Kayak Trailer....awesome, just fabulous...

What with kayaking & fishing & bicycling & wind-surfing...I've always required the capacity of a Van......the last van I owned was a Chev. ASTRO which on the best-day-of-it's-life got 18 miles per gallon and on the worst, 11.2 mpg.    And like all american-made vehicles my Astro's transmission went out at 89K-miles and I had $1,000 worth of injector trouble, and I had to replace the differential spider-gears, and the driver-side motorized window-winder wouldn't work.

So I was contemplating my wife's stick-shift Toyota, Corolla on which just nothing ever goes wrong....and yet just didn't have the capacity I need....when I noticed that by laying on the ground under the back bumper I could see up to pre-drilled & threaded ready-made bolt-up mount-points for a HITCH.

That was the genesis of the trailer you see below.

The HITCH was an off-the-shelf item for $89.00

The trailer was from www.northerntool.com....bought as item #125427....available today for $219.19 (with 12-inch-wheels and 1060-pound load capacity)....I bought it two years ago priced at $169.   So they've gone up.

The Contractors Lock Box----is an absolutely essential thing that converts this trailer-rig from just a marginally useful trailer, into an incredibly neat thing that can haul your "other stuff" in complete security.   I got my Contractors Lock Box from Home Depot...I paid about $250.

The trailer comes with a SHORT TONGUE......useless to me as a kayaker.   I replaced their tongue with an extruded 2x2 aluminum "shape" that I bought from just $30 from ALCO Metals, located in San Leandro, CA on Doolittle Drive just north of it's Davis Street intersection and on the west side of the street.   Those "shapes" come in 30-foot lengths...you just cut to need.    Plan your tongue-length TO INCLUDE bolt-up attachment to all three cross-members of the trailer.

All-told you will WANT to drill holes and mount 3/8ths-or-better stock EYE BOLTS (for tie-down usage) two-to-the-side-on-the-TrailerFrame...and four at the top corners of the lock-box lid....an absolute minium of 12 and more is better.

In practical usage:  Tied-on boats rubbed through paint on the lock-box and caused recurring case of rust.......so I bought hardwood strips and bolted three cross-ways to the lid of the lock-box, and another three "verticals" on the side of the box to which I was tieing my long kayak.   As I laid-down the strips, I did so ON A WORM OF SILICON SEALANT so that water could not come in under the strips and rust out the box.

The trailer-kit COMES with very important notorized "certs." from the manufacturer stating all of the US Department of Transportation "trailer standards" that have been met in manufacture of this trailer.   Very important because when you go to the DMV to register the trailer (requires a license plate:  fee: $25 for 5-years) the entire DMV action will go smooth-as-silk, rather than not-smooth-as-silk.

Vertical side of the box....provides the "tie-against support" I need....to use this trailer to transport all "homeowner" items, like drywall and 4 x 8's of plywood.

OK......and I took my wife's Corolla for mine, and bought her another.
When I'm pulling this trailer fully loaded I can get 37.3 MILES PER GALLON (by drafting trucks at 64 miles per hour).....and without drafting trucks and driving at 70 mph I get 35 mpg.    Now remember....these gas numbers are with a Standard Transmission.   An automatic would get some amount less.

I love my trailer.
       I love my trailer.
             Did I say I love my trailer....oh man, I love my trailer.

and without drafting trucks and driving at 70 mph I get 35 mpg

But a ticket for exceeding 55mph with a trailer will ruin your day.

Nice job on the trailer, though!

My astro EXT has 165k and hasn't been that troublesome, it also gets 17/g city and 21/g highway.  You must have had the AWD version, I heard they're worse.  The AC compressor did go out recently, which could have racked up a $900 bill, but I replaced it with one from pick-n-pull for $50 instead.  That's a kayak.  Ka-ching! 

Harbor freight has a trailer like that for $179. 

I hadn't considered the speed limit issue, that'd suck big time on I5 for trips down south.

Do you have to pay launch and parking fees at the lake now?

RE: 55-mph trailer limit:    The CHP gives you 9-mph over....exactly the same as they do the trucks.   So trailer does limit Hwy Travel speed to 64 mph.

RE: ticket for 70 mph.   Yes....tickets issue at 65 mph.   I mis-spoke when I said I got 35 miles per gallon at 70 mph without drafting trucks.    I NEVER go over 64 mph while pulling the trailer.....and I do get 35 mpg when not drafting trucks.

RE: cheaper trailer elsewhere:   .....hey, go for it.....but make sure you get 12-inch wheels.   Those 8-inch wheels turn too fast.

RE: Paying Fees:   I had to pay "boat" fees at Lake Sonoma (south launch) when I had the ASTRO (the boats were visible on rooftop carry-bar).    The only negative feature of the trailer I've found so far is that I am barred from using the Lake Sonoma northern launch because they apply a "no-trailers allowed" rule to that entry.   

