Inspired to get a 6X10 CT!

[crumvoc]

I am so impressed by the ideas and projects I see in this forum. I have decided to take the plunge and get a 6 X 10 Cargo Craft by MEI CT to haul my KLR dual sport and camp in.

Anxious to extend the range of my rides... Without having to ride there! I’ve been burning up pads of paper sketching floorplans, etc.

The CT I am planning to get is build a bit differently than most of the CT trailers. It is sort of a hybrid construction, a blend of cargo trailer and RV. It has a rear steel hoop structure to support the heavy rear doors. The rest of the structure, except the roof bows, is wood studs bonded to plywood in a sort of monocoque structure, with the steel skin screwed to the studs. It is probably not a “heavy duty” structure like a steel frame superstructure, but I don’t plan on doing any offroading or heavy carrying. The structure sort of reminds me of how a lot of the TT’s are made. The trailers are a little lighter than others, and they seem to cost about 15% less. Hope this works out!

One thing that is interesting is that since it has a wooden structure, it is easy to install windows. I'm thinking of putting in two or three of the crank out awning type windows because they can stay open in the rain. Planning a fairly simple internal structure that will be easy to take out when other uses are needed. Still trying to decide ramp door or not...


I plan on keeping up a building blog on this site. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Wolfscout]

Good for ya. Sounds like you see what will work for you.
I look forward to seeing how you build yours. Mine is a 6x12 and I surely could have gone another 2 feet.
Hindsight .. shrugs.

[elmo_4_vt]

That's the same reason I went to a Cargo Trailer, to haul my KLR to the mountains for camping and still be able to take my family. As you said, it also increases the range of the trips.

Don

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[Ed@Ford]

Just stumbled onto this site, and this thread...EXACTLY my thoughts...a 6x10 to haul my KLR & sleep off the ground. For starters, is the current thinking starting with a 6' inside ceiling? Also, a second thought is a mechanism etc to stuff/restrain the klr in backwards to keep the handlebars "towards the back of the bus". Ed

[crumvoc]

Well, OP here... Bought a 2012 Mirage CT today, 6x10, barn doors, side door, roof vent... a blank canvas! Decided against the Cargo Craft hybrid- construction trailer, as I concluded that it would be harder to "customize" than a steel frame CT because of the sealed wall/ceiling system. Guess I better get a hitch put on the pickup to drag the little bugger home.

Question: On a 6x10 CT, will I need to park the bike (Kawasaki KLR @ +-400#) all the way to the front of the trailer when towing? If I do, the rear wheel will be about 1.5' aft of the axle. thoughts?

[pete42]

first of all way to go on the trailer purchase.
If you haven't towed before then the tongue weight needs to be 10 to 15% of the total trailer weight.
loaded to far back and tongue will be to light and trailer will tend to wander all over.
loaded to far forward and the tongue will be to heavy and tow will be pushed down in the back
taking weight off the tow's front wheels not good either.
a trailer that sits level with the above stated 10 or 15% tongue weight is just right.
just like Cinderella ones to light ones to heavy ones just right.

pete

[elmo_4_vt]

Obviously, you'll have to check it out, but the center of the bike should be ABOUT the center of the weight. When I put my KLR on my 4x8 trailer (axle was in the center of the box), it only changed the balance of the trailer about about 15 lbs towards the tongue. So if the center of the bike (KLR is 7'-6" long) is forward of the axle, it will be adding weight to the tongue of the trailer. When you buy the trailer in it's empty form, it will have the required 10-15% tongue weight, so as long as you add weight proportionally (equal amounts behind and in front of the axle) you should keep the tongue weight where it needs to be. In my opinion, unless you add a bunch of weight to the back of the trailer during your camper conversion, you'll want your bike as far back as possible to minimize the additional weight on the tongue because the axle position on a 6x10 should only be about 3' -6" from the rear of the trailer, which is less than half the length of the bike, meaning the center of the KLR weight will still be forward of the axle.

Don

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[crumvoc]

Thanks for the advice! I should have a chance to load the bike on Saturday to test things. Guess I'll put the trailer jack foot on a bathroom scale. The farther back the better I like it, as I would like to build in some cabinets at the front 2' or so.Here's a photo of das trailer... Still working on mastering upload of photos. Still trying to figure out how to do it. Think I got it now....

[crumvoc]

Since I'm getting so good at this... I think this looks like a pretty good deal: a double garage door-wide screen from Harbor Freight which is on sale for $21.99! http://www.harborfreight.com/double-garage-door-screen-68310.html

I can see having the entire back of the trailer open on a warm day... the biggest possible "window" on a CT!

[elmo_4_vt]

You'll have to post back how you like that screen from HF. It looks like it would be awesome but I didn't know how easily it could be modified to fit the trailer vs. a 16'x7' garage door.

Don

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[crumvoc]

Made good progress after getting the 6X10 home on saturday. Got one wall insulated and have materials for the rest. Decided that I am going to make some "pillows" of fiberglass insulation well sealed in plastic bags. I will just jam these, not too tight, into the front cap area. Should work fine, I think.

I managed to get the KLR into the trailer (bought a $99 Cabela's aluminum ramp) and determined with a bathroom scale under the tongue jack that the best place for it is about 6" in front of the back doors.

I went dumpster diving on craigslist today, and bought two (filthy) 16X26 crank out windows, two 4X12 crank out vent windows, a tongue wheel, a fuse block and two dome lights... for $26! I only got the smaller windows because they have perfectly operating gearboxes, while the ones on the larger windows were shot. WIll do a swap out on the gearboxes. I wanted the crank out windows because they can be left open during the rain. Also they came with screens! SCORE!

Probably no more progress this week, gotta work!

[crumvoc]

You'll have to post back how you like that screen from HF. It looks like it would be awesome but I didn't know how easily it could be modified to fit the trailer vs. a 16'x7' garage door.

Don

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Thanks for the comment! I've not bought that garage screen yet... a little too cool yet to be thinking about a screen wall! I think it would probably require some cutting down and maybe some other modifications that probably would not be too complicated.

[JJ92]

Made good progress after getting the 6X10 home on saturday. Got one wall insulated and have materials for the rest. Decided that I am going to make some "pillows" of fiberglass insulation well sealed in plastic bags. I will just jam these, not too tight, into the front cap area. Should work fine, I think.

I managed to get the KLR into the trailer (bought a $99 Cabela's aluminum ramp) and determined with a bathroom scale under the tongue jack that the best place for it is about 6" in front of the back doors.

I went dumpster diving on craigslist today, and bought two (filthy) 16X26 crank out windows, two 4X12 crank out vent windows, a tongue wheel, a fuse block and two dome lights... for $26! I only got the smaller windows because they have perfectly operating gearboxes, while the ones on the larger windows were shot. WIll do a swap out on the gearbo.xes. I wanted the crank out windows because they can be left open during the rain. Also they came with screens! SCORE!

Probably no more progress this week, gotta work!

Looks like a steel to me. Those windows will do fine with a little cleaning up.

[crumvoc]

Any suggestions as to how to seal these windows? I scraped off some sort of caulk/tape stuff.

[pete42]

I used butyl tape comes in a roll and can be purchased at any camping supply store I do not know about lowes or Home depot.
they sell it in different lengths and widths.

pete