Testing the rescue rig for the first time

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]What is up everyone and welcome back to the channel. Welcome to another video.

[00:00:04]This video I started filming it about a month ago because it was a long time to make it. I had a lot of things to do and what you're seeing here is the result of all this work. This is my travel trailer. This is going to be the family camping trip trailer or something like that. It is equipped to have a scooter or a motorcycle down the middle and two big cases, trunks, boxes on the side here to hold all of our camping gear and everything. Uh that is because we don't have a particularly big car. We just have a Corolla sedan and there's four of us and there's a lot of [ __ ] to carry around including bikes and everything. So I decided instead of changing the car, we just add a trailer to it. It was an entire process going from no trailer and the car with no tow hitch to where I am now. But in about a week's time, I'm heading off to the UK with the whole family. We have to rescue Donnie from London. He's been in London for about a month, and it's high time I picked him up. So, come along in this video on how I went from just a regular Corolla hybrid sedan to a full family camping rig. Oh, yeah. And uh that thing behind me is a Volvo Amazon if you're asking. And no, it is not mine, but it is absolutely gorgeous.

[00:01:31]So, let's get on with the video.

[00:02:00]Heat. Heat.

[00:02:24]Yes, for everyone have hasn't guessed it already, I have bought myself a little trailer and uh now I am going to take it on its first little test drive. test drive. Proper test drive. Not just uh taking it from the shop where I bought it home. So, I don't know if you can see me. Yeah. But I am going to untie it from here and hook it up to the car and we're going to hit the road.

[00:03:16]Heat. Heat.

[00:03:37]So, this is the trailer. We got electrics here.

[00:03:41]We got lights.

[00:03:44]Yep. Everything is working.

[00:03:49]And uh yeah, this is the setup.

[00:03:52]the little hybrid Corolla and the trailer. Now, let's get out of the parking garage. This is Everything's on.

[00:04:00]This is the little trailer lock that I was uh talking about. It's pretty hard to get in, but once you get you have it in, you cannot unhook the trailer, so you can't it can't be stolen.

[00:04:10]But yeah, let's close this and let's grab the parking garage and uh hit the road. Got to get some fuel in this thing.

[00:04:19]There we go. Nice and easy.

[00:04:22]I don't think you've seen me a lot driving a car. This is the little my cockpit.

[00:04:29]Let's see. Do you guys have a place where you can sit? You can sit right here. All right.

[00:04:37]There we go.

[00:04:41]Get the seat belt on.

[00:04:44]I can move the mic to the seat belt.

[00:04:47]Close the window.

[00:04:50]Put it in drive.

[00:04:52]Check my mirrors.

[00:04:56]And off we go with the trailer in tow.

[00:05:03]Yeah. Problem is, uh, my third parking spot that I have in this parking garage, ow, you can hear it bumping around. Uh, is at the fifth floor. So, I have quite a ways to go to get down and out of here. So, what I'm gonna do now is get this rig all fueled up because let's see if you can see. I have about half a tank of gas.

[00:05:28]And uh then I'm going to hit the road all the way to Constansa, which is about 220 km away, 200 km away, something like that. And I'll explain more exactly what I'm doing uh after I fuel up and get out on the highway because we're not carrying motorcycles today. Okay, we are definitely not carrying motorcycles.

[00:05:49]This is just a test to run to see how this car drives with the trailer on the back. And I'll get into all of the specifics and the details as soon as I get it fueled up and get uh something to drink for myself and uh something to eat. I got to get my package because today I am a truckie.

[00:06:08]No more motorcycles, no nothing. We are a truckie as Australians would call it. And yes, I know it's not a big ass truck like a road train from Australia, but hey, I've got a trailer. And uh considering it's a single axle trailer, you can actually cons you can actually say it is a semi-tra. So yeah, I got myself a big rig, a six-wheeler.

[00:06:36]Pretty hard day to go on a bit of a road trip, but I got the trailer in tow and it's still back there. had some big bumps coming around this boulevard and uh across the rail works they're doing on the tram lines right here. But yeah, pretty pretty nasty day. It is late March.

[00:06:56]We're about to go into April.

[00:07:00]Big water puddle. And here's the Sakar fuel station. This is where I usually fuel up. It's the fuel station next to my apartment complex. And this is where I usually fuel up. I don't know if if you guys could see in the There it is.

[00:07:14]The trailer in the mirror. Yeah, boy.

[00:07:16]Truckucky.

[00:07:19]I am quite enjoying myself with this trailer on the back. Oh, it's the rosers.

