Wrangler trailer tub build

[sammi_davis]

Yeah. It looks much better after we tidied up the corners. I'm curious to see how that piano hinge holds up! For a last-minute design idea/happy accident, I think it's working out well so far. It was fun getting you up to the shop to do some work today.

Thanks for the Tig help , it was well beyond my abilities . You left just enough to smooth out and not so much that it took forever . If anyone needs Tig work in the Winston Salem area I will send them to you .

I spent the afternoon smoothing the tonneau corners out and de glossing the finish . It was so bright that I couldnt look at it , so for now it has a matte finish . I still think I am going to Line X the top and leave the edges polished once everything is complete .

Heres what the corner looked like as I started .

Roughed in with the flapper .

Starting to smooth out .

Still smoothing with sandpaper now .

And at this point I was using the flexible 3M sandpaper sponge paper .Its weird stuff , but great for contours .

Down to 1000 grit now .

My hands were grey by the time I finished , but I am happy with how it looks . Next up is the braces , and I think a roof basket if I can find one for a reasonable price .

 

[sammi_davis]

Still working on collecting parts for the new hitch assembly but I did have a few things show up today . I ordered a Highland basket from Amazon for $93 and I wasnt sure what to expect . I am happy to report that it went together easily and seems to be well made . I dont know that I would load it with the rated weight of 150 lbs , but it should carry all the beach stuff for the kids with no problem.

The three sections all laid out . It was extremely well packaged , with no visible damage anywhere .

The back half slid in perfectly as did the front . Then self tapping screws hold it together .

It comes with nice heavy hardware to attach it to your vehicle or trailer .

These rubber sleeves roll over the joints to help waterproof the rack . I suppose they work , but I will most likely take it back apart and weld up the joints .

All assembled .

I test fit it on Kimbo's WJ .

Here it is from the back with some custom wood mounting blocks .

And these are the locks and where they are going to go on the vertical flange .

Stickered up fairing and the beer of the day . I dont care for most IPA's , but I like this one a lot .

From the rear with the cargo net in place .I am going to get rid of the yellow plastic clips and replace them with black carabiners .

And we had friends over and smoked / BBQ's burgers and red snap hot dogs . It was a good end to a great day .

 

[sammi_davis]

It was an odd day with the weather and lack of productivity but I found a smoking deal on a Yakima rack for the trailer! It was a little too tall in the stock setup , but is perfect with the towers removed . I do plan on narrowing the bars a little before its fully installed .

 

[Kryten]

Spectacular results you have produced here. I recall there used to be a small company that built similar style trailers to order, using the CJ gate as an option. This was almost 10 years ago. Does anyone know what happened to them?

 

[sammi_davis]

Spectacular results you have produced here. I recall there used to be a small company that built similar style trailers to order, using the CJ gate as an option. This was almost 10 years ago. Does anyone know what happened to them?

Thanks , its been a fun project . Take a look at www.dinoot.com . They market Jscherbs design that uses a harbor freight trailer and a custom fiberglass panel assembly that looks just like mine when its assembled .

Tonight I got to work on the tonneau . First up was to measure 5 times and then drill the holes . I was nervous about drilling the tonneau and thats why I kept measuring . I am by no means a perfectionist , but all four holes squared up within 1/64th . This trailer is going to end up being the most precise thing I have ever built.

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Once the holes were drilled I ran the bolt through the angle support and into the yakima rack mounts. This served two purposes . One was to strengthen the top and the second purpose is to provide a mount for the lifting strut .

Once everything was mounted to the tonneau I made two lower mounting brackets for the struts .


And then it was time for the voodoo math magic to get the extended length and the angles to all work together . The good news is that I got the max height with good working angles . The bad news is that the struts I picked are rated at 150lbs and one arm attached seems perfect . When both arms are attached it wont stay shut . So tommorrow I am going to call AVM and see what strut has the same lenght with less lifting force .

With just the one strut installed it feels just about perfect and allows for plenty of room to get in and out of the trailer .

