I built a camping trailer and towed it to Arizona

[grilled cheeseus]

Sharing this to inspire the curious and refute the naysayers regarding long-distance towing with a Yaris.

I built a camping/travel trailer on a $300 Harbor Freight "super duty folding trailer" frame and drove from NY to AZ over ~2 weeks last fall, about 900 pounds towed, zero issues with my '07 hatchback (on its third cross-continent trip).

https://i.imgur.com/1spYCYil.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/B3keJHcl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WjwoGhil.jpg

Yes, it's slow going over 6000 foot mountain passes, but the roads are full of vehicles with a worse power/weight ratio (e.g. semi trucks), and they do just fine too.

Blog post about the trailer (written before the trip):

https://blog.c-mart.in/posts/hazard-fraught-travel-trailer

Photo album of the trailer build last Spring:

https://imgur.com/a/3hfjtIH

Some things I've done to my Yaris:


Curt 11050 "hidden-style" hitch bolted to the recovery points
Curt 45028 ball mount with 4 5/8" rise (very recommended to lift your ball)
Firestone 4136 air spring kit (very recommended, eliminates saggy rear, easy to install)
This (https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/hopkins-towing-solution-connector-46155/6253512-P) trailer wiring harness kit, spliced into the rear brakes and turn signals
5000 lumen light bar from Walmart (stupid and unnecessary, therefore necessary)
Junkyard alloy rims from a Chevy Aveo (same as above)


Some shots of the trip to Arizona..

Random pee break:

https://i.imgur.com/hatqCuxl.jpg

If this is OK, then towing 900 pounds with a Yaris is definitely OK:

https://i.imgur.com/6dXiIjAl.jpg

If this is OK (yes they are all connected) then what I'm doing is definitely OK:

https://i.imgur.com/64clBVal.jpg

Sleeping at a rest stop:

https://i.imgur.com/s3LRDgpl.jpg

Stayed in St. Louis for a week to attend a conference. The motel let me to park next to the front office for security:

https://i.imgur.com/epTEQLxl.jpg

Spent a few days in Tulsa OK to help some people from the internet build a boat (http://www.svseeker.com/wp):

https://i.imgur.com/hFDbNyBl.jpg

They taught me to weld, so I disabled the "tilt bed" feature on the trailer frame. Taking this slop out of the trailer tongue made the entire ride less jouncy:

https://i.imgur.com/WgQrWN1l.jpg

Somewhere in New Mexico:

https://i.imgur.com/XGLbKn3l.jpg

Final sleep on the road, I-10 in SE Arizona:

https://i.imgur.com/mY9kbNYl.jpg

Rolling into Tucson (destination and where I am currently):

https://i.imgur.com/S5rZwx5l.jpg

I've been living out of the trailer (in a friend's backyard) since October. I doubled the electrical system capacity (another AGM battery and solar panel) to take advantage of the Arizona sun and charge my Onewheel (which I use to commute to work).

Later this spring I'll de-snowbird back to NY, probably via the Pacific Northwest. :biggrin:

[dogsridewith]

Nice!
What were your typical highway cruise speed and mpg?

[suprf1y]

Nice job!

I considered doing the same with my Wife's Sonic and spent a fair bit of time researching it on tnttt but we've decided to go in another direction and build a minivan camper instead

[grilled cheeseus]

Nice!
What were your typical highway cruise speed and mpg?

Typically about 60 MPH. 65 was still fairly comfortable but I was in no rush and wanted to burn fewer dinosaur squeezings.

I think the best tank was about 32 MPG (in Ohio?) and the worst was about 27 MPG (big headwind in New Mexico). I probably averaged about 29-30.

[kimona]

Very nice setup!

[06YarisRS]

So cool!

[dogsridewith]

Roughly, w/ a tape--what is outside-of-tread to outside-of-tread for both car and trailer?

[Leegamer]

That's awesome.

[justanotherdrunk]

looks good thanks for posting

[CrankyOldMan]

Awesome work!

[ern-diz]

I always get a kick out of this kind of thing. Thanks for sharing.

[nemelek]

Thanks for posting. Love it.

[grilled cheeseus]

Thanks everyone! :biggrin:

Awesome work! I think I'm going to switch up my project to a foamie as well.

To be clear, mine is not a foamie :) It's 3/4" plywood (except the roof which is 1/2" plywood over 2x3 spars) skinned with sheet aluminum. It's not the lightest way to build one of these, but it is easier to build than foam, and extremely sturdy. I hang 40 pounds of AGM batteries and a 30 pound electric skateboard from the interior walls. Walk on the roof without hesitation.

Honestly, after 3 months of living out of it (and relying on friend's bathroom/kitchen), it's getting somewhat cramped. I'm planning to upgrade to a Class A motorhome (probably 30-35 feet), so my house will tow the Yaris rather than the other way around. I guess it's true what they say about new RVers upgrading to something else within a year. :bonk:

[dogsridewith]

Done right, a second tow hook mount installed opposite the existing one might make a good attachment for a fork-type tow bar?

[Hamster]

That is super cool! Please share more road trip pics if you have any!

[bentjazz]

Wow. Ultra-cool. Thanks for posting. Would like to see what it's like inside the camper.....

[zoidberg444]

DUDE.

I SAW YOU ON SV SEEKER's CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE!

