Trailer is a 2017 Mirage 6x12, enclosed cargo trailer with a single axle.
It tracks beautifully on the highway, but bounced like mad on anything other than perfect pavement. We took it camping the day after buying it, and with weight inside all bouncing disappeared altogether - it was fantastic both on and off the pavement. It's also a perfect-fit (in terms of size) for my LX, in that I can see around/behind it with original mirrors, and my LX covers the majority of the trailer's front-face, which will improve fuel economy and accessibility on trails. Our campsite was 1.5hours into a forest service road, and after lowering the tire pressure to 28PSI, the trailer behaved wonderfully.
First time camping, basically an empty box on wheels:
Build plans:
Started off by putting on 8" wheels, which allowed me to fit the trailer in the garage with 1/4" of clearance to spare.
Doubled-up the floors by adding another layer of 1/2" plywood, and sealing all joints.
Framed-in the first of two 30x24 windows:
Applied several layers of Herculiner on the roof.
Also replaced every single screw on the exterior of the trailer with either through-bolts (with nylocks inside) or stainless, 3/16" rivets. At the same time applied sealant between every overlapping siding panel, into every single hardware hole, etc.
Installed an 8x10 awning:
Installed a 24"x80"x1/4" aluminium table:
The window, the awning, and the table are mounted into 1x1" steel studs which I welded in place where/as necessary. Every piece of these components is either bolted (stainless M6) or riveted (stainless 1/4") in place. All hardware components are stainless, every bolt has blue threadlock, and every single hole received sealant before the bolt/rivet went in.
That's it for now. Tons more work to come.
It tracks beautifully on the highway, but bounced like mad on anything other than perfect pavement. We took it camping the day after buying it, and with weight inside all bouncing disappeared altogether - it was fantastic both on and off the pavement. It's also a perfect-fit (in terms of size) for my LX, in that I can see around/behind it with original mirrors, and my LX covers the majority of the trailer's front-face, which will improve fuel economy and accessibility on trails. Our campsite was 1.5hours into a forest service road, and after lowering the tire pressure to 28PSI, the trailer behaved wonderfully.
First time camping, basically an empty box on wheels:
Build plans:
- Flooring: re-mount with bolts (vs screws), waterproof, insulate, vinyl plank flooring
- Walls: re-mount with bolts/rivets, waterproof, insulate
- Ceiling: remove, seal top with Herculiner (waterproof, eliminate noise from rain drops), re-mount with bolts, insulate
- Suspension: convert spring-under to spring-over for an immediate 5-6” lift; keep original axle, wheels/tires
- Sleeping: two 32x84” bunks one over the other lengthwise, one 32x72” bunk widthwise; top lengthwise bunk will likely lift straight up to use lower bunk as seating area during the day
- Kitchen: 180L fresh water, on-demand propane water heater, sink, dual-zone/2-door fridge, propane hookup for camping stove, water filter pre-tank, separate water pump and lines to fill onboard tank from lake/river/water can
- Heating: 2kw diesel heater
- Cooling: two roof-mounted fans
- Passenger side wall, exterior: 10x8’ RV-style awning, 2’x7’ drop-down work/kitchen table, hot/cold water for table, lighting, propane hookup for camping stove
- Driver side wall, exterior: hot/cold water for shower, possibly exterior container to house diesel heater (if I choose to not put it inside)
- Rear wall, exterior: three vertical airline tracks, spare tire(s) mounted, possibly bike mounts above the spare tires
- Front wall, exterior: two 30lb propane tanks, extra storage above
- Interior: door window, two wall windows, plenty of dimmable lighting, 200-350ah of batteries, all the storage that I can cram in, likely tongue & groove panelling for walls and ceiling
- Charging: DC to DC charger from vehicle; probably no solar at this point
- Other: extend tongue, replace coupler with a removable, slide-in option (for some extra theft protection), clean up minor surface rust, possibly sand-blast and powder coat some of the existing hardware, frame-in and insulate rear wall/doors
Started off by putting on 8" wheels, which allowed me to fit the trailer in the garage with 1/4" of clearance to spare.
Doubled-up the floors by adding another layer of 1/2" plywood, and sealing all joints.
Framed-in the first of two 30x24 windows:
Applied several layers of Herculiner on the roof.
Also replaced every single screw on the exterior of the trailer with either through-bolts (with nylocks inside) or stainless, 3/16" rivets. At the same time applied sealant between every overlapping siding panel, into every single hardware hole, etc.
Installed an 8x10 awning:
Installed a 24"x80"x1/4" aluminium table:
The window, the awning, and the table are mounted into 1x1" steel studs which I welded in place where/as necessary. Every piece of these components is either bolted (stainless M6) or riveted (stainless 1/4") in place. All hardware components are stainless, every bolt has blue threadlock, and every single hole received sealant before the bolt/rivet went in.
That's it for now. Tons more work to come.
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