FAQ

We manufacture our custom Trailers in California, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

We can build our trailers from 8ft to 56ft long depending on location. In California, the max length available for a bumper pull is 36ft long, for a gooseneck it is 40ft long which includes the 32ft lower deck + 8ft upper deck on gooseneck hitch, Max width available in California is 10ft wide. In Texas the max length for a bumper pull trailer is 45ft long, the max length for a gooseneck is 56ft long which includes a 48ft lower deck and a 8ft upper deck on the gooseneck hitch. Max width is 12ft. In Pensylvania, max length for a bumper pull is 45ft, for a Gooseneck maximum length is 48ft lower deck + 8ft upper deck for a total length of 56ft. The max available width in Pennsylvania is 12ft wide.

Let us introduce ourselves as the team behind Tiny House Basics and Trailers are us: Joshua and Shelley, two passionate individuals deeply involved in the tiny house community. We have extensive experience in designing and building top-quality Tiny House Trailers. Our trailers come factory direct ensuring the highest standards of craftsmanship.

As fellow tiny house enthusiasts, our main objective is to assist others in achieving their goal of going tiny. We aim to simplify the process and help you save money by offering true manufacturer direct pricing. Unlike dealers or sales lots, we don’t have the pressure to sell existing stock. Instead, we customize and build each trailer according to your specific requirements. Being tiny house dwellers ourselves, we understand the importance of a solid foundation and can provide valuable insights and practical options to make your build successful. All our trailers come with lifetime consulting to assist you during your build and years to come.

With us, you can rest assured that you’re getting the best value for your money. Our trailers are, on average, $800 cheaper than the competition. We are committed to the long haul, just like many of our customers who choose the tiny house lifestyle as a means of simplifying their lives. We embarked on the same journey when building our own tiny house, meticulously researching all trailer options. Surprisingly, most companies we encountered had never even spent a night in a tiny house. This lack of firsthand experience motivated us to carve our own path and design a trailer that doesnt have the mold issues that is common among other tiny house trailer designs.

To ensure the utmost quality, we partnered with reputable manufacturers who have decades of experience. We built the very first tiny house basics trailer for the foundation of our tiny house that we still live in. This has allowed us to gain invaluable insights over 9 years of living in it. We are passionate about passing along this knowledge to our fellow tiny house enthusiasts, striving to simplify the process of going tiny rather than complicating it.

With manufacturing partners located in California, Texas, and Pennsylvania, we can serve customers across all 50 states, Canada, and even coordinate optional delivery for you. Our custom Tiny House Trailers are tailored precisely to meet the needs of your build, eliminating any unnecessary features. We can adjust the trailer’s weight distribution and axle placement to accommodate specific design elements, such as stone fireplaces (yes, we have built custom trailers for customers with stone fireplaces!).

Rest assured that our custom tiny house trailers provide the structural integrity required for a tiny house without the additional weight found in standard utility trailers or car haulers. Our trailers are ready to build on right away, without the need for further modifications. We prioritize the strength and stability of our trailers, never compromising on framing members to cut costs or compromise the frame’s integrity.

All of our trailers are custom built just for you and your tiny house build. Since no two tiny houses are alike, the trailers built for them are also unique so we do not have in models prebuilt. All our Tiny house trailers are build to order, just for you and you ideal build, in the ideal width, with your ideal features and specifications. We will never try to just sell you a trailer that’s “on the lot” get your tiny house trailer tailored just for you. We do periodically have some trailers come available, We now have a feature on the quote page where you can see what is currently available for purchase.

Please visit our Trailer Order page for more information. To Place your order, please let us know the size, specs and options you would like on your trailer. Next, please let us know the name(s) you would like on your Trailer title, Address, Telephone number and email. We will build your tiny house trailer order and email it to you to verify all the specs and features are correct, once it is, we will give you directions for placing your deposit (either placing a deposit over the phone or a credit card authorization form)

Since your trailer is made custom just for you, we require a deposit when you place your order. We accept Checks and Wire Transfers at all locations. We also have some options that vary by location: Credit or Debit, Venmo, Zelle. Depending on the location, there may be a small fee on credit cards and debit card transactions. Deposit amount to place your tiny house trailer order are 50% down (60% in California) and the balance upon completion.

We do not offer any in house financing for our trailers. However many of our customers use www.financemytrailer.com with great success.

