SKIFRedgold

Towable capsule · design study

A room you can stand up in, towed by a midsize pickup.

SKIF puts a tall, smooth-skinned living shell with rounded ends on a low aluminum deck. Inside there is over 9 ft of clear height at the center, and the whole loaded trailer is budgeted to the 6,000 lb towing limit of a Tacoma TRD Pro.

See how it compares Walk through the inside
Side view, to scale: a 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro towing the capsule. The 11 ft 6 in tall body with rounded ends sits on a low aluminum deck with tandem wheels under fenders; the whole trailer is 20 ft long and 13 ft 6 in tall to the top of the roof solar. The body is drawn in the polished metal-hull upgrade.TRD PRO13 ft 6 in tall20 ft overall2025 Tacoma TRD Pro, to scale11 ft 6 in living shell, rounded at both ends
Drawn to scale: a 2025 Tacoma TRD Pro and the trailer, 20 ft overall and 13 ft 6 in tall, with a 6 ft person beside it. The body is shown in the polished metal-hull upgrade; the base build has the same shape in finished canvas over curved lath.

Today's small-truck trailers vs SKIF

A midsize pickup tows a modest trailer, and its payload caps how much may rest on the hitch. That leaves a teardrop you cannot stand in, or a box trailer whose weight and upkeep add up. All three are drawn at one scale, each with a 6 ft person.

Today

Rear cross-sections, to scale with a 6 ft person: a teardrop where you can only sit up on the mattress, and a box travel trailer with tanks below the floor, services in the walls and caulked roof edges.TeardropBox travel trailer1234
  1. Teardrop: light, but you can only lie down or sit up.
  2. Box trailer: a steel frame, floor platform and framed walls get heavy.
  3. Flat roof edges and corner trim rely on caulk that needs resealing.
  4. Tanks, pipes and wiring hide under the floor and inside walls.

SKIF

Rear cross-section of SKIF at the same scale: a 6 ft person stands with clear headroom inside the 11 ft 6 in twelve-sided frame, whose curved lath and covering make the outside smooth, above a service floor holding the battery and tanks; the shell sits low on an aluminum deck with its 48 in floor flat between the fenders and its steep lower sides clearing them.SKIF1234
  1. Stand up: over 9 ft of clear height at the center.
  2. The whole loaded trailer is budgeted to 6,000 lb, on a light aluminum deck.
  3. A smooth, rounded covering over a 27 in roof strip, with no roof-edge trim to caulk.
  4. Battery, tanks and air handling in one service floor under lift-out panels.
Common questions, how today's options answer them, and how SKIF is designed to answer them
The questionTodaySKIF
Can I stand up inside?Not in a teardrop. In a box trailer, at a weight cost.Yes: about 9 ft 7 in from the floor to the center of the ceiling, in an 11 ft 6 in tall body.
Can my truck pull it?Box trailers tall enough to stand in get heavy quickly.The complete loaded trailer, deck included, is budgeted to the 6,000 lb rating of a 2025 Tacoma TRD Pro. Tanks travel empty. The taller section still has to be weighed against that budget.
Will it clear bridges?A deck that rides above its wheels lifts everything on it.A 19 in deck, fenders tucked under the steep lower sides: 13 ft 6 in to the top of the roof solar, the design's planning height.
Where does rain go?Onto a flat roof edged with caulked seams.Off a smooth, rounded covering: curved lath over the frame, under finished canvas; a metal hull is the upgrade.
Can I reach plumbing and power?Behind panels, under benches and under the floor.In one service floor, opened by lifting floor panels.
What if I change trucks?The body is built onto its chassis.The body stands on its own four legs and can move to a heavier carrier.

From the outside

One smooth, rounded skin with no flat end walls: blunt caps ringed by twelve gore windows, and side windows along both walls. Drag to turn it. Shown in the polished nickel metal-hull upgrade; the base build has the same shape in finished canvas over curved lath.

The 3D exterior loads as you reach it.

9ft 7in

Clear height from the floor to the center of the ceiling. Walk, cook and change clothes standing up.

6,000lb

Ceiling for the whole loaded trailer, deck included: the number that matters at a Tacoma's hitch.

20ft

Overall, coupler to tail, with a 17 ft body on a nominal 14 ft deck.

Five simple layers

Each layer can be built, inspected and replaced on its own.