[00:07:25]But that's no biggie. I have all of the documentation with me. It is legal. It is insured. It is everything. And now I'm going to fuel up and we're going to see on this road trip just how fuel efficient this car is. Currently 5.8 L per 100 km it says on the dash. But let me get some fuel in it and we'll get we'll get on the road. All right. So car is all fueled up, ready to go.

[00:07:50]Got my navigation set up. It says we have 215 km. We should make in about 2 hours, two and a bit hours.

[00:08:01]We will see how this goes because uh with a trailer on the back, this car might not be as fully fuel efficient. Uh it could do the speed. I think it's it has like 120 or 140 combined horsepower hybrid and normal uh gas engine.

[00:08:17]So in terms of power, it should have the power to pull an empty trailer like this going 120 130. But it uh it will depend on what's the fuel consumption at that speed because I really don't want to eat up all that much fuel. And this is a good test for me because uh I'm going to have to drive this rig all the way from Bucharest to to London to pick up Donnie. And uh the reason I have to do this is uh because yeah, the family no longer wants to sit at home while I go on my crazy adventures. So everyone wants to tag along. So I'm going to take Christina, Theo, and Eve. We're all going to go to the United Kingdom. Man, it's really checking it down with rain. So, I'm gonna have to drive about this rig with the trailer on the back about 6,000 kilometers. So, I want to know the characteristics of the car with the trailer on the back. Granted, it's an empty trailer now, but I am going to Constansa where my parents sold their apartment in Constansa where I grew up, where I was born. And uh they have bought one really close to me, like uh 500 m away from me um here in Bucharest.

[00:09:28]They still have a house where about 100 km away from Bucharest where they spend most of their time, but uh they wanted an apartment right here next to me to be close to the girls and everything. Uh and the thing is now we have to empty the old apartment from Constanza.

[00:09:46]And uh so yeah, I'm taking the trailer and we're going to pack it up and we're going to go to their house in the village, unload there, and then come back here to Bucharest and unload something here. It's a Saturday. I have the whole day to do it. It's What's the time now? 8:00 in the morning, 8 sharp.

[00:10:03]And I am hitting the road. I'm really curious to see a fuel consumption and how this thing drives with the the trailer on the back on the highway because we are going to have to do a lot of highway miles to get to London. I'm going to take the exact same route with the girls. We are going to use the channel tunnel to cross. We're going to stop in Nuremberg in the same place in Dunkerk. probably not in the same hotel in Dunkerk because the hotel I stayed at in Dunkerk was was fine for me but not for a family. I mean the rooms were not the prettiest. It is windy a little bit. It is raining. Let's see. Can you guys see?

[00:10:43]It's raining. The trailer is still back there.

[00:10:47]Uh not a pretty day. I am running I go navigation in case everyone is wondering. Uh I'm uh I really want to get reacustomed with I go. I don't use it on the scoots because uh it doesn't have uh like a mode for uh Android Auto and I use Android Auto navigation systems on all my scoots, but this car does not have Android Auto, so I don't have to rely on Android Auto.

[00:11:12]And I like it a lot more for long trips, especially when you're going in places where you've never been because it just gives you a little bit more information.

[00:11:21]It is Google is a map software that can also navigate while this is a navigation software. It's not a map software. And uh yeah, all the roads uh if they appear on the map, they've been mapped properly. So I know they're there. I know they exist. And when you're traveling in unknown places, it's better to be uh better to be safe than sorry.

[00:11:44]So I am using Igo Navigation for Android. I do have the map for Europe bot. It's a onetime purchase. as you get lifetime updates. I really want to see what the fuel consumption is going to be because like I said, we're going to do 3,000 km one way each way with this setup. And uh I have to calculate my fuel consumption because I want to know how much it's going to cost. As you know, with all of this happening in the world today, uh fuel prices have gone crazy a little bit. So yeah, every liter saved here and there is welcome. The thing is the trailer is rated for about 140 km an hour max speed.

[00:12:22]But the thing is and the car can do a lot more than 140 km an hour. Uh but the thing is drag and the Corolla, this is a 1.8 hybrid Corolla is not known for slow it down.

[00:12:38]Is not known for its towing capacity. Uh it has a towing capacity of about 450 kg. The trailer empty weighs about 150 kg, but when you add the drag of running it at speed, uh kind of the weight tucking on the car does add up a little bit.

[00:12:57]Now, I'm not worried about the drivetrain because I am not pushing it to the limit. If it says 450 kg, that means you can absolutely mash the throttle with 400 kg 450 kg at the back.

[00:13:09]I am not mashing the throttle. I am babying the car. It's I'm going slow, nice and easy. I did drop back to 100 km because it's it's just getting worse. I don't know how this trailer reacts in the rain or in high winds because it is empty.

