Interstate 5x8 Enclosed Multi-Use Trailer

[socal geek guy]

i saw about a month or so ago a folding bed frame on amazon that i thought would be a good alternative to buiding a be frame out of wood. with the price of lumber, i figured it would be probably pretty similar in costs and with the metal frame from amazon, it would be easier to fold up and take out when i need to used it for other purposes. i did have a friend who had purchased the same bed frame and he said it was pretty decent.


i thought it over for a little over a week and when i saw that it had gone on sale, i decided to give it a try. one of the repeating things i saw in the reviews was to be careful of the cross support rods as they can catch on the mattress fabric and tear it. i had some spare canvas, so i cut some strips and wrapped the ends of the frame where the cross support rods were welded to the rest of the frame as a way to help prevent any kind of tearing. it is nice that there are two sections to the frame. i can set up one half and use it as a couch with the folding mattress, then use both sections as a bed. it feels pretty sturdy and i can tell my dog is going to love that he will be able to look out the window easily.

the one thing that i found out is that the plastic totes i keep all my stuff in are too tall to fit under the bed frame. i will end up going to find and buy new totes to fit underneath the bed, so its not the end of the world.

 

[socal geek guy]

went on a little overnight to the big bear area this weekend. temps got down to the low/mid 30's overnight and i'm very happy with the insulation in the trailer. i had my mr buddy heater ready to go if it got really cold, but didn't have to fire it up. there was a point around 1 am where it was noticeable enough of a temperature drop that it woke me up, but all i had to do was fully zip up the sleeping bag and i was good.

was nice to see the changing colors of the trees up in the mountains, something we don't really see in the coastal areas of southern california. felt good to get out even if it was only for an overnight trip.

 

[MMc]

A couple of weeks ago I thought of your build. There was a 8X12 UTV trailer they enclosed it with vertical plywood sheets. Cut some windows out with a screen on the inside, hinges on the outside with locks to keep the covers open . They used the fold down gate to roll the quads inside. The inside had 3 sheets of plywood about 1/2 way up hinged hanging with chains. 2 sheets length, 1 across the back, They formed a floor for a living area /storage above. The top and bottom had their own set of doors for access. Basically a 2 story trailer.The top shelf was build out for living the bottom was for hauling the UTVs, and camp storage. There was a latter to get into the top section. I thought yours looks so much more comfortable and well thought out. The shoe box shape with a clear seal was pretty ugly too.
Your trip looked like a good time, you should be proud of your work.

 

[socal geek guy]

thanks for the compliment, i am pretty happy with the trailer. i wouldn't be surprised if more people do this as it really is practical and more cost effective than a lot of the teardrop trailers on the new and used market right now. i know i've said it before, but its made me really appreciate the ability to use the trailer for more than one thing and i feel like i'm getting more use out of it than if i would have bought a teardrop that is only setup for camping.

something else i am currently obsessed with at the moment is finding a good deal on a yamaha tw200, which i think will be a good size motorcycle for me and would fit in the trailer fine. i'm not in a hurry, but i am actively looking around to what is out there. if i get a tw200, i'll have to figure out a good way to setup the trailer to put the bike and my camping gear inside.

 

[socal geek guy]

i put in another window on the other wall of the trailer last weekend, should help with getting a cross flow of air moving through the trailer when i'm in it. having a little more light in there too will be nice. i thought i ordered the same window as last time, but this one is a little different. the packing was horrible and i have no clue how it arrived unbroken. it seriously looks like they were pissed off and gave zero sh*ts to keeping it from sliding around or protecting the glass. it did arrive fine and i got it sealed from both the outside and put in a bead of silicone on the inside too for extra piece of mind. just like the other window, i put in a 1 inch box tube to fit up against the bottom of the window to act as a support and also act as a cross brace to the vertical frames on each side.

i also got some round eyelet screws so that i could use a cargo net for the trunk of my suv and have it as a net up on the ceiling. i figure it would be a good place to put random stuff that i'd need when i'm in the trailer. i'll try it out to see how much i use it and if i need to modify it or scrap it.

another thing i did was cut the safety chains off the trailer so that i could have removable links to take the safety chains off when i leave the trailer at the campsite. i was hearing that doing this is one less way people can steal your trailer when you're not around it. i have one of those ball hitch locks along with a padlock in the ball hitch latch, but feel like this wouldn't hurt. was amazing how quick my milwaukee battery powered grinder with a cut off wheel sliced through the chain link on the safety chains.

i'm still trying to work out how i'd like to permanently mount the spare tire and i'm working on a solution for storage on the tongue of the trailer. another thing i'm trying to work out the solution to is how to prop the doors open. i think i can get away with a normal t shaped door stay for the front side door, but the rear swing out door is what i'm taking my time to figure out a solution since the door is big, heavy, and would have a lot of leverage. at least this trailer keeps me busy coming up with ideas.

hopefully gas prices come down a little, i'd love to go on a trip soon like to the sierras.

