so im going to build me a hard core trailer..

[supersize75k5]

with my new found love of towing my 4x4s and the fact that my new truck pulls like a rapped ape..

the buggy will have a dually front and 42 inch iroks= wide trailer


the plan is to pick up the goods on thursday, jig it friday night put a tongue and lights on it and saterday get it licenced and titled.

Once I get back I will actually finish it...


key notes


-8000lbs axels both with brakes

-bully dog toungue
-yj jeep lights -and a exstension cord for wiring "hell it is shielded nice"

-as wide as I can go on the deck


any ideas to make it buggy friendly or ideas I can incorprate into the build?

 

[thedrip]

Don't bother trying to outboard the wheels from the deck, run the deck the full width of the axles, and have the wheel wells protrude through the deck so you can drive over them. gives you a LOT more room, especially for a wide vehicle.

 

[Greg72]

Flush mount all the lights......"french" them in if you can.

For some reason, trailer lights ALWAYS seem to get broken. Either by backing up and hitting something.....gnomes, poltergeists......I dunno.

You'll get tired of replacing them, it won't take long.


Come up with a clever system for removeable fenders, or drive-ons... I need to solve that somehow on mine.

 

[bdozeraz]

make the fenders stout enought to drive on. Removable fenders suck. It takes to much time and engineering to make them removable but still hold them down solid enough that they don't rattle or flop all over the place. My fenders are made out of 1 1/2" by .120 wall round tube and diamond plate. plenty stout. they also can be used as an incline ramp when testing suspension and stuff at the house.

 

[supersize75k5]

plan was to french the jeep lights and make a 2 inch square around them for protection, same with the licence plate..



d-rings....lots of d-rings and a mount for a barb-q like robs, and a tool box...and ..and.. and

 

[pauly383]

and a tool box...and ..and.. and

....... and it would be easier for he with so much needed to do to the project already to just buy a trailer .

 

[Cmoe]

plan was to french the jeep lights and make a 2 inch square around them for protection, same with the licence plate..



d-rings....lots of d-rings and a mount for a barb-q like robs, and a tool box...and ..and.. and

Is this a new show "Pimp My Trailer"? FLOL

I would also make a spot for storing ramps... It's nice to have a set when you need to move a car... I would making a reciever that points up so you can mount a whince in to pull truck on or anything.... remove that and have a steel table to work on with holes to attach a vice....

 

[ntsqd]

Can buy trailer specific jacketed wire similar to an extension cord from waytech wire or Del City wire. Only they are available with more than 3 wires and of different sizes to suit the usual load for that color wire (trailer brake wire is bigger than the lighting wires). There are cool junction boxes made for OTR trailer wiring that look like a good idea.

Don't just french the tailights, also french the marker lights. The same gnomes that beat up the tail lights also do their work on the markers.

Put a female trailer light socket on the side of the tongue. Then make jumpers for the different tow rig sockets. Plus if you hurt the jumper or the numbnutz who borrowed it & cut off your plug to put on his plug doesn't have you splicing the wiring later, like just as you're trying to use it in a hurry.

Make the axles from bent D60 or 14bff housings. Stuff the stub spindles into tubes, and put fill & drain bungs in the tubes. Then you can run the wheel bearings in a bath of 90wt gear oil instead of grease.

Use a socket receiver tube on the tongue and put the coupler on a slider. That way the numbnutz can't borrow the trailer again.

 

[OffRoad]

i second having a trailer with the fenders built in as part of the deck. that makes loading a lot easier.

paging Mountainexplorer..., paging Alan, please report to the garage forum.

 

[Hossbaby50]

Why not just buy a 14K lowdeck gooseneck trailer about 24' long. It would be plenty long & heavy enough to haul whatever you want & it is a gooseneck with a low center of gravity. Unless you are getting the steel for almost free to build a trailer it is cheaper to buy them.

Carson Trailers who made mine has a plant in Buckeye & will probably build you anything your heart desires then you can customize it. That is my plan. When I get my use out of my current trailer I am going to get a Lowdeck gooseneck. Anybody who pulls trailers will tell you that a GN is a much nicer pull then a bumper pull like you want to build.

Harley

 

[gmc4cw]

It is a lot easier to buy a trailer then to build one. Go look at new trailers to see what is involved in building one. There is no way you can buy the supplies one day, build the next, and register the third.

In my state there is weeks involved in getting a homemade trailer registered. They want pictures of everything, receipts for everything, and it needs to be inspected by a licensed mechanic.

Have you thought about how you are going to get around 3000 lbs of steel from where you buy it to where you build it. Or the fact that you need at least 2 pieces that are 20 ft or longer. Plus you are going to put 5-7000 lbs on top of this thing. You want it to pull straight and brake correctly.

Just go buy one. It will have a lot better resell value then a homemade one. Get a 102" wide 20' deckover.

 

[az-k5]

Andrew just did this. He said that he probably wouldn't do it again. His trailer is nice, but there is not much in money savings. He even used 14FF hubs and as much scrap as possible. Buy one. Carson is good, Big Tex is not. Once you price it all out you will see. You can even buy a normal low deck bumper pull now (get the longest you can afford to buy and store) and have it converted to goose later.

I am just gonna buy Harleys in 2 years when he sells it so don't mine me butting in.

