loren85022
Explorer
I built this trailer approximately 11 years ago from the ground up. And I would first emphasize that this trailer is probably always going to be work in progress. Without question there are parts of this trailer that can and should be improved but everything works. I could hitch it up and spend two weeks in Baja without needing to do anything to it.
this started as a fiberglass utility body off of a mini truck in the late 70s. I bought it and proceeded to build everything from the frame up. Again I’ll emphasize that there are plenty of things that could’ve been done better but the beauty of this trailer is that anybody who likes working on projects could well enjoy working on it. Everything is very simple and the body lends itself to being modified to anybody’s purpose.
We’ve taken this trailer everywhere and anywhere in the Southwest. Don’t tell, but I’ve even taken it up and over Ophire Pass (if you’ve been there, you’ll know there’s one tight turn that has a pretty good pucker factor. It took me about 10 reverses, but it all worked out. Although my wife has still not forgiven me
and I will add that you should add 10 minutes for every time you pull into a gas station because it’s almost a given that somebody is going to want to talk to you about the trailer. My wife just rolls her eyes every time it happens.
I will also add that this trailer is great for tailgating parties. We always enjoyed going to Overland Expo or even a kids soccer game and firing up the barbecue, the music ad, inviting everybody to come by.
I’m not selling it out of any desperation. In fact, I’ve procrastinated selling it for probably three years too long. I built it after I realized it was just too expensive to modify the interior of the Ford van to work like a sportsmobile so this sufficed and actually I could not have anticipated how much better this set up was for our wave travels. I’m hoping it goes to somebody who can make it that much better. I think someone out there will enjoy working on it as much as they do using it out in the wild. My most recent project was a wheelchair accessible sprinter. That includes everything the trailer had to offer us plus my wife can now enjoy standing up inside of our little grato.
As I’m apparently only allowed to post 10 photos, I’m going to add some more and subsequent threads. I’ll try to describe what each photo is depicting along the way.
Asking price: $7,500.
The trailer is located in Cave Creek Arizona just north of Phoenix.
There is a build thread on this forum from long ago. I’ll try to find the link, but I’m sure it can be found if anybody searches on my profile name.
This trailer was towed exclusively behind my former E-series van. I painted the fiberglass body the same color as the van. The trailer is extremely lightweight behind the V-8, it was nothing, and I suspect behind any jeep, or Toyota or similar, it will be very manageable.
The trailer has always been stored under a carport and currently I t’s on the patio behind our shop. The paint is still in very good shape. On each side of the trailer is three compartments. The latches and locks all function. The driver side has the water intake for the 16 gallon poly tank mounted beneath.
For the tongue, I have a receiver that you can then put your preferred hitch. I did this, so that I could remove it and perhaps avoid somebody stealing it quite so easy. Also included is a aluminum tow bar. On flat surface one person can roll the trailer around relatively easy. Upfront I have the ability to mount two propane tanks of various sizes. Behind the tanks is the electric box which has a very fresh 100 white lithium battery along with a AC charger.
On the driver side in the front is the instant hot water heater. It runs off the propane. There is a spigot here that has a spigot or valve that you can connect a handheld shower hose or simply fill up a bucket.
The passenger side is for the chef. I believe this is a 64 quart ARB refrigerator. It’s in exceptional shape. I’ve never had any problems with it. In the center compartment is where we always kept our utensils, cooking instruments, and all things a chef might need. You can also store goods above the fridge in a Tupperware.
The rear compartment is a folding stainless steel sink. Now it’s got a little bit of hillbilly design to it, but it works really well. Basically, you put a 5 gallon bucket beneath it add your own business, there is a strip of LED lights for all of the compartments and if you look close, you can see the switch for the pump to the left of the sink
If there’s one thing I am reluctant to sell it is my prized Hannibal awning. If you know anything about Hannibal, and trying to get one of these from South Africa, hopefully you’ll know why it is such a really remarkable awning. For my wife and I, we’ve kept it mounted relatively low to improve the amount of shade. It is in very good condition.
In all of the photos you’ll notice there is a rack atop the body. For the longest time we had a rooftop tent up there for our kids. They moved on and I donated it to someone who could put it to good use. But the rack itself is ideal for almost any RTT.
As mentioned, this is a 3500 pound trailer axle with E brakes. The hub has a 5 bolt to 8 bolt spacer I had fabricated so that I could use the same rims and tires as the Ford. I can’t imagine there would be any difficulty taking the spacer off and matching whatever lug pattern someone prefers. The tires are 31 inch BFGoodrich TA’s they are worn well past their prime, but they have been this way for probably 10 years. The trailer weighs nothing so they simply do not wear but again if someone could put on whatever they prefer.
I’m going to miss this rear compartment for sure. You can just keep loading it up and loading it up with every toy you can imagine one of the nice things about this trailer for us is that we basically kept all of our gear inside these compartments, when we were not traveling.
