I figured I’d document my efforts to refurbish and upgrade my race trailer into something more organized and useful. A bit of background, I bought this late 2020, and I chose this trailer because it was the cheapeast 7x14 I could find, and frankly the price reflected the quality. Now I’m not saying the trailer is terrible, but it was the manufacturer’s economy model, so thinner aluminum outside, flimsy wood panels on the inside that easily have things punch through if anything moves around.
So the main reason for this thread, is to share my plans and hopefully simultaneously encourage others, and have more experienced guys tell me what I’m missing or should do differently.
So I bought a 52" chest and made custom feet for it, to bolt it to the floor, with the intention of building a work bench over top of it.
So the funny thing with the toy hauler, it’s great for race weekends, but absolutely sucks at all other times. The cargo trailer is superior for working out of, and organizing. So we opted to keep both, since the cargo trailer comes in handy for all kinds of stuff.
I went a picked up 9 sheets of 7/16" OSB for re sheathing the interior. I’ve started to remove bits of the existing panel, and have found some wires run through holes in the steel, without grommets, so that will be addressed. You can also see where something moved in the trailer and punched through the garbage paneling.
One thing I want to add, is interior lighting. It has 1 dome light, that is only powered when the truck is plugged in. So I will be adding an RV battery, and some LED strip lights, so I can work in there at night if needed.
I opened up the junction box to see about wiring in an RV battery, and found this disaster.
I decided to rewire it completely, it was a mix of wire nuts, and clamp connectors that pierce the shielding of the wire to make the connection. Also, they managed to strip a section of wire when pulling it through the junction box, I’ll correct all that.
I would be careful with transporting the kart on the scissor stand. They have been known to collapse in transportation. This thread is timely, as I am frustrated with the placement of my E track in my trailer. The previous owner put the track against the walls, which limits the slots available in spots where a canopy or other items are against the wall. I want to move mine in probably the depth of a fuel jug.
Haven’t had a chance to get much further, but i started trying to map out the interior wiring, to connect to the new junction box, and found some interesting stuff.
I’ve got different colored wires tied together, thr wiring harness entering the trailer from the tongue doesnt even have a yellow wire, but there are yellow wires in the walls, so after a quick discussion with a friend who is an industrial electrician, his advice was just go buy 50’ spools of the colors I need, and replace everything while the walls are open, and eliminate those garbage snap connections.
Pulled back some more of the wall covering, and found more disaster wiring. Absolutely nothing was anchored in the walls at all, all the wires just bouncing around, its no wonder my marker lights were flickering on and off. The good news is, it appears to be a solid pull of wire from the tongue, to that mess of marettes and snap connectors, so i can start redoing the interior from that point.
Jim I’d be curious to hear your take on the pros/cons of the toy hauler vs cargo trailer. My wife always pushes for the toy hauler, but I don’t think the garage space in them is adequate.
Not to take from Jim’s opinion, but we have a mixed group at our track. One thing I have noticed is that the floor height of the Toy Haulers is higher than a the standard trailers. I assume this has to do with the water tanks under the floor and ground clearance for them. It also means the ramps are steeper, so getting gear/kart in and out is more of a challenge. May not be a big deal for a single kart, but trying to push stackers up and down that ramp would be a bit of a challenge.
My opinion, and a friend of mine who switched from a cargo to a toy hauler agrees with me, is that the toy hauler wins for race weekends, can practice the day before, have a nice leisurely evening, shower, eat, watch TV, can sleep in later on race morning since you dont have to drive to the track, can have air conditioning for my son to cool off between sessions.
Now when it comes to the actual race day activities, the cargo trailer wins hands down. More space to work in, easier to organize tools and equipment, less concered with dirt or fuel in it compared to the toy hauler, and like Greg said, much lower floor height, so a shallower ramp angle.
I think in the future, I’ll be considering a small motorhome and tow the cargo trailer, then all the karting stuff lives in the cargo trailer full time. Then I can either hitch up the motorhome or the pickup truck depending if we’re staying over.
This is the more traditional style with the garage at the back, the downside to the smaller ones, is that the toys end up being loaded into the kitchen or dining room portion, some really big toy hauler have wall separating the living space and garage space, but they are huge and need a big tow vehicle.
The storage area has intake and exhaust vents that keep fresh air going through while you’re driving, once the kart is out, i dont notice any gas smells at all, and thats the room my son sleeps in. I dont think I’d want to sleep in there with the kart though.
I wound up completely rebuilding my 6x12 cargo trailer a few years ago. It had been a landscape trailer in Florida then was used for a friends quarter midgets. We bought it to haul our quarter midgets. It needed work so after we built our garage, I completely stripped the interior, undercoated the frame and rewired the trailer. Took about 250 lbs of extra wood out of the floor and walls and the lights work much better now! It’s now our kart trailer.
Finally found a spare hour to get the new junction box installed and new connectors crimped and heat shrinked. We race Friday night, so Saturday will be finishing the interior wiring, and hopefully starting on hanging the OSB.