Oh....another little negative....is that somehow when you cross any of the Bay Area Bridges.....their sensors tell them that you are a three-axle rig and they charge you another buck.   I think it's a buck.   I don't much care about stuff like that but I think my wife told me it's an additional buck.   

I'm a whitewater boater and although mostly we boat in groups of two or three sometimes there'll be five or six.    OK...you gotta do a "shuttle" from the top of the run to the bottom & vice-versa.   I get six boats on my trailer easy.

RE: gas mileage:    I am both careful and strict about measuring my gas mileage.    I never buy gas except that the calculator comes out and I divide mileage by gallons.    If anyone gets more than 18 mph with a six cylinder ASTRO  (it's predecessor, a 4-banger WOULD do (on its best day) 20 mpg)....but with a six cylinder ASTRO you will be very lucky to get 17.7 and if you do better than that, you've got a 30-mph tailwind....like they often have out on I-5 near Davis.

Day-in.......Day out......I get to drive my Corolla and get that good Corolla mileage, which for short runs in-town goes as low as 27.....but the ballpark is 33-35 for mixed.....and the highway-at-74 mph (without trailer) is NEVER NEVER NEVER less than 35 mpg, often and often 36-37. 

Speaking just EXACTLY about the Corolla---as a MACHINE---it has worked out to be an incredible and ultimately-perfect POWER-BALANCE with that trailer (which loaded probably weighs near 450 pounds) ....

Coming down I-5 from Oregon I pulled the northern slope of the Siskiyou Pass out of Ashland, OR, in 4th gear at 55mph.   I could have held 65 mph EASY if I'd shifted to 3rd.   

On an at-least 12% grade near my house (Cedar Street in Berkeley at the Euclid stop light) I can pull away from the stop-line cleanly...with the tac never rising above 1300 rpm.    As I say, the car is perfectly balanced to pull that load.

PS......the photo does not show that I have since, put a plywood deck on the trailer-frame.   The Lock Box is held by two machine-head bolts with wing-nuts on the inside.   You twirl those nuts off and presto....you've got a free deck.  The deck is through-cut for 2x4-uprights that take side-panels...so I can carry loose material if I want.

Did I say I love my trailer?
Wow....it is so cool....and I don't have to lift my 60-pound sea-kayak up over my head.   

Yes...and with my wife's OCEAN KAYAK 'Yak Board' tied to the LID OF THE LOCKBOX....that does not prevent me from unlocking the lid and lifting it to access what's inside the box, with the boat in place.

Golly...did I say I love my trailer?
Wow.

Judd

It IS a nice trailer...  I especially like the lock box for gear.  I have one for my pickup, but that means I have to use to roof rack, which as you know isn't nearly as easy to load.

I had no idea about that CHP 9mph rule.  That's more like a rule of thumb right?  A cop could bust you doing 60 if he wanted to, I bet.  I don't know why pulling a trailer stresses me out so much, but that 55mph thing is part of it...   

Thanks for the link jwsmith! Looks like a good DIY trailer... may have to give it a try!

Z

Z ... we need to have a trailer building party this winter.  Charles has welder and the skills.  Let's do it!!!

Thanks for the info jwsmith.  Nicely done.

-Allen

That's a pretty user friendly rig on the cheap,  Good Job!!!! ,.........Danglin

Z ... we need to have a trailer building party this winter.  Charles has welder and the skills.  Let's do it!!!
-Allen

Let's!! I'm gonna get down to drawing up some plans for my dream trailer.

Z

Let's!!  I'm gonna get down to drawing up some plans for my dream trailer.

 No copy right on this one,  This is a great trailer,   but it cost$$$$$$$,

  would do it again in a second ........... Danglin

DYAAAMMMNN! That is a sweet rig, Danglin!
I really like jwsmith's trailer too. Very nice, and fits my budget.

All you need now is a BBQ and stainless cleaning station w/sink. And, maybe, directv, touret gun, stripper pole, dartboard, card table, and a KEGerator!!!! And then you have the ultimate man-trailer!

PK

Actually, there are a few du dads in side for hooking up propane tanks ect, but MudShark and his Buddy

 ( Forgot his handle ) have a very utilitarain Yak hauler, hopefully they will post..... Danglin

it would be cool if we could chip-in and get a big partridge familly style bus that held a bunch of people and their boats.  better yet a john madden style bus. we could pimp-it out and do some awesome road trips. or more realisticly a one flew over the cuckoo's nest style bus.

and without drafting trucks and driving at 70 mph I get 35 mpg

But a ticket for exceeding 55mph with a trailer will ruin your day.

Nice job on the trailer, though!

Yup. Been there done that.
Any trailer that suits your needs is a good trailer.
One thing about trailers is that they have to be designed for where they will be stored.
I LOVE Danglin's trailer. I saw it a few years ago and talked with the original builder. It was the catalyst for my trailer but that design would not work for where I have to keep mine.
It is too tall so I had to improvise.
Do what works best for you and incorporate whatever ideas others have used that will suit your needs.