 

[MMc]

In Baja it is common to mount a spare tire on a spinning mount, It is on a square tube that is pined, Often the tire is flipped to the ground and the trailer is rolled around on 3 tires. The pin keep the tire in place like a trailer hitch. They often use a chain around the wheel spokes with a lock.

 

[socal geek guy]

i officially bought a motorcycle two weeks ago and now i'm working out how i should set up the trailer to fit the bike in there and keep it secured while still fitting my camping gear. i'm open to suggestions. one mount i was interested in, but have seen both good and bad reviews on is the risk racing's lock-n-load.

 

[socal geek guy]

i pretty much have the motorcycle tie downs figured out and i put the bike in the trailer for the first time a couple weeks ago. i didn't want to have a permanent wheel chock installed and wanted the tie downs as least intrusive as possible. i originally wanted to do recessed d rings in the floor, hell i even got some. after having the recessed d ring in hand and working out the install, i was hesitant to start cutting up the floor that much before really knowing where the tie downs will work best. eventually i will probably put the recessed d rings in, but i'll also probably throw down another layer of plywood to the flooring as well.

to keep moving with getting the tie down situation figured out, i decided to go with e track mounts. i also wanted a wheel chock, so i ended up getting the trackside wheel chock (pretty common chock) and i found e track "studs" that i could bolt onto the chock and hook into the single e track mounts.

Trackside Roll On Wheel Chock - Cycle Gear

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i have two tie downs in the rear, two tie downs on the floor up forward and on the sides, and the chock has two tie down points up front. basically i'll have 6 tie down points, so hopefully that will be enough.

thankfully i went through with buying side mirror that use ram mounts and will fold down low. i ended up having to remove the oem windshield of the klr 650 to clear the door, but it barely clears. once inside the trailer, i have about 4-5 inches to the ceiling. the length is perfect, i have about 5 inches in front and 7 inches in the rear (tire to wall clearance). it will definitely be a game of tetris figuring out how to organize my camping gear, but on the good side it will force me to focus on only taking the stuff i really need.

i'm planning on a camping trip in a few weeks to go out to the calico ghost town area with a friend of mine so that we can play around on our motorcycles. i'm very much looking forward to getting out as i've been working a lot lately and haven't gone camping in months. for sure some time to disconnect and enjoy outside is needed.

 

[socal geek guy]

After figuring out the order of setting up the straps for the motorcycle and testing my tetris skills to pack in my camping gear with the bike in place, the trailer did good on my trip last weekend out to the Joshua Tree area. The trailer pulled well and rode smooth with the bike inside. I did have one large tote that I'll have to transfer the contents to some more of the green plano totes.

Now I need to finish painting the inside a different color that I picked up a couple weeks ago.

 

[socal geek guy]

a couple more from the weekend.

 

[socal geek guy]

after watching this video, i'm kind of interested in doing side boxes like the ones on this trailer ( @ 2:17 in the video). maybe a shorter one on the side with the awning and door, then a longer one for the other side. it may be a nice place to keep my full sized shovel and traction boards along with tow straps. it mainly depends on what lengths/widths are available and costs.

 

[socal geek guy]

well this past weekend was the first time i got stuck in my suv where i had to hook up a tow strap. went up a trail that had snow, following some friends, and we made it most of the way up. got to the last incline, but it was too slick and i was too heavy with the trailer (thank god i didn't have the motorcycle with me). long story short, it was stressful getting unstuck, but i learned that it is really important that everyone in a group trip have radios on and working before heading up and that anything deeper than a foot of snow with an incline, i may want to rethink my options. i did have to disconnect the trailer, turn it around by hand, then have my friend hook it up to his jeep, then take it down to a better spot while i got unstuck, then found a turn around spot.

after all the stuff with getting stuck, the nice thing with the trailer was that it stayed really warm with my buddy heater. it got down in the 20's, so this was the first time i actually used it. i've been out when its around 32 degrees F, but didn't turn on the heater. this time i felt like i should use it and it was nice. even on low, i found myself opening the window all the way. the buddy heater was a success in my opinion and i'm glad i got it. now i just need to set up a more permanent location to mount it to when using, but easy enough to remove when its not needed.

