Wrangler trailer tub build

[criket]

Do you plan to match the tires and wheels to the ones on your Wrangler? That would be cool too.

 

[sammi_davis]

Do you plan to match the tires and wheels to the ones on your Wrangler? That would be cool too.

I am on the hunt for matching wheels and tires , though I wont put beadlocks on it just classic IIs . Once its painted to match and the same height I think its going to look good .

 

[trevoringle]

Your welcome , now go find you a few tubs to cut up .

Thats not a bad idea , it would be pretty easy to make the tongue shorter . I havent had it up to speed yet , so I dont know what it will tow like on the highway.

i doubt you would have a problem as far as just pulling goes, i would just rather have a shorter trailer for like changing lanes and stuff like that

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

Are you putting a fold down gate front & rear?

I think a swing out gate in front with food down in rear would be nice, but depends what your putting in it.

also integrating the swing out spare tire carrier from the Jeep to the front of the trailer would be nice on the trails.

I have thought of building a trailer like this but would really like a nice caster to put under the tongue of the trailer encase i needed to disconnect & winch it up the trail separate. Maybe also a multi mount ATV winch that could store in the trailer but be used to winch the trailer on the trail.



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[sammi_davis]

Are you putting a fold down gate front & rear?

Fold down in the rear and most likely fixed in the front . The front will have four bolts holding it in place .

I think a swing out gate in front with food down in rear would be nice, but depends what your putting in it.

I plan on putting a storage box and jerry can on the front so thats why I plan on it being bolted in . I also hope to gain a little strength with it bolted , so that it will stiffen up the tub some .

also integrating the swing out spare tire carrier from the Jeep to the front of the trailer would be nice on the trails.

I dont know if I will run a spare on the trailer as my goal is to have the same size rim and tires as my Jeep on it . Then I will just need the one spare . If I end up with a different size I may try to mount it below . But the swing away is something to think about .

I have thought of building a trailer like this but would really like a nice caster to put under the tongue of the trailer encase i needed to disconnect & winch it up the trail separate. Maybe also a multi mount ATV winch that could store in the trailer but be used to winch the trailer on the trail.

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I like the caster idea , I was going to make a M 416 style kickstand but maybe I will add a caster to that .

 

[sammi_davis]

The CJ tailgate has been a lot more work than I thought it would be .

I had to drill out one bolt on each of the hinges and this left a nice round hole .

First up after drilling the old bolts out was to make an access hole to weld the new nut in .

Heres the nut welded in top and bottom . I also flapper wheeled it smooth so that the hinge would sit level . The last step was to run the tap through the nuts so that the new bolts will go in smoothly .

Lastly the tailgate is in place and the holes are drilled in the tub for the hinges . I need to drill an access hole and make two plates to go inside the tub for the hinges to attach to and the tailgate will be attached . I still need to get cables and the fold down retainers to finish the tailgate install .

 

[sammi_davis]

The tailgates are mounted , but I am going to have to figure something else out for front TJ tailgate as I had to use spacers to get the hinges to sit flat .

First up was to make something for the CJ tailgate hinges to attach too . I used a piece of angle iron to resist warping as the tailgate is opened and closed . I drilled four holes to match the pattern on the hinges . Then I ran the tap through the holes .

Next up was to test fit the brace before putting it in the cross member .

You can see where I inserted the brace through the body seam . I am going to weld the seam back up before the final install of the tub .

The brace is fished into place and the tailgate is installed .

Dropped down and no flex in the tub cross member as it went down .

Front and rear tailgates are installed . I will have to either make or buy the rest of the tail gate hardware for both the front and rear . I still dont know if I am going to swing the front tailgate or mount it . If it is mounted I think it will add a lot of rigidity to the tub , and I dont see myself opening the front up very often . Still thinking this through any thoughts ?

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

I think that would depend on what you are planning to mount in the trailer.

I was thinking something like a rack on top of the fender wells. Then a front gate would allow you to reach in underneath to the items inside, like a trunk.

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[sammi_davis]

I think that would depend on what you are planning to mount in the trailer.

I was thinking something like a rack on top of the fender wells. Then a front gate would allow you to reach in underneath to the items inside, like a trunk.

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After working on it this weekend I am leaning towards having a steel panel broke and bolting or welding it in . This will stiffen up the tub significantly , but limit access to the front. I dont see the front access being an issue as I will have a rack mounted on the front anyways .
Trailer progress ...

Made a template from an old USPS box . This is for the back corner where the tubs were welded together and there was no floor .

I cut the floor out of the last of the old tub , and then trimmed it to fit .

The first of many patch panels tonight .

The above posts were brought to you by Victoria Beer .

The rear floor patch in place .

Close up of the patch in place .

I plan on trimming out the edges of the old wheelwells with small angle then I can use the covered areas to store all of my fluids .

I still need to flapper everything , but the gas tank patch fits pretty good .

The last patch of the night . Hopefully I can weld it all up this week and try to get everything bolted down . Then it will time for the bodywork .