As mentioned, the top rack can host any type of RTT or you could mount surfboards, etc. you’ll notice in the back of the trailer there is a square sliding roof panel. We never once found a use for having it open, but it does slide forward if you ever want to haul something a tad taller.
this started as a fiberglass utility body off of a mini truck in the late 70s. I bought it and proceeded to build everything from the frame up. Again I’ll emphasize that there are plenty of things that could’ve been done better but the beauty of this trailer is that anybody who likes working on projects could well enjoy working on it. Everything is very simple and the body lends itself to being modified to anybody’s purpose.
We’ve taken this trailer everywhere and anywhere in the Southwest. Don’t tell, but I’ve even taken it up and over Ophire Pass (if you’ve been there, you’ll know there’s one tight turn that has a pretty good pucker factor. It took me about 10 reverses, but it all worked out. Although my wife has still not forgiven me
and I will add that you should add 10 minutes for every time you pull into a gas station because it’s almost a given that somebody is going to want to talk to you about the trailer. My wife just rolls her eyes every time it happens.I will also add that this trailer is great for tailgating parties. We always enjoyed going to Overland Expo or even a kids soccer game and firing up the barbecue, the music ad, inviting everybody to come by.
I’m not selling it out of any desperation. In fact, I’ve procrastinated selling it for probably three years too long. I built it after I realized it was just too expensive to modify the interior of the Ford van to work like a sportsmobile so this sufficed and actually I could not have anticipated how much better this set up was for our wave travels. I’m hoping it goes to somebody who can make it that much better. I think someone out there will enjoy working on it as much as they do using it out in the wild. My most recent project was a wheelchair accessible sprinter. That includes everything the trailer had to offer us plus my wife can now enjoy standing up inside of our little grato.
As I’m apparently only allowed to post 10 photos, I’m going to add some more and subsequent threads. I’ll try to describe what each photo is depicting along the way.
Asking price: $7,500.
The trailer is located in Cave Creek Arizona just north of Phoenix.
There is a build thread on this forum from long ago. I’ll try to find the link, but I’m sure it can be found if anybody searches on my profile name.
This trailer was towed exclusively behind my former E-series van. I painted the fiberglass body the same color as the van. The trailer is extremely lightweight behind the V-8, it was nothing, and I suspect behind any jeep, or Toyota or similar, it will be very manageable.
The trailer has always been stored under a carport and currently I t’s on the patio behind our shop. The paint is still in very good shape. On each side of the trailer is three compartments. The latches and locks all function. The driver side has the water intake for the 16 gallon poly tank mounted beneath.
For the tongue, I have a receiver that you can then put your preferred hitch. I did this, so that I could remove it and perhaps avoid somebody stealing it quite so easy. Also included is a aluminum tow bar. On flat surface one person can roll the trailer around relatively easy. Upfront I have the ability to mount two propane tanks of various sizes. Behind the tanks is the electric box which has a very fresh 100 white lithium battery along with a AC charger.
On the driver side in the front is the instant hot water heater. It runs off the propane. There is a spigot here that has a spigot or valve that you can connect a handheld shower hose or simply fill up a bucket.
The passenger side is for the chef. I believe this is a 64 quart ARB refrigerator. It’s in exceptional shape. I’ve never had any problems with it. In the center compartment is where we always kept our utensils, cooking instruments, and all things a chef might need. You can also store goods above the fridge in a Tupperware.
The rear compartment is a folding stainless steel sink. Now it’s got a little bit of hillbilly design to it, but it works really well. Basically, you put a 5 gallon bucket beneath it add your own business, there is a strip of LED lights for all of the compartments and if you look close, you can see the switch for the pump to the left of the sink
If there’s one thing I am reluctant to sell it is my prized Hannibal awning. If you know anything about Hannibal, and trying to get one of these from South Africa, hopefully you’ll know why it is such a really remarkable awning. For my wife and I, we’ve kept it mounted relatively low to improve the amount of shade. It is in very good condition.
In all of the photos you’ll notice there is a rack atop the body. For the longest time we had a rooftop tent up there for our kids. They moved on and I donated it to someone who could put it to good use. But the rack itself is ideal for almost any RTT.
As mentioned, this is a 3500 pound trailer axle with E brakes. The hub has a 5 bolt to 8 bolt spacer I had fabricated so that I could use the same rims and tires as the Ford. I can’t imagine there would be any difficulty taking the spacer off and matching whatever lug pattern someone prefers. The tires are 31 inch BFGoodrich TA’s they are worn well past their prime, but they have been this way for probably 10 years. The trailer weighs nothing so they simply do not wear but again if someone could put on whatever they prefer.
I’m going to miss this rear compartment for sure. You can just keep loading it up and loading it up with every toy you can imagine one of the nice things about this trailer for us is that we basically kept all of our gear inside these compartments, when we were not traveling.
As mentioned, the top rack can host any type of RTT or you could mount surfboards, etc. you’ll notice in the back of the trailer there is a square sliding roof panel. We never once found a use for having it open, but it does slide forward if you ever want to haul something a tad taller.
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