StumpXJ, Did you find it cheaper to build the trailer vs buying one? I understand that if you build it, you can completely make it custom to you and your trips from the ground up. But would it not be just as expensive over buying and tweaking a one size fits all canvas?
From a strictly monetary standpoint, building a trailer is much cheaper.
IF you can do the work. If you factor in time/labor, its pretty close to a turn key/production trailer. However, part (probably a large part) of my enjoyment in this hobby is building everything I can myself, so for me it was a no-brainer. Monetarily I have $2600-$2800 in the trailer you see above. That doesnt include the original cost of the trailer, although it was sitting unused in my shop. You could buy a little enclosed trailer like that for around $800 to 1000 in this area. Or, I could have used that money to build from the ground up with buying steel. I figured since I already owned the trailer, and wasnt using it and it was already titled/registered, I might as well use it. It worked out just fine for my application. I also already had the tent, fridge, kitchen, etc.
I sold it for around $4500.00 fully loaded, and bought my little pop-up for $3750.00 (also pretty much fully loaded). The trailer I built was MUCH better built than the pop-up, and would be in a similar bracket as most off the shelf 'offroad' trailers in terms of materials used to build it (air bag trailing arm suspension, full electronics, water storage, etc etc etc.)
So, the short of it was yes, $2600 is MUCH cheaper than $10,000.00 - $15,000.00 for a similarly outfitted AT or any other brand trailer. I will be the first to admit the fit and finish wasnt quite what those trailers are, but it wasnt worth the extra dough for me to have it. I was able to build it during a 9 month unemployment spell, so time wasnt really an issue for me. I have hundreds of hours in building it, and loved every minute of it. It was exactly what i 'thought' I wanted, turns out reality had a different trailer in mind. I am much happier now, and use the pop-up quite a lot. I do miss the old trailer, but only because of the time/blood/sweat/tears that I put into it, not for its functionality with my family.
~ Stump