 

[HaVeeBear]

that's a good lesson...you can build a very capable rig, but if you have no traction....you've got no traction....

Thanks for sharing! and glad you got out ok. very cool that you were able to turn your trailer around by hand and have your buddy pull the trailer. I hadn't considered making sure another vehicle has the ability to pull my trailer should something happen to my rig.

 

[socal geek guy]

always good to go with another person too. definitely a moment to learn where the limitations are, where there could be improvements, and also things to do way before heading up with a group. comms is a big thing that should worked out before hand. at least i got to recertify my overlanding credits by using my traction boards this year. lol.

 

[socal geek guy]

i haven't done a huge amount of work on the trailer this year, but i did paint the walls a little different color. i went with an off white that has a little tan to it, so almost the color of egg nog. looks decent, and the best part is that it was an "oops mix" at home depot so it only cost about $8 for the gallon vs $30 full price.

another thing i did was get some different lights. aside from the led light rope that i have around the ceiling, i was using those battery powered light switch lights that you get at harbor freight for like $2. i had one up front, and one in the rear so that if i just need a quick light to get something, they're next to the doors. they worked good, but it sucked when the batteries went out in them because they'd take 6 AAA batteries. fast forward to a couple months ago, i saw some rechargeable lights on amazon that i thought looked like they have potential. they're about the size of a double thick hockey puck and they use a magnetic ball socket mount, which is great since its easy to take the light off for recharge and there's a lot of rotation for aiming the light. another nice thing is that you can dim the light as well as choose between a warm white/yellow light or a bright white/blue color.


i did a little overnight trip using the lights and i really do like them, and i like that if they are low on battery, its easy to just plug them into my jackery and i'm good to go. i did have one light that was dead at the start of the trip. i think i bumped it and turned it on. it has a touch sensitive on/off, so its easy to turn on/off. i kind of wish it was a more traditional push button type, but its not the end of the world.

i also added some "decor" to the rear door. gave it a little nautical theme. i'm still working on how to "decorate" the interior. i have a lot of camping related stickers that i want to put up inside, but i'm still working out how i want to do it.

things on my to do list are:
make curtain rods and get some curtains for the windows. i have threaded holes for the interior "shutters" i made for the bike and will use the threaded inserts to attach the curtain rods when i'm camping.

i want to re-do the very jerry rigged wiring that came from the factory. i'm looking at putting a junction block in and then i'd like to put a fuse on each circuit. i think i'm going to start with this junction box and run my own wiring. i already have one clearance light that went out, so i want to fix that. i'm also considering adding reverse lights to the trailer (it doesn't have any) by adding some rock lights for suv's. they're small and easy to hook up. still just an idea right now, but on the list of things i'd like to improved.


i just got some stabilizer jacks, but i still need to put them on. i'm working on the best way to mount them so that they're tucked out of the way and don't get ripped off if i go on something more intense than a dirt road.

I'm still working on getting a tool box for the tounge, it would be nice to keep my jack and a few other things. i also need a better place to put my spare tire than laying it inside the trailer.

 

[smritte]

i want to re-do the very jerry rigged wiring that came from the factory. I'm looking at putting a junction block in and then i'd like to put a fuse on each circuit. i think i'm going to start with this junction box and run my own wiring.

I have one on the front separating everything and one in the rear on the inside of my frame. The rear one gives me a spot if I wanted to add in other rear lights but it also is my junction for my rear power feed. I also ran two extra wires from the front box to the rear just incase I want to add in something later.

 

[HaVeeBear]

i just got some stabilizer jacks, but i still need to put them on. i'm working on the best way to mount them so that they're tucked out of the way and don't get ripped off if i go on something more intense than a dirt road.

Which stabilizer jacks did you get? I'm struggling to find some that I like and extend enough for my trailer. Thanks!

 

[socal geek guy]

i went with these for now and plan on using some leveling blocks to make up for any gaps that they don't reach to the ground.


i'm working on exactly how to mount them, and i got a few ideas, but i'll need to actually go out there with the jacks and mock them up to see if my ideas work. if i had a welder and knew how to weld, i'd totally be going with drop leg jacks at each corner. these would be my first choice, but i would need to weld them on.