Another 5x8

[SirJoey]

This thing is fantastic! What an incredibly well thought out design! Your work is amazing, Steve! Very inspirational!
Sadly, my own little 5x8 is gonna look like crap compared to something like yours, but I can dream!

[SteveB]

SirJoey, thanks for the kind words. I have about 10 nights in it so far. It works really well for me. I too, got my inspiration and build tips from the site.
Steve,

[SteveB]

I'm going camping in Yosemite in a couple of weeks. It can still be pretty rainy this time of year. I have a EZup for general hanging out but wanted something more substantial to cover the cook area. It is 5x6 and 7 ft tall. The poles are 1" and I got them from Home Depot. The corner pieces, tarp, bungees and pole feet were ordered from a discount awning company. Total cost about $80. The horizontal bar is permanetly attached to the trailer. The 5 other poles will attach to the roof for out of the way storage. I have not totally figured this part out yet. The other parts will store in my tongue box.

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[Ageless]

Very nice on such a small unit, Try the locking style drop-leaf hinges for securing the doors against wind.

[SteveB]

Ageless, your solution for holding the doors open is a good one. It seems obvious now, but I did not think of it at the time. I turned a gate holder sideways. It slides into a bracket.

[SteveB]

I thought I would update my thread after almost 2 years of use. The only thing I would change is increase the width to 6 feet. 5 feet is good for going single and marginal for two adults. I had no idea this trailer would be such a hit with my grandkids. We have made some great memories.

Since my last post I added a side awning and small heater. The heater is only 1500 btu but is plenty for the trailer. I turn it off before going to sleep. The coldest temp I have been in was 10 degrees. That was a lot of fun being all snug reading a book while it was snowing.

[SteveB]

My original idea was to replace my tent and use the trailer as a base camp for exploring. It is working out great.

This is a pic while at Furnace Creek Campground in Death Valley in January. As you can see our little conversions are a novelty in places like this. Several people asked, "Did you hall your gear in that trailer? Where is your tent?" Four different sets of people out for walks wanted a "tour". Talk about an ice breaker. An unexpected benefit is all the nice people you meet because they are curious.


I went to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Canyonlands, Arches and Dead Horse Point in March. This is a sampling of a perfect trip for me.

Dead Horse Point was a nice base camp:


View from Dead Horse Point about 1/4 mile from my camp site.



Here are a couple of pics of the type of exploring I like to do. I'm not into bolder crawling and beating up my car. So far, I have enough basic skills and a vehicle that can get me out of the situations I tend to find myself in every so often. I had to be kind of careful since I was solo on this trip. I use my SPOT satalite/internet tracking device when I go on these exploring/camping/photography trips. My kids like to follow my trip on google earth.





Steve

[pappaw]

Wow! Steve, a very nice rig

Jeff

[SteveB]

For sale as of 5/28/12
See For Sale section for details.
Thanks, Steve

[SteveB]

Price reduced to $3,700. Sold

[LessisMore]

I am also 6'5". What is the interior height?

After much lurking and looking around I decided that a mini cargo style trailer would fit my needs. First I decided that I was not going to build a miniture travel trailer with all the good stuff. I want to go minimal. This is where you all start laughing. Anyway, I wanted a trailer I could go into if the wheather got bad. It needed to be long enough that I could sleep comfortably. I'm 6'5" and my tallest son is 6'10". I wanted it to be tall enough that I could sit comfortably on a flushing porta potti. (probably too much information) I wanted a basic galley. I plan to use it frequently as a base camp for off roading. That is, drive down easy and fairly smooth dirt roads, park and then go exploring with my Jeep and FJ friends. I hope to do a lot of state park type camping too.

I bought this on new years eve of 08. I usually buy all my hobby stuff used. However, being month end and year end a local manufacturer was really dealing.

Here are some pics. Next I need to add 3 windows and a roof vent.

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[Glowworm]

how do you keep the rain from rolling down into the gally

[Glenlivet]

That was darned nice SteveB. Hope this means you are building an even better rig.