Quality Budget Priced Trailer - My 2c

[dazzler]

Hi

For a long while there has been a lot of angst and argument when a newcomer asks the old question of what we think of a certain new trailer.  It usually ends up with one camp (usually those that have built trailers) bagging out the cheapies and those that have the cheapies getting upset that they are getting slagged off for being cheapskates.

And I am one of the worst protagonists.  Cue step one – “I am daz and I am an antagonist”.

I love construction and love building trailers but realize that not everyone is into it. 

I do think that a lot of the CT’s at the budget end of the market are built using inferior materials and construction methods and use ‘bling’ to entice buyers.  I get asked by friends when they find out I build campers what I would recommend them get.  I put this together for the BIL so figured I would post it on here. 

So if I were in the market for a new budget camper this is what I would recommend.   


7 x 4 High sided box trailer
$3500

A quality trailer manufacturer uses a jig to make up their trailers (7x4, 6x4 etc) so they can modify the basic trailer unit to whatever you like. 

I would go with;

75 x 50 drawbar 1500mm from the front of the tub (or front box)
This extends and welds into the front spring hanger.

50 x 50 chassis

Off road hitch of your choice if you intend going serious off road.  If its just national parks and fire trailers a simple 50mm ball coupling will be fine and save you $200.

Sheet steel for all construction.  (no chequerplate)

450mm or 500mm sides (depends on how they bend the side sheets and whether they put a rib in the panel for strength)

Swing out tailgate.

LED lights.

Off road jockey wheel.

Alko 7 leaf outback eye to eye rebound leaf springs.  (you can take a leaf or two out to adjust once its weighed)

Alko 10” electric drum brakes

Alko drop down leg stabilisers

Hubs and offset to match wheels that you supply to match your tow rig (do away with carrying a spare)

Water tank mounts to match a quality tank you supply.

Gas bottle mount on side.

Tow hitch at rear for bike rack or recovery.

If you want extra storage on the drawbar select the box you are going to use and give this to them.  They can make a frame to mount it on the drawbar.  This is important as you can get them to place the axle (via the spring hanger location) in the correct place to keep your tow ball weight within the correct specs. This works out that the axle centerline is located ½” to the rear of centre for every 1” of trailer tub length including the front tool box.  This will actually bring the axle forward of normal as the front box is taken into account.

This will give you a quality built trailer that will not let you down. If you had some extra coin you could factor in another $500 on top of the suspension cost to have an ALKO rubber torsion bar independent set up put on.  I reckon that is good value.

Drifta DPOR kitchen
$1000.00

These are highly recommended for quality and use and are simple and easy to fit yourself.

http://www.drifta.com.au/drifta-pull-out-with-return-dpor-990/


Aftermarket Camper Trailer Tent

This is where savings made on a ‘budget’ tent cant really hurt you much.  There are heaps on ebay and you can select one to your style and how much you have left.  I really like the Oztrail range as they seem to fit somewhere between an Australian Made Canvas and the cheap ebay ones.

Factor in $2500.  Again these are a simple and easy to bolt on.

The final figures would be around

Trailer    $3500
Kitchen    $1000
Tent       $2500

Final around   $7000

I reckon that is good value for a brand new quality built CT.

cheers

Daz

[D4D]

Now Daz, don't come here with your high and mighty logic

Only joking, great post

Also shows how little you need to spend for a good reliable camper.

[gordo350]

Can't find the link for dazzling trailers.com

gordo350

[dazzler]

Can't find the link for dazzling trailers.com

gordo350

Now theres an idea.

Though being serious I think for the vast majority of punters the bling would get them.  Mine would be the plain jane model up against Gold Coast Strippers!

LOL.

[gordo350]

Always went for the plain jane in my day. Get alot  more bang for your buck

gordo350

[oldmate]

Everyone loves Gold Coast strippers lol

[geopaj]

Awesome post!

Hopefully will give first time potential buyers something to think about (when comparing the 'Dazz Camper' to a similar priced 'budget camper', I'd know which one I'd prefer to take to Birdsville, etc)

[McTavish]

Dazzler being an 'Anti-Dazzler' if I'm reading this right??    Good features like those noted makes for a problem free holiday - goodness knows we try to go camping to get away from 'issues' !!

[bobnrob]

"Off road hitch of your choice if you intend going serious off road.  If its just national parks and fire trailers a simple 50mm ball coupling will be fine and save you $200."

Around here, NP are notorious for putting in 'speed humps' way oversized, so I'd still be inclined to use a good Treg/Trigg/ORAC etc type coupling   
Would put a damper on your maiden outing if you were to get near your camp site, only to find you have to turn 'round, or worse...snap your ball/coupling   

Other than that, good advice for those new to CT's, to arm themselves with when they start their hunt for the camper to suit them   

[dazzler]

Good point bob. I stumbled over that one a bit. Lol. Maybe we just go with the off road coupling and be done with as you suggest.


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[DropBearRacing]

Good post Daz. I find that the GC Strippers are very high maintenance compared to a plain jane.  They also don't travel too lightly and don't hold their value for long once the shine wears off 

[prado2004]

"Off road hitch of your choice if you intend going serious off road.  If its just national parks and fire trailers a simple 50mm ball coupling will be fine and save you $200."

Around here, NP are notorious for putting in 'speed humps' way oversized, so I'd still be inclined to use a good Treg/Trigg/ORAC etc type coupling   
Would put a damper on your maiden outing if you were to get near your camp site, only to find you have to turn 'round, or worse...snap your ball/coupling   

Other than that, good advice for those new to CT's, to arm themselves with when they start their hunt for the camper to suit them   

where would one recommend to buy a quality aftermarket hitch from? I want to replace the ball hitch on my trailer.

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

Vehicle Components stock a range of hitches to choose from.

