Convert a 5th wheel camper to a car hauler?
 

Anyone ever convert a 5th wheel camper to a car hauler? This is an older model with a decent frame. I'm looking to keep the very front part -- the overhead bunk and about 4' of the camper to stand up and change clothes, then stick the off-road truck on the platform out back. Price is good -- less than $800 to get into this project. The camper took a tree limb to the back half. Has a 5500# GVRW. My off-road rig is about 4500# -- numbers work.

You can do it but you won't like it and in the event of an accident nobody around you is gonna like it. Horse trailer, RV campers and enclosed trailers have frames that are built light weight because they are designed with it in mind that the surround walls and roof are part of the strength and rigidity. If you just took a flat bed trailer and enclosed it, the trailer itself would out weigh most of the loads.

I have and old RV trailer that I used for a hay trailer for some years and it worked well for that. It never went over 45 or so miles per hour and I could balance the weight out over the entire trailer all as I loaded it. If I loaded all the weight on one corner at a time the trailer would bend and flex.

5500 gvwr with 4500lbs. of off road rig only leaves 1000lbs for trailer frame, axles and whatever's left of the camper. What axles are under it?

I went out and looked at the unit today -- and bought it. I can make my money back by scrapping out the aluminum... :tu:

The axles are 4-lub RV type -- wide-set bolt pattern -- I think they'll carry more than a standard trailer 4-lug type, but I'm still looking them up. (Did some searching -- they are the old Dexter axles. Rated for 6000# on the original trailer -- now downgraded to 3500# -- sufficient for my use and new hubs and brakes are available in standard sizes).

They are solid tube hung on leaf springs and shackles like a car-hauler, so replacing them with heavier axles is possible if it comes to that.

The frame is C-channel 6" front to back. That is as heavy as any other trailer out there. The front kick-up is braced with 6" channel also. It is also a gooseneck hitch instead of a 5th wheel -- a plus for what I'm trying to do.

There is no way that the camper part of this trailer is supporting anything. This one is all frame. Not much to the camper at all. All aluminum framed with foam backing covered with aluminum skin. I might have a winner as far as my purpose is concerned.

It is 64" wide at the frame, which is wide enough for my purpose (car haulers are only 62").

I also have a good 15 feet of flat bed after clipping off the camper where I want it to stop (about 5 feet of full-height floor space plus the huge bunk up front). The loft part has a pair of twin beds mounted on cabinets with a walkway between them. It is over 48" tall. I should be able to do a queen air bed up front and still have room for cabinets, plus be able to do the stove and oven, plus a sink down below.

This will be a long-term project -- have to get my off-road truck built first -- but I'll start posting pics when I get them.

BAD IDEA! It is NOT heavy enough to be used as a car hauler. my 16' flatbed(10,400#gvwr) had 8"x2" box tubing as a frame, you are 20'+ and using 6" c channel, its gonna buckle. the camper did not have 2250#(estimate of 1/2 the rig you are going to haul) focused on any one spot like you will using it to haul a vehicle, I doubt the WHOLE camper body weighed much more than 2500#(spread over the whole length of the frame). I could see my trailer flex some while loading a 3000# car. With everything you are talking about adding the trailer is going to get in the 2500-3000lb range easy and still be too weak to haul a 4500# rig.

If your gonna do this please add A LOT of reinforcing! I looked into doing this before and the frames are not sturdy enough and for a few hundred bux I could have had a way to get my mud truck around, but I wouldn't have felt safe about it.... but I am very nervous when it comes to towing, everything has to be right.

So, if you do it.... please keep the rest of us safe

or wait for the right deal.. i'm pickin up a 28' triaxle this weekend for about 1/3 the cost of a new one :tu:

I'll be the first to agree that a lot of camper frames are not up to the task, but some are...

I've been searching for examples similar to my own, and I've found about 10 successful conversions. Here is one that has the same frame style and axles that mine has.

Attachment 47810

I won't do stupid, but I have a degree in mechanical design and fabricate my own off-road rigs. I'm fairly sure that I can do this project. I'll post pics as I go.

do me a favour bud and do it right :scare2:
we don`t want any more bombers like this :w2::c::pca1:

Axles aren't the issue here as long as they aren't mobile home axles. The frame is the problem. The example you showed the pic of is just a flat bed Gooseneck or 5th wheel with a camper top on it. Nothin wrong with that at all.

But we've all had things we've done no matter what anybody else said, so with that, all I can say is good luck to ya.

The picture I posted WAS a 5th wheel camper before the camper part was removed from the frame and replaced by a truck camper! That is the frame that is under the older models. I've tracked that guys build (he's done several like it).

About 6" channel for frame rails -- most car hauler trailers under 10K have that or less for frame rails.

PJ Dump Trailers; Trailers For Less
Anderson Equipment/Flatbed Trailers; Trailers For Less
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LoadTrail Equipment Trailers; Trailers For Less


Here is one build I've found.
Homebuilt car hauler - Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com

I'm considering a short version of the wedge for mine to get the front tires of my off-road truck over the trailer tires, plus that would help to triangulate the frame for more strength without adding a ton of weight. I am not adverse to tying in the edges of the wedges (ha!) with steel up to the top deck. The steel could run alongside the existing camper shell. My wedge would just clear the tires -- not go as high as the ones in the pics on that build.

i used a 38 foot tri axl camper to make a flatbed trailer i'v had 14 ton on it no problems yet but it does have a i beam frame as long as weld good crossmembers on i think it be fine

I've seen several converted trailers now, and they seem to work out well. I'll know in about 2 weeks when I start the stripping process.

why wait i want to see it done now its like 1 of them there toy haulers on staioids right

Here's the camper...

