Trailer made from truck bed

Would you buy something like this? Have you used one before? How did you like it? How much woul you pay for it?

Im looking at picking up something small, and came across this. I like that its a Dodge carcass, and I could roller paint it to match my truck. Its pretty much just the right size. Big enough to be useful, but not too big. Has lights wired in, rear axle still there. What do you guys think? He's asking $400, but I would be thinking more along the lines of $300 if it tows well.

roe

We used to make them all the time. I still have a 82 Dodge 8 foot that I made over 25 years ago. Check it over. Look at the springs make sure they are good. Make sure its full of gear lube. Look the coupler and welds made when tying the frame rails together. Make sure the bed has a good floor and working tailgate. They will sell in the 250 to 500 range.

Forgot to add the pic...

i have bought units like that just to get the bed or sometimes the axle--if that bed is clean its worth 5-600 and if the axle is a posi $300---looks like a win win...

I suppose it depends on what you usually haul. Pickup bed trailers have a high floor that make it a pita to lift heavy stuff or load something that rolls. The wheel wells really limit what you can haul, and tying stuff in/on is another pita. At least with the topper on it, whatever you can get inside should stay dry in a rain storm.

That price range should put you at least 3/4 of the way towards a new real 4' x 8' trailer that you can actually haul stuff on. I bought a new Harbor Freight 4' x 8' trailer on sale for $266, then added treated a 3/4 plywood floor, added a 2" ball coupler, some locks for the bed folding point, and with title transfer & plates was ready to roll for around $450. It folds up and stands on end when not in use, and has a tilting bed. Much more useful the truck box trailer, and I've had and built some of those. Gene

I owned one! It was used and abused pretty frequently! It was a very amateurish build and craftsmanship, but it was cheap and sturdy, and I sold it a few years later for what I paid for it, and it sold with-in a 1/2 hour of listing it on CL!

The drawbacks were it was poorly constructed, and thus over-built to compensate for it, it had a TERRIBLE tongue weight empty (VERY heavy, should be 10% of the trailer weight, both empty and at GVWR), and well- it looked like a cobbled together home made trailer!

Sorry, I paid $300.00 for mine and sold it for $300.00 five hard years later.

[quote=roe]Forgot to add the pic...

That is a nice looking trailer. The cap with the opening side windoors is a plus. Go for it.

$400.00 bucks for all that trailer and topper too boot???? Buy it..Up here in Cheese Land that would be a steal........You can peddle off the topper if you don,t like it and recoup some of your investment....

That bed alone would sell for 600 or so here in PA. I'd gladly pay 400 for that! We made one years ago, it's beat up, but great for hauling scrap, gravel and so on.

Ok, good news for me is that I get to tell the wife that you guys talked me into it. I think it will work for what I need it for.

I wouldn't pay more than 300 for a truck box trailer. They are heavy, the bed is too high and 6' is usually too short. I would pick one up for hauling garbage to the dump, that's about it.

if it sits too high you can possibly flip the axle over the springs---most of the truck bed problem is they use the original frame all the way up to the tongue and it gets real tongue heavy---yours is trimmed well back...

Sounds like a good deal. I made one after robbing the bedside for my LRE. Worked great especially with a Loadhandler drag sheet. I purposely added extra tongue length to make it easier to back up with an extended cab truck.

Uh...they make a great camper to live in after you tell wify WE GUYS talked YOU into buying it.

I had one a long while back with my 4x4 days to sleep in when on hunting/fishing trips.

kept all my gear dry and me out of the SKEETERS!

I would like to do another one and change a few things from the last one that would make it even better for travel with.

You mean sleeping it off?

yep that too.

one thing I would change on the old one I had was add some jack stands at the 4 corners.

it used to get to rocking pretty good even with overload shocks.

A real made for purpose trailer is safer,and they don't cost much,,,,,,,,, your high and heavy with that thing not safe, paint it camo and get a rebel flag ,I'd pass on it my self and buy a real trailer.

He didn't say he was moving his household with it...as a cheep sturdy utility trailer (just dump and lumber yard hauls) it will be fine, but if as suspected, you are moving the crown jewels, all your possessions, a load of pallets stacked 10ft high, probably not the best choice.

shackle flip with axle flop tubb the fender wells for some fattys

that should lower center of gravity on it.

Roe buy it you wont regret it. It looks like an 8 foot bed witch for most use would be better. With the cap you can make it lock so you have secure storage. Most bought trailers are junk. The height is no more than a regular pickup. The load capacity is more than any common single axle. It looks pretty much rust free so if you don't like it someone will give a right jewel for the box. Years back that's all the majority used was a pickup box trailer. My experience that they will not have excess tongue weight. Grab it and see if you can lift it? All mine balanced out very well. With decent springs and shocks it will pull real well. Where do you see shocks on all the bought junk??? Never. Like I said buy it, most of the naysayers have never owned or built one.

To be clear, MY trailer had a horribly heavy tongue weight. I am not implying every truck box trailer does. But it's important to check!

I always thought the way to deal with the tongue was to use a class IV receiver on the forward frame rails. Though I always assumed the frame width was the same fore and aft.

It would give you the ability to adjust the length of the tongue to your liking.

I am not sure this is a good idea but it sounds reasonable to me.

Any thoughts?

Red

I work for a trailer manufacturer, and we frown upon adjustable or removable tongues.

Hmmm there are plenty of foldable tongue trailers made by oem manufacturers but I can see potential issues with people not securing properly.

Could always find the sweet spot and weld it in place?

Red

Not saying we are correct (and being a Design Engineer, I don't automatically disagree with folding/removable tongues), I suppose we've staved off potential lawsuits buy not doing them.

Wife's cousin has one made from a 74 D-code shortbox. I felt sick when I heard he cut it up

When I was looking for a bed fort my 50 Dodge 4x4 15 years ago, I sure was happy to buy a 50s pickup bed trailer for a couple hundred! One of the cheapest truck boxes I've ever bought!
That is the best use for a pickup box trailer, preserving a box for future use. Hopefully its not beat to death.
Gene

i found a 35 chev box on a 35 chev front axle with wire wheels and a wooden tongue----i bought it for $200--- put it on my car trailer to bring home--recylced the axle/wheels to a hot rod friend and saved the box for later..../threw the tongue away....

When we build them, we bend the truck frame in, not add another frame section on. I still use one all the time my dad built in the early 90s. We use it to haul scrap, have hauled 2k pounds in it with no problem. Great for hauling fire wood also.

That's the way we always made them.

Any pics?