[00:13:27]It's a pretty low profile trailer, so we shouldn't be blasted around, but then again, it's just 150 kg. So, uh yeah, it's a new experience for me driving with a little trailer like this. So, I got a lot to learn. But uh we got 2 hours to go, 204 km and uh we'll see how it goes. All right, little sit stopped for a bit of a bio break and uh I want to check up on the rig. We we have entered Doorja Doberja Doberja region of Romania, Constansa County. Uh we got about 60 km left to go. We've done about 150 and I don't I do want to have a little check up on the rig. Uh, first of all, on in hazards.

[00:14:12]Let's see if we still got lights and everything.

[00:14:17]Yep, everything seems to be working.

[00:14:21]Uh, tires, hubs, cold as ice.

[00:14:26]Now, this is a brand new trailer. I don't expect to have any problems, but, you know, it's a brand new trailer once again. So, let's check up on it.

[00:14:35]our coupler.

[00:14:37]Yeah, that ain't going nowhere. And this.

[00:14:43]Yep.

[00:14:45]This is tight. This is tight.

[00:14:48]This is still here. This is tight.

[00:14:51]Right.

[00:14:53]Everything seems to be in order with uh the rescue rig, I think I'm going to call it, because this is what we're going to use to rescue Donnie.

[00:15:03]In terms of fuel consumption, that ain't all that good.

[00:15:07]8.5 liters per 100 kilometers.

[00:15:13]It ain't all that great.

[00:15:17]H Let's put you guys Where can I put you? Where did I put you first time?

[00:15:21]There. There we go. Over there. Yep.

[00:15:25]Buckle up for safety.

[00:15:29]How much do we have left? 58 km left to go. So, I've been taking it quite easy actually. Only had the cruise control set at 110 km and that's about 106 real world speed GPS because in Europe you do have a bit of a difference on the speedo. What's what the speedos overread a little bit because of legislation. So, we are doing about 110 indicated. I have 110 on the cruise control and on the GPS it says 105. It's probably 106. Yeah, 105 106. Uh, but the main thing is fuel consumption. We are sitting at 8.5 L per 100 km and uh, yeah, that's because of the trailer. Nothing else. It's only because of the trailer.

[00:16:18]It just goes to show how fuel efficient this car is and how optimized Toyota made it in terms of aerodynamics.

[00:16:26]Because if I would would have been going this kinds of speeds without the trailer on the back, I would be getting 5 L per 100 km kind of that uh in in that ballpark of fuel consumption. Uh maybe 5.1 5.2 or something like that, but we're rounded off 5 L per 100 km.

[00:16:46]And instead of that, we're getting 8.5.

[00:16:48]So an extra 3 and 1/2 L of fuel uh almost a gallon of fuel every 100 km.

[00:16:55]Actually, it's yeah, it's almost a US gallon of fuel uh for 100 km. That's 62 miles. So, every 62 miles, I'm eating up an extra gallon of fuel. Just goes to show because the trailer on the back weighs, like I've said, 150 kg. And I've looked at the tires. Uh when I got out of the car, I noticed that on the left hand side on the tire, they're still reminiscence of the sticker that was on the tire when it was brand new. So, I've driven this thing about 40 km from where I bought it to home and anotherund let's see how far have we come along.

[00:17:31]159 km. So, close to 200 km. That's 120 mi. And the sticker on the tire is not completely gone. So, that's how light that thing is. And uh looking at it that way, if I don't load, if I don't drive with the trailer fully loaded, uh those tires on that trailer are going to last a very very long time and a very long distance. And that's a good thing. I'm not worried for this year because this thing is going to see about 10,000 km of travel this trailer. So, I don't have to worry about tires or anything. It's clear they're going to last a very long time. Uh but yeah, even though it's so light, just the aerodynamic drag of the thing almost doubled the fuel consumption of the car. And it just goes to show just how well optimized in terms of aerodynamics and this whole hybrid package from Toyota is. Uh once you put a small little trailer on the back, it just fs it up completely and now it basically drinks fuel like I don't know. It's a 2 L petrol powered car with no hybrid, no nothing. I think for towing I this car it would have been better with something with a diesel engine like a turbo diesel something like a TDI Volkswag Volkswagen or something like that. U but this is the car we got. We make do with what we got.

[00:18:52]It ain't all that bad in terms of fuel consumption. 8.5 and it it has been raining. It has been uh very windy. It might go down a little bit if uh it's not so windy if we'll see when we do the full road trip to the UK. That's going to be a lot of kilometers that will let me know exactly what the fuel usage is.