And heres the catapault/tonneau with both struts . It is nice to be able to get rid of the stick !

 

[Jody Treadway]

Amazing work Greg!
Give me a call later today when you get time.

 

[sammi_davis]

Amazing work Greg!
Give me a call later today when you get time.

Thanks Jody , and I saw this after I had called !

No luck on the struts today , still hunting for a pair that are 14" compressed and 21"extended with 40-50lbs of lifting force .

I did get to Tractor supply for some hitch supplies after the strut debacle today. I picked up a 1" bolt , nut , collar and centering ball . Then they got chucked !

The centering collar and bolt turned down and ready to insert into the tubing . The collar fits inside of the 1.75 tubing perfectly , though I did turn the bolt down a little bit more to make sure it wouldnt bind . Once everything is in place I will weld the collar in on the end and through plug welds .

This spacer will be replaced with another centering ball .

And this shows what the end result of hitch 2.0 will look like .

 

[sammi_davis]

Over the last few days I have read and cross referenced more lift struts than I cared to read about . I found that http://www.liftsupportsdepot.com/ had the best reference with the most info . Once I thought I had a winner I ordered it up . The one I ordered had the wrong ball size as it was 8mm and mine are 10mm . Theres also a 13mm for reference sake . So it was back to the drawing board for more reading last night . I couldnt find anything that was long enough , yet had the correct lifting ability . This morning I found AVM Strongarm's technical support line and they found what I needed in under a minute . Their phone number is 1-800-790-5438 and they were really nice people to deal with . The part # I ended up with is C 6305 and it has 65 lbs of lifting force . The original application was a hood lift support from a 2003 kia sorrento .

 

[sammi_davis]

Made some more progress on the hitch , I think all I have left to order is a threaded insert and then I can weld it all up .

I wanted to use a bronze washer between the two halves , but it was impossible to find locally . The local machine shop sold me a block of self lubricating dense plastic that may be a remnant from chernobyl . I am not kidding this stuff is almost impossible to cut , but with slow speeds I was able to make a washer .

I used a 1.75"hole saw to make the outer cut , and then a 1" hole saw to make the inner cut . Then I flipped it on its side and made a vertical cut with the band saw. Once that was done the washer fell out .
It looks rough , but smoothed out nicely with a little sanding .

When I get back from New Jersey I will finish this and the tonneau up and move on to outfitting the trailer for trips .

 

[sammi_davis]

I cleaned up another set of leaf springs to add to the pack yesterday and installed them tonight . The trailer seems less bouncy , but a road test will be the best way to see .

To help combat the bouncing I bent up a set of shock hoops and I ordered a set of CJ front shocks .

For some reason I got more spring back on the second one though it all came from the same stick ?

And I machined a flat spot on the bump stops to make it easier to weld them to the frame .

 

[catfishblues]

Looks like Kimbo granted you some shop time!

 

[sammi_davis]

Looks like Kimbo granted you some shop time!

It was last nights temperature drop that motivated me . On a whole Kimbo lets me do as I please .

 

[Frankendimestein]

This is a beautiful trailer. I love the craftsmanship and attention to detail. This thread is very inspiring! Thanks for sharing it

 

[sammi_davis]

This is a beautiful trailer. I love the craftsmanship and attention to detail. This thread is very inspiring! Thanks for sharing it

Thanks for the kind words , its still a work in progress but its getting closer .

Shock hoops are fitted and ready to be welded up. But I needed some more parts . Luckily I have Barnes 4WD just a few hours away and they have what I need in stock with cheap shipping . The parts are ordered to finish the shock install ..

 

[Jody Treadway]

Luckily I have Barnes 4WD just a few hours away and they have what I need in stock with cheap shipping . The parts are ordered to finish the shock install.

Rookie. I have Brad about 1/2 mile from me
Gimme a call soon and we'll schedule your repairs. Great progress on the Jeep and personally.

 

[sammi_davis]

Rookie. I have Brad about 1/2 mile from me

Lucky , he would be tired of me if I lived that close to him .

