I'm in the market for a 24-28' enclosed trailer to move all my worldly possessions cross country and to store them in when I get there.
I might even modify it some day to make it into a toy hauler with a living compartment.
I am in the Georgia area and there seems to be several manufacturers nearby and they are 4k to 6k in price. The one below can be had 12" taller for an extra $560. That way I would have more head room if I actually do convert it some day.

8.5x28 Enclosed Cargo Trailer Car Hauler VNose Ramp Blk - eBay (item 180600658936 end time Dec-20-10 16:31:15 PST)

What else shoul I be looking for?

 

Check the axle weight capacities and the number of roof/side supports for the box itself. The more supposrts the better. Are you considering used as well?

 

I have been looking for used ones on crigslist in Phoenix and they all seem to be more expensive. I wont need the trailer untill I get to Phoenix, but once there, I won't have a whole lot of time to look at used trailers if there even happens to be any for sale at the time.
There isn't a whole lot of used trailers out here in Georgia (where I am at now) except for an occasional Pace, which costs a couple thousand more than these no name brand new ones even though they are several years old.

 

This is entirely doable, but exactly how much "living" you want to do should be considered beforehand. You can get by primitive (no plumbing or electric) relatively cheap.

See here for an example.

Now if you're talking about a full conversion (sink, shower, furnace, AC) you're gonna spend a lot of time and money. It may be cheaper to just buy a toy hauler up front. You can haul a ton off stuff in some of those things.

Just for an idea of what it would take for a full conversion, check out this guys blog.

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There is a converted gooseneck trailer for sale in Jacksonville for 9k. Problem is my truck has an 8inch lift and would have to be dropped to pull a gooseneck.

 

When I look in an enclosed trailer first things I look for are hobo's and dead hookers. Then I crawl underneath and look at the frame & crossmembers, welding and wireing. These things and how well or not so well done are a good indicator of overall quality. I like all aluminum costruction but if you plan on heavily modding it for living quarters, wood frame is eaiser to work with.

 

I saw one manufacturer that uses aluminum, but like you said, steel and wood is easier to modify. Although I do have a spoolgun for my welder, I don't know if thin aluminum on a new trailer would be the best place to learn.

 

If you go the use route, check the roof atleast 10 times, every square inch of it. A quick hit on a tree branch can really mess up an enclosed trailer's roof. Last thing you want to do is spend a heap of money on a trailer that leaks.

 

Not to hijack... but THATS COOL!!! I would absolutely love to do that, though with a bigger trailer. Now I've got some gears turning in my head on some ideas I've had in the past. It would be a lot of fun to custom make one of those. Oh the possibilities...

 

Thinking of doing something similar. I like the look, function, and niceties of a 5th wheel toy hauler, it would be great for the quads but the problem is it can't handle the weight of my classic truck so i can go to truck shows. So I figured on getting a 40 foot gooseneck trailer and then getting a used 20 foot TT. I was going to hack the A-frame off and take the axles off and mount it directly to the gooseneck. Then i would have the best of both worlds. Just don't know how well it would work. I figured i may have to weld a subframe for the TT to sit on for clearance for anything inside the factory frame. But if i did it right i could use some of the empty space in the subframe for extra storage. But still have to look into other weights, such as too much pin weight and the such.

 

Where the hell are you looking for enclosed trailer at and do you have CSI on speed dail?