*Revived and updated* Enclosed trailer / camper idea - thoughts?

[jalopi]

so it's been a little while since i last publicly talked about this idea, but i've finally come to grips with the fact that an enclosed trailer/hauler/camper just isn't practical for what i want to do. putting the racecar inside another vehicle is just too much of a compromise - not enough space left over.

i did end up going to look at a few box trucks and holy shit - almost every one i looked at was a massive pile of shit. no one seems to maintain these things, which makes sense since they're owned by commercial companies and none of them seem to give two fucks about routine maintenance as long as the trucks keep rolling

then, since i figured i was done with the idea of putting the racecar inside, my mind started wandering to skoolies again. reading through steve's thread really got the gears turning - i haven't been on a real vacation in over five years and i've always wanted to tour the country. my family business is shutting down in a year or two, so it's perfect timing to get the bus ready for the trip

here's the floor plan i have figured out so far. unfortunately floor plan designers don't account for curved roofing, but it's a variance i'm sure i can figure out (by "figure out" i mean with a saw)






thoughts so far? got more explaining to do but fuck i'm tired right now, i'll say more in the morning


old shit below
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Sup bros,

So I've been tossing ideas around lately, trying to figure out a good way of towing my e30 to track events. Getting too old/creaky/worried-about-what-ifs to keep driving my car to events.

For a while I was tossing around the idea of getting a Tundra so I could tow it, but then I'd have to deal with the inconvenience of also buying or renting a trailer to put the car on. I already have a small truck (Ranger) and the only thing I'd need the big truck for is towing, other than that the Ranger has served me well.

There's also the issue of tracks that are far away - I'm not really trying to wake up at 5AM so I can drive for three hours to get to Englishtown or five hours to VIR + the cost of a hotel. And for multi-day events? Not the biggest fan of tents. There's also the issue of bringing parts or tools along - most of the track events I've been to have cool people there, but you never know... very easy to just yank something out of the back of a truck.

I was talking about my dilemma to a friend the other day while driving him to the airport, he saw a special kind of truck and jokingly said I should get one. Well I took him kinda seriously and decided to do some research on it... turns out I'm not the only crazy/dumb asshole out there.



Now I'm not talking about renting here, but buying. I've seen u-haul trucks for sale for roughly the same price as what I was going to spend on a Tundra. All I'd have to figure out is ramps and install some decent eye bolts/anchors to strap the car down with. Also, a door positioned where the drivers' door would be when the car's pulled in so I can get in/out. So basically, for like $5-6k, I can get a truck/enclosedtrailer/camper vehicle that isn't quite as good as its individual counterparts but will do the job just fine.

So what's everyone's thoughts? Anyone have any other examples out there? The only search that brought results for me was "car inside uhaul" and those pickings were quite slim. Thinking about a 17' truck, though based on u-haul's interior dimensions and wiki's length of my car I'd essentially have the car packed in there bumper to bumper. Probably gonna have to go with a 24' truck.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Nifty idea. Tool boxes in the 'Mom's Attic", and maybe some rack system with support legs down to the floor to store spares in tubs in the upper 18" above. Also, maybe a bed hinged on one wall that swings down when the car is out. Looks like an exercise in space management, but would be a fun rig.

[dirty30]

Would be a cool jack of all trades vehicle.

[Spectre]

please build this..

[jalopi]

Hahaha wow, this idea got a much better reaction than what I was expecting, lol

So I measured my car earlier... no way the 17' truck will work. Car measures at roughly 14'10". The ass would be hanging out and I wouldn't be able to easily strap it in the front... gonna have to go for the 24' truck then. Besides, I'd rather have the Chevy 450 and an Allison tranny than the ford v10 and one of their slushboxes... don't know too much about Allisons, but from what I've heard they make pretty goddamn serious auto transmissions.


