Thinking of starting a trailer build out… advice?

OK so I want to ask if you guys have any advice, the wife and I are looking to build out a trailer thinking a 6 x 12 to be a bed bathroom and small kitchen. We primarily camp out of our Tacoma but when we bring family along, we wanted to have somewhere that our parents could be more comfortable. So my question is starting fresh and buying a used trailer should I go with a single axle or dual axle? My thought was if I buy a cheap I could take it to my fabrication shop that does good work and maybe they could reinforce the frame and put a better suspension on it and do some modifications but I just don’t know what the best base unit would be to start that? Any advice would be greatly appreciated or if there is a build thread that I missed about the dos and don’ts of starting a trailer build I would love to see that as well. As always, thanks advance!
Oh, and I forgot to mention I’m looking at just buying a box trailer and doing the build out myself..

 

If you buy cheap what ever you save will be burned up 5X over by the fab shop.
Fab shop/good work/cheap are never used in the same sentence.

Reinforcing and upgrading things gets heavy real fast, a Tacoma isn't really the best tow platform to start, a heavy trailer isn't a plus here.

Trailers are assets that depreciate very rapidly, bad for the original owner - use this to your advantage and buy a used unit in excellent condition.

Go look at a bunch of new ones, figure out the features and floor plan that works best for you and then watch the used market.

Bigger is nicer, smaller tows much better with a mid size truck. Look for the smallest unit that will meet your needs.

 

Yeah, I figured buying used would be the way to go. I’m OK paying for good quality fab work but like you said, a new trailer is four times what used one is with the exact same layout.

 

What is your real world Budget??

People are selling camper trailers now good time to buy.

In a custom trailer weight and cost add up fast .

Figure out just what you can not live without. The weight once loaded out for a few days will get be real close to being over gross weight.

If your really getting into camping a Full size Truck might in the future

 

I will testify to that.

Last year I towed a 12-foot dual axle U-Haul trailer from Pennsylvania to Louisiana which was no fun. I got about 9-10 miles per gallon in the mountainous areas and actually broke my drive shaft on the way down.

So don't over do it.

 

You have to consider if it's really camping or just a portable Motel 6.

And where you will be going when you take the parents. And how often that's actually gonna happen.

It's possible a used pop up would be quite adequate as is for what you want to do.