Travel Options

[Tonavi]

I know this has been asked several times but with no clear answer or how to. I am an avid mountain biker (have a hitch rack for that and it works well) and have taken up skiing and snowboarding this season and would like to be able to take three other people on a cross country trip with their gear in comfort in my 3 door. I have a couple options:

1. Get a hitch rack for skis/snowboards. I've seen these go for around $200-300 and it would work with my existing setup, but tall skis could hit the ground on steep approaches. It could also be an invitation to theft potentially.

2. Roof rack. I've seen setups with Q-towers in the door frames and I wouldn't like to tear up the already fragile paint job on mine (almost 4 years old in MN) and I'd need an extender kit to have them far enough apart to carry enough weight with stability. I read about a setup where holes were drilled and footings were mounted on the roof where the crossbars had a good distance between themselves. I have seen no price figures or quotes on this setup and am wondering if it would be worth calling a customizing shop for.

3. Make a travel trailer. I'd start off with a 4x6 or 4x8 ALUMINUM one and make a series of "trays" that can hold bikes, boards, skis, or any combination of them all. Everything would be welded together except for where it would be bolted to the trailer frame so I could use it as a flatbed if I wanted to. The trailer would also have lockable storage where would keep as much gear as possible to free cabin space. I could get a used trailer for around $500 and have welded aluminum before and have access to a metalworking facility. All I would need to do is rig a lighting system for it to the car's taillights.

What would you think is best, and have any of you done anything like this before? Pictures would be welcome, too. Thanks.