 

[sammi_davis]

Finally got back to work on the Wrangler trailer ! I didnt get a lot done as we had my sons 6th birthday , but I made a little progress none the less .

The wiring harness is in and figured out . I need to get a few more fittings tomorrow , but it will have operable lights tomorrow evening .

 

[sammi_davis]

Tonight my brother and I got to work on finishing the trailer wiring. I hate messing with 12V thankfully he is Nuclear engineer so this is cake work to him .

All of the wiring is inside of conduit so that it lessens the chance of something popping up on the trail and grabbing the harness .

And we have tail lights ! Everything is wired up with plugs so that it is easy to change the tail lights out in the future if the need arises . From everything I have read on the NC DOT website I dont need side markers as the trailers gvwr is going to be under 4000 lbs . Hopefully the trailer will pass the inspection and I can get tags on it soon .

 

[Chris_Keziah]

Looking good, I'd take and cram the end of the conduit with rtv to preven stuff from getting in it.

 

[sammi_davis]

Looking good, I'd take and cram the end of the conduit with rtv to preven stuff from getting in it.

I was planning on using waterproof self sealing electrical tape but the RTV would probably work too .

This is the wiring that came out from under the Jeep . It had over 30 splices and it was a fire waiting to happen . So all of that came out and this is the newly rebuilt trailer tap / tail light harness .

The new harness is Occam approved I still cant believe how bad the old harness was , and how simple it ended up .

After all that wire was pulled and the new harness was fished in this was the reward .

We have lights ! Another day of welding / patching and I will start the body work . The goal is to have it shot in an epoxy primer and all welding complete by the end of next week . Oh yeah , theres the whole licensing thing to deal with too .

 

[viper red cj-7]

Hey man, great build.
Where did you get the axle / springs from??
thanks!

 

[sammi_davis]

Hey man, great build.
Where did you get the axle / springs from??
thanks!

Thanks , its been fun building it . The axle came from Spring repair service in Greensboro and the springs are stock CJ rears .

 

[viper red cj-7]

thanks for the info!!

 

[sammi_davis]

thanks for the info!!

If you have any other questions feel free to ask .

Made some more progress today .

The patch for the filler neck almost complete .

Tongue wiring is complete .

Trailer jack and saftey chains are welded up .

The drivers side is mostly complete now . Tomorrow I have to go install air lines for a friend , but come Wednesday I should be able to finish up the last of the body work on the trailer .

I also dropped off my measurements at the machine shop for the front panel , and I hope to pick it up Wednesday . I am using the last of my upper tub rail scraps to finish out the front with the panel from the machine shop

 

[Chris_Keziah]

Looks good, you just filling in the front with that panel or is it going to be removable?


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[sammi_davis]

Looks good, you just filling in the front with that panel or is it going to be removable?


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It will be screwed in , but I plan on seam sealing it so it wont be easy to remove .

 

[sammi_davis]

The filler panel is in place and ready for the final bending and fitment .

Fitted and ready for welding . I am not kidding this patch tacked up perfectly and I took pictures ... but the bud light platinum bottles interfered with the upload . Well thats the story I am sticking with .

Skim coat is on and drying for the night . Tomorrow I have more sanding and primer to spray . I still need to finish welding the floor corners in , but they are currently halfway welded in . From here on out is all finish work , and if I dont make it Friday to get it inspected , I will take it to the State Highway Patrol early next week .

 

[sammi_davis]

The bodywork is finished , and its all primer gray . Still a lot of wet sanding to do before I spray any paint .

I had my local machine shop break a pan for me to use as the front filler panel . They made it to tall , but gave me a killer deal on it .
With a little angle iron and tack welds I was able to make a break and bend the pan to match the angle of the tub .

Heres the filler panel fitted and adjusted to the tub .

I want to bedline it , but not sure which one I am going to go with yet . Any suggestions ? I like Line X , but not sure if I want to spend that much money right now .

Thats all the trailer progress for the day .

 

[tim robinson]

Looks good bud

 

[sammi_davis]

Looks good bud

Thanks Tim , its taken a long time but its starting to come together .

I thought I was done sanding .

Thankfully the drivers side of the trailer is about done ! The passenger side doesnt need as much attention , so maybe the sanding will end this week ? The trailer is ready to be inspected , but I am going to wait until the bodywork and paint are done later this week .

 

[sammi_davis]

1st coat is on , its dull from wet sanding .

Another angle of the sorta shiny faded paint as Billy calls it .

Tomorrow is going to be a big shocker ... more sanding ! And some paint too , then some wet sanding followed by paint . Worst yet is I still have to strip the CJ tailgate and it has three layers of sandpaper eating badness built up . I tried 3M safer stripper and it did nothing to the finish other than clump up in fear . Next up is Kleen Strip airplane stripper which has lots of stern warnings printed on the package . The warnings coupled with danger! on the can means it has to be good right ? The plan is to apply the aircraft stripper outside over top of an old box to catch the toxic runoff and avoid future super fund status .

 

[Chris_Keziah]

Why not just media blast the gate? Chem stripping can be a mess. Looks good btw.