Cool video. I remember stuffing a CR 250 into a station wagon with bike layed ovcr on its side. I was a leaky stinky ride to the track but I got there.
In our experience there's a number of people you need to justify the large downsides of a toy hauler. It's arguable, but it's probably 5 people on the trip regularly.
Have you looked on facebook? There are groups called Fans of Motovans and Motovans Only. People are buying and selling often. Plus, if you've got a pile of money, there are companies that will build one for you. But you see we are too cheap for that! Thanks for watching.
@@FlatTrackFactory yeah I’ve been watching those groups closely! Started looking at box vans to start my own if I have to. If you ever feel like installing another shower let me know, that’s the part I’d like someone with experience with!!
Nice work, I thought he was building them to sell, but really enjoyed seeing these builds. I was hoping to see the cost. So did he just use a generator or does he have some battery backup, and inverters or solar? Thanks
Were not selling anything. We build to suit only ourselves, and share with others to do the same. I've not added up the cost, as it varies with each build depending on how cheap we can do it at the time. And I assure you, we are cheap! Perhaps we can do another vid with some estimates. Our builds rely on shore power and a generator with inverter to charge the 12v. No solar at all.
Definitely cool. If I didn't need the ability to haul cars, furniture, and motorcycles in my trailer, I'd absolutely consider a box van. Although, having an 8' wide ramp door on an enclosed car trailer is also pretty sweet for loading a bike without worrying about it dropping off the side of the ramp while 5' in the air. Most of the blown out tires and seized axles on trailers come from overloading the axle while rolling 80 mph with dragging brakes on 20 year old rubber. I've never seen a trailer with a load leveler on the tongue sitting on the side of the freeway with blown out tires. People end up rolling 80 with poor weight distribution and ride the brake because the trailer is all over the road. I don't loan out my trailer to anyone, because I haven't seen one person actually take the time to even adjust the trailer brake before they leave the driveway. Black flag... stop the truck. Side note, trailers can easily be set up like your box van with power and plumbing; so you don't necessarily need hotel accommodations (as listed on your spreadsheet). Most enclosed car trailers over 15' run 15 amps of power from the truck through the pig tail to the trailer, which is plenty enough for the necessities if you're willing to break out a camp stove for cooking. I've camped out of my 20' car trailer at the dunes, drag strip, and car shows many times.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! For sure the permutations are endless. Agree that the trailer guy in our pretend scenario could have done a conversion also. As almost none do, and somebody had to be the example of the hotel customer, the pretend trailer racer got the bill. We planed on about 7 scenarios for the spreadsheet, but had to cut something for length. Resale and purchase price would be interesting variables too. I wonder how well trailer and boxvan resale compare?
@@FlatTrackFactory My Interstate Loadrunner (heavy duty - 10k GVWR) 8.5' x 20' enclosed car trailer was about $4800 after tax, when I purchased it back in 2007. A used Interstate trailer similar is around $7500-9000 currently for the heavy duty model with the 3 frame rails (vice 2 rail 20'); which tracks with inflation. $5k 20 years ago would be about $8k in todays money. Generally speaking, trailers hold their value like most heavy equipment/construction equipment. Age and miles doesn't mean much when you can inspect every inch of a trailer in about 10 minutes and know what you're getting. Usually the biggest issue is leaking roofs and rotted plywood floors... both can be spotted in 0.2 seconds. Frame rails are just 3ea 2"x6" tube steel running the length of the trailer on the HD model, and not much that can go wrong with that. You were absolutely correct about the mpg towing a trailer… on a good day 10 mpg downhill with a tail wind.
@victoriabrockman5473 great info. Thanks. What do you tow with? I'd like to have that in my pocket when I get smacked by the diesel fanatics that claim 19mpg towing at 85mph.
@@FlatTrackFactory I will have to preface my experience with towing by noting 1). I only run trucks with manual transmissions 2). they're all 4wd I currently tow with a 76 Chevy heavy half ton with 4wd and long stick 4spd and small Block 350. 15 mpg empty, and around 10 mpg towing. My dad's '89 Chevy 1 ton dually, with a 350 got a straight 10 mpg towing or not... never could figure that one out. And he would tow the Case 580 Super D or the CAT... always 10 mpg. I have towed that 20' trailer with a 2011 Ram 3500 4wd 6.7 liter Cummins with the 6 spd, but that truck constantly went into "regen" so the mileage was 13 mpg and drop to 8 mpg when regen kicked in... I've never averaged over 11 mpg with that truck towing, and the cost of maintaining a diiesel and fuel made it non-cost effective to run when compared with the gas Chevy... so I sold the Ram. My older brother had the 3500 Chevy Duramax and averaged 11 mpg towing, but he also had to replace the DEF... so more added costs. My uncle still tows 5th wheel horse trailers with his Ram 3500 with the 5.9 liter Cummins (pre-emissions), and 9 mpg with a full load. But the truck will get around 20 mpg running empty. I have never seen a big block get more than 10 mpg empty and if you put your foot in it, you'll be looking at 6-7 mpg. My 72 El Camino is a supercharged 427/4spd... I'll haul my bikes in it's truck bed occasionally, and 7 mpg if I'm easy on the throttle. In my experience a diesel truck's only advantage for towing, is how heavy they are... a gas truck is about 5k lbs, and a diesel truck is about 7k lbs. The heavier truck is less likely to get pushed around by the trailer (and dually's are even more stable but a pain to park anywhere). However, if you trim the trailer by properly adjusting the trailer brake, even that isn't much of an advantage. Pulling grade with a load, you'll have to downshift with a diesel or gas truck... and the advantage of torque to get the load moving is negated by having a gas truck with Low 1.
