Here's what we're currently looking at:
Our trailer will be custom built by
http://www.heacocktrailers.com/
6x14 x 7 foot interior height (standing room inside) tandem axle
Rubber? Suspension as opposed to springs (they tell me it's better, less bounce).
Surge brakes.
Rear fold down ramp with torsion spring
Side door up front
Interior and exterior lights
Larger battery with solar charger/maintainer
Possibly a mount for a generator on the tongue and a power input and at least one receptacle on the interior and exterior
Side retractable awning
Full vinyl wrap
E-track at 2 or possibly 3 heights along the whole length of both sides, including interior of side door
A few floor mounting D-rings or similar.
Painted steel diamondplate floor.
Spare tire mounted on tongue. (I'm interested in hearing the pros/cons of where to put the spare.
Possible tongue-mount for barbeque instead of or in addition to (running out of space on the tongue).
What am I missing? We have the opportunity to order this once and forever more, so I want to make sure we do it right.
Like machinery, I figure you will always need a bigger trailer. But we don't want it so big we can't pull it with a normal sized vehicle, and we don't want it to be too much of a pain to park.
It will be parked outdoors year-round in SoCal. Our intention is that it will be multipurpose as follows:
- Hauling stuff to regional and offseason events
- Moving large and/or heavy things on rare occasions (a donated machine tool or Lego tournament tables for example.)
- Helping to support the expansion of robotics to all schools in the school district. We may do something like a mobile robotics minilab with many kits of Lego or Vex parts or computers or drawers of parts or things inside, that we could take to local schools for a day.
Our current possibilities for tow vehicles are a 2001 Ford Ranger 4.0L Extended Cab Automatic, and a 2000-something Honda Ridgeline. We may also have access to a mid-1990s Diesel Dodge Ram Dually Extended Cab, but we would need the trailer to be towable by any of the aforementioned vehicles.
Thoughts? I mostly concerned about the max size and weight to tow with the Ranger. From specs I read, we seem totally okay. Comments?
Also, we were looking at 7x14 rather than 6x14, but we thought the extra width would be hard to see/drive/maneuver.