Gimme a call soon and we'll schedule your repairs. Great progress on the Jeep and personally.

Will do , I have a funny story about pinion seals to tell you . And I have two of them on order from Jantz , as soon as they get here I am heading up to you.

 

[sammi_davis]

This weekends Jeeping : I tacked up the shock hoop on the trailer to ensure that everything cleared the tire. Once I knew it fit I removed the tire and welded everything up. For the record upside down welding is teh debil!

If I get lucky I might get the other side done today.

Worked on the hitch some too.

I would have assembled it , but I cant find the threaded insert I turned to tie the two halves together .

 

[sammi_davis]

Got the basket mounted tonight by drilling a few holes and lightly modifying a set of yakima clips .
The other shock hoop will get finished up next weekend , and then it will be off to a road test .

 

[sammi_davis]

Long day in the shop yesterday , but I got both shock hoops and the bump stops installed .

I ended up dialing the bumpstops all the way up to get the correct compression , but they work beautifully and will keep the tires out of the fenders .

The tongue jack on the trailer has always been a little short and it was aggravating as heck having to prop it on something to get it level . Fortunately a stock Jeep Wrangler windshield to roll bar extension is the perfect o.d. to fit in the jack .

This shows how much I need to add to get to level .

Custom roll bar extension piece.

All welded up with super custom black paint .

I also started working on the tongue box mounts , and if I get lucky I will get it mounted up this afternoon .

 

[sammi_davis]

In between rain showers Kimbo and I snuck out for some trailer testing . I wasnt sure how it would handle with all the changes , but I was relieved to see that the trailer is rock solid! We went through tight curves , over bumps , and high speeds with 0 issues . Now that the handling is dialed in , its time to start outfitting the trailer for camping trips .

 

[adamk]

whats the width and rating of the axle?

 

[sammi_davis]

whats the width and rating of the axle?

Sorry I missed this for so long , the trailer has been sitting since I picked up a 99 2 door XJ . I think the axle is 59" wms to wms and it is rated for 3500 lbs. I had Spring Repair Services aka Ownesby Enterprises build it for me . They are located at 5800 High Point Road in Greensboro. I wanted it built as a straight axle with no camber so I could make it spring over or under just by flipping it and they were fine with it while a few other places I checked wouldnt touch it. They did build in caster to make it track nicer , so you do have to spin it while your flipping it. They also suggested a set of hubs that would clear my wheels while the other places said I would have to machine the wheels. Long story short they were great to deal with and not put off by my odd request.


One thing I have regretted on my build is not adding a parking brake when I built it. I had been kicking around the idea of using mountain bike rotors and calipers , then after some further thought motorcycle brakes made a lot more sense. Thankfully I had more time to think it over and I found the brakes below that will bolt onto my axle and they have a manual e brake. The plan is to use TJ e brake cables and the bracket to tie the two cables together. That leaves the e brake handle to figure out. I want something that I can lock in the open position for some security when I leave the trailer at camp. I am still working on that part of the design , but I hope inspiration will strike as I wander around the junkyard.

 

[catfishblues]

I didn't even know they made trailer brakes with an e-brake option! I guess it's technically supposed to be a manual breakaway brake. Tie a cable to the tow vehicle or something.

 

[sammi_davis]

I didn't even know they made trailer brakes with an e-brake option! I guess it's technically supposed to be a manual breakaway brake. Tie a cable to the tow vehicle or something.

As best I can tell it was made for the European market where some trailers are required to have a parking brake. I should get in from work early enough tomorrow to call and ask a few questions before I order them.

 

[sammi_davis]

Drivers side latch is complete though I think I am going to move the latch up a little higher so that it is more out of sight. It is really nice to have a working latch so that I can get rid of the rope and have a secure latch.

Modified Jeep Cherokee latch with a bike brake cable to pull the lever.

J10 and WJ lurking...

Cable is in and routed , thanks for the idea @catfishblues .

Heres the temporary pull handle location.