Cargo Trailers

[captainfickle]

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Pulling A Cargo Trailer<br>

 

[johnny_canuck]

Are you going to convert it to live in?

 

[captainfickle]

I Well Use It For A Garage And Over Flow <br>

 

[judycmomx6]

<P>If your going to turn it into a camper it's , in my opinion, better than a van if you are not that worried about stealth because you can stand up and have sooooo much more room. I LOVE mine! The only thing I don't have is a shower, and i'm fixin to take care of that as soon as I can decide which way I want to do it. I also have a van that I have camped in before and it's o.k. but I have a little actual kitchen and a closed room for the bathroom in the trailer. I also can take my motorcycle with me when I take the trailer. I can still stealth camp in the van at truck stops while i'm traveling and then when I get where i'm going I just take my bike out and use it to get around and don't even have to drop my trailer from the van. It's great! You just have to make a decision on how much space you think you need to be comfortable.</P>

 

[akrvbob]

I also live in a converted cargo trailer and love it. There are so many variables that we can't really tell you how you will like it. I live year around on public land, so I stay in one place for months at a time in the National forest or BLM desert land. So the trailer is perfect, I drop it and drive my pickup. The negative is that it is simply less convienant to pull a trailer. I mainly like to go deeper off the main road for privacy and beauty, but pulling a trailer makes that harder. Generally, when the roads get more iffy, I park the truck and walk the rest of the way to make sure I can make it.<br><br>I have another friend who vandwells fulltime and pulls a trailer and travels quite a bit, it works well for her. I think if you mostly live in a city, it might not work. Puling a trailer will make you distinctive and you don't want that. You are no longer just another cargo trailer, you are the cargo trailer with the trailer. Thats bad for stealth. Many cities are passing laws against RV and truck parking on city streets. The trailer would probably put you in violation of that law when you were sleeping overnight.<br><br>Bottom line is its great for more room and carrying more stuff, but makes driving around harder and really hurts stealth. Bob<br><br>

 

[angeli]

"Many cities are passing laws against RV and truck parking on city streets."<br><br>Bob,<br><br>Can I read that to say that although RV's and Truck (assume big commercial trucks) can be targeted, that vans and things like SUVs are still stealth?&nbsp; Does that mean that box vans are also being targeted in these communities?&nbsp; I know it is hard to generalize....<br><br>???<br>

 

[captainfickle]

I'm Not Yet Ready To Full-timing I Have A 2011 Ford Extended Cargo Van No Windows In&nbsp; The Back&nbsp; I Am Going To Put A Hight&nbsp; Top On It <br>

 

[akrvbob]

Angeli, I've wondered the same thing about how they can restrict trucks and RVs from city streets. But I know it is true because I'm outside of Victorville, CA and there are many signs posted saying no trucks or RVs parked overnight on city streets. I assume that doesn't include private parking lots like Walmart, but I don't know for sure. I think it would certainly include residential streets.<br><br>More importantly it shows the attitude of the city against vandwelling, and there stealth would be very important. I think a cargo trailer would be a big problem there. Bob<br><br>

 

[angeli]

Hi Bob,<br><br>I'm not absolutely sure how current this is, but I'm looking at the Walmart layers on my Google Earth.&nbsp; There appears to be a Walmart at I-15 and Bear Valley Road that is marked as an 'unfriendly' (aka - no overnight parking).&nbsp;&nbsp; However there also appears to be another Walmart a few miles up on Hwy 18 (20251 hwy 18) that is listed as 'friendly' - allowing overnight parking.&nbsp; <br><br>that said, I don't know if there are city ordinances against it, and if that would trump any particular Walmart policy, or if one of these stores is within city limits and the other is not...&nbsp; there are any number of possibilities.<br><br>I'm sure you know this already, but there is a Love's truck stop just north of Victorville at ext 178, and another 'friendly' walmart just the north side of that at Montera Road.&nbsp; There may be other truck stops, but after driving OTR for awhile, I have no patience with Pilots and TA's, so I don't bother to turn on layers for them in the Google Earth program.<br><br>And of course on the south side there are the Angeles and San Bernadino national forests.&nbsp; It looks as if when you go south closer in to the Los Angeles/Palm Springs corridor, you run across a lot more 'unfriendlies'.&nbsp; My map is looking scary the closer in to LA i look.&nbsp; But there are also a lot of 'friendly' WMs there as well.&nbsp; <br><br>

