Tiny house on a trailer

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Dennis The Bus Dweller
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

I hear ya Stuart, I'll get to the bottom of how heavy it will be at some point way before I try towing it. However I do see these tiny homes being pulled around with F250 and 350 pickups and I'm intending to get a dually so I should be ok. But your about the stopping power.
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by stuartcnz »

Dennis, I am approaching this from the point of view, of someone who has spent the last decade working in the practical side of transporting things commercially. In this case mostly from my time as a truck driver. Firstly, the fact that people have managed to get their tiny homes moved with said vehicles, is not of itself demonstrating the efficacy of their choice. Only that you haven't heard of any mishaps. Though if you do a search on youtube you can see commercially built caravans (generally lighter than tiny homes) tipping over with those kind of vehicle.

Whilst stopping is an important part of the equation, in which tow vehicle weight plays an important role. Tow vehicle weight also plays a big part in general handling as you travel down the road, which is important.

My understanding of the main difference between an F250 and 350 pickup, is the amount of weight it can carry. Which in practical terms means one can be more heavily ballasted to suit the towing requirements, than the other, if required.

How ballasting is done depends on the vehicle in question, if indeed, the weight of the load being towed does actually require it.
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

Hmm. One more thing to work in to the equation is the trailer do have electric brakes on all 4 wheels. but your right that there's quite a bit to consider before the first trip down the highway 8)
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by somewhereinusa »

I used to deliver custom vans, two at a time on a 40 ft gooseneck. Don't know if they are still rated the same but, in 1997 a Dodge 2500 had a higher GVW than a 3500. Basically the difference in weight of the stuff it took to make it a dually. It was not uncommon for me to gross about 27,000 lbs. with my 2500. Truck had over 400hp, custom clutch and exhaust brake. Trailer was set up with vacuum/hydraulic brakes. I put 250,000 miles on that rig in 2 years. Never had any problems that were weight related. Not even a scarey moment. I will say that that 11% grade that is about a mile long somewhere on the way to Anchorage gives one time to reflect on what might happen if you cant make the 90 degree turn at the bottom. :shock:
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

:D
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

:D
ol trunt wrote:"its a rap for today 8) " ?????? What? it isn't even dark yet! Just kidding--the progress looks great. Jack
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by stuartcnz »

somewhereinusa wrote:I used to deliver custom vans, two at a time on a 40 ft gooseneck. Don't know if they are still rated the same but, in 1997 a Dodge 2500 had a higher GVW than a 3500. Basically the difference in weight of the stuff it took to make it a dually. It was not uncommon for me to gross about 27,000 lbs. with my 2500. Truck had over 400hp, custom clutch and exhaust brake. Trailer was set up with vacuum/hydraulic brakes. I put 250,000 miles on that rig in 2 years. Never had any problems that were weight related. Not even a scarey moment. I will say that that 11% grade that is about a mile long somewhere on the way to Anchorage gives one time to reflect on what might happen if you cant make the 90 degree turn at the bottom. :shock:
And in this case it would be the gooseneck providing the ballast.
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

I got a little work done yesterday and hoping to get some more done today 8) This is the first sheet of 3/4" t n g plywood glued and screwed
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This thing is great and I was able to get 2" epoxy coated screws like the 3" ones that im using on everything else. This will come in handy when I get to handling the upright full sheets in a few days 8)
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the 2 sheets in front of the wheels are not glued or screwed because the inner fender wells are not ready yet. Im trying to work around the guy that's supposed to be making them up for me, he's starting to piss me off :evil: At some point I'll need to learn to weld so I don't have rely on someone else 8) The anchor bolts are goin to work out just right :wink:
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Stealth Camper »

Looking good!! Fun project!

I have a '99 Ram 2500 diesel. Have towed a 26 ft 5th wheel with dry weight of 7,800 lbs., single rear wheels on truck. Wet, probably a couple thousand more. Pulls great. Have been on 191 north of Vernal Utah. 10% grade with 10 hairpin switchbacks. Intense.

This year have been pulling a 34 ft 5th wheel that weighs 13,000 lbs. Still pulls great.

Have probably 30,000 miles on the trailers - most on the first one. The key is the brakes! They must be set so that the "feel" of stopping the truck is as close to the same as without the truck as possible!! The truck cannot handle more than that. I have never felt uncomfortable pulling either of the trailers.

I built a trailer a lot like what you are doing, making a mobile kitchen out of it. Ended up weighing 8,500 lbs. This one was the BIG difference between the 3. It has a flat front!! This is the "kiss of death" for trailer towing! The big 5'er pulls MUCH easier, and I get better gas mileage with it. I am planning to put some kind of rounded or pointed front piece on the kitchen trailer - maybe detachable. It is just too much added load without something there. Handling is a little odd to me, since it is bumper hitch, but the brakes stop it well. I also cannot get up to the same speeds as with the travel trailers. Maybe a "bay window"...??

REALLY gotta have a round front end!!

Did I mention a round front end??
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

One of the things I did right that I noticed that other folks and tiny house companies don't seem to be doing is the 4 / 7500 lb corner jacks They were only $50.00 each which is pretty cheap in the big picture and I was able to level off my tiny rig in 10 minutes :thumbup:
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So as unhappy as I am with the inner fender well I pulled up the plywood deck, installed them and glued and screwed the plywood back down and snapped a few I
lines and im moving forward on Tuesday morning 8) and because I kept getting side tracked this past week im taking an additional 7 days off so I can stand this thing up and get the roof
on
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by GoodClue »

... good to see the foundation and basement finished :) ... have plans where you'll move her to when she's roadable? ... on chat now ...
"ya gotta have art ..."
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

Hi Doug, my plan is to move in to the Tiny Rig and sell the bus off
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

I got quite a bit done today
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by ol trunt »

You did get a lot done. Am I seeing two exterior doors, one on the end and one on the side--I'm trying to second guess your floor plan? Jack
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Re: Tiny house on a trailer

Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

Nope, only one door center of back
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