Tag Archives: motorcycle trailer

Cargo Camper Part 2

Posted on by Motopsycho

Design & Building of the Cargo Camper

In my last post I spoke of the purchase & special order specifications of my new cheap toy hauler / cargo camper. My plans were simple, no fancy fold out beds or anything like that just a good place to throw an air mattress, with a way to brush my teeth, wash my face and fix coffee & breakfast in the morning. Part of my goal was to keep the modifications as light as possible since I’m pulling this with a four cylinder Tacoma that only has a 3500 pound tow rating. I deliberately got a v nose trailer so that I could have my storage space & sink in the nose without losing any of the 6 x 10 cargo space.

Cargo Camper v nose shelving & cabinets
Framing in the shelf & counter

To keep it light I framed the counter in with 2″ x 2″ lumber and covered it with 1/4″ lauan plywood. Since all I am using for water is this Shelf Reliance water jug I built the top shelf out of heavier wood and the afterwards set my big water jug on it so that I could center the sink under the spigot. Although I wont show it here for my grey water tank there’s a 6 gallon bucket, under the counter that connects to the sink with a piece of flex hose connected to the trap on the sink. The sink was a cheap little RV lavatory sink I bought online.

cargo camper folding table & sink

I wanted to be able to put my camp stove at the window for ventilation purposes but didn’t want to give up any floor space for hauling bikes & gear so I came up with a nifty little folding extension for the counter. A short piece of 2″ x 2″ wood along the wall supports the back side. To save weight I used a 1′ x 2″ piece for the leg. to keep it rigid when folded down I added this block wit a locating pin at the bottom of the folding leg.

cargo camper folding table

Then I marked the location where it would be straight & drilled a matching hole halfway through the floor.

cargo camper folding table locating pin

Then I added this double ended snap hook and some screw in eyelets hols the folding counter in both the up and down positions. Although it’s very lightweight & inexpensive it can handle any of my camp stoves without any worries

cargo camper folding table

“Shore power” is a nice thing to have even though I don’t need full on RV style electrical functionality it’s nice to be able to plug up at a campground or use a small generator occasionally so I added a couple of 20 amp 120 volt receptacles to the front of the counter. I decided against trying to install any type of breaker box in the trailer itself and simply used the appropriate size wiring and a matching electrical inlet box. Most campgrounds have a 20 amp receptacle with a 20 amp breaker for it anyway. I almost always have a volt meter in my truck in case I need to check the outlet before plugging my trailer into it.

cargo camper electrics
cargo camper electrics
cutting a hole in my brand new trailer

Installing the electrical inlet meant cutting into the exterior sheet metal of my trailer. This was actually done using a Dremel tool. After removing the insulation a drill and a reciprocating saw were used to finish the opening. Be sure to use a good high quality sealant around the hole any time you go through the wall of your trailer for any reason.

cargo camper electrics
Make sure to seal around the inlet well.

Here are a couple of pics of front of trailer with the wood work done but before staining & sealing. Any surfaces that may get wet need to be thoroughly sealed with a good waterproof polyurethane before use.

cargo camper v-nose extras
folding counter down
cargo camper v nose sink counter
folding counter surface up

Now it’s time for wheel chocks! I used the Pit Posse recessed wheel chocks. These come in two sizes 16″ & 24″ I ordered one of each size just in case the smaller wheels on my scooter did not clear the longer (taller) chock. The 24″ chock fit perfectly between two of the steel cross members of the trailer

cargo camper wheel chocks

After laying out the location of the wheel chocks I cut a couple of great big holes in the bottom of my brand new trailer. As mentioned earlier the 24 inch chock fit perfectly between the floor cross members but for the 16 inch I had to compromise and only bolt 1 end through the steel of the trailer frame

cargo camper wheel chocks
More holes in my brand new trailer.
cargo camper wheel chocks
locating the tie downs

Above you can see how the chocks and tie downs are located.  I used 6 recessed heavy duty tie down ring with backing plates. These are stout pieces that are well worth the money. When your tie down rings are anchored to wood like this you really need the backing plates to spread the load & prevent them from pulling out