[00:19:15]But at least now I know and I can do the math on how much fuel is going to cost and where should I stop for fuel, how often should I stop for fuel. Uh I think uh this thing has like a 43 L tank. So it's actually quite small. It's meant to be very economical. Normally I can do about 600 km to a tank easily. Uh but in this situation where I think we're going to have a fuel stop every four or 500 kilometers if the kids don't need uh a break because at this speed that means about four or 5 hours of uh constant driving. So I think it's going to be bio brakes are going to be a little bit more often than that. But otherwise all is going well. The car is handling the weight nicely. It's nice to drive. You don't you don't the trailer doesn't pull on the car again because it's so light.

[00:20:04]So yeah, onwards. All right, about a couple of hours later, about 4 hours later, this is what we got. A full car and this trailer.

[00:20:20]Everything seems to be nice and tight.

[00:20:23]Uh I do have I'm not happy with the tongue weight is a bit low, but then the car is fully loaded. Checking the lights. We have lights.

[00:20:32]All right, I am going to hit the road. I have to stop uh make a quick pit stop.

[00:20:38]Everything seems to be in order. Let's see how this drives.

[00:20:42]This is going to be interesting.

[00:20:46]Uh okay, I'm going to I'm going to make one quick stop for some food cuz there's something special in Constansa that Christina really wants. Uh and then I'm going to hit the road. I have about 100 100 something kilometers to go uh with this load on.

[00:21:06]I did put everything. I put the coupling. It's all locked. I have lights.

[00:21:13]Yeah, that's about it. See if I can finesse my way around here. It is quite tight.

[00:21:20]It's a good thing this trailer is quite small, so it kind of follows the the car very nicely. You don't have to take such a wide birth like vans or trucks or stuff like that.

[00:21:32]And we go. Oh, it's heavy.

[00:21:35]All right. Now you can feel some weight to it.

[00:21:41]Yep. It's heavy.

[00:21:47]I'm curious to see on the highway how this is going to be. Come on. Nice and easy.

[00:21:53]Don't want to stress out the drivetrain.

[00:21:56]I don't think we're over the 450 kg weight limit in terms of towing, but then again, the car isn't empty. So, uh, the car has some weight to it as well.

[00:22:07]So, I'm going to get on the highway and see how this thing drives with, uh, so much weight on the back. It's probably more weight than it's going to see in a very, very long time. Uh, if I'm not happy with the tongue weight, I don't know what I'm going to do, what I'm going to move. But yeah, we'll see how it goes. I only have like 130 km. I'll put the GPS on and see how much total distance I have. But uh we'll see once we get on the road. Yeah, once you hit a bump, it really tugs on the back end of the car. I'll just try to make my way out of the city and then uh see what it's like at speed on the highway. All right, set. We've been going for about what is it? 70 70 km. Let's check exactly.

[00:22:51]Yeah, 69 km. 70 km we've been going. Uh it ain't that bad holding such uh such a decent weight. I do have the tarp. Let me show you. I don't know if you can see in the mirror. It is flapping a little bit on that side. I did stop to check the straps. The straps are nice and secure. On this side, it's all aok.

[00:23:10]Okay. Uh it's just a corner of the tarp that I can't uh tie down with anything.

[00:23:17]So, uh, yeah, it ain't no biggie. Uh, one interesting thing, fuel consumption has gone down by almost a liter per 100 km, the average. And considering, uh, I've only done 70 km and on the way here, I I did 200. Looking at the instant fuel consumption, the car is drinking about 5 L, five and a bit per 100 km. Granted, I keep uh, let's take it up to 110. I am curious to see if I take it up to 110, what's the instant fuel consumption?

[00:23:48]I think with all the stuff in the trailer and the tarp on it and everything, it's actually making it a little bit more aerodynamic.

[00:23:57]Here we go. We're at 110.

[00:24:02]Yep. Fuel consumption is lower. It's about 6 L per 100 km.

[00:24:08]Well, this is why you do a test run because I know now what I need for this trailer before I set off in May uh for England. I need a tarp to go over the trailer for when it's empty when I don't have a scooter on the back.

[00:24:23]That's interesting. So, I need a tarp that goes over it. It has mounting points for a tarp, but I need a tarp to go over the top of it so I can uh like maintain 110 km an hour and still get some decent fuel consumption. If I with if with a tarp on the trailer, I can lower the fuel consumption by about 2 L per 100 km. Considering how much distance we have to cover uh and the price of fuel at the moment, it is going to add up significantly. But otherwise, the rig is handling the highway a highway run just fine. Uh yeah, when I when I put the trailer back on, I did feel like the tongue was very light and it it was very easy to tip the trailer on its ass. But uh considering I have the car full, as you can see, I'm not worried about not having enough tongue weight to maintain the whole uh the whole unit stable. The problem is with not having enough tongue weight is on bumps if the trailer wants to go up like this, it will bring up the rear of the car and you might start skidding because the rear would lose traction. But as it sits, I think like 99% of the entire weight is on the main trailer axle and only about 20 or 30 kg is on the tongue of the trailer.

