Micro Toy Hauler Build

[caromin]

I have used EP for lots of inspiration over the year so I thought I'd share a build I have going on.
Micro Toy Hauler -
I've had this idea for a micro toy hauler (glorified utility trailer) that I finally got started on this winter. I'm primarily a dual sport rider and also like to e-bike. Occasionally I do some mild overlanding in my 4x4 Tacoma. We like to meet up for a camp & ride in an area for a few days, usually NM UT or CO and I'd like a small home base for that kind of camping. My all the time parking situation is really limited and constrains me to a utility trailer footprint, paying a monthly storage fee is a non starter so it has to fit in a crowded the garage with all the other stuff. This idea has been in my head for years and now this type of trailer is becoming more common.

Here's my goals,

• Primary use: Carry a KTM500 and my typical riding/camping gear, fluids and a deployable roof top tent safely.
• Ideally it'd be able to occasionally function as a stout 4x8 utility trailer.
• Be rugged enough for most trails and dirt roads, I have no intention on pulling this on a 4Lo trail.
• I'd prefer a similar track and WB as a Tacoma, most utility trailers I see are 5' wide and when I add decent sized tires they're too wide for me. It needs to be able to fit in one side of a 2 car garage (along with 2 motos, an ebike) and be low enough to fit through the garage door opening.

I'm figuring out that's a tall order. I decided on 4'Wx 7'8"L bed size, 3500# axle, 2x2 steel construction, marine ply deck, plank siding and a small RTT that can be raised 12". That's to make loading the MC on the trailer easier and also raise the tent when camping so I can walk under the overhang. The lower position would be for being pulled and when it's rolled into the garage. I'm not a fan placing a 110# RTT 44" above the trailer bed tent on stilts and realize it will take a stout trailer to not to flex or shake apart. I've looked at quite a few similar builds and most I wouldn't trust the framework not to loosen up. I plan to avoid that.

I've got allot of metal to cut in a small garage and a great low budget saw I've been using is HF's band saw stand and their portable bandsaw. It's done all the metal cut's I've needed for this chassis really well. IMO band saws are the best saw for working in a small garage that's attached to a house, quieter, less messy and blades are cheap. Both of the saw configurations have worked really well for this project.

5" throat

I have access to a 120V Mig but I didn't want to trust it for structural welds (.180 material) with my skills. I needed a budget welder with some juice so I picked up an Amazon Black Friday 110/220V inverter stick welder for $60, full on old school. I burnt a bunch of rods learning to weld again with a stick (50 years ago). It's a very capable in the right hands. It's stick holder and ground clamp were junk so I had to replace those, all in I had $100 in the shoebox welder.

Using 220V with larger rods really made a difference for me. Someone with more talent could probably do it with less but the little box did well. I'll be using a mig on the non structural welding.

All the metal was purchased locally so I leaned a bit toward the stout side thickness-wise, the minor weight penalty is secondary to me. The perimeter of the frame is .180 wall and the cross braces are .120". The deck will be a sheet of 3/4" marine ply. I live in a dry desert environment and the trailer will be stored inside so rust and rot isn't a concern.

Before welding anything I stripped the millscale off everything. To me it's easier to strip when the metal is in long pieces laying on the ground compared to de-scaling a welded sometimes intricate framework which also tends to tear up the expensive stripping wheels. Also less work on the backend.

Looks really small.

 

[ExpoMike]

Nice start.

What did you use to descale the metal?

 

[caromin]

Nice start.

What did you use to descale the metal?

I used these, The work really well if you keep them away from sharp edges which tends to chew off the stripping material. That pack did about 90% of the descaling I've done for all this.

On to the project.

I used 2.5" .180" square tubing for the tongue with 4' to the hitch ball. I also added some angle supports going to the tongue, mostly to provide a mounting triangle up forward. I added a carry handle to the tongue, pipe mount jack and the chains.

I incorporated the fender mounts into the side steps which worked out well for these fenders. Mounted with just (4) 1/4-20 bolts the fender is stout enough to stand on. Trailer-Fenders.com has these in a fairly stoug gauge. As it sits there's 20" of ground to frame clearance

Lights are wired in and mounted.

I started on the tent uprights, I'm using 1.5" .120 tubing for the uprights. The uprights are removable, they slide into a 2" receiver tube that's part of the trailer frame. (2) 1/2" bolts hold each on.

These are my DIY weld nuts, Typical nuts rounded off and pressed into a hole, welded and ground down.

The uprights are very stout, I could probably tip the trailer over with one if I had enough leverage on it. Finished up the day by adding some smaller intermediate rail supports between the larger ones and capping off the open tubing ends.

 

[caromin]

Picked up a 4x8 sheet of marine ply and put a few coats of sealer on it.

There's some small welding items to complete then I"m ready to primer the frame. I built a tailgate and got the hinges situated.

The gate will use new TG cables from a 80s model chevy 1500 and spring loaded pill pin latches.

I've been working on the pivoting mounts for the RTT. Since it's almost impossible to keep everything perfectly aligned as it's welded together I decided on some insurance. It's actually very close and the RTT system would probably work ok with the slight variances but I had these laying around from another project.

Front mounts

The rears will incorporate a slotted mount to allow the distance between the mounting points to increase as one end or the other is lifted. I will use a pinch clamp on each corner to reduce any rattling. I also plan to use removable pins to hold it in place when deployed or hauling.

 

[caromin]

A few progress update pics

Here I'm mocking up the rear tent mounts. they are connected through a slotted bracket to the tent frame, rarely will all 4 corners of the tent rise up together, the slots allow the system to accommodate a changing distance between the mounts when they aren't all level during extension.