parts are local bought at a hardware store.

http://www.thesquidget.com/

[TPMcGinty]

Welcome! That is a BIG trailer for 1500 lbs. I will be very interested to see how you keep the weight so low. Have fun with your build!

[bigred177]

The bikes don't necessarily need to be inside and the definitely don't need to be inside when parked. I was thing about something like a traditional toy hauler design. The only thing that concerns me about putting them on the front is that pretty much all of that weight is going on the tongue. I don't know if anything less than a one ton would appreciate 600lbs plus the trailer on the tongue.

It is going to have to be a lot of trailer for not a lot of weight. I'm not even sure it's possible but I imagine between everyone here we could make it as close as possible. Time will tell.

[bigred177]

What I'm hoping to do is have this camper pull double duty and be able to tow it without toys behind my Jetta TDI and then if I want toys in it be able to hook it to my half ton truck and go.