As far as the layout goes, My general idea is this:



Build an 'extension/shelf' for the mom's attic so I can sleep up there... I'm skinny, but not 3' skinny. Toolbox (40"x20" + top box, hence why it can't go up top) directly beneath it, roll cart/random bullshit scattered around. Winch dead center by the wall for pulling the box & car up/down. Leaves me with 2ish feet between the box and the car (leaving a 2' gap between the trunk and rear door). Install two doors, one by my cars' drivers' door and one by the parts storage so I can easily get in/out while the car is in there.

Already figured the ramps out based on a thread I saw on some volkswagen forum - I need a 12' ramp for ground clearance (figured out I need roughly a 12.5* ramp). Unfortunately, the only ramps I've found in that length are like, $1k for the ramps + mounting hardware :(

[matthugie]

I like this a lot actually. I'm in the same situation, but am probably going to elect for the more traditional tow vehicle route. Still, this is awesome.

[TobyB]

Generically, they're called 'Toy Hauler' rigs- there are some neat ones running around out there.
I always thought it'd be cool to do to an old class A RV- keep the bathroom and kitchen,
and sleep where the car would be when you were hauling.
After a certain age, a class A has no cash value- but if you were to find one with low mileage
(a party wagon or similar) to gut, it would be a great way to go. Probably lighter,
loaded, than a full- built RV.
Add a compressor, tool storage, yadda yadda, and you'd have the ultimate support vehicle.

t

[jalopi]

Hm. Didn't know they were called toy haulers - thanks for the info, I'm sure this'll pull more results on google.

Still though, would a RV really be a better option than the uhaul? I mean, it's got the bathroom and all, but I really don't want to put anything longer than a 30' truck in my driveway (though I guess the looks of a RV would piss the neighbors off a bit less). The only thing I think would be a pain is the rear door - I'm sure I could fabricate a garage door into the back of an RV but the fitment/quality wouldn't be nearly as nice and it'd probably take me a good while to get it right. Guessing it'd be roughly the same price as the uhaul truck too.

[IronFreak]

We must be long lost brothers....

I have been hard on this idea for awhile now. I was REALLY leaning towards the uhaul, but fuel economy keeps creeping into my head. So I have started looking at 25-30' car trailers. Yes I'd need a truck, preferably diesel but, I would be able to use that for other things besides just hauling to a track. I want a long one because I'd like to take my fab abilities with me to fix mine, or offer my services to fix others vehicles. have enough room for my car, tires, welders, air compressor, tool box, tire machine etc.

That way I can show up to events, rip up the track and in my downtime make some cash fix/changing out tires.

[jalopi]

Lol. Yeah, the idea of 5-8mpg really hurts my dick, but it's not like a gas truck would get much better pulling a 20-30' trailer. A diesel would do better, but 12mpg isn't really that much different. Big difference on a cross country trip, but I think the max I'd be going for now is Georgia.

I've been into renovating homes as a side job lately too; slowly getting more into it. Making a home depot trip only once compared to 3 times in a day would also be fucking sweet. No need to worry about things hanging / potentially falling out of the back of my truck (6ft bed)

[Boris3]

Like this?

http://www.racingjunk.com/Truck-Trailer-Combos/182247435/24ft-box-truck-race-car-hauler.html

[jalopi]

Yep, exactly that. Thanks for the link, gave me a good visual idea of what to do to overcome the wheel well humps.

I'll have to look into fold up/down rear ramp, it'd be preferable to having 80% of the car completely in the air at one point with the 12' ramps (besides, the cheapest set of 12' ramps I can find are like, $900)

[Chris916]

I like where this is going..

[TobyB]

...and yes, you can find 30' class A Rv's sometimes. They hold their value better,
but that shower is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice when you come off track
at the end of the day.

But it's only really worth it at tracks out in the boonies- of which we have quite a few
around here.

t

[jalopi]

Huh. Maybe if I got a 26' truck I could rig a shower up in that bitch... maybe. One of those outdoor showers would probably be more reasonable/doable though.