Trike Hauler

[TomyJ]

DIY Trike Hauler or class C Toy Hauler?Some of these older RV's can be pretty cheap??? Nice way to retire at a RV park, some you own the lot... Is this thinking outside the box? DIY

 

[cycle7447]

If you want to go that way - then do so and enjoy. This would not be my idea. Plus, it does not appear to be able to carry a trike.

 

[Marc H]

The remaining living quarters is a bit small but with some mods I can see it.

 

[TomyJ]

TrikeHauler a little dreaming, YES!
First off, I want to go out of town with my Trike and do some long-distance traveling, (road trip) and I want to load up my Trike instead of driving with all those miles, so I am going to design a Trike hauler and RV combined, and to me RV means, sleeping cooking, shower toilet. The body needs to be wide enough to carry the Trike inside, to the rear, now for easy load and unload=AirBags, and no axels to drive over only dually IRS, which means front wheel drive so I will be thinking GM and enough HP to make many grades, fold down rear ramp...How does it sound so far? Did I forget anything yet? Front end does not have to be VW? GM? OR?

 

[pwhoever]

One thing that is becoming very popular is buying enclosed cargo trailer and doing a camper conversion to it. It's basically a blank canvas, and you get to design it however you want. Cargo trailers are lower to the ground and easier to load and unload. On my 7x16 enclosed cargo, the wheels are outside the interior floor deck and covered by fenders so I get 100% use of the entire floor. The axles are torsion axles so each moves independently.

I have been thinking strongly of turning mine into a conversion, then selling my toy hauler. The proceeds would more than cover the build. What's involved is removing all the plywood interior walls to install insulation, wiring, and side windows. Plywood then gets put back on and designing the interior is next. It's going to take a lot of thought and planning to decide what to include and where to place it. As far as air conditioning, the most popular is the mini split AC units and many also have heat option through heat pump. Many decent units are cheaper, more flexible in placement, and more effective than roof mounted RV AC units.

When it comes to layout, there are infinite choices. One issue in many is the lack of underfloor space for mounting tanks for fresh, grey, and black. Black tank is only necessary for toilet so if you go with a portable style, no black tank. Fresh water tanks can be mounted inside if you get creative which would also help in cooler weather so it doesn't freeze. Grey tank would probably require the most thought especially if installing a shower. Wiring would also take some thought as you are probably coming to have some 12v items and some 120v items but many solutions for that. Besides that, placement of enough wall sockets to be easily used.

My biggest concern is what size bed to use and where to put it. On my trips, I sometimes do an overnight in places like Walmart parking lots. Unloading my trike or now my side by side when doing this does not make sense. I need to be able to use the bed but not interfere with access to the rest of the interior fixtures such as fridge, toilet, etc... I do have cots that I could use in a pinch, they just aren't as comfortable as an actual bed.

One big consideration is tongue weight when designing the layout. Since it will probably only be used when trike or toy hauler is inside, they will be towards back and that gives me some freedom on layout up front. But I also have too make sure that tongue up front isn't too light because that's as bad if not worse than too much tongue weight.

I probably won't be diving further into this project until spring of next year...

 

[pwhoever]

Here is a link to some excellent information on doing a conversion in case anyone else is interested. Lots of great ideas.

Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers • View forum - Cargo Trailer Conversions

 

[pwhoever]

I bought mine used (2019) and got a decent deal on it. Here are some photos showing what I have to work with. Blank canvas...







As you can see, the wheel wells do not impact the interior space at all. Also the photo from rear is a little misleading and not quite that close to ground. The tongue jack is just raised a bit high. There was e-track already on the walls and I have since added e-track on the floor. I can easily get my trike in there. My trike is listed at 61" wide and I have room on either side. Rear door opening is 73.5" tall so plenty for the trike. And my side by side (2023 CFMoto Zforce 800 trail) is 54" wide and 71.5" tall. It was close to touching top of opening but fit.

 

[TomyJ]

RV ToyHauler -OR- ToyHauler RV

Maybe something like this, and just give up your home and travel, everyone loves the beach cities...(Is there a DMV law on length of single vehicle?) Jaws are going to drop on this one, $100,000+ ? Unless you have the skills to DIY, with FWD...

 

[TomyJ]

Guess Whooooo!!! Why did he ever want the floor so high? Just because it came that way with the motorhome he bought? This style would be a good start for the RV ToyHauler? What do you guys think??? Will Papa Z let us build this in our minds???