For the last several months I've observed many people pulling "Kiddie Cabooses" along the local bike trails. Most had children in them, and some had coolers and other cargo. I decided I wanted my own trailer for overnight camping or other things, and started checking out the local stores seeing how much the pre-made trailers cost, the prices ranged from $100.00 to $350.00 depending where you looked. So I decided to build my own. I chose PVC piping for the frame since it was light weight and inexpensive. ($25.00 w/o wheels, which came from a discarded bike.) A friend at work thought I should use a travel cooler as the main storage compartment area, so I thought up a framework that would allow the use of any large cooler. you can custom build the box for any style large cooler. It also doesn't have to be a cooler, you can put a piece of 1/4" plywood or Plexiglass in the bottom and put netting around the sides to haul other things.

Click photo to see all the parts w/o pipe before glueing.

Click photo to larger details of the hitch area.

These are photo's of my trailer, the main frame is 1-1/2" PVC drain pipe, and the upper frame is 3/4" pipe. ( I wasn't sure if 1/2" pipe would be strong enough to keep the cooler from shifting.) The wheels are bolted to an end cap using fender washers, and the end cap is not glued on, but held in place with a nut and bolt, so that the wheel is removable as needed.

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The "trailer hitch" area is 1/8" x 1" aluminum. I hooked it onto the bike frame at the rear support lugs and on the rear rack for support. the hitch part is an L-shaped piece of aluminum with a bolt, spacer, nut, washer, wing nut configuration. The washer / wing nut is to allow easy disconnecting of the trailer from the bike.

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I chose 16" wheels on purpose, I wanted to keep the trailer low, and also wanted wheels that were readily available and hopefully cheap. The difference between my 26" tires and the 16" trailer wheels is 5", which is the exact distance of the centerline on the trailer frame hitch / main frame s-curve. If you want larger tires, you can use 45 degree elbows for 20" or 24" tires, or a straight shaft for 26" tires, The tire size is what you want to make it.

Lights are optional, reflectors are a good idea and there are many places to mount them.

There are 4 eyelets mounted on the top rail for Bungee Cords to go across the lid area.

.....A detailed drawing of the axle / endcap portion showing the Fender washers and nuts. provided by Larry Blake from Oregon who was inspired by my trailer to build his own. I hope to be posting pictures of his trailer soon.

Links to other Trailer pages I've found so far.

Fresh Aire Trailers

BicycleR Evolution Trailers

The BOB trailer

Custon R&D trailers

Kool Stop Trailers

Equinox trailers

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