[00:25:41]And uh which means I'm not overloading the rear suspension because the car is full. So, I have enough weight on the back on the rear suspension to maintain stability. And uh yeah, in this kind of uh scenario, I'm not too worried not having enough tongue weight. And when I'll have a scooter that's going to be as far forward as possibly can go, so there's going to be enough tongue weight on that one. Plus, we're going to be four people in the car, luggage in the trunk. Again, there's going to be enough weight in the car to maintain stability.

[00:26:12]But yeah, the little Toyota is doing just fine. The little Corolla sipping fuel 20 turning 2,000 RPM. Let me show you.

[00:26:22]As you can see, we're turning 2,000 RPM.

[00:26:24]We're running 100 km an hour.

[00:26:27]Fuel consumption, the averages going down.

[00:26:31]I'm happy.

[00:26:33]This is a nice little rig. The trailer seems to be handling everything just fine.

[00:26:40]Everything's working. Yeah.

[00:26:44]I'll see after I unload and I start heading for Bucharest because uh part of this stuff is going to go to Bucharest.

[00:26:50]I'm going to partially unload at my parents' place and then uh I'm going to partially unload at my parents house and then I'm going to hit the road for Bucharest and I am going to unload the rest of the stuff uh at their apartment in Bucharest. And uh I forgot to take the keys for that apartment.

[00:27:06]I'll have to stop by at home and get the keys. But uh it is what it is. Rain has stopped for now, but I think it's going to start again. It's not getting sunny or anything, but but yeah, everything is running just fine. Last update for the trip.

[00:27:22]I have fueled up the car. I have unloaded at my parents' place. I still have a few things left in the trailer. I have like a coffee table and the nightstand and all of this uh in the car.

[00:27:34]And now I'm heading back to the highway that leads to Bucharest. I'm about to go get on the highway. I have about 98 km left to go. We'll be in Bucharest at 7 and I still got to unload all of this [ __ ] and put the trailer back and everything. But at the fuel station after about 360 km, fuel consumption was 7.22, which was almost it was actually bang on perfect to what the computer was indicated. I had 7.2 indicated on the dash. So, the fuel consumption of 8.5 in the morning, it just goes to show I need to do something to not run with that trailer completely empty because that rear tailgate of the trailer acts as an air bra if the trailer is completely empty and it really messes up the aerodynamics. Uh, even now with the coffee table and the nightstand in the trailer, I'm getting 6.6. Granted, I'm just getting on the highway. I've been driving at about 90 km an hour. So, now I'm getting on the highway and I'm going to see at about 110.

[00:28:39]The speed that I wish for it to be my cruising speed.

[00:28:44]Let's get it on 110. We'll wait for it to get up to speed.

[00:28:50]Uh, but I think it's going to be lower than 8.5. The car just feels better with something in the trailer. You can with it empty driving too. I don't know if it was the wind or the rain or what the hell was it, but you could feel that you had like an air brake on the back of the car. Something was pulling on the car.

[00:29:08]It was It wasn't accelerating as it should. Look, I'm up at 110 km an hour.

[00:29:13]Fuel instant fuel consumption is is as of hard for me to talk. I've been we I've been on the road for almost 12 hours. Uh instant fuel consumption is at about 6 L per 100 km. So, something in the trailer is the secret to get this thing fuel efficient.

[00:29:32]And I'm going to have to fix that before uh we start heading off uh for London because for England actually because I'm not I'm not driving to England with a nightstand and a coffee table in the back of the trailer. But other than that, the rig has been flawless. Trailer has been flawless. Car handles the weight beautifully. Nothing to complain.

[00:29:55]Stable and everything. fuel consumption.

[00:29:57]Apparently, now it's good. In the morning, it was awful, but now it's actually quite good. And uh yeah, I'll wrap up the day and uh start making plans as to how I can modify this trailer to make it my own. All right, it's been a couple of days.

[00:30:15]We're at this stage. The hardware store is right over there between the trees.

[00:30:20]Uh, I am about to start cutting this piece of plywood and uh trying to make two boxes out of it that will go here on the sides and the scooters go in the middle. I do have my ramp. I do have my uh mount for a scooter or a bike. And uh yeah, we'll see how this goes. I do have a jigsaw to cut this plywood with. I do have all of my plans put together of all of the parts I need. Everything is measured.