The next couple of pictures show you how the chocks & tie downs look from underneath the cargo camper. Before you ask yes I did consider using e-track for this trailer but decided against it just for the sheer ease of being able to fold everything into the floor and unfold my bed. No need to stow anything away or reassemble it to leave, just fold it down & then pull it back up to load bikes & go home.


cargo camper wheel chocks
Wheel chocks attached to frame cross members

cargo camper wheel chocks
Heavy duty backing plates for tie downs

The basic construction is done, I bought myself a cheap indoor outdoor carpet to put under my bed, with the recessed chocks & tie downs the floor is almost perfectly flat.

cargo camper details
Chocks down & carpet rolled out
cargo camper wheel chocks
Ready to load bikes & travel

I still have a few finishing touches to show you in the next installment of Motopsyco’s Cheap Toy Hauling Cargo Camper!

YOU CAN READ THE NEXT INSTALLMENT BY CLICKING HERE!

Motopsyco’s Cheap Toy Hauler

Posted on by Motopsycho

 It all started out innocently enough,a couple of years ago I was headed down to Eustis Florida to participate in the Destination Eustis Motorcycle Show & Swap Meet. Since I was going alone to this event, I borrowed a 5 X 8 enclosed trailer to pull a single bike for the show. My beloved wife didn’t accompany for this one & I didn’t feel like paying for a hotel room so I packed an air mattress & a sleeping bag so that I could sleep in the trailer. You could say that this was the inspiration for the Cheap Toy Hauler.

This particular trailer was a completely uninsulated cargo trailer and that weekend it was freezing cold down in Florida at night & I was freezing so about 2in the morning I got up and fired up my butane cook stove just to warm the place up a little bit. Once I did this sleep was possible. Overall the experience wasn’t terrible but it could have been better. I learned three very important things on this trip, one is that an uninsulated cargo trailer is miserable during anything but ideal weather; two was that a 5’ x 8’ enclosed trailer is a 1 bike trailer for full size motorcycles. The third lesson was that if you’re hauling motorcycles, atvs or other wheeled toys is that a ramp door is also essential. It was okay for one time but hauling ramps around all the time is just silly.

motorcycle in 5 x 8 trailer
One motorcycle in a 5 x 8 trailer

After discussing this with my wife who was wholeheartedly behind the idea of converting a cargo trailer to a camper, after looking at mini-campers, teardrop campers, & travel trailers, we visited a couple of local trailer dealers to see what they had in stock. This was a bit disheartening due to the high prices and lack of selection available. My local dealers stock was mostly 5’ X 8’trailers with no options, and the prices were equal to or greater than what I eventually bought my fully insulated 6’ X 10’ cargo trailer for. The other problem was that my local dealer was closed during the hours I had available for shopping so there was no way I could talk to them about special ordering a trailer to my specifications.

I came home& got on the web to research custom ordering a new cargo trailer built to my specifications. There are regional distributors and manufacturers all around the country so look them up and find one near you. For me the choice was plainoltrailers.com out of Georgia. Their current base price on a 6’ X 10’ v nose trailer is $1925 (November 2018) picked up at the factory in Georgia. The reason that I chose this size was due to the weight limitations of my tow vehicle. I called the phone number on the website to get the weight of a couple of different trailers & the 6’ x 10’ was just over 1100 pounds empty, leaving me a little over 2000 pounds for add-ons & cargo. So I got back online I speced the trailer out with all the options I wanted including full insulation, RV style side door, a window directly opposite the RV door & electric brakes on the 3500 pound axle. And it still came in less than the local name brand dealer wanted for a plain 5’ x 8’. The only catch was it was a 10 hour round trip from Darlington S.C. to Pearson Ga. to pick it up, but I saved enough money to make it worth every mile.

Cargo Camper Cheap Toy Hauler
The Cheap Toy Hauler!

After getting it home I put my 2 biggest bikes in it, took a bunch of measurements,figured out what all equipment we wanted in it and of course how to do it all as cheaply as possible without compromising quality. In the next installment of this series of articles we’ll look at how I installed a little sink, electrical outlets etc. in the v nose of the cheap toy hauler.

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CLICK HERE TO READ PART TWO OF THIS BUILD.