 

[Drey]

Flush mount all the lights......"french" them in if you can.

For some reason, trailer lights ALWAYS seem to get broken. Either by backing up and hitting something.....gnomes, poltergeists......I dunno.

You'll get tired of replacing them, it won't take long.

Least he doesnt have to worry about trying to rust proof his wiring

 

[beater_k20]

Make the axles from bent D60 or 14bff housings. Stuff the stub spindles into tubes, and put fill & drain bungs in the tubes. Then you can run the wheel bearings in a bath of 90wt gear oil instead of grease.

my buddy and i were talking about that for a trailer he wants to build for his truck after he lifts it. wants to take a pair of beds, cut the tail section off of one, and put it on the front of the other, shave the taillights and have a custom tent made to fit over it for a sort of pop-up camper. do you think the axle idea would really work?

 

[JEBSR]

It is a lot easier to buy a trailer then to build one. Go look at new trailers to see what is involved in building one. There is no way you can buy the supplies one day, build the next, and register the third.

In my state there is weeks involved in getting a homemade trailer registered. They want pictures of everything, receipts for everything, and it needs to be inspected by a licensed mechanic.

Have you thought about how you are going to get around 3000 lbs of steel from where you buy it to where you build it. Or the fact that you need at least 2 pieces that are 20 ft or longer. Plus you are going to put 5-7000 lbs on top of this thing. You want it to pull straight and brake correctly.

Just go buy one. It will have a lot better resell value then a homemade one. Get a 102" wide 20' deckover.

I was going to build a trailer using existing axles and frame and by the time I priced the steel to complete it I was withing 300 dollars of buying one ready made in town. And that was not including any extras, just steel decking and material for the frame and lighting. Bought one and put my time into my truck so that I would have something to haul... Best descision I have made in a while.

 

[supersize75k5]

It is a lot easier to buy a trailer then to build one. Go look at new trailers to see what is involved in building one. There is no way you can buy the supplies one day, build the next, and register the third.

In my state there is weeks involved in getting a homemade trailer registered. They want pictures of everything, receipts for everything, and it needs to be inspected by a licensed mechanic.

Have you thought about how you are going to get around 3000 lbs of steel from where you buy it to where you build it. Or the fact that you need at least 2 pieces that are 20 ft or longer. Plus you are going to put 5-7000 lbs on top of this thing. You want it to pull straight and brake correctly.

Just go buy one. It will have a lot better resell value then a homemade one. Get a 102" wide 20' deckover.

it is that easy infact..

this is not my first trailer build, I use to jig them for a rv and trailer repair center in gilbert, mostly did axel alignments, frame repair, brakes and axel swaps, did 4 trailer frames while I was there, learned from a guy who has ben in the business since the 60's very wise

today I tookmost the day off and used a friends trailer to get supplies, as of 5 minutes ago both axels are set up, measured, square, bolted up, shackles on and the main box structure is in place.. I can say I scored huge parts and was very resourcefull thus far..

used the frame rack here at the shop to get it square and used it as a jig to cut time, I cant imagin trying to do it in a back yard


picked up 8 sticks of [ channel 2 sticks of angle iron off my old neighbor who fell though on his trailer project, also got the shackles, springs from another freind who needed money then traded services for the axels to a customer, he bought them to replace the bent ones on his trailer, but last year someone stole it.. so worked out


300 bones total so far

right now I am trying to scrounge up some temporary tires as rollers, tomarow I'll weld the toungue on and some temporary lights, saterday I have a date with the inspection station.

plan is to roll up there with a tiny trailer with fenders and plywood as a floor.


when I get the licence plate and title Ill come back and build the deck to the right size. build the ramps, side lights, d-rings yada yada

 

[supersize75k5]

got it all painted up, not like rust is to big of an issue but it looks nice all came out square, the right tools really helped.

i am having a hard time of the deck, I need to choose if i want a full wood deck, a full sheet metal deck, or just two long metal planks for the wheels.


the last option would keep the weight down but it would limmit the use of the trailer, for the fenders for this inspection I am barrowing some and when I build the deck I will make them drivable and maybe out of tube. lots of ideas still being thought out.

also I feel as if I want to go 20 feet, the trailer I used was 16 feet and felt small, ideas such as a side ramp for quads and a dove tail are also on my mind.

 

[Cmoe]

What about lights up front facing back.... it's nice to be able to see in the dark as your backing up.... Just run it of your power (since yor going to run constint back anyway) and put a toggle swith on the trailer....

 

[Hossbaby50]

Make it as long as you can. Mine is 18' because that is what I could afford & is what they had on the lot. If I had the choice I would have went for at least 20' with 22-24' being even better.

As for the deck use wood. Metal offers very little traction to get onto the deck. Going full flatbed is the way to go, don't do just tire strips. Do it right the first time.

Are those 5 lug axles? 5 lug axles are typically rated for 3500lbs each so you will have a 7K rated trailer when you are done. So keep in mind that 7K is total weight including the trailer. My trailer weighs about 1600lbs so I have a max load weight of 5400lbs which my K5 is at or just above.

Do both axles have brakes? Dual brakes is a bigtime plus for stopping.

Harley

 

[beater_k20]

i regularly pull a 27'er that my uncle and his buddy built. i've used my buddy's 20'er several times too. its always nice to have the extra space wether you need it or not.