How can I determine weight capacity of a trailer frame? Airbags a good idea for different weight options?

[Enyar]

I'm building a fiberglass pop up camper thats designed to be bolted to the back of my Tundra OR to a spare trailer if I have the desire to tow it behind a minivan. The trailer will need to serve mulitple purposes as follows:

Sailboat mode (as originally designed) - current capacity ~400 pounds.
Camper mode - sailboat cross bars and mast pole would come off, camper would be bolted on. Estimated ~1200#s.


It's a 2x3" C channel galvanized steel trailer frame. It's approximately 16' in length with 2 cross beam (not including front and back) The axles, leaf springs and hubs are all fairly light duty but I was planning on swapping those for a solid torsion axle with updated hubs. No brakes

It looks like this, am I asking for trouble?

 

[HaveeBear]

Am I reading this correctly? ....

The camper can go on the Tundra or on the trailer AND can be removed at will. If on the trailer, when removed the trailer will go back to it's original use case...

Novel idea and I think it can be done. You will need to build up the trailer chassis a bit. Don't underestimate the work (and hassle) to take it off and put it back on. Do you have some kind of lift to assist? Plan those lift points in to the build.

Best of luck!

 

[Enyar]

Am I reading this correctly? ....

The camper can go on the Tundra or on the trailer AND can be removed at will. If on the trailer, when removed the trailer will go back to it's original use case...

Novel idea and I think it can be done. You will need to build up the trailer chassis a bit. Don't underestimate the work (and hassle) to take it off and put it back on. Do you have some kind of lift to assist? Plan those lift points in to the build.

Best of luck!

Correct! It's one of those fiberglass Chinooks you see on old Toyotas. I'm modifying it to fit on my 2013 Tundra after removing the bed (working with limited payoad capacity so removing the bed saves me 300 pounds or so). When the truck has the bed on I want to be able to bolt it on to the trailer so it could be towed, especially since were looking at minivans that get 36 mpg.

Taking it off does seem like a hassle. Currently planning on some boat jacks on each corner but we will see.