[00:30:52]So, uh, I'm going to start cutting and start cutting this thing up quickly so I don't annoy any of the neighbors before somebody calls the police on me. But I have nowhere else to go. Uh, where it doesn't matter if I make a mess. I mean, this place is full of garbage anyway. So yeah, I'm not going to add to the garbage. Everything that every wa every bit of waste that I uh have, I'll take with me and throw it to the dumpster.

[00:31:17]But uh yeah, other people are not so considerate. Anyway, I'm going to start working on it.

[00:31:36]Heat. Heat.

[00:31:56]Heat.

[00:32:11]Heat.

[00:32:35]So about 3 hours later, I have four big p pieces, six small pieces. So that's about 10 total pieces. That is scrap wood over there. And uh they're all cut down to size. They are within half a centimeter of each other. So that's good. They should go together decently nicely. They're not going to be perfect.

[00:32:57]Okay. And I ain't no woodworker. I don't have no professional woodworking tools, but I think I can get away with this thing to make it nice. That's what I wanted. Nice and usable. And uh yeah, I think I can get away with it. But, uh, now I think I'm going to, now that I'm done cutting, I'm going to wrap everything up and move it to the parking garage because all I have to do is just drill holes, assemble everything, bolt everything together, and we should be done. I don't think I'm going to do it today. Today is a Sunday, and it's already 3:00. So, uh, for you, it's going to be the next scene. But for me, I don't know if it's going to be today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. I have no idea. I still have three weeks until I hit the road. So, uh yeah, I'm going to go spend some time with the family a little bit and uh work on it every now and then. All right, so it's a couple of days after and uh I've cut all the wood. Now I have to put everything together and I'm in a bit of a of a time crunch because today is Sunday and next Saturday at 1:00 a.m. we leave. So, I have to get this thing done today so we can start prepping for the trip. Uh, first order of business, I got to secure the trailer. So, I got myself two of these wheel chalks. They might also be necessary in the campsite to secure your trailer.

[00:34:20]So, I decided it's good for a trailer to have something like this. So, we put two on each wheel. They work perfectly for the 13-in tires this uh this thing has.

[00:34:34]There we go. Nice and small and compact.

[00:34:38]Beautiful.

[00:34:40]Let's see.

[00:34:48]Perfect. Now, let's take the tarp off.

[00:34:53]Also, this tarp, as you can see, around these edges, doesn't fit really, really well. So, yeah, I got this this thing for like €15 uh from AliExpress. It's made for a 214 cm long trailer. Mine is a 220. I thought I might make it work.

[00:35:11]It's not happening. So, I ordered from a local company a tarp specifically made for this trailer. They make custom tarps. So, I gave them the dimensions and they're supposed to deliver me hopefully this week before I leave the correct tarp the correct size. It is going to cost about €60. So, four times is more. Sometimes cheap and cheerful doesn't pay out. But yeah, it is what it is. Uh, get the [ __ ] out of the trailer, I guess.

[00:35:44]Okay, so that's the scrap wood. Haven't thrown this away yet because who knows, I might need it. And after I'm done, I might take the trailer and vacuum it. Or I might bring my uh battery powered vacuum here to vacuum it because there's a lot of wood grain here and I do not have a broom with me nor am I going back home for a broom. So, it is what it is.

[00:36:10]First of all, this thing this will sit right here. All right. So, we'll start on that side. What I'm looking for is a couple of sides that are identical in height. So, let's see what we can find because I cut it I cut it by hand. So, they're not all going to be perfect.

[00:36:31]Now, one thing I have to I think the first thing that I'm going to mount is that thing, the motorcycle chalk. And for that, I need Let's get all the hardware. I'll put all the hardware in here.

[00:36:47]Yeah.

[00:36:48]I thought it would happen. I need washers for the top of the screws and I don't have washers.

[00:36:57]Oh well, I'm going to have to get them from work tomorrow. But for now, I just want to get the holes aligned and done just by hand.

[00:37:13]All right. So, that's in place. That's good. All I might need to do is get some washers and put two more here, but for now it's sturdy. It just has to locate the scooter in the middle of the trailer. That's all it does. So, you put the front wheel in and it just locates it here and that's it. All right. So, I have to connect those sides to make them long enough. And I have these and I have these.

[00:37:38]Let's see how this is going to happen.

[00:37:45]Now, if you're into your woodworking and you want to tell me there are much better ways to do this, trust me, I am not a woodworking professional. This is version one. We need it done quickly for this trip. This is something I can cobble up together very quickly. I have all the mounting hardware and probably for for there will be a version two where I actually go to a company to to properly cut my wood like millimeter perfect. But for now, this piece of plywood was like €10, and I'm making all of this out of this piece of plywood.

