The little/light Camper Trailer Thread...

I have one on my cargo trailer, easy to get in and out of. Mine stood up to high winds and rain without a drop in it even though I left the "windows" open. Mines a Tepui Roof top tent.

Yeah, water infiltration wasn't what I was concerned about. It was mostly about becoming part of an involuntary kite.


:eek1

There's a guy around me that runs a pumper truck, he carries a mini bobcat on the front of his truck, he has aux lights mounted on the carrier, WalMart and auto Zone used to sell some lights from Baja that have the DOT stamp on the glass ( I have them on the front end of my car since the old lady knocked the front end off it a few years ago, nobody makes the parts for an 86 anymore). They use the H4 halogen bulbs, so you can use the 55w stock bulb, or do what I did and put the 100w bulbs in the high beams. ( Yeah I'm the guy you don't want to flash high beams on)

Cool thread. This spring I plan on fixing up this Compact Kamp that a family member purchased new in the late 70's. The canvas is still really nice and its even blue plaid! Does anyone know anything about these? Was it perhaps the company that pre-dates "Kompact" Kamp?

Be sure to post a pic of it when it's open when you get ready to start working on it.

So I have posted before in this thread. I'm after a small "toy hauler" of sorts that has a full bathroom and four bunks and is a tag trailer. Kicker is the weight needs to be REALLY low, like 3k or less unloaded. My original plan was to find someone's abandoned Airstream project and just figure out how to wiggle dual sport motorcycles through the side door and do everything else custom in the interior.

But I need the bathroom to be across the back, and that kind of custom work scares me some. And now I'm kind of getting into gokart racing, so something more "conventional" with a rear ramp would make a lot more sense for this. And someone here suggested the stuff from livinlite.

So finally I decided to see what they could do in a custom unit. The VRV line seems perfect as there's an 8.5x18 that seems to be where I need in terms of weight. I just want it with the bathroom across the front and no galley. But apparently they're pretty cookie-cutter on those, so that redesign is a pain. But they offered to do a custom AXXESS in 8.5x18 (normally they do those in 22 and 26' long only, but the bathroom is already across the front). New 22' ones fully built out inside seem to be listed for about $28k, so in the RV world I assumed that means $25k. And I want a lot LESS inside (and out), so I was hoping to get down around $20k. They were very easy to work with and understood what I want and got a floorplan that looked good pretty quick. Then they passed me on to a dealer to get pricing (and there is a dealer VERY close to me, which was nice).

Then the price came in at just over $30k out the door. They said the extra was due to the fact that it's "custom" and requires extra engineering. *sigh*

So back to the drawing board. I'm not paying that for a trailer. I'll figure out how to live without first.


--Donnie

check this one out...

http://microlitetrailer.com/MLThome6.htm

I think they have a floor plan for 4 and bathroom and it comes with a rear ramp and should have space for a cart. If not they will build to suite. It is a very small company and if you call you can talk directly to the CEO sometimes.

I have this one from them, and love it. No bathroom in mine and it is the next step down in size.

http://microlitetrailer.com/MLThome6.htm

Definitely looks like a possibility. Emailed him.

Thanks!


--Donnie

they dont do great with emails but they are pretty good on a good old fashion phone call. Also if you look at their dealer list for the one in Michigan that does the Kayaks too. The guy who owns that company is some how closely involved, I think maybe their national sales guy. He is easily reachable.

I love mine by the way, it is small, very light weight and my model is extremely well built.

Coop

Here are some pics of it that were probably taken around 1979 or 1980 in Door county WI.

I was in the exact mind set as you and just could not find a trailer to fit the bill. I went to a bunch of different mfg companies and as soon as I changed a thing the price was over 20k.

So I started to build my own and it really is coming out great.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=816355&page=11

Hope to have it done for under 6k (plus my time which is worthless:) )

Just caught the UK marthon of Top Gear over the weekend. This set up reminds me of one of their "rides":

I like this just add some screw anchors and rachet straps on windy days and your are set.

So somehow I missed your thread in the early stages and only saw the last page or two recently. From that alone, I did NOT surmise that you were looking for a pretty lightweight trailer like me. But now I see I'm wrong.

What's funny is I found a toyhauler on RVT.com that I thought might work and emailed the dealer (in Savannah) asking about the weight. Found out it was too heavy and was going to move along when the salesman said he had something that he could get that would work. He sent me pics and a floorplan and said he could order it and it would be $15,600, but while he'd answer my questions on it, the one thing he would NOT tell me was exactly what it was and who made it.

Turns out it was right there on the first page of your thread...the Wolf Pup by Cherokee. *sigh*

I *really* thought I wanted 8.5x18 to fit two bikes, but then today (before you posted this) I did some measuring and realized a 7' will get two bikes like I want with no problem. In fact, that's exactly what I used to take to Colorado last summer when I borrowed my Dad's, but didn't even realize it. Duh.

The problem with the Wolf Pup is the fridge makes it appear, at least that I can't really get two bikes in there. Based on some rudimentary math and screen measuring, I think it's only about 6.5 feet from the back of fridge to the ramp. That's too short for a KLR650 or my BMW G650X, which is a bit of a problem. Maybe the wheel squeaks in front of it and it's still straight?

And in searching, found one on a lot for a LOT less money than I was quoted. What a crook at the Savannah dealership:

http://www.theoutpostrv.com/DealerFiles/ListingView.asp?ListingID=231

So while I like the idea of starting with a cargo trailer and building it out, this may be close enough and worth it to me. Might still consider removing the fridge and rebuilding the galley part to nothing more than a sink tucked further forward. My other problem is I'd like to be able to get four mountain bikes in there along with two motorcycles. But I think I might be going a little crazy at that point...


--Donnie

www.manleyorv.com


These look cool, not too terribly expensive......imho perfect for the Jeep owner who wants to go to the beach and has kids....

....and a very close drive for me .

That looks very cool

assuming the floor plan drawings on the Forrest River site are scaled it looks like the measurement you are most concerned with is 7 feet. What I would do is load the bikes backwards with the front wheels angled (angling the front wheel of a bike into a corner is a very stable way to load and tie down) to each rear corner of the trailer and the tails of the bikes angled together.

What would concern me is the listed dry hitch weight of the trailer (285 lbs) then putting 900 lbs of dualsports at the back of the trailer. The axle is fairly far set back to help compensate, but I would still be a bit careful about that. Maybe you could load one up into the galley?

http://www.forestriverinc.com/ToyHa...t.aspx?page=floorplandetails&floorplanid=4853

Interesting article in the NY Times about a renovation of a vintage, but advanced, smaller travel trailer from the '30's.

The people that restored it have bought the rights to the name and design, and are putting out high tech copies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/garden/a-vintage-trailer-returns-to-the-road.html?ref=garden&_r=0

Company site here http://www.bowlusroadchief.com/

$100,000!! :eek1