New From Syracuse NY

[M-88]

I joined up to get a feel for small trailers and learn about all of the ins and outs.

It's going to be a few years as I have to get a house first (no where to park while living in an apartment).

I grew up camping a lot (tent) and always had a great time. Have not been camping in a few years. Now that I play around with Jeeps and off roading, there are a lot of places where we will camp for a few days. I don't as sleeping in the back of my Cherokee isn't comfortable and my days of tenting are over ... having the tent get taken down by a limb falling down in a storm, flooding ... just isn't for me any more.

If I were to build a small travel trailer, it would be within the GCVWR of my Ford Focus. While my Focus is not rated to tow by Mr. Ford, if it were just me and a small trailer, I would be completely legal. My Jeep can tow 5,000 pounds, which would be a decent travel trailer - but I'm a pretty simple guy. I just need a shelter and a place to store my stuff. Small trailer would work great for Jeep events, and if I wanted to go on longer camping trips in the Adirondacks, I could pull it behind my car and not get 14MPG :S

Strongly considering building one out of the 1700lb Harbor freight model. I would like to have a few deep cycle batteries and small inverter. No TVs, A/C ... and I would be able to charge it from the vehicle if needed. Maybe some solar panels on the top.

Looking at design considerations - I think I would need to design it to be able to:
- Use regular "ball" hitch or Pintle hitch (dragging it up a trail).
- Design it to use a regular 4.8x12 tire and wheel (low profile behind car) *or* a 225/75-15 (or 235) tire for when I'm towing it behind the Jeep to a trail.


Hope to find a lot of useful info on here! Looks like there is a bunch.

[Esteban]

Northern Tool sells a 5'x8' trailer FREE SHIPPING — Ironton Heavy-Duty Trailer Kit — 5Ft. x 8Ft., 5.30-12in. Tires that costs a little more than a Harbor Freight heavy duty 4'x8'. I think it's worth the extra cost because it makes building a 5' wide trailer easier. I also like that the long sides of the NT trailer frame is built with one 8' long section rather than with two 4' sections with a HF.

The Northern Tool 5'x8" goes on sale occasionally. You often can find a discount code for further savings.

[M-88]

Yeah -the folding feature of the HF trailer isn't something I would need.

Narrow may be better, though, as I'll be towing this behind a compact (or sub-compact if I switch vehicles at some point)