Camper Dolly

Seth: Thanks for the reply. I bought the HF trailer and assembled it this weekend. Word to the wise....none of the parts are labeled, and instructions could be better. Plan for quite a bit more time than you think is necessary. When I was done, I measured to the top of the frame and added the height of the camper. It will fit through my 8' garage door, and I will be able to pop the top in the garage due to the 9' ceiling height. Yippee!

 

BTW, no tongue jack on the new trailers. Back to HF.....  

I also put a car jack stand under the rear rail of the trailer to assure that it wouldn't see-saw if I stepped into the back of the camper.

 

 

Yes, I almost had a near death experience with my old Grandby and a motorcycle trailer.

I bought the harbor freight 1700lbs capacity trailer several years ago and have been using it as a camper dolly. It works extremely well. My camper is an older vintage hard side popup and exceeds the trailer weight capacity and it has still worked amazingly well. I built it up to the height of the truck so loading and unloading is a breeze. Best camper dolly solution in my book!

Having said that, be careful with attaching an aftermarket jack to the tongue of that trailer. The A-frame tongue braces are the weak point. I bent mine badly and had to order new tongue braces. Best to use the camper jacks to stabilize the trailer while in storage rather than to rely on the strength of the trailer tongue braces.




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Edited by 68 Siesta, 13 April 2016 - 05:24 AM.

Resurrecting an old thread....

 

Can anyone using a dolly tell me the minimum height the dolly must be in order to get about 2 in. of clearance from the bottom of the jack stands to the floor. My garage door motor hangs quite low (I'll attempt to raise it) so I need the camper to be as low as possible.

 

Any one have an idea of how tall the whole unit is when popped-up and sitting on a low dolly? Right now I only have 85 in. of clearance from the floor to the bottom of my garage door motor but I can probably raise it up a 8-10 inches. Thanks!

I ordered a FWC and need to figure out the dolly setup to store in the garage.  The driveway is asphalt and the garage has a cement floor, but not very flat.  Lots of depressions and cracks.   I found a  Farm-Tuff Utility Trailer — 2,200-Lb. Capacity, Model# 03813 on Northerentool.com.  Only $310.

 

https://www.northern...uct_47661_47661

 

Seems like a great base to build a platform on to hold the camper.  The website has many pictures of how customers built on top of trailer.

I also use a HF trailer (bought it from some guy who put it together and never used it. was like new, except every bolt was loose including the axel to springs...) Put 3/4 inch plywood down and it works fine . I find the trailer the way to go since I can move it around w/ the truck or my car .

Planning to build a cart for our Grandby this weekend. My criteria is similar to a lot of others on here. Must be low enough to fit under shop mezzanine, must be strong enough to hold camper for maintenance, able to leap small buildings etc.

My plan is to build it so that I can break down and store when the camper is on our truck.
So far, here's my plan. Subject to change of course as we all know, "no battle plan survives engagement with the enemy" haha

I built a dolly for my Grandby, and I thought I’d give some information about my experience. I used 6x2 wheels of very good quality rated at 1200 lbs each, two fixed, two swivel. I did my framing differently and have a plywood deck, but to each his own on that. I built a quality dolly, as I’m sure you will. What I wanted to convey is that, even with good quality casters, the camper does not just roll around easily even on perfectly smooth concrete. Also, the swivel casters don’t easily swivel under that load. My garage floor slab has a slight slope of 4 inches in 24 feet, which makes it even harder. Moving the camper by myself is very difficult and involves wrenching the casters around when I want to change direction. Even with two people it’s not easy.

I just want you to have realistic expectations for a dolly like that. Bigger, more narrow casters might make it work better.

Also, disassembling the dolly for storage seems like a lot of hassle. I stand mine up against the wall and tie it in place. Takes up less than 4 square feet.

i found a large dolly in a light industrial area near my home.  even took some of the boards off of it.  started out with 5" wheels but found manuevering with them was a hassle.  changed out to the casters that have 4 small wheels on a steel plate. i think these are intended to be put under car or boat trailer tires, and you can move the vehicle around in a garage. these casters work great. i push the camper straight back into garage, and with the casters i can easily move it 90 degrees up against the wall, to give me a bit more room in the garage.

90% done. Going to add eye bolts for turnbuckle attachment. Fun day project
All good. moves with 1 person. Awkward only due to size. Cart breaks down by removing 12- 1/4-20 bolts.
6"x2 beveled urethane casters are smooth. Front are fixed, rear swivel and lock. Not sure why photos rotate 90?

Anyway. Happy with the build, works as desired.