[00:38:18]All the hardware can remain. So, if I decide to switch the plywood for something thicker, more heavy duty, and better cut on a proper machine, uh then it's easy for me to just take it apart, bring some new pieces in, mount them, and that's it. Plus, I'll have the measurements once it's once uh the prototype is like made, I can properly measure it. So, yeah, I know there are better ways to do it. people that are into woodworking.

[00:38:41]I know there are many ways many better many better ways to do this with better tools, but this is what I have and like I always do on a budget. Make the most of what you got. These are like one of those self-locking uh wood wood screws.

[00:38:57]So, I think I may have to hammer it home a little bit so it's it spins and I have nothing to hold it.

[00:39:12]Now it should be locked in the wood and I can actually tighten it. No.

[00:39:17]Okay, that's not good. Okay, I'll try the next one to knock it in first.

[00:39:24]Yep.

[00:39:26]See, I am going to make mistakes.

[00:39:29]Knock it in first. And that's how you get it to lock in. Lesson learned. This is going to be a little bit loose, but it is what it is. That's why I have two so they're redundant. Good thing I brought a hammer. Always have a hammer.

[00:39:49]I need the mounting brackets.

[00:39:52]I have these black ones. How many did I buy? I think I bought enough. Now, the thing is with these, the screws that I have don't actually fit through them.

[00:40:01]So, I'm going to have to enlarge the holes a little bit, but uh yeah, it is what it is.

[00:40:08]Do they fit now?

[00:40:11]Like a glove.

[00:40:13]So, the secret was to turn the drill up for some speed and power. That's how you get them to not spin out of your hand.

[00:40:23]All right, I guess speed and power it is.

[00:40:28]Of course, the last one nearly kills me.

[00:40:38]Apparently, as you use it quickly, one hole to the other, the drill bit heats up and it actually starts melting the metal a little bit and it goes in very smoothly, almost like butter.

[00:40:49]All right, so we got all of these ready for this side.

[00:40:56]Okay, that is one side done or actually half done. I have to do this this one as well. I I I want to everything is doubled up for safety.

[00:41:09]Safety of course.

[00:41:15]That worked better than I expected.

[00:41:22]My ethos in life is first something has to do its job and then look good. If you can afford the looking good part, go for it. If you can't or don't have time for the looking good part, at least get the job done.

[00:41:40]All right, so that's one side almost done. Let's flip it around. There we go.

[00:41:46]Now they're going to go right here.

[00:41:56]Is it absolutely perfect? Absolutely not.

[00:42:00]Will it do?

[00:42:03]Uh, I think so.

[00:42:06]Let's measure it up.

[00:42:08]Try to get it centered.

[00:42:11]All right. So, this is all squared up.

[00:42:15]And now, wait. What I should do is first of all, let's check the lid is big enough.

[00:42:23]That That's a worry for me. The lid not being big enough.

[00:42:29]Let's get a lid.

[00:42:33]This is supposed to be big enough.

[00:42:38]again. It has to it'll Oh, it is actually quite small.

[00:42:47]Let's try the other lid. See if maybe that one's straighter.

[00:42:55]This one might actually fit better here.

[00:42:57]And for the other one, I can mount the sides the other way around so I can pull the box a little bit in. Yeah, this is what we're going to do.

[00:43:05]We're going to use this one here because it catches on the side a little bit here. And I can clamp him down. And we're going to use this for the other side. And I'm going to do it the other way around.

[00:43:20]Now we can get all the remain remaining screws in and tighten this side down.

[00:43:26]And then do the same for this side. Then I have the middle. And then I have the lid and the clamps. And yeah, I was going to say almost done, but it ain't done.

[00:43:45]456 456 Clean the holes.

[00:44:06]And one and two.

[00:44:27]Where the [ __ ] is and You I don't know.

[00:45:54]Okay.

[00:46:03]Come on.

[00:46:42]Now Okay.

[00:47:37]All right. This is tight.

[00:47:41]I'm going to have to do the other side as well.

[00:48:19]Okay, now tighten the first bolts in.

[00:48:25]Is it spinning around?

[00:48:30]Nope.

[00:48:31]All right.

[00:48:33]So, this side has also two clamps in with uh one screw each. So, I have to drill the remaining six holes, get those done quickly, and tighten them down. And the box itself is secured. After that, I have to do the lid.

[00:48:55]Box is nice and secure. Now, I have to put four here. And the middle ones I'm going to push it in. Tighten it up just a little bit. Just to give it a bit of tension to tension makes it a little bit stronger.

[00:49:11]And I think one I'm going to put right here in the middle so I can catch both of these plates like this. Yep. That's what I'm going to do. Let's see. I want to do I want to measure something. I have 31 here. What do I have here? Oh, 31.

[00:49:31]Okay. So, it is pretty square. 30 and a half.

