Hi,
I have been given an old trailer tent with the detachable kitchen at the back. Unfortunately the tent is beyond repair and to be honest is a bit minging!
I have decided to get rid of the tent but there seems nothing structurally wrong with the trailer itself, and I need a trailer due to the wife being addicted to buying camping accessories. I have got rid of the tent, leaving an empty shell of a trailer. It is an old trailer so has tin like sides that look tatty. I plan to remove the old tin and replace with some ply (not sure what is best, marine, wbp??) and then treat to look more presentable. I was then going to rebuild the water rotted kitchen area to make it useable again. That way I would have a utility trailer that I can use for camping and other uses, and also a demountable kitchen for when we are camping.
Obviously I would then re wire the electrics probably starting again with new wiring and light clusters etc.
Can anyone see any drawbacks of doing this, I.e. Balancing or any other things that I may have overlooked?
The main difference between WBP ply and marine ply is the cost, the other difference is that marine ply stands up to salt water (sea water) a lot better. WPB well painted will last you for many many years. If I was doing this I'd paint each piece before putting it together then seal all joints with good quality mastic to keep the contents dry and then paint the lot again so it looks good..
------------- We camped for years. In 2019 we bought an Elddis Avante 454. We like it as it is short (6.9m) and fits in our driveway and has a fixed bed.
We had 127 nights away in the caravan in 2023.
I built a trailer in about 1980 using weatherproof ply. It lasted about 30 years. Re-did the wood using T&G floorboards which I varnished using yacht varnish. This has been outside now for 5 years and still looking good.
I got a PVC type material cover from an online supplier which fits over the top and has sides about 6" deep held down with bungee cord hooked over buttons screwed to the side.
I find a lighting board much better than fixed lights. It can be stored in the garage and fixed on the back using bungee & a couple of eyes screwed on. Also use the lighting board on my boat trailer.
Not sure what the sides of yours will be like. Mine has angle iron corner uprights that he wood fixes to.
Wouldn't like to be without mine, it has so many uses.
Be careful on the loading. Wheels, tyres & suspension units will have a load rating which you shouldn't exceed. It should be OK for camping equipment but if filling it with paving slabs etc it may be overloaded. Mine is rated 5cwt with mini wheels from the scrapyard.
There are two side compartments and then central open space. I am thinking of keeping the side compartmentation, I think that may come in handy whilst still leaving enough room in the middle (between the two former bedrooms) for the rest of the camping equipment.
I will go for the wbp ply then I think, I will treat it as described in the above post, hopefully it'll give me plenty of life.
With regard to the light board, I was thinking that too, barely a difference in price and more versatile too, i.e I can use it for other things if needed.
Do you know how I would find out the weight rating for the wheels and suspension etc? Will it say on a plate anywhere on the frame? To be honest I haven't looked at any markings on the trailer yet.
Quote: Originally posted by kirky80 on 12/4/2015
Hi,
I have been given an old trailer tent with the detachable kitchen at the back. Unfortunately the tent is beyond repair and to be honest is a bit minging!
I have decided to get rid of the tent but there seems nothing structurally wrong with the trailer itself, and I need a trailer due to the wife being addicted to buying camping accessories. I have got rid of the tent, leaving an empty shell of a trailer. It is an old trailer so has tin like sides that look tatty. I plan to remove the old tin and replace with some ply (not sure what is best, marine, wbp??) and then treat to look more presentable. I was then going to rebuild the water rotted kitchen area to make it useable again. That way I would have a utility trailer that I can use for camping and other uses, and also a demountable kitchen for when we are camping.
Obviously I would then re wire the electrics probably starting again with new wiring and light clusters etc.
Can anyone see any drawbacks of doing this, I.e. Balancing or any other things that I may have overlooked?
Thank you in advance!!!
We did the same with an old trailer tent although we didn't change the tin sides as they were in good condition. We had problems with some of the lights so bought a trailer board as it worked out cheaper than sourcing new lights. If you are removing the kitchen, advertise it on ebay or similar, together with any useable bed pods, mattresses etc. We sold all useable bits and the trailer itself (we already had a trailer) and got back a fair bit of our original outlay.
the balancing will be well off if you loose the kitchen as the wheels are further back than the trailer tents without kitchens.
I drove my TT after id smashed the kitchen up and lost a lot of its weight and it was very unstable
------------- 2022
North and West wales grand tour (in T5)
Matlock (in T5)
New forest and IOW (in T5)
New Forest
La tranche sur mer
jevea (Valencia)
2023
Cotswolds
Tenby
(added a Compass Rallye to crew)
Royan
La tranche Sur Mer
2024
royan
La tranche
Quote: Originally posted by andyd71 on 13/4/2015
the balancing will be well off if you loose the kitchen as the wheels are further back than the trailer tents without kitchens.
I drove my TT after id smashed the kitchen up and lost a lot of its weight and it was very unstable
This was the reason for the original post, initially I was going to loose the kitchen altogether but wondered about the balancing etc so decided to keep it, I may as well have it on there and revamp it into a useable part of the trailer.
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Topic: Trailer from old trailer tent