 

[akrvbob]

Thanks for the ideas, but I'm afraid I gave you the wrong idea. I almost never park on paved parking, I hate doing that. It's been over 2 years since I camped on anything but National Forest or BLM land. The longer I do it, the more I can't stand being in cities. I found a great spot on BLM land just north of Victorville off 395. I was there for 2 months until I left to come over to Quartzsite and the RTR. Thanks again, Bob<br>

 

[angeli]

Ah!&nbsp; Sorry Bob, I guess I did mis-understand.&nbsp; I'm still working on ideas left over from truckin' days.&nbsp; Sorry!&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br><br>Camping on BLM land DOES sound much much better.&nbsp; And actually, there is a Google Earth layer for BLM land and Army Corps of Engineers, but I'm not familiar enough with it to say anything about it.<br><br>Enjoy the RTR~!<br><br>Maybe next year I'll be able to show up.....&nbsp; just wishin'.... sounds like a nice time with good people.&nbsp; And what's better than that?<br><br><img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/angel.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/angel.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/angel.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0">&nbsp; <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/wave.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br><br>

 

[Dirty_Jeeper]

I recall parking signs in parts of Los Angeles stating no overnight parking of vehicles 6 feet and taller. This eliminates my small Jeep Cherokee as its 7 feet tall. Just another way they restrict parking.

 

[swankiewheels]

<p style="margin: 0px;">I'm the "friend" of Bob who hauls a cargo trailer.&nbsp; Advantage:&nbsp; I NEVER have to "go back" anywhere for my stuff, it's all right here with me.&nbsp; Disadvantage: spend more money on gas.&nbsp; Long-term plan: as I downsize over the next few years (lots of genealogical scanning to do and things to ship off to regional genealogy archives)... and the trailer gets more and more empty, it will become my base camp/cabin... and I might invest it a piece of land to leave it on.&nbsp; For now, everything on earth that I own is following right behind my van.&nbsp;&nbsp; I love Bob's set-up in his trailer... and think the trailer can really put icing on the cake - i.e. living out of the van is fantastic, but having the trailer to live it would be swell.&nbsp;&nbsp; I also like being able to store my kayak (almost as long as the inside of the trailer) inside so as not to have sun exposure 365 days a year.&nbsp; Think it will last a lot longer this way.</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">The trailer will also give me a large surface (6x12.5') to mount more solar should I choose to do so.</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Other than gas and limits to where you can go (as Bob mentioned) I see no downsize to the trailer.&nbsp;&nbsp; Except for the bike on the front of the trailer, my rig looks pretty stealthy and in two years I have only been checked on twice, by security forces... who when learning there was only one old lady inside who was having a migraine... nothing exciting here... and they allowed me to stay put and said they would drive by through the night to make sure I was safe.</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Swankie</p>

 

[swankiewheels]

Oh, by the way, it got better last night, as I laid in my recliner watching the stars.&nbsp; Darn that was swell.

 

[romani10]

It depends on what the cargo trailer is used for, a living quarters or just overflow. I pull my motorcycle trailer that was originally intended for the motorcycle only...it has somehow evolved in to all overflow (xtra propane tanks, xtra camping gear,, etc..). The trailer I pull would definately not be good for living in. As far as parking goes, we have parked on national forest lands and various campsites all the way from Indiana to Florida, and on to Texas, with a few Walmart overnighters in between, and never had a problem. We are not stealth in our racy looking box truck and HD trailer, but we prefer the wide open spaces and hate cities.