Sounds crazy to me..
particularly with the long trailer axle and wheels outside the body ..
and you have a plan for a long enough and strong enough tongue ?
Seems like an abomination to me.
and...
if you leave it full length .....there's the entire front seating area and
dash with very little function..
I 'don't get it.'

Storage is not THAT bad..
sure ......it's not that good either ..but storing it properly is not that
bad an option.

if I just 'had' to take it with me somewhere..
I 'might' consider towing it on all four wheels..
though ............that can be dicey , it's not at all like towing a two
wheel trailer with a tongue ..
but it wouldn't ruin and hack up a decent 85 Westy .

I don't know how good your 85 Westy is ..
and...........that is the first year of vanagon body that's quite good ..due
to the improved sliding door.
there are a lot of good things about that year ...last year of the better
round headlights for example...
and being a Westy ..
people *always* want those !

I just wouldn't hack it up or do anything sacrilegious with it ..
If  it's all smashed and rusted ..ok sure ..
but if it's decent..
it is COLLECTIBLE even ...
I would only store it,
or ship it somewhere,
or maybe tow it on all four wheels...though as I said ..that can be rather
dicey,
or sell 'er and buy another one  later .. ( and often ..when you own and
love a vehicle for a while..
then sell it and get another one ..the second one somehow is just 'not the
same' as that first love.  Had that happen a number of times. )

Anything but ruin a there-are-only-so-many left water-cooled Westy.

these are precious vehicles. Not replaceable even.
And ............not that hard to care for really, not if doing a lot of the
work yourself.
Heck, it's FUN to take care of things, especially Westy's !!
Scott
www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham Janson" <graham.janson@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 11:35 AM
Subject: Convert '85 Westy to trailer?

> Hi folks
>
> I've been mulling this idea over for a few weeks now, and wanted to throw
> it
> out for opinions. The motivation for the question is that my new job will
> see me out of the country for periods of six weeks to six months at a time
> (generally closer to the latter).
>
> I love my 1985 camper but leaving it sitting for months at a time doesn't
> seem practical. Has anyone ever converted a Vanagon camper into a trailer?
> Losing the self-propelled aspect would be a bummer, but I could still keep
> my van and tow it behind my truck as a camping trailer.
>
> Details-wise: I envisage removing engine, transmission, wheels,
> suspension,
> steering etc., and welding on (or bolting on?) a trailer axle (or two?) in
> the middle-ish. Using a long axle (i.e. with wheels outside the body
> rather
> than recessed in wheel wells) would provide additional lateral stability
> and
> allow the sliding door to open. Finally a tongue would be welded on.
>
> Or should I just let it go?
>
> Graham