[jagular7]

I've searched and thought I would be able to come up with some discussion, but, alas.....

has anyone taken a truck box and put some kind of trailer frame underneath and add axles to convert it to an enclosed trailer? Or even a tongue setup?

He's asking $875 for this 16x8x8 truck box.

Underneath a normal enclosed trailer is an outer frame with cross-supports with a cut-out section for the suspension and wheels/tires (ie like a normal flat bed trailer. Yah there are variations but typically).
Why not do the same with a standard 20' or larger truck box? The truck box has a similar frame setup under the floor, so trimming and boxing in the suspension shouldn't be a problem. Adding torsion axles would be the easiest to do. Adding wheelwells for the tires is little effort. Most truck boxes are tall enough to stand up and jump in without hitting roof. The roof would also be plastic to let the natural light in.
Would it be heavier by quite a bit?

A 16' truck box conversion wouldn't cost the $3-4000 for an enclosed.

 

[Long Beard]

Never been done.:flipoff2:

 

[nightcrawlers]

this one is mine. 24 foot ryder box:

this is one i saw in a parking lot,and stopped to inspect. they were using it to haul some kind of horse carraiges.

prolly got some pics of others,but those ate the ones allready in my photobucket account

 

[nightcrawlers]

Would it be heavier by quite a bit?

almost forgot this part,mine weighed 5100#s empty,before i started adding living quarters to the first 8 feet. also planning a GN conversion with slepping quartes over the neck,so im sure ill be an easy 7000+ lbs when its done.

the one you pictures looks alittle ghetto,but youre absolutely correct you wont find a "real" enclosed trailer that size in any kind of shape for less than $3-4k.

id say go for it. i gave $1200 for mine for those exact reasons.

 

[DownNDirty]

Tough call. Those ryder boxes can be found around here in the $500 range for a 20 footer. The Uhaul 24 footer can be found cheaper, but they are that laminated plywood so they are heavier (I think the webpage shows 3800lbs dry). I know I have been looking for something in the 24-30 foot range to make a goose out of. Right now there aren't as many boxes floating around as there were a year ago in my part of the country.

 

[BoltBuster]

Have been thinking about this for years, just didnt know how to come around to it and how it would tow. Top heavy, heavy in general? whats the weight of a container?

 

[shortystowing]

http://houston.craigslist.org/grd/1618802262.html

 

[zukstur]

when I first started competing I built one out of a 24ft box. It towed good but it was a little heavy. With a 2450lb car tool box and a few parts I was at 10,500 lbs. My power stroke got 7.5 miles to the gallon and the wind resistance sucked. Traveling over 4000 miles round trip per event was a little hard on the pocket book but it served the purpose and we built it cheap. I stepped up and bought an all alluminum featherlite 26ft v nose 4200lbs empty weight and loaded 8,300lbs and 11 mpg. If you travel short distance's go for it best bang for the buck.


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