Hack Hauler

sleepsontoilet · Dec 22, 2016

A few have asked about my current project, so I thought I'd start a thread for it. I've bounced around a few setups over the years, and think this one may stay around more than 6 months. Hoping to have it finished over the winter and be ready for fancy camping or boondocking. Here are a few setups along the way to this one. Each one had its pros and cons, so this one should be the last for a while.

Started with a 2010 4.6 F150

Truck got totaled and went to a converted horse trailer out of Oklahoma.

It was too narrow, and just not enough room for a bathroom. So I sold it and went to a cab over camper and another bumper pull.

Got tired of constant CELs from crappy emissions and went back to a Ford.

The wife kept falling through the neck of the trailer climbing in, so I picked up a 30' deckover for $2800.

Her height made it a pain to get in and out of, so I traded the trailer for the current enclosed and sold the camper to a friend.

sleepsontoilet · Dec 22, 2016

It started out as a 28' Pace that the previous owner cut it in half.

He started building a deck on it, then left it parked outside for a few years before selling it. I found it locally on Craigslist, and snagged it up.

I cut the decking off to buff all the rust off, and finish weld everything. Added some coats of Ospho/primer/paint. It still needs to have the latches cut in on the sides for the storage.

Pulled the aluminum deck plates from the inside and bolted then on the stern.

sleepsontoilet · Dec 22, 2016

Grabbed some insulation for the walls, should be around 8.2Rwhen I'm done.

Put down some 3/4" pressure treated plywood inside for a new floor to stick the new flooring to.

Grabbed some cabinets on sale from Home Depot, and started putting up the 5mm Luan paneling.

Started grabbing some appliances and getting ready to layout.

I picked up a 42 gallon fresh water tank from ppl motorhomes today on sale for $84. Should be plenty for the hauler and then some.

Rjhoward32006 · Dec 22, 2016

Nice build, as i was reading i kept saying. He's crazy for selling that!! Then it just got better and better

sleepsontoilet · Dec 22, 2016

Rjhoward32006 said:
Nice build, as i was reading i kept saying. He's crazy for selling that!! Then it just got better and better

Thank you, the wife says I need to join a support group as this is the third trailer this year. I "plan" to keep this one a while, unless someone offers me too much money and something better falls in my lap. I would prefer it to still be fully enclosed and around 32-34', but this one fell in my lap with no out of pocket money.

CHASMAN9 · Dec 23, 2016

sleepsontoilet said:
Thank you, the wife says I need to join a support group as this is the third trailer this year. I "plan" to keep this one a while, unless someone offers me too much money and something better falls in my lap. I would prefer it to still be fully enclosed and around 32-34', but this one fell in my lap with no out of pocket money.

I'm loving this build. Subscribed. Keep up the great work.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

bbone · Dec 23, 2016

Its funny how we all go in stages:

I never got a pic of me double towing, but I started out with small bumper pull then a pop up behind that, then to this:

and now this:

fabricator1 · Dec 23, 2016

Looks good. I've been through all the stages myself. Now I have a trailer with living quarters like yours but it's all enclosed. The truck camper worked pretty well but for me it was all about how much work it was to get ready to go because I'm usually pretty busy on customers rigs. Load the truck camper, load the trailer, and load the rig. Now with the enclosed with living quarters, I just store the buggy in it and I can hook on the trailer and be gone in 15 minutes. Now I'm thinking about a medium duty truck so I can haul one rig in the trailer and another rig on the truck

sleepsontoilet · Jan 2, 2017

Currently trailer parts storage.

sleepsontoilet · Jan 11, 2017

I had a busy set of off days, and am finally starting to do things that show progress, rather than redoing stuff. I have one small wall panel and a small roof panel left, ran all the 12v wiring for the lights inside and out, and put a coat of sealant on the roof.

jeeptj99 · Jan 11, 2017

I like this. I want to do something similar with a horse trailer or something.

Eddyj · Jan 11, 2017

sleepsontoilet · Jan 11, 2017

jeeptj99 said:
I like this. I want to do something similar with a horse trailer or something.

If you look above, I had a horse trailer before. The issue with that is that most are very narrow, which makes packaging tough if you want many amenities.

ridered3 · Mar 17, 2017

How's the trailer coming along?

Rjhoward32006 · Mar 17, 2017

IIRC it was for sale not long ago...maybe I'm wrong. nice progression over time with the trailers, hopefully I can do the same as time goes by

sleepsontoilet · Mar 18, 2017

ridered3 said:
How's the trailer coming along?

Got a 3 day notice my son's mother was leaving the state with him, so I sold the Zuk and got a lawyer. I honestly haven't fretted messing with it as I've been busy trying to get him settled in here without his mother here..

Rjhoward32006 said:
IIRC it was for sale not long ago...maybe I'm wrong. nice progression over time with the trailers, hopefully I can do the same as time goes by

Thanks for the compliments. It's not for sale unless someone helped themselves to it from the storage lot and I don't know it yet. Hopefully I find the motivation to knock out the plumbing and electrical soon.

ridered3 · Mar 18, 2017

Hate to hear about family issues, but you did what you needed to in order to keep the son around so hats off to you.

Hopefully your motivation returns soon and you find another rig to haul on this cool setup.

sleepsontoilet · Mar 18, 2017

ridered3 said:
Hate to hear about family issues, but you did what you needed to in order to keep the son around so hats off to you.

Hopefully your motivation returns soon and you find another rig to haul on this cool setup.

Like most dads, I didn't even have to think about it. I've already got the new one started. It'll be very similar to the last with a few better pieces.

SC3800 with a cam, headers, and a 3.3 pulley
AW4/Dana 300
TG 9s with flipped LP 4.56s and grizzly lockers
JHF portals, 42" Treps and Procomp Vapor 2s

ridered3 · Mar 18, 2017

Good deal on new rig. Think this will make more than 92 horsepower at the wheels???

sleepsontoilet · Mar 18, 2017

ridered3 said:
Good deal on new rig. Think this will make more than 92 horsepower at the wheels???

I don't know what it's gonna make, but I know we're gonna find out hahaha. A local shop charges $55 for a couple pulls on their dyno, so it'll be there as soon as it's able to. It should be in the low 300s at the flexplate, so we'll see how much the portals rob it.