Staggered construction timeline - Trailer to Truck mount?

[Badmiker]

Hey people,

So I was recently in the USA again (I live in Shanghai, China) and saw hundreds if not thousands of 'bumper pull' and 5th wheel trailers in the month I was exploring Yellowstone and the surrounding areas.

I have been planning a large build with a 20' composite box on a 4 point frame for a Acela 6x6 truck for my wife and I and we had a thought. As we'll be moving back to the USA to do the build, we'll need both accommodation and space to work on the vehicle. We have no family to crash with. We thought that maybe we could start with a old crappy blown out trailer, demolish the whole thing but for the chassis, modify the chassis to support the same mounting points and dimensions as out planned 4 point frame, then drop a composite box on top and build it out initially. We can live it it while we finish the interior and if we need more time on the truck part of the build we are already living 'off grid' in our trailer. Then once the truck is ready have a lifting service/shop move the box from the old trailer bed to the new 4 point on the truck and finish the last of the build.

Any serious issues with this?

 

[vintageracer]

RV's have average at best chassis's under em, you need a place to do all of this demo and build, you hope everything goes perfectly time wise which it never does, you will have budget overruns, you will change your mind and the build plan several times during the build AND you want to live for a period of time in that unfinished box while you work on it. I understand living in small space afterall you now live in Shanghai however I bet Dollar's to Donut's that living space in Shanghai is not unfinished, unheated and it has working plumbing.

In a perfect world I'd say go for it!

Since Shangri la does not exist, at least not in the USA, I suggest you modify that plan by having that box already built by someone in the USA without the use of a junk RV for the chassis and ready for you to mount on your truck chassis when you return to the US.

 

[Badmiker]

Maybe we look for 2 trailers, one to build out and one to live in for a while.

We've traveled extensively and lived on motorcycle back for months at a time so living and cooking rough is not a huge hardship for us. However, I understand your points and will take them into consideration. The only reason we are looking at a travel trailer chassis to start would be to use it for the raw base materials, maybe we look for a utility trailer, I assume they are built a bit tougher.

 

[Hnoroian]

https://www.keystonerv.com/travel-trailers/hideout/floorplans/178lhs-single-axle-travel-trailer/

Paint it how you like, Cut the tongue and drop the axle build the frame around so it fits your 4 point and run with it in a week or so. May not be custom or super strong but Probably cheaper and easier in the long run.

 

[Badmiker]

Doh!

I'll have to check this once I am at home ... stupid GFW.