Have I lost it?

[AndyL]

G'day Folks,

Please poke some massive holes in my week's brainstorm It's in the offroad forum - because this is to be an offroad trailer towed by an offroad truck into true backcountry situations...

Out at the farm I have this sitting in the weeds:


No drivetrains long gone... (in current tow vehicle actually) Truck was the victim of a 18yr old with a corvette... Frame is badly damaged ahead of the firewall...

So, at the moment - to me this is looking like a 10'x5' trailer, that already has 2 working doors (rear tailgate would need reworking into a galley) functional windows, already weathertight... Albeit is massively overweight, and needing a tongue...

I'm actually liking the thought of having spare parts (especially the rear axle) though - trailer brakes would be a difficult (?) on the trailer - better to leave the trailer and drive out, than to be stuck in the woods with both...

Ok, please poke holes now...

[Juneaudave]

I can see it all ready...a thing of beauty!!!!

[G-force]

Some of the large boat trailers use a electric/hydraulic braking system. Hydraulic brakes, but onthe tongue, is an electric hydraulic pump that works off a standard 7 pin trailer harness as you would have for a tow vehicle that has an electric brake controller in it. Something like that could probaly be adapted.

[AndyL]

Shouldn't y'all be telling me this idea sucks; and this is unsafe / redneck / crazy idear?

If I strip the interior, and remove the useless ancillary stuff - will I be able to drop it down to a reasonable enough weight (4runner is rated to 2500lb tow capacity)?

[Juneaudave]

Ya know...there's been a gazillion utility trailers built out of truck boxes, and weight is a always a problem...but a creative person could salvage that sheet metal, topper, tires, windows, fuse box, wiring, tail lights, seats, etc and come up with something special!!!

Definately more than I could do....but the entertainment value of seeing a guy beat his head against a wall is always great!!!!

[PresTx82]

You could hook them up to a couple horses and you'd be abck in business again!

[Mary K]

:thinking: Shouldn't y'all be telling me this idea sucks; and this is unsafe / redneck / crazy idear?

If I strip the interior, and remove the useless ancillary stuff - will I be able to drop it down to a reasonable enough weight (4runner is rated to 2500lb tow capacity)?

YOUR CRAZY!!!

Now Get out there and make a camper out of that thang! Wait! Let me hold your Beer for ya.....

Mk

[brian_bp]

It makes as little - and as much - sense as the trailers built from the back halves of pickup trucks. Probably more than the 1/2 RX-7 I saw today.



An alternative for the braking challenge is to use an ordinary hydraulic surge brake coupler to run the stock Toyota drum brakes. The parking brake lever could be re-mounted on the (new) tongue, for convenience.

For the 4Runner, the transmission and driveshaft hump will be annoying in the interior, the windshield will be vulnerable to rock damage, and some sort of cosmetic cover is needed for the firewall area.

Conversions of whole vehicles to trailers (typically vans) usually suffer from excessive tongue weight because the axle is too far back; omitting body forward of the firewall and putting the galley in the back (classic teardrop balance) might prevent that issue in this case.... oops, we were trying to poke holes in the idea!


The 1/2 RX-7 image is from http://www.rotaryengineillustrated.com/, and apparently belonged to some guy named Blake Qualley.

[wlivesey]

You're crazy!

Now with that out of the way - I say go for it! Whats the worst that could happen? You'll end up with a junked out truck sitting in the weeds down at the farm... Oh wait, you've already got that.


I'd strip that puppy down, cut the hump out, add a tounge, a futon mattress, colman stove and cooler... call it a redneck rv. I've seen worse... Hell, I've lived in worse...

[brian_bp]

While we're making suggestions...
The steering column obviously needs to go, but the dashboard might be interesting to keep - radio for entertainment, glovebox for storage, clock...

[tj0llll0]

I had one of those converted P/U bed trailers. Heavy is an understatement. That said, and remember that Im just a daydreamer with no engineering experience, I like the idea. Maybe you could loose some weight from removing that heavy frame and replacing it with a lighter one. I think the hardest part will be finishing the front off and keep it looking good.

Good Luck

John in Vegas