[00:49:36]30 and a half. So, I have to get it to 30 and a half.

[00:49:43]Be about here.

[00:49:47]Okay. 30 and 1/2 it is. Now, this is going to be interesting trying to tighten these m middle ones because the wheels are right here.

[00:49:59]So now the thing has some stability. I have to tighten that one. This one as well. Let's see if I can get underneath.

[00:50:07]This is going to be interesting. Let's see if I can get underneath it and find it. There it is.

[00:50:19]All right. So now it has some stability.

[00:50:24]And now I can do a final check of how the lid is going to fit.

[00:50:36]Okay.

[00:50:41]>> All right. So, the girls dropped by for a visit. I finished all the bottom parts secured and everything. I've mounted with pop riets the the lid, the hinges.

[00:50:54]I just have a couple of three more pop riets to go in for safety. But check this thing out.

[00:51:04]Isn't this nice?

[00:51:06]Clean the holes up.

[00:51:08]And actually, you know what I think I can do for the first time? Yep.

[00:51:14]I can do the pop riets.

[00:51:18]the lazy way.

[00:51:21]That's it. Everything is tight and secure. Now I just need to do the latches. This was my first time using pop riets. They do require some effort.

[00:51:33]I'll put it that way. But they're actually not that difficult to use.

[00:51:42]Manual labor, guys. If you don't want to do it, pay somebody else to do it. If you can't afford to pay somebody else to do it, do it yourself.

[00:51:57]Please tell me that's absolutely perfect because if that is this side is completely done. So close it.

[00:52:09]Close one.

[00:52:12]Close second one.

[00:52:15]Close the third one.

[00:52:18]and Oh, for [ __ ] sake.

[00:52:38]So, here we go. Take two. Close this.

[00:52:41]Latch it. Latch it. And latch it. And you can open these, but this one's locked. That's it. One of the boxes is done.

[00:52:52]Now I have to do everything, absolutely everything again on this other side.

[00:52:59]And uh yeah, through the magic of YouTube, it's done.

[00:53:09]Both of them are completed.

[00:53:13]Are they perfect? Hell no. If a carpenter sees them, will he go like this?

[00:53:20]Pretty sure.

[00:53:22]But they're not even good enough. They will do. They're at the point of They will do. And let me just show you. I'll take the camera off its tripod.

[00:53:35]Come on. Ah, there we go.

[00:53:42]This is where the camera was. These are all the tools. And uh yeah, so here they are. The scooter goes in the middle. I do have a ramp over there. They are all latched up. You can see they're not perfectly straight cut. You can see they're not perfect.

[00:54:03]But you know what? First of all, I've got a bottle opener here. So I can open my beer bottles when I wish.

[00:54:12]This was a gift received a couple of years ago from a dear friend and uh I never found the perfect place to use it and I think this is it.

[00:54:23]And yes, it is mounted with a nut and a rivet because I ran out of nuts.

[00:54:33]First, let's open this.

[00:54:42]There you go.

[00:54:44]One storage bin. They're 30 cm wide, 39 tall, and 160 long.

[00:54:53]So, 1.6 m in length. And here's the second one.

[00:55:03]And because I have furniture hinges, they just I don't need gas struts or anything to hold them up. They just lift up nicely.

[00:55:12]I'm happy with this.

[00:55:15]Two storage bins for all the camping gear and uh everything I need for the family. a scooter in the middle, camping gear, and uh we can go camping and take a scooter with and take the whole family. Th this is a vacation trailer. Okay, this was my idea for a couple of years now. Uh to have a trailer like this where I can take the whole family with me, go on a holiday, like a two week holiday, camping holiday, and also bring a scooter along with me. And uh yeah, I could buy a van, but all this in €1,000. And the trailer is brand spanking new. So it it's not a secondhand trailer, nothing. Plus all everything I did to it, all the modifications, uh everything comes out to about €1,000. So uh buying a van for €1,000 for the whole family to go on holiday, that ain't happening. Uh, and why give up the comfort of our decent decent enough car? Just add a bloody trailer to it that's perfectly made for me and my needs.

[00:56:28]So, yeah, as I like to say, don't let perfect get in the way of good.

[00:56:35]Don't even let good get in the way of it'll do.

[00:56:41]And this thing, it'll do perfectly.

[00:56:45]So, hope you guys enjoyed this uh video over the past month and a bit of how I I went from just having a regular sedan to having basically a tow rig, a camping rig. And uh I'll catch you I'll catch you guys in the next videos where we're heading off to England to pick up Donnie and we're also going to spend about a week and a half there on holiday exploring the Cotswwells. So, I'll see you there. Until next time, take care out there everyone and ride safe. Bye.