While much of this probably won't apply to you Mike I'll mention it anyway in case someone else finds it of interest......
Some years ago when I was doing a lot more travelling / 4wd stuff that I do these days I found I had need of a trailer and went shopping. I made sure that it was built so that the hubs (therefore wheels & tyres) were exactly the same as what I had on the car so I could use my existing 2 spares for both, and also that the axle length on the trailer was such so that the trailer wheels followed along exactly in the same tracks as the car wheels.
I supplied the wheels ($80 for 2 x 16 inch wheels from a wrecker, again matched the wheels on the fourbie) and tyres (I bought new tyres, but inexpensive new ones). On this standard 7' x 4' (or 7' x 5' ?? long time ago) body that meant they had to shorten the axle slightly, but it already had the right hubs on it to match the car as this was the first thing I had looked at.
That trailer ran nicely "level" on the back of my car and tracked well through dirt, mud, sand, etc. While the tyres and wheels may have been overkill for some people, I bought this trailer while part way through a 11 week trip (purchased in Alice Springs) so it's very first real road test was 3500 km's trip bringing it home here again - further in 7 days than many people would do in a lifetime of taking their load to the dump, etc.
(Sadly I don't have the trailer any more - I lent it to a "mate" once, he had it at his place for a few months, I wasn't worried as we'd both been working together, but we both left the company on the same day and went different directions, before I knew it he had moved and I haven't seen him, or my trailer, in a few years now.)
It did have the drop down front and rear tailgates, and I modded it to carry a spare on the A frame. My only regrets with the design aspects of that one was I got the standard 300mm sides, next time if I were getting a new one made I'd get 500mm sides, and though I didn't have time for this in Alice I'd get a galvanised body. I've seen too many people leave rubbish sitting in a trailer for a while until they have enough for a trip to the dump, in the meantime it gets wet, and before you now it the floor is rusted through. I've seen this happen to 3 friends now, their brand new trailers rusted through in around 3-5 years.
Having said all of that, I bought a cheapie privately from someones footpath last weekend - a little 5' x 4' for $160, need to redo some electrical wiring, and clean it up a bit to register it, but she'll be fine for now.
