Teach me about building a trailer

QCB_Preacher

New Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2009
Location
Charlotte, NC
What I do NOT know can fill a library.
I want to do it myself for several reasons, the most important being money, but close on the heels of the almighty dollar is getting what I really want and not settling for someone else's idea of what should go on a trailer.
So here I sit, with some ideas, but really no clue the best way to make them happen.
I want hubs that will accept 5 on 5 wheel so I can run wheels that match the ones on my Jeep. Besides it looking cool, it will be nice to carry a single spare that can be used on any of my wheels.
Finding a pre-made axle with 5 on 4.5 is easy, not so easy when you push that out to 5 on 5. Should I look for alternatives to pre-made axles and if so, what are those alternatives?
I notice that most trailer tongues are round. Is this primarily for strength?
I have seen trailers with leaf springs, trailers with torsional rubber thingies and even a trailer with shocks & springs.
What's best?
In addition to using the trailer for camping etc, I want to be able to haul a motorcycle (600 lbs) Seems like most trailers fall into weight categories. Is there a rule of thumb for setting up a trailer ( ie 2x max weight you want to carry....)?
What's the deal with a pintle? All the vehicles we had in the military were pintle, but the majority of civilian trailers are ball hitches. Seems like a pintle would offer more articulation for off-road use, but is there a drawback when it comes to hauling the bike?
Any other tips from folks who have built a trailer would be appreciated.
 
I finished mine a few months ago. It works out great.

trailer70.jpg

trailer74.jpg


I just used angle iron for a frame. Made my own shackles and spring monuts. The springs are from a CJ7. The axle is a piece of pipe with traielr spindles welded on. I ended up with 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern just because it was a bit cheaper than the 5 on 5.5. I made the tub out of sheet metal i had and I bought the lunette ring from Northern for the trailer coupler. I bought the hubs and bearings from northern. All in all i have about $250 into it.
 
DanStew said:
I finished mine a few months ago. It works out great.
trailer70.jpg

trailer74.jpg

I just used angle iron for a frame. Made my own shackles and spring monuts. The springs are from a CJ7. The axle is a piece of pipe with traielr spindles welded on. I ended up with 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern just because it was a bit cheaper than the 5 on 5.5. I made the tub out of sheet metal i had and I bought the lunette ring from Northern for the trailer coupler. I bought the hubs and bearings from northern. All in all i have about $250 into it.
Click to expand...

Now THAT is what I am talking about!

I like the adjustable lunette on the front.

You have the basic trailer like I want it (minus the hubs, of course) but I want stake pockets so I can change the trailer to run in several different configurations. I also want to use stock JK rear fenders over the wheels.

Did you lay out the springs and then weld them hangers with no flex in the springs themselves? Or did you (I am not sure if I am saying this right) give them some negative flex to compensate for the weight of the trailer itself?

Any chance I can see pics of the underside?
 
I pretty much put the springs on with the shackles being at about 55 degrees without putting weight on it. Right now i need to add a leaf to the spring pack since it does compress pretty good with weight in the trailer. I am debating right now on messign with it, so i can take the tub off and put my smoker on it for travel, but it may just be a bit more work than i want to do. But i still want to make a rack system that goes over it to hold other things. I pretty much made it the same as a m416, but shortened it a foot and made the tub about 6 inches shallower.

Here is a pic of the frame
trailer29.jpg
 
Thanks for the info!

I would actually need it a bit longer so my bike would fit, but I like what you did.

Do you think moving the shackles closer together then using a strap or something to compress the springs when you reinstall them will give you extra compression room? What are the advantages of adding another spring and what are the downsides?

While I am at it, what did it take to get it registered and get a plate for it?
 
I want to add a leaf to give it a bit more stiffness to allo it to hold more weight. If you make one like this it would be a bit high for a bike, not undoable, but it will be pretty high up. I am running 30 inch tires for the trailer.

I didnt register it because it is not required in SC, but I would think you save all reciepts for th ebuild and documentation, and goto the DMV and see how they want you to proceed to get it inspected.
 
I built a tandem axle, leaf sprung, car hauler a few years ago from scratch pretty much.

It worked great, drive over fenders, Dplate deck, winch mount, BEEFY rear bumper for sleepy tailgaters.
 
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