Po mans Toy Hauler Project

This low budget toy hauler project was built by a father and son. It started life as a 7.3 liter diesel U-Haul truck. It isn’t fancy, but functional and has air conditioning, 120 volt and 12 volt systems, a 1500watt inverter, water tank, water heater, grey water tank and a work bench. There is lots of overhead storage in the truck as well.

The Interior living quarters consist of a garage section behind the folding door, and kitchen and other amenities forward of the folding door.

The sink has a water tank installed under the work bench with a 12volt pump plumbed in with a shut off valve.

A Tee was run to the external water hookup with a valve so that either the external water inlet or the water tank could be isolated.

The sink has a propane powered water heater mounted next to it, and an inside workbench sits right at the front of the truck.

In order to maximize the living space inside the retired UHaul, the divider wall was set back far enough that the bi-fold doors need to be open in order to fit their Jeep inside. This picture also shows the 4 – 9000lb tie downs bolted through the frame to secure the Jeep during transport. Notice the plywood and wood blocks (made of incrementally cut lengths of 2×10) to help the jeep climb over the wheel wells. The aluminum floor is surprisingly slippery, so if there is any dust or water on it, driving the front wheels of the Jeep over the wheel wells is difficult even with offroad tires and a locker!

On the side of the UHaul, 2 boat stantion mounts were screwed to the wall, which allows pipe and shower curtain to be attached to it creating a quick and easy outdoor shower. The ‘Bubba shower’ has hot and cold water.

To keep their feet out of the mud, they made a simple wooden platform to put as a base for the outdoor shower.

Next, they added backup cameras – 2 of them. One is outside to aid in backing up and to watch any trailer that they might be towing, and the other is inside the box to keep an eye on the Jeep Crawler during transport.

The final step was to put decals on that would help the neighbors understand what this rig was used for!

All in all, sounds like the project was a lot of fun.

It’s been a blast to put together. The air suspension drops the truck down 4″ and some ramps do the rest.