Attachment 47524

Imagine it cut off right behind the first of the doubled window on the side (I'll swap out the doubled window for a single one from the other side). Front half will get cleaned up and refurbished to camper status, including a dinette that becomes a bed in the upper portion (tall enough to easily sit up). The 5' or so of camper left below will house a cabinet with stove/oven, and an ice box that I've made from an old smallish chest freezer (measures about 18" square - lined in stainless steel -- REALLY great cooler). Door goes in the back, so we can walk out onto the trailer.

The back half is flat-bedded, with a set of rails up over the tires that hold the truck. Sort of a half-wedge is what I have in mind, which will add a lot of triangulation. I'll re-use materials from the back half of the trailer to make the end wall so that everything matches. BLack lines show the wedge I have in mind. Red lines show how I plan the triangulation.

Attachment 47525

The Powerstroke is my kiddo's new ride. He just picked that up Friday. Looks as good inside as it does outside. May have the issue with the wiring harness under the valve covers, as the idle is a bit rough, but it pulls well.

sounds good so it will be done tomrrow or the next morining right

now that's a woman there..

next up is to move all the trees from the back yard to the front yard when u get sone with the camper project lol

It is going to be a while -- and not because of my wife. She's on board with this project, it was her idea to proceed. But, I have to get my rock truck built first. No need for a trailer if the truck is still in pieces. I'll probably spend a few hours stripping out junk and getting it into the dumpsters at work while they're there (campus move out time -- fill 'em up!), but most of my time will be on my Ranger.

trust me if i was a woman i wouldnt be on here cause i wouldnt need a truck as i whould never leave the house o the good times i chould have :tu:

hahaha wow i :edit: up there. i read the name as redneckchick11 lol

my bad dude..

haha all good bud

LOL! Don't feel too bad, I did the same thing at first... :argh:

Ok, now I'll admit it also. I read the name the same way. redneckhick11 maybe we need to change your name to RedneckHick11 to make things more clear. Let me know if you wanna make any kind of change.

well in all the other forms its redneck11 but i guess it was taken so i added hick but i guess it looks like chik o well maybe ill get a crazy hot lesiban all confused and when she comes over ill try to convert her back to straight :tu:



it could happen :humm:

doubtful. on the mobile home axles many convert to a 6 hole an some even convert to an 8 hole hub and they are also rated at around 6000 pounds so they can work

how u makin out on this:humm:

The project is on hold for a bit while I get the Dodge ready to tote it. I'm doing my billet TQ and valve body mods this week, and also tracking down some electrical bugs that are giving me fits.

A historical time-line of my problems, and what I've done so far...

Neither my tach nor my speedometer were working, so I started tracking down wires. I replaced the engine speed sensor on the crank, no change. Continuity tested everything from PCM to gauge panel -- all good. Still no speedo or tach working after this, and transmission related, lock-up TQ is gone, and OD seems to be kicking in and out at times, sometimes working, sometimes not.

Added a few extra ground wires here and there where I thought that bad grounds might be the culprit. Also installed my gauges (nothing related to transmission or speedo operation, but at least I can see what is going on in the engine). Added a switch for lock-up TQ.

Utilizing the switch for lock-up TQ didn't change a thing in the transmission. Still no lock-up, and OD even quit working. But, my speedo all of a sudden started reading again. I don't have a clue what's up with that. As soon as I activate the switch for the lock-up converter, the speedometer instantly stops working and OD (which comes and goes now) also goes away, so there is something in the wiring headed down to the transmission.

I unplugged the wires leading to the switch for the lock-up and the speedo and OD came back. Still no lock-up converter.

Today, I'll track down the TPS and see if that is the culprit. I'll also probably replace the lock-up solenoid while I'm inside the transmission pan.

I'm also building two different off-road trucks right now (a YJ for general trail use and the Ranger below) which I'll be hauling on the trailer once it is done (purpose building the trailer just for this. I'll get back to the trailer right after my run to SMOR in Missouri on June 11. Check out that run on Welcome to the United Christian Off Road Alliance - UCORA.org.

nah you`ll just have begle hitting on ya :w2::tttt::c:

i dont know who that is should i be scared :humm:

Not to butt in but, don't do it. What you bought looks to be an older Alumilite built by Holiday Rambler. What they tried to do was make this fifth wheel as light as possible. In doing so they used thin guage main frame rails and lenghtened the spacing of the outriggers and crossmembers. You are in for a lot of reinforcing both in time and materials that will not make up for whatever you may have saved by not buying a heavier unit.

Just my opinion, yours may vary.

I'm prepared to deal with that. I'll be starting the process very soon. Just got back from SMORR, where we had the Crawl 4 Christ UCORA run over the weekend. Great turnout there, we had 114 vehicles registered and had a blast wheeling in Missouri.

The Dodge pulled great. Ate up the Superduty that my kiddo drove. I still have some things do do to the truck to get the most out of it, for instance, my boost is limited to 20, my EGT are too high too soon, I have a leaky pinion seal, and the A/C died 30 miles into the trip forcing us to run the 10 hours each way with the windows open, dying from the heat. I'll talk about all that stuff in another thread, though.

Can't wait to get the toy-hauler ready for that sort of trip.