@@FlatTrackFactory I also forgot to mention that the enclosed trailers with the drop ram doors need an area about 18' long and 9' wide of level ground "minimum" to drop the ramp (axle to the end of the ramp) or you run the risk of warping the door or in an extreme case springing the hinge when loading and unloading... so there's another negative for the enclosed trailer.
In all those box vans it looks like there's only a 1 person bed and MAYBE a child or teenager on the top bunk. So where are the 2 other adult travelers on your spreadsheet sleeping in those box vans? You should multiply their total cost by 2 or 3 since each person needs their own box van to be able to sleep somewhere. Otherwise this was a great video with some solid info.
The GMC black van has one twin bed for now and another going in sooner or later. The 3 other vans have bedding for 2 and 4 adults, depending on the van. In the thumbnail pic, the Ford boxvan has a fold out couch on the bottom for two friendly sleepers on it, a twin bunk (adults fit) above, and a sleeping bag sized area above the cab in the aero section. See 12:58 for two full size bunks, for example. Plus, one can easily put an air mattress in the garage section, if more sleepers is the priority. Thanks for watching and the comment! Cheers.
Is their any fellow flattrackers out there who can help with a rear brake system for a fine bike that is down for the count. I cant ride it because of this. I dont even wanna look at it if I cant ride it. i am not rich but do have moneys. No DTX shtuff allowed. I like a good solid system with a good solid pedal. i have been asking around. The crickets andsome frogs friggin seems to be all I here. Thanks for any help I can get... B.Q. 73،،،
What an awesome video! Thank you for putting this together.
Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting.
Cool video. I remember stuffing a CR 250 into a station wagon with bike layed ovcr on its side. I was a leaky stinky ride to the track but I got there.
I think many racers have been in a similar spot!
Very cool video. Was considering a toy hauler but box truck might be in the near future for me
In our experience there's a number of people you need to justify the large downsides of a toy hauler. It's arguable, but it's probably 5 people on the trip regularly.
This is what I’m looking for, wish I could find one just like it set up already for sale!!
Have you looked on facebook? There are groups called Fans of Motovans and Motovans Only. People are buying and selling often. Plus, if you've got a pile of money, there are companies that will build one for you. But you see we are too cheap for that! Thanks for watching.
@@FlatTrackFactory yeah I’ve been watching those groups closely! Started looking at box vans to start my own if I have to. If you ever feel like installing another shower let me know, that’s the part I’d like someone with experience with!!
Nice work, I thought he was building them to sell, but really enjoyed seeing these builds. I was hoping to see the cost. So did he just use a generator or does he have some battery backup, and inverters or solar? Thanks
Were not selling anything. We build to suit only ourselves, and share with others to do the same. I've not added up the cost, as it varies with each build depending on how cheap we can do it at the time. And I assure you, we are cheap! Perhaps we can do another vid with some estimates. Our builds rely on shore power and a generator with inverter to charge the 12v. No solar at all.
Thanks for replying,Mehates last one was sweet and clean with all that stainless
Definitely cool. If I didn't need the ability to haul cars, furniture, and motorcycles in my trailer, I'd absolutely consider a box van. Although, having an 8' wide ramp door on an enclosed car trailer is also pretty sweet for loading a bike without worrying about it dropping off the side of the ramp while 5' in the air.
Most of the blown out tires and seized axles on trailers come from overloading the axle while rolling 80 mph with dragging brakes on 20 year old rubber. I've never seen a trailer with a load leveler on the tongue sitting on the side of the freeway with blown out tires. People end up rolling 80 with poor weight distribution and ride the brake because the trailer is all over the road. I don't loan out my trailer to anyone, because I haven't seen one person actually take the time to even adjust the trailer brake before they leave the driveway. Black flag... stop the truck.
Side note, trailers can easily be set up like your box van with power and plumbing; so you don't necessarily need hotel accommodations (as listed on your spreadsheet). Most enclosed car trailers over 15' run 15 amps of power from the truck through the pig tail to the trailer, which is plenty enough for the necessities if you're willing to break out a camp stove for cooking. I've camped out of my 20' car trailer at the dunes, drag strip, and car shows many times.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! For sure the permutations are endless. Agree that the trailer guy in our pretend scenario could have done a conversion also. As almost none do, and somebody had to be the example of the hotel customer, the pretend trailer racer got the bill. We planed on about 7 scenarios for the spreadsheet, but had to cut something for length. Resale and purchase price would be interesting variables too. I wonder how well trailer and boxvan resale compare?
