Trailer build - smaller and lighter

Thanks! I laid out the cut lines for the dovetail last night, but I need to get those plasma parts before I can cut it. I suppose I could cut it another way, but the plasma is so much faster. I went to order the consumables last night, but holy crap I don’t remember them being that expensive! The shipping costs didn’t roll up right on their website so I’ll give them a call today.

After the dovetail and 4 remaining cross members get done, I can flip it and do the fender mounts and ramps. Then paint, deck boards, and wiring. I have 3 weeks left to get finished.
 
Making a little progress...

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If you wouldn't mind do you think you could give us the price of materials it cost you when it is all said in done? In no way of trying to steal your design just an idea for the folks who are DIY motivated and have the spare time.

Keep up the fantastic work :beer:
 
oleblue said:
If you wouldn't mind do you think you could give us the price of materials it cost you when it is all said in done? In no way of trying to steal your design just an idea for the folks who are DIY motivated and have the spare time.

Keep up the fantastic work :beer:
Click to expand...
What he said I am curious to know as well.
 
No problem. I definitely went over-budget, but what project doesn't :rolleyes:. I'm not really worried about anyone stealing my design. I put a lot of hours into modeling everything accurately and doing weight distribution calculations for each idea I had. If someone wants to try to reproduce this, then by all means, feel free. I would consider selling the CAD drawings to someone for a reasonable price if they wanted.

Raw materials:
5"x2"x11ga - a little over $100/24' piece. I used about 2.5 pieces.
2"x2"x1/4" angle - about $50 each (I got 4)
1"x1"x1/8" angle - $35ish
1"x.156" round tube - $70

Obviously, I estimated the pricing for each piece. I remember that 2 pieces of 5x2, 4 of 2x2, and 1" tube was $470. I came up about 3' short on the 5x2, so I had to get another piece. I bought the 1x1 at the same time to use for spare tire carrier and in the ramps.

The little nickle and dime stuff will get you too. I've burned thru about 7 lbs of wire so far, had to refill the welding gas, purchased numerous small parts that I didn't really account for initially for one reason or another. I'm running the wiring inside the frame, so I bought one of those wire fishing tools (not that I mind buying tools ;)).
 
Ok, so this is the part where the plan went awry. I had two weeks to finish the trailer before the Harlan trip and suddenly the boss wants to send me to Germany for two weeks. I had to leave Sunday afternoon for Hamburg (found this out on Friday) and return the day before we were to leave for Harlan. I pulled an all-nighter Saturday and then spent the day we were supposed to leave for Harlan welding, wiring, and remounting of the axles and suspension because it wouldn't fit thru the garage door otherwise. It sucked and I was pissed that I was going to have to pull this thing unpainted and without fenders.

I took Bruiser's advice and bought the heaviest aluminum ramps I could find locally (1250 lb rating) and cut them in half so hopefully they wouldn't bend. Well they did bend some, but it worked.

I'm happy to say that the trailer pulled great! I was very happy with it and really noticed the weight difference coming thru the mountains. The only minor issue I have is that I get kind of a shudder from the trailer brakes if I get on them hard. I'm not sure what would cause that. Any ideas? Its almost like its locking the tire up and its skipping/bouncing but I couldn't see that any of the tires were locking up (at least not on the drivers side).

Trailer first trip.JPG
 
Not exactly, but the trailer as pulled in that picture should have been about 1100-1150 lbs and the rig weighs 3100-3200. Once I get the fenders and ramps finalized I'll have to make time to go weight it.
 
Thanks! I finally got a coat of black on it yesterday. I'm going to try to get one more coat on it and call it good until spring. I still need to finish the fenders, ramps, and spare tire carrier. It's getting too cold for me to want to get outside and work on it :p. I've got a number of winter projects to work on inside the garage where there is heat!
 
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