Nice work. I couldn't believe it. I take it your car is the 1NZ engine? I had a feeling it would do fine towing a small trailer. I have loaded my 1L up with hundreds of kilos and driven it up and down mountains for a couple weeks. These cars are tanks.

[bentjazz]

Do you have a link to that youtube video, zoidberg444? Would love to see it.

[grilled cheeseus]

Done right, a second tow hook mount installed opposite the existing one might make a good attachment for a fork-type tow bar?

I really don't understand. Could you draw a picture?

Wow. Ultra-cool. Thanks for posting. Would like to see what it's like inside the camper.....

https://i.imgur.com/vvfo90cl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8tQ4CR5l.jpg

DUDE.

I SAW YOU ON SV SEEKER's CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE!

Nice work. I couldn't believe it. I take it your car is the 1NZ engine? I had a feeling it would do fine towing a small trailer. I have loaded my 1L up with hundreds of kilos and driven it up and down mountains for a couple weeks. These cars are tanks.

Thanks zoidberg444! Yes, all Yarii in the USA have the 1NZ. And I agree, these cars can handle a lot more than people expect.

Do you have a link to that youtube video, zoidberg444? Would love to see it.

There are a few, here's one (https://youtu.be/VopJR_5Ib18?t=1883) with my trailer around 31:20.

---

So, the little trailer was a gateway drug. I've now ended up with this.

https://i.imgur.com/Z28vG57l.jpg (https://i.imgur.com/Z28vG57.jpg)

Poor Yaris has been demoted from the tractor to the toad. I'll probably keep the trailer to lend out to friends, unless someone really wants to buy a totally custom Yaris-sized travel trailer.

[suprf1y]

I'll probably keep the trailer to lend out to friends, unless someone really wants to buy a totally custom Yaris-sized travel trailer.

It looks well done. You'd probably get a decent buck for it.

There's more demand for these type of trailers than you'd expect. I think it's because most people who want one don't have the skills to build one or the budget to buy factory built.

[myfirstyota]

Also many just can't afford something that needs a half ton truck to tow. I sold my truck. The maintenance and fuel costs are crazy. Wheel bearing on a yaris: $130cad. Wheel bearing on a 1500 ram: $450 cad. Funny thing is, the yaris with a small utility trailer can carry just much weight as a half ton pick up can in its bed. Just can't tow a 26' r.v. with a yaris.

[bentjazz]

Thanks so much, grilled cheeseus! So awesome.....

[dogsridewith]

(for towing a Yaris...maybe)
There's a big eyebolt in the trunk that screws into the right side of the front bumper. Weld same socket for same eyebolt on left side of bumper.
Aim central axis of each eyebolt eye horizontally.
Now a typical sort of forked towbar can be fitted to a ball on the tow vehicle and swing vertically on the eyebolts so the towed and tow vehicles can move as they need to in road slope transitions, but stay in one track.
(Not advice, but something I'd consider for my own vehicle...I'd like to have two tow points at each end of the car in any case...like cars used to have.)

[grilled cheeseus]

(for towing a Yaris...maybe)
There's a big eyebolt in the trunk that screws into the right side of the front bumper. Weld same socket for same eyebolt on left side of bumper.
Aim central axis of each eyebolt eye horizontally.
Now a typical sort of forked towbar can be fitted to a ball on the tow vehicle and swing vertically on the eyebolts so the towed and tow vehicles can move as they need to in road slope transitions, but stay in one track.
(Not advice, but something I'd consider for my own vehicle...I'd like to have two tow points at each end of the car in any case...like cars used to have.)

Oh, got it, for flat-towing the Yaris!

For my trip back East later this spring, I'll probably just rent a car dolly from U-Haul. No mods to Yaris needed for that. Eventually I might install one of these (https://www.etrailer.com/Base-Plates/Toyota/Yaris/2007/521181-1.html?vehicleid=20071006889) which are actually designed for flat-towing. I don't think I would trust that eyebolt to not eventually strip the threads in the bumper.

[myfirstyota]

(for towing a Yaris...maybe)
There's a big eyebolt in the trunk that screws into the right side of the front bumper. Weld same socket for same eyebolt on left side of bumper.

Or for those who don't have access to a welder, a scrap yard is your friend. That eye bolt threads into the bumper rebar support. If you grab one from a u-pull yard, you can invert it and mount to the drivers side. Youll need to make a hole in the bumper rebar to access the threads in the mount and you'll only be able to get 2 of the 3 bolts that attach the rebar to the mounts (no big deal to me)

http://i.imgur.com/X2pxMcZ.jpg

Here you can see

[dogsridewith]

Thanks for that idea and photo! Are those OEM Yaris towing eyebolts? All the way screwed in? (I didn't picture mine sticking out that far.)

[myfirstyota]

Yes sir

[grilled cheeseus]

Didn't mean for this thread to turn into an advert, but after upgrading I've decided to sell the little trailer. If anyone is interested, I'm asking $5k firm and it's currently in Tucson. :biggrin:

[grilled cheeseus]

To wit: https://tucson.craigslist.org/tro/d/tucson-little-camping-trailer-with/6832242764.html

[nemoskull]

i did this! tho mine is bigger at 5ft wide and 1300 pounds. ususally cruise at 4k in 4th, 75mph. going up hills is a fight to stay at 60. manual. im really amazed at the yaris. tough little car.