Cutaway of the capsule on its carrier. Numbered parts: 1 low aluminum deck with tandem wheels; 2 four support stations; 3 service floor with battery and tanks; 4 twelve-sided timber ribs with crescent spacers and curved lath; 5 the smooth outer covering, drawn as the polished metal-hull upgrade.1Low aluminum deck2Four legs to the deck3Service floor4Ribs, crescents and lath5Smooth covering
The outer skin is drawn as the polished metal-hull upgrade; the base build covers the same lath in finished canvas.
  1. 1
    Low aluminum deck

    A fendered utility deck about 19 in high on two braked 3,500 lb axles. The 14 ft catalog baseline weighs about 1,125 lb.

  2. 2
    Four legs to the deck

    For travel the body rides on its four electric legs, extended to the deck and locked over the trailer frame, with tie-downs for braking and cornering.

  3. 3
    Service floor

    Battery and water low and central for balance, with air conditioning and ventilation, under removable panels.

  4. 4
    Ribs, crescents and lath

    Seven twelve-sided 2×4 ribs. Crescent spacers on their angled faces carry lengthwise wood lath out to a smooth curve.

  5. 5
    Smooth covering

    Base: oil-and-rosin-finished canvas over the lath. Upgrade: a nickel-iron metal hull on the same fair surface.

The section, the smooth skin and the rounded ends, dimensioned

The layout

Bath across the south end. The couchbed starts flush against the bath wall and pulls out into a 54 in full-size bed; opposite, a sink-dishwasher runs along the east wall under a cooktop/oven that folds flat above it, then a desk folds down with its chair. The north end stays open as a front room inside a ring of twelve gore windows, with portholes along both sides.

Top-down plan of the interior, about 190 by 93 inches. South (bath) end: raised washer/dryer in the south-west corner with its door facing east, raised so its door is about counter height, with a 19 by 21½ inch privacy window above it spanning the bath strip; behind the toilet a 19 by 47 inch privacy window runs from 31 inches up, the bottom of the straight wall, to the same top; shower of about 41 by 30 inches; a tankless VacuFlush toilet in the south-east corner with its back tight to the east wall, facing west into the wet area. A bath door about 47 inches wide fills the partition between the couch and the sink: two halves that fold up and slide apart, meeting at the bed edge so the east half alone opens in bed mode. The Fotile sink-dishwasher runs 35 inches up the east wall from the partition, facing west, with the folding cooktop/oven folded flat against the partition above its south end, 6 inches deep folded and folding down 17 inches over the sink. The couchbed runs 82 inches up the west wall from the partition, 77 inches between thin arms, 27 inches deep as a couch and 54 wide as a bed, leaving 19½ inches to the sink, with a drop-down workbench above. On the east wall a desk folds down 30 inches, with an executive office chair south of it, facing north, just north of the sink; folded, it leaves 35 inches beside the bed. Then about 78 inches of front room in the north cap, whose 12 gore windows ring an opaque centre disc carrying the TV, the 32 inch main door on the east wall just short of the curved cap, with fold-down steps, and the chair's parking spot in the north-west corner. A tall rounded-rectangle window sits in each rib bay of the side walls; the south cap's gore windows have privacy glass.VacuFlushfaces westShowerabout 41 × 30 inWasher/dryer47 in bath door,folds open both waysSink-dishwasher along the east wall,folding cooktop/oven above itCouch77 in between thin armsDrop-down workbench aboveBed, pulled out54 in wide, fits 6 ft 3 inFront room78 in clearto the windowsFold-down desk30 in out, 4 in foldedOffice chairChair parks19½ in36 in to the open desk35 in besidethe bedMain door, 32 infold-down stepsBath30 inCouchbed · 82 inFront room · 78 inabout 190 in usable length at waist height93 inGore windows · north endBath end · southTop-down plan of the interior, about 190 by 93 inches. South (bath) end: raised washer/dryer in the south-west corner with its door facing east, raised so its door is about counter height, with a 19 by 21½ inch privacy window above it spanning the bath strip; behind the toilet a 19 by 47 inch privacy window runs from 31 inches up, the bottom of the straight wall, to the same top; shower of about 41 by 30 inches; a tankless VacuFlush toilet in the south-east corner with its back tight to the east wall, facing west into the wet area. A bath door about 47 inches wide fills the partition between the couch and the sink: two halves that fold up and slide apart, meeting at the bed edge so the east half alone opens in bed mode. The Fotile sink-dishwasher runs 35 inches up the east wall from the partition, facing west, with the folding cooktop/oven folded flat against the partition above its south end, 6 inches deep folded and folding down 17 inches over the sink. The couchbed runs 82 inches up the west wall from the partition, 77 inches between thin arms, 27 inches deep as a couch and 54 wide as a bed, leaving 19½ inches to the sink, with a drop-down workbench above. On the east wall a desk folds down 30 inches, with an executive office chair south of it, facing north, just north of the sink; folded, it leaves 35 inches beside the bed. Then about 78 inches of front room in the north cap, whose 12 gore windows ring an opaque centre disc carrying the TV, the 32 inch main door on the east wall just short of the curved cap, with fold-down steps, and the chair's parking spot in the north-west corner. A tall rounded-rectangle window sits in each rib bay of the side walls; the south cap's gore windows have privacy glass.12345678910111230827819½35 inN
  1. Toilet VacuFlush, no tank: south-east, back tight to the east wall, facing west; a 19 × 47 in privacy window behind it, from 31 in up
  2. Shower about 41 × 30 in
  3. Washer/dryer 23½ × 22⅝ in, south-west, raised on a 22 in base so the door is at counter height; 19 × 21½ in privacy window above, door faces east
  4. Sink-dishwasher 35¼ × 19⅓ in, along the east wall from the partition, facing west
  5. Folding cooktop/oven on the partition above the south end of the sink: 6 in folded flat against it, folds down 17 in over the sink
  6. Couchbed flush with the bath wall; 77 in between thin arms, 27 in deep as a couch, 54 in wide as a bed, 19½ in from the sink
  7. Drop-down workbench west wall above the couch
  8. Fold-down desk east wall, 30 in out, 4 in folded
  9. Office chair executive chair south of the desk, facing north; parks in the north-west corner in bed mode
  10. Main door 32 in wide, east wall, as far north as the straight wall allows; fold-down steps outside
  11. Front room about 78 in clear to the north cap; TV on its centre disc
  12. Windows 12 gore windows round each end cap, privacy glass at the bath end; a tall rounded-rectangle window in each rib bay of the side walls
Plan at counter height, north to the right.Plan at counter height, north up. Dashed: opened or deployed positions. End caps simplified.