@@FlatTrackFactory My Interstate Loadrunner (heavy duty - 10k GVWR) 8.5' x 20' enclosed car trailer was about $4800 after tax, when I purchased it back in 2007. A used Interstate trailer similar is around $7500-9000 currently for the heavy duty model with the 3 frame rails (vice 2 rail 20'); which tracks with inflation. $5k 20 years ago would be about $8k in todays money.
Generally speaking, trailers hold their value like most heavy equipment/construction equipment. Age and miles doesn't mean much when you can inspect every inch of a trailer in about 10 minutes and know what you're getting. Usually the biggest issue is leaking roofs and rotted plywood floors... both can be spotted in 0.2 seconds. Frame rails are just 3ea 2"x6" tube steel running the length of the trailer on the HD model, and not much that can go wrong with that.
You were absolutely correct about the mpg towing a trailer… on a good day 10 mpg downhill with a tail wind.
@victoriabrockman5473 great info. Thanks. What do you tow with? I'd like to have that in my pocket when I get smacked by the diesel fanatics that claim 19mpg towing at 85mph.
@@FlatTrackFactory I will have to preface my experience with towing by noting 1). I only run trucks with manual transmissions 2). they're all 4wd
I currently tow with a 76 Chevy heavy half ton with 4wd and long stick 4spd and small Block 350. 15 mpg empty, and around 10 mpg towing.
My dad's '89 Chevy 1 ton dually, with a 350 got a straight 10 mpg towing or not... never could figure that one out. And he would tow the Case 580 Super D or the CAT... always 10 mpg.
I have towed that 20' trailer with a 2011 Ram 3500 4wd 6.7 liter Cummins with the 6 spd, but that truck constantly went into "regen" so the mileage was 13 mpg and drop to 8 mpg when regen kicked in... I've never averaged over 11 mpg with that truck towing, and the cost of maintaining a diiesel and fuel made it non-cost effective to run when compared with the gas Chevy... so I sold the Ram.
My older brother had the 3500 Chevy Duramax and averaged 11 mpg towing, but he also had to replace the DEF... so more added costs.
My uncle still tows 5th wheel horse trailers with his Ram 3500 with the 5.9 liter Cummins (pre-emissions), and 9 mpg with a full load. But the truck will get around 20 mpg running empty.
I have never seen a big block get more than 10 mpg empty and if you put your foot in it, you'll be looking at 6-7 mpg. My 72 El Camino is a supercharged 427/4spd... I'll haul my bikes in it's truck bed occasionally, and 7 mpg if I'm easy on the throttle.
In my experience a diesel truck's only advantage for towing, is how heavy they are... a gas truck is about 5k lbs, and a diesel truck is about 7k lbs. The heavier truck is less likely to get pushed around by the trailer (and dually's are even more stable but a pain to park anywhere). However, if you trim the trailer by properly adjusting the trailer brake, even that isn't much of an advantage. Pulling grade with a load, you'll have to downshift with a diesel or gas truck... and the advantage of torque to get the load moving is negated by having a gas truck with Low 1.
@@FlatTrackFactory I also forgot to mention that the enclosed trailers with the drop ram doors need an area about 18' long and 9' wide of level ground "minimum" to drop the ramp (axle to the end of the ramp) or you run the risk of warping the door or in an extreme case springing the hinge when loading and unloading... so there's another negative for the enclosed trailer.
In all those box vans it looks like there's only a 1 person bed and MAYBE a child or teenager on the top bunk. So where are the 2 other adult travelers on your spreadsheet sleeping in those box vans? You should multiply their total cost by 2 or 3 since each person needs their own box van to be able to sleep somewhere. Otherwise this was a great video with some solid info.
The GMC black van has one twin bed for now and another going in sooner or later. The 3 other vans have bedding for 2 and 4 adults, depending on the van. In the thumbnail pic, the Ford boxvan has a fold out couch on the bottom for two friendly sleepers on it, a twin bunk (adults fit) above, and a sleeping bag sized area above the cab in the aero section. See 12:58 for two full size bunks, for example. Plus, one can easily put an air mattress in the garage section, if more sleepers is the priority. Thanks for watching and the comment! Cheers.
So how do you shower with the toilet?
Carefully.
Shane Fox is an absolute legend. He can fix your bike with a paperclip.
Is their any fellow flattrackers out there who can help with a rear brake system for a fine bike that is down for the count. I cant ride it because of this. I dont even wanna look at it if I cant ride it. i am not rich but do have moneys. No DTX shtuff allowed. I like a good solid system with a good solid pedal. i have been asking around. The crickets andsome frogs friggin seems to be all I here. Thanks for any help I can get... B.Q. 73،،،
Try Jack Warren at First Klass Glass 989.871.2360. Tell him FTF sent you.
Nice Star Wars shirt, nerd haha
You know it!
Gen4 has best pitty crew (not pictured).
Skip to 15:55 . He's on his bed supervising engine service.
There he is! Stealth mode!! I feel better. Thank you.