I have tried for a few years to get accustomed to having a camper on my pickup 24/7 but my wife is a big gardener and I'm a retired carpenter—
So I am converting my camper dolly into a camper trailer with a new tow bar, wheels, and axle. I had built the dolly in the hope I could use it to move the camper up onto the street using the winch on my truck. I did it once—it sorta worked—never again. Even though my street is less steep and canted than my driveway, it is still too steep and canted to load the Fleet onto my Tacoma without undue stress.
However, my driveway does have a flat spot in front of the garage door at the bottom where I can store the camper on a dolly—or on a trailer—but I can't load and unload the truck there because of a low ceiling.
So, the idea of making the trailer is so I can transport the camper a few blocks to a nearby flat spot to remove and install the camper onto my Tacoma, as needed.
With that in mind, I would like to locate the new trailer axle and wheels in relation to the Fleet's center of balance front to back, including the cantilever. I imagine an ideal location would put a small amount of weight on the hitch but not much.
The dolly I built is, of course, only about the length of the base of the camper. My idea is to haul the camper on the trailer/dolly with the cantilever in the rear. I think the urethane wheels on the dolly might be useful and stay where they are.
My Fleet is a 2014 weighing 1350 dry. Thanks for any thoughts about this.
So I am converting my camper dolly into a camper trailer with a new tow bar, wheels, and axle. I had built the dolly in the hope I could use it to move the camper up onto the street using the winch on my truck. I did it once—it sorta worked—never again. Even though my street is less steep and canted than my driveway, it is still too steep and canted to load the Fleet onto my Tacoma without undue stress.
However, my driveway does have a flat spot in front of the garage door at the bottom where I can store the camper on a dolly—or on a trailer—but I can't load and unload the truck there because of a low ceiling.
So, the idea of making the trailer is so I can transport the camper a few blocks to a nearby flat spot to remove and install the camper onto my Tacoma, as needed.
With that in mind, I would like to locate the new trailer axle and wheels in relation to the Fleet's center of balance front to back, including the cantilever. I imagine an ideal location would put a small amount of weight on the hitch but not much.
The dolly I built is, of course, only about the length of the base of the camper. My idea is to haul the camper on the trailer/dolly with the cantilever in the rear. I think the urethane wheels on the dolly might be useful and stay where they are.
My Fleet is a 2014 weighing 1350 dry. Thanks for any thoughts about this.