This subject has been brought up in my local Jeep club. I've been researching this for couple of years now since I have 2 kids that wheel with me. Long trips I use hotels and overnight bags, jackets, coolers, etc make the back seat rather small quickly. Thus a requirement for a small trailer. What is also nice about a trailer is once at a destination, I can take the doors and windows off and secure them to the trailer. I no longer have to worry about using someone's truck bed and if we separate and they leave early. Light weight motorcycle cargo trailers are basically what you would be looking for. Problem is the height of the frame and tow point. They can also get very expensive as a trailer in the motorcycle crowd.
To make your own, go to Harbor Freight and look at their 40x48" trailers. They come in 8" (860#s) and 12" (1200#s). 12" is more expensive. You will be looking at a cheap metric trailer, but it'll work. Or you can look for a small utility trailer to buy. Craigslist is full of them in various conditions and sizes. I thought a small personal water craft (jetski) type of trailer or a small boat trailer would also work really well.
Once you get your trailer, you will need to configure the suspension for the weight you'll be carrying on it. Many times, you will get a slipper spring suspension where the spring only has the front eye mounted in a bracket and the rear slides along the frame. These are relatively stiff. You can upgrade that to a regular shackle leaf suspension, but it can get expensive. Most of the time, the slipper spring will work but it needs weight to work correctly. Otherwise, you trailer will bounce along and as it bounces it will shift side to side.
Next is the cargo box. You can look at adding a large roof top car cargo box as many mc trailers are just that. Many are from Sears on CL and cheap. They are plastic and have really no structure to them. But they will do the job. You can look at fabbing your own box with a cover as well. Make it out of nice wood and treat the wood to keep it nice. That way, the box covers the trailer frame and is built for the size of the frame.
Or recently on CL, someone took an old refrigerator and put it on a trailer frame for a MC trailer. It was painted flat black and looked quite different.
This is what I had recently to put together as a luggage trailer. Its a 12" HF frame ($100) and rooftop cargo box ($25) I got off CL. I didn't like how the box sat on the frame so I sold that.
Yes, that is a M416 trailer in the pic. I got the HF frame on Friday and then bought the M416 trailer on Sunday off CL.
The old refrigerator that listed for $550 on CL.
This one has popuped on KC CL couple of times. Its a BackPacker, a plastic tub in a frame.
Also listed on KC CL weeks ago.
What it looks like inside a car top cargo carrier on a frame.
Adding a simple cargo box.
Some other great ideas
Other box ideas would be an old ice box, steamer trunk, regular diamond plate truck tool box, etc.
This is what I'd like to make mine look like as a mini military trailer.
If you can get a small boat trailer, cutting it shorter is easy to do. Then you can fab a rear crossmember or add a tongue to it. That is what I did about 2 years ago. I never got around to finishing it and sold the frame.
Edit: listed on KC CL for $625 as another refrigerator on a trailer.
motorcycle trailer to pull behind your cycle. - $625 (n.w.mo)
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here is another custom made trailer to pull behind your motorcycle. the other one has sold. dont wait till its time to go to Sturgis, you need one of these to carry your stuff.
this one is just a bit smaller than the other one, this one is 31" wide, 45" long, and 16" tall. about 12 cu foot storage. this one is a bit lighter too at 150lbs. empty.
i will sell it as is ready to paint, or you can paint it to match your bike or i can paint it black. it will have a standard 4 wire set of stop turn lights installed unless you want leds or something else custom like Maltese cross tail lights etc.
just give me a call as to what you want on the trailer and i can probably add it, cooler rack, hub caps, etc. bob 660 663 9369
Location: n.w.mo
I went and bought a large yard cart off ebay from Cargo Largo. Here is what I'm looking to do for a luggage trailer. I'm going to extend the tongue another ~2' to carry the longer-than-trailer box. Imagine the trailer bed color camo tan, the frame camo green. Wheels and fenders flat black. With a soft tonneau cover held on tight through bungee cord onto hooks. (ie similar to the M416).