The interior in 3D, every fold-out panel and the dimensions

For the engineers

Where the 6,000 lb goes

  • Carrier, rails and legs ≈1,490 lb
  • Frame, skin, floor, door and windows ≈1,770 lb
  • Metal hull and shielding ≈760 lb
  • Furniture, appliances and heat pump ≈920 lb
  • Left for what is not decided yet ≈1,060 lb
  • Counting only what is decided so far, including the metal hull and shielding: about 5,550 lb as drawn and 4,940 lb in the lighter build, leaving about 1,060 lb for the battery, plumbing, electrical, storage and gear.
  • Tongue weight target 600–660 lb (10–11%), inside Toyota's 9–11% range; a weight-distributing hitch is required above 5,000 lb.
  • Fresh, gray and black tanks, 78, 78 and 15 gal, travel empty.

Every item, the battery, water and storage

Towing: the truck, the deck, height, length and turning

Where it stands

Exists

A dimensioned design: section, frame, deck choice, weight budget and interior layout, plus a bottom-up materials list for the base frame and skin. Nothing has been built or weighed.

Not yet proven

Finished weight and hitch balance with the taller section; the exact deck, its fenders and turning clearance with the blunter rounded ends; the curved-lath covering at highway speed; drag and crosswind behavior of an 11 ft 6 in body behind a midsize truck.

Next

Draw the body on one specific deck, build and road-test a sample bay with its lath and covering, weigh real parts against the budget, then weigh the finished trailer in every loading state.

Drawings on this site are to scale from the design dimensions. End caps, door and window positions are schematic, and the incumbent drawings are generic examples, not specific products.

What the base build costs

$2,690–3,110

Materials for the base frame, skin, floor and door, at October 16, 2026 retail prices before tax and shipping, priced on the earlier 10 ft section. It is a structure, not yet a towable trailer: the deck, mounts, metal hull, insulation, windows, power, plumbing, interior and labor are separate.

The component sheet and what each range covers