Since our trailers are custom build for you, you can customize it to your needs. We have lots of different options available including different deck widths, oversized models, drop axles, deck overs and Gooseneck or 5th wheel style trailers with 8ft or 10ft long deck on the matching length gooseneck/5th wheel hitch. If your needs extend beyond what is listed on our website, please contact us to let us know what you want. More than likely, we can make whatever you need.We have our list of most popular options listed on our order page at www.TinyHouseBasics.com/OrderTrailer

Yes, Many of our customers are from our neighbors up north, please see this article written by a customer on his experience of importing a tiny house trailer into Canada.

Wiring Harness

The wiring harness is a round 7-way plug that attaches to the tow vehicle. This plug powers the lights and brakes on the your tiny house trailer. Some vehicles are only equipped with a 4-pin plug. You will need to upgrade to a 7-way connector to properly tow and power the brakes of your trailer

Safety Chains

The safety chains act as a second line of defense against the trailer separating from the tow vehicle, in the event the coupler or hitch fails. These chains are rated for the max capacity that the trailer is rated for.

Break-a-way kit

This is a safety device powered by a battery that will actuate the brakes in the emergency event that the chains or coupler fails and the trailer disconnects from the tow vehicle. It will lock the brakes. Not recommend to be used as a “parking brake” for the trailer since the battery will deplete overnight if the pin is unplugged.

Tongue

The tongue is a steal A-frame that connects the coupler to the main frame of the trailer. Often referred to as a Bumper pull style trailer.

Gooseneck / 5th Wheel Hitch

This style hitch replaced the “triangle” bumper pull hitch and adds a 8ft Gooseneck or 5th Wheel style hitch to the trailer. When requesting a quote, choose the deck length for the bottom deck and we will add the 8ft gooseneck / 5th wheel hitch in addition to the lower deck length.

Fenders

These are intended to shield the water and road debris from splashing up the sides of the tiny house. These are not structural, They are not intended to carry the load of your house, you will need to build a header over the fenders if your design extends over them.

Axles

The axles Bear the load of the trailer and they connect the wheels together. Standard straight axles and drop axles are available. They are rated for different capacities from 3500lbs, 5,000lbs, 6,000lbs, 7,000lbs and special order 8,000lbs to dually 12,000lbs capacities (availability varies on 8,000lbs and above)

Tail Lights

The tail lights serve the same function as the tail lights on your vehicle, They signal to the vehicles behind you of stopping, turning intentions or general awareness when the headlights are on. After your house is complete, your vehicles tail lights will not be visible.

Main Frame

The main frame of the trailer is the main load bearing members that support the axles and load of the house. The size and thickness varies based on the length and gross weight capacity of the trailer. The standard width between the axles is 80” to 82” wide between the fenders depending on gross capacity of the trailer

Sub Frame

This is the secondary frame on a deckover trailer that is composed of the deck for which the house is built. The deckover style trailer provides a flat surface over the wheels for which to build on. The standard height of a deckover is approximately 33” above grade. This height of trailer is ideal for single level tiny houses with no lofts.

Tires and Rims

16” rims are provided on all trailers 12k Gross vehicle weight rating and above. 15” rims are provided on 10k Gross vehicle weight rating and below. Style of tire varies from our different manufacturing locations based on gross vehicle weight rating and trailer size, details will be provided on every trailer order, please contact us for more info on your trailer.

Cross Members

The cross members provide rigid support to the trailer frame, for information on the popular option of flush cross-members, please navigate to this page.

Tongue Jack

The tongue jack is used to lift the trailer on and off of the tow vehicle when moving. It can also be really helpful when leveling the house. Drop leg jacks are also available to speed up the connecting and disconnecting process.

Coupler

The coupler is a standard 2-5/16” ball coupler.

Drop axles are speciality axles that allow the deck (or top surface) of a trailer to be approximately 4 inches lower. The overall height of the wheel and fender will be the same off the ground but the deck of the trailer will drop down to give you a extra 4” of headroom in the loft of your tiny house (where is matters most). Drop axles are the same strength and weight carrying capacity as the straight axles they are upgraded from. For more info on drop axles please visit www.TinyHouseBasics.com/DropAxles.

