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Open Roads Forum > Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)

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schanusa

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Posted: 05/28/12 01:01pm

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I decided to build myself an off-road trailer a while ago. And in November of 2011 I finally got around to building it. The goal of the trailer is to move all of my gear from both of my vehicles to one tow-able package. This way I don't need to swap things back and forth. And partly to build something cool again.

* This post was edited 05/28/12 01:11pm by schanusa *

schanusa

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Posted: 05/28/12 01:02pm

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The base chassis is 2 x 4 x 0.125 rectangle tubing. I went with 4 inches tall for added strength.

Old Man Emu Dakar leaf springs from Sierra Expeditions along with hardware and led tail lights.

I start by basic assembly of the suspension and axle. Then check for placement.

After I find the axle placement and distances for tire clearance I make kick-outs for carrying fuel cans.

schanusa

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Posted: 05/28/12 01:04pm

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Once all sections are cut and tacked into place I finish welding.

Then I move onto building the upper box. Since I didn't want to have the added expense of a one off custom sheet metal box I decided to make a frame to adhere panels too.

Off the main box I run additional tubing to connect to the kick-outs for added strength.

Trying to determine placement of the truck oval led lights. I'm thinking I need to find something else.

schanusa

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Posted: 05/28/12 01:04pm

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Demo of what I'm thinking. Room on the kick-outs for a 5 gallon fuel/water can or a 20 lb propane tank.

Back to suspension. I had new parts cut out to get the trailers axle where it needs to be. High wise that is.

Ruff setup to check if axle is square with chassis.

Once all aligned I weld up the parts and take the trailer outside to check height.

schanusa

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Posted: 05/28/12 01:06pm

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Back inside I swap tires with the Ranger, since they are 32x10.5 tires. I wanted to check clearances and assemble the remainder of the trailer with larger tires.

I also build the tow point similar to how I build Jim's hard side pop-up trailer.

I then toss on the tent mostly for the hell of it.

Next I weld in the floor cross supports, with one beam stronger to attach shock tabs.

Time for skinning.

trail-explorer

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Posted: 05/29/12 11:15am

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Very nice looking trailer. I noticed your oval tail lights. THey might end up being hard to mount, also, the wiring connector would be exposed to the elements at the back of the light.

I sourced LEDs from here for my trailer, as well as the interior of my RV.

Jim

schanusa

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Posted: 05/29/12 12:48pm

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trail-explorer wrote:

Thanks! Yeah, once I got further along I figured I'd have to build a small box just for the lights. I found some flush mounting lights that I liked better.

schanusa

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Posted: 05/29/12 12:49pm

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I start with the floor section and the front.

Then move onto the sides. I toss on a couple cans just because it makes for a cooler photo.

Once the main body is welded on I start on building the lid.

Then I move onto adding the skin to the lid.

I take off the tires so I can finish up welding where the tires blocked.

schanusa

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Posted: 05/29/12 12:49pm

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I like to over build. Good example is where the chassis tubes are split for the tongue.

With the trailer on its side I weld up all the small bits I couldn't get to from the top.

Before I flip back over and set up on jack stands I use the pallet scale to weigh in. So far what you see is 390 lbs. Not too bad.

schanusa

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Posted: 05/29/12 12:50pm

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In between doing the metal work I decided to start figuring out what color to paint the trailer. At the paint store I picked a color I though would look good. Turned out the name of the color was "money." The color swatch looked good at the store, though once back at the shop the color was brighter than I wanted.