CONTACT
1300 35 45 65
sales@vehiclecomponents.com.au

No association with them except having one of their hitches on my TVAN.

[evilbrent]

Excellent!

Currently in design process myself, and it's the little things in your post that really help me.

I was thinking of having the draw bars 1800mm out the front. Don't know why, just seems like a nice round number.

I've got a couple of questions I'm going to ask in a new post, but thanks, yours really got me off on the right foot!

[pugga]

Love this post, basically exactly what we did with a few our own ideas thrown in, great post

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

Oz hitch are also a good alternative hitch.

http://ozhitch.com/

[dazzler]

Thanks for the positive comments!.


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[Ozsnowman]

That's all we did for our Camper! Sourced a trailer locally, and got an Oztrail top that was on clearance at Kulkyne...came in under $3k. It's basic as all hell but we have used in plenty of times in the past 18 months, and are doing plenty of mods to it

[BrisVegasGolfer]

Interesting thread dazzler.  I've been thinking about going down this path myself, as I can't afford a camper, even a used one atm. 

We cart our tent (Oztrail Tourer Twin), bedding, tubs and fridge etc etc. in the back of the wagon and on the roof atm.  It'd be nice to get all that stuff out of the car and into a trailer.  I like your idea of a drifta setup too, as that would save a lot of rummaging about in plastic tubs.  Our tent works well for us, it's very quick setup and packup and it can go on the roof racks. 

Is it possible to get a decent 7x4 box trailer made up with the bottle and jerry holders, water tank etc, but just have a canvas tonneau cover?  Would that keep the water and dust out?  A couple of mates have locally made on-road camping trailers with hard lids and struts.  They're not bad, but the lids seems like wasting money if we eventually put a camper tent on top.  Assuming a tonneau is cheaper?

[MIC78C]

I'm doing a similar thing at the moment.
Bought myself a brand new Import tent for $800, cost me $150 in freight.
Got my trailer built by Greenwood Trailers, between Brisbane and Toowoomba.
7x4 box trailer, RHS Chassis, High sides to give me 1m drop for tent.
Fully welded off road trailer, 50mm axle, cruiser hubs, timken bearings.
1800 draw bar, 75x50x3.2 15"sunraysia wheels, swing away tailgate.
Pinch seals on tailgate. All the steel (except checker plate) is gal, etch primed and painted.
Trailer cost me $1440
$200 for electric brakes
Another $400 in stabiliser legs, jerry and gas holders, carpet, battery box, ply for kitchen bench, and it's nearly good to go.
Dunno if i'm going to bother with stainless kitchen or water tank yet. Most places I want to camp are near a river, so I will get my shower water from there.

[InMused]

Excellent post that deserves bumping.

I am looking at a similar process with a Austrack 12"tent and a custom built trailer in Melbourne at the same budget as a bottom of the rung Mars/MDC etc camper.

Thanks

[terravista]

Hi
May well sound like a silly query but what is wrong with chequer plate?
My query relates to my trailer having chequerplate floor.
cheers

[Marschy]

Certainly an interesting thread.

But it falls short in a in a few major areas.

1. The cost of all the tools required to manufacture a self build trailer.

2. The space required for the trailer to be built and the cost for renting or buying that space. Not everyone has the luxury of a large work shop, or work area.

3. The time required for building the trailer.

Self build projects have a lot of merit, but it has also been shown that a lot of self build projects that take longer than 1 year can loose the momentum and enthusiasm required to finish the project.

I'm not being an antagonist, I am simply pointing out facts that are missing from this notion of building your own trailer. I have the ability, required space, tools, but I'm lacking in that one vital area, the enthusiasm required to build my own trailer when I can buy a well built budget trailer.

[Streetkid]

Certainly an interesting thread.

But it falls short in a in a few major areas.

1. The cost of all the tools required to manufacture a self build trailer.

2. The space required for the trailer to be built and the cost for renting or buying that space. Not everyone has the luxury of a large work shop, or work area.

3. The time required for building the trailer.

Self build projects have a lot of merit, but it has also been shown that a lot of self build projects that take longer than 1 year can loose the momentum and enthusiasm required to finish the project.

I'm not being an antagonist, I am simply pointing out facts that are missing from this notion of building your own trailer. I have the ability, required space, tools, but I'm lacking in that one vital area, the enthusiasm required to build my own trailer when I can buy a well built budget trailer.

This thread isn't really about building your own trailer, more about putting a bought trailer and tent together to get an end result hopefully cheaper and better than ready to go ct. DIY is not for everybody but if somebody takes more than a year to bolt a camper top to a trailer than I would hate to see them go camping.

[oldmate]

Certainly an interesting thread.

But it falls short in a in a few major areas.

1. The cost of all the tools required to manufacture a self build trailer.

2. The space required for the trailer to be built and the cost for renting or buying that space. Not everyone has the luxury of a large work shop, or work area.

3. The time required for building the trailer.

Self build projects have a lot of merit, but it has also been shown that a lot of self build projects that take longer than 1 year can loose the momentum and enthusiasm required to finish the project.

I'm not being an antagonist, I am simply pointing out facts that are missing from this notion of building your own trailer. I have the ability, required space, tools, but I'm lacking in that one vital area, the enthusiasm required to build my own trailer when I can buy a well built budget trailer.

I think dazza's thread was more about building a cheap trailer from manufactured parts then piecing them together, not doing everything from scratch. But having said that, I agree with you, I have the knowledge, the tools, and I guess the room to build one myself, but, would rather just be camping in one. I think most people who build their own trailer do it cause they enjoy doing it, not to save money as such, cause yeah long run generally, they never get finished. I like the fact that in 2 and half years, all I have done is hooked the trailer up and gone camping. I work with tools everyday, don't want to on weekends also.
my 2 c