Axle capacity of Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of the trailer should exceed the anticipated weight of your finished tiny house. As a general rule of thumb, a Finished tiny house weighs on average 500 to 550 lbs per linear foot of trailer length. So a finished 24ft Tiny House will average about 12,000lbs to 13,200lbs including the weight of the trailer. So the ideal trailer you buy should have a capacity that exceeds that estimation. Keep in mind, the finished weight of a tiny house varies greatly by design so you finished tiny house may be lighter or heavier than that estimate so plan accordingly. It is always better to buy more trailer than you need rather than less. Our Axles capacities come in 3500lbs, 5200lbs, 6000lbs and 7000lbs. The axles will always come in pairs, for a 7k Gross Vehicle Weight Rating tiny house trailer it will consist of (2) 3500lbs axles. a 10k Gross Vehicle Weight Rating tiny house trailer will consist of (2) 5200lbs axles. A 12k Gross Vehicle Weight Rating tiny house trailer will consist of (2) 6000lbs axles. a 14k Gross Vehicle Weight Rating tiny house trailer will consist of (2) 7000lbs axles. A 15k Gross Vehicle Weight Rating Triple Axle tiny house trailer will consist of (3) 5200lbs axles. A 18k Gross Vehicle Weight Rating Triple Axle tiny house trailer will consist of (3) 6000lbs axles. a 21k Gross Vehicle Weight Rating Triple Axle tiny house trailer will consist of (3) 7000lbs axles.

When choosing the length of your trailer there are a few things you should take into consideration.

In most places, if you wish to travel with no need for a  permit, your tiny house can be no larger than 8.5 feet wide and 13.5 feet tall. With those size constraints in mind, the only variable for size in the length of the trailer you will be building on. This is where you will need to consider what length of trailer will fit your needs the best and if you plan on traveling often or do you plan on staying put. For us, our 28ft Tiny House was never meant to be traveled with. We travel BECAUSE of our tiny house. So it stays put for longer periods of time while we go travel. You may be inclined to pick the largest size so you don’t have to worry about not having enough space but, you will also need to consider movability. As your tiny house size increases, so too does the challenge of moving it. The larger the tiny house, the larger the tow vehicle required to move it. Also finding a larger area for which it may be a challenge. The most popular size tiny house trailer we build is the 32ft triple axle, from there the next size is the 40ft. Now everyone’s needs are different so you will need to think about what you really need in the space and what size tiny house trailer will check all those boxes for your needs. For our customers who choose to travel often with their tiny houses, they usually choose gooseneck/5th wheel style tiny house trailers or length of around 24ft to 26ft in length for a bumper pull style trailer.

For many of our trailers, you have a choice when it comes to the axles. These choices can include ‘drop axles’ and straight beam axles.

The maximum width of a trailer than can be on the road without permits is 8ft 6in wide (102”) not including the tires. Any size over the 102” width will require a permit from each state the tiny house is traveling through. These permits can range in price from $14 to $35 per day and some states even offer “Annual Passes” for transporting a larger than 102” wide trailer. When a trailer exceeds 12ft in width there is some added restrictions depending on the state and it is best to check your local state’s Department of Transportation for details. We build our deck widths on our tiny house trailers in widths from 90” to 102” wide. You can choose any width in that range. Many people who do not plan to move their tiny house often choose the max standard width of 102” wide for their deck, with siding and trim this will make the finished width over the 102” allowable for travel on public roads without a permit. If you plan to travel often or want to make sure your finished tiny house is under the allowable width, we recommend choosing a deck width of 99” or below, this will give you ample room for sheathing, siding and trim to remain under the 102” width required for travel on public roads. In addition to our Extra Wide Tiny House Trailers, we do offer oversized 10ft, 11ft and 12ft wide models. These trailers are only available from our Texas and Pennsylvania locations. The lead time on these trailers is a few weeks longer than our standard trailers due to the custom 120” special axles used for these tiny house trailers. To obtain a permit to move a 10ft wide trailer, you can purchase them through most states Department of Transportations website.

Yes we offer great delivery options to all 50 states and Canada. We can get you a shipping quote based on your city and state. You pay all shipping fees direct to the shipper.

If you live in Hawaii we can deliver to the shipping port of your choice for $250-$450. All reservations and cargo ship details would be handled by the customer. You can place your reservation with Matson by calling: 888-362-8766

Yes you can pick up your trailer at our factories in Pennsylvania, California and Texas when the trailer is finished.

All of our builds are custom.  We do not offer SketchUp or CAD drawings for our 390 different models. However, We can offer a trailer dimension layout for the most commonly requested dimensions based on the size trailer you are requesting.