Snowy's Enclosed Crawler Hauler Diary

[Snowy]

GLTHFJ60 finally guilted me into making a thread for my crawler hauler/race trailer build

Specs:
-2004 40' Pace enclosed gooseneck
-Triple 6k axles
-16' garage, 16' LQ and 8' sleeping area over the goose with a queen bed
-35 gallons of fresh water onboard
-Full shower and toilet
-AC and 19 gallons of hot water heater
-Swing away wall divider for garage area and LQ

I went out to KC to buy this thing for a super reasonable price knowing it was perfectly imperfect for my uses in August of 2019. I've got a bobbed Tacoma wheeler and then I also race karts traveling everywhere east of the Mississippi. Previous to this I had a 17' enclosed for the karts and then a 20' car hauler for the Tacoma. Figured that it only made sense to combine things into one trailer and gain climate controlled camping for both wheeling and racing. Did some figuring and hoping that my 7.3 F250 would pull it, threw in a gooseneck hitch and hit the road to pick it up.

Towed better than expected empty with the 7.3 and had a super uneventful ride home from KC with it to the burbs of Chicago.

Overall exactly what I'd expected and was super happy to get it home uneventfully. I needed to outfit the back for racing and refine a few things but it really didn't need a ton to go racing for labor day and then to Harlan wheeling. Fortunately my measurements were right and the Tacoma fit with no problems. Foolishly took it to the upper campground, which was fine on the way up in the dry, but was a little interesting on the way down in the pouring rain.

 

[Snowy]

The next step was outfitting it for my specific uses for racing mainly. Built a cabinet for storage that fits in front of the Tacoma, hung all my wall storage things up and generally figured out where things should go. Turns out theres room to throw a party, including beer pong, inside when it rains in camp though.

Added an awning and replaced all 6 brakes. Because like all used trailers, only half the brakes worked. Having working brakes on all 3 axles made a HUGE difference in how well it stopped. Especially with marginal 99-04 SD brakes.

Ended up buying a new to me 2012 6.7 dually to haul this thing around with. The 7.3 was fine but you had to drive it like the throttle was an on off/switch in the hills and it wasn't great in crosswinds. I pull quite a few miles per year so it was a no brainer to get a dually for stress free towing. I get the same mileage with the 6.7 and anyone can hop in and pull the trailer with it. So far it's been to Harlan, Windrock, Flat Nasty, Hot Springs, Badlands, AOP and Hawk Pride.

 

[chaplinfj60]

very cool very cool...

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Fuck me that's awesome. Makes me wish I had bought a longer trailer.

Two questions:
1. What's the length of the garage?
2. What's the empty weight of the trailer?

 

[Snowy]

I didn't take pictures of a few other odds and ends I've done on it but I'll grab at some point if people are curious.

-Replaced all 6 bearings and races last month. Brakes were still in great shape from 2020.
-Found a new AC blower fan on McMaster Carr to replace the original cracked Carrier fan that's long out of production on the AC unit.
-Replaced both black and grey tanks with newer/bigger tanks for when we are hooked to water but no septic at places like Hot Springs. Had to cut down one crossmemeber to get a big grey tank in and both unfortunately drain on their own individual valve that I have to crawl under to get to.
-Replaced at 6 tires with Sailun S637's that have worn like absolute iron since I got them. Which is saying something on a triple axle.
-Running dual 12v batteries on a tender/charger for longer run time on interior lights and water pump. Really need to just buy an inverter for things like TV at night when we don't want to throw the generator out.
-Added a Chinese diesel heater for heat. This thing works awesome for heat even into the teens. Stowed in the mechanical compartment in front for easy fueling or service

-I'm working on a reconfiguration to utilize my 55qt 12v chest style fridge instead of the 120v mini fridge. I really don't want to mess with propane.
-Need to add a powered vent fan
-Also working through the idea of a re-skin and rust repair project next year. The lower channel is pretty rotten at this point and while I'm there, I might as well do the skin and cut some bigger windows in. I've had it for 5 seasons at this point and it owes me nothing so it's worth the investment.

 

[Snowy]

Fuck me that's awesome. Makes me wish I had bought a longer trailer.

Two questions:
1. What's the length of the garage?
2. What's the empty weight of the trailer?

Garage is 16' long, just right for what I need on the Tacoma but does limit other things that could be put in.

Empty weight is probably around 10k. When I'm wet, completely loaded to camp with the Tacoma in the box, it weighs 16,800. 14,260 on the trailer axles and 2540 on the pin.