My scratch built expedition style trailer build up thread

[sseaman]

Drew, looks amazing. The Krylon paint should work well for the shower inclosure. I would wipe it down with mineral spirits or something first.

[REZARF]

Originally Posted by usmcruiser

Drew I don't want to be a party pooper, but rather bring something to light while it can still be fixed.

I was going threw this whole thread again and admiring your work when something occurred to me on about page 19. I noticed that your tailgate opened all the way sits flush on the rear bumper. Then I recalled you were going to run FJ40 tail lights in it for some class. With the 40 taillights on there are you at risk of crushing the lenses every time you open your tail gate? I seem to recall for some reason you saying you might run some other taillights but for the life of me I cannot find the post. Here are some pics of what i'm talking about.


Tailgate fully lowered for drawer access:


Protruding FJ40 taillight assembly:

Nick-

Glad to have a friend like you in my corner. You are totally right, one of my club members pointed it out to me as well. The way the lid hinges it may clear, but probably not. I will have to use either a rubber bumper (think rubber stop) and or a set of limiting cables (more likeyl).

Man, you need to come out to my house and go over this with a fine tooth comb, I appreciate it... and anyone else that sees a problem I would ask you to speak up! Not that I will change it though

Thanks man.

Rezarf <><

[REZARF]

Originally Posted by partsprofessional@ho

For painting the plastic for your shower take a look at Krylon | Krylon® Fusion for Plastic®

Krylon claims that their Fusion paint will adhere to plastics. Check out Wal-Mart or Ace Hardware or others to find it.

Can't wait to see this all painted and put together. I love the look, especially with the RTT on it.

Great! Thanks I am going to pick up a can today and give it a whirl... welcome to mud!

[dieselcruiserhead]

Drew simply amazing, totally pumped to check it out at Moab...

[calphi27]

are you worried about having the showering assembly in the same box, and close to, the dual battery setup? great build btw, I have been following it for some time!

[REZARF]

Originally Posted by calphi27

are you worried about having the showering assembly in the same box, and close to, the dual battery setup? great build btw, I have been following it for some time!

Nope, it may make for easy heated showers

Why do you ask?

[REZARF]

I got the water tank fitted, installed, welded and bolted up tonight. Not too bad.

First up was to make sure the water tank fit with room for the fittings... just kidding, I did that over a year ago. Then I cut a piece of 3/4" angle to keep the tank from sliding around front to back, I will add little spacers to keep it steady laterally.

I had some scrap hinge left over from my lids and came up with a neat idea. I basically made a removeable hinge out of a short section of the remaining hinge. This allows me to slide off the braces and remove the tank easily if I ever need to. I bet after a while the thing should be rinsed and cleaned out pretty good. I welded the little hinges to the lower brace, which was welded to the floor.

[REZARF]

Here is a close up of the hinge part that is essentially welded to the floor as an anchor.

Then I bent up a few peices of 2" strap to fit the contour of the water tank and welded them to the hinge.

Now I can fold them up or down to remove the tank. The bolt on to the crossbar I added a few months ago... I used a few nutserts and the tank can get cinched down nice and tight without deforming any of its shape. I am really happy with how it came out. I have made the decesion this is as far as I am going to get with the plumbing before Moab. I am striving for paint this weekend!

[REZARF]

Ta-Da!

The finished product. It is super snug and strong. I am excited about how it came out. And dang, if grade 8 isn't man jewelry... what is!

[partsprofessional@ho]

Originally Posted by REZARF

Great! Thanks I am going to pick up a can today and give it a whirl... welcome to mud!

Thanks for the welcome. Boy it must have been late last night when I registered, I thought that I used GeoTracker90 as my user name. Now I need to figure out how to get that changed.

Can't wait to see this painted up and all pretty like. You're making some real good progress.

Mike

[REZARF]

Originally Posted by partsprofessional@ho

Thanks for the welcome. Boy it must have been late last night when I registered, I thought that I used GeoTracker90 as my user name. Now I need to figure out how to get that changed.

Can't wait to see this painted up and all pretty like. You're making some real good progress.

Mike

Mike! Welcome, I recognize your name from ExPo, lots of good stuff here too. Aren't you doing the indy suspension build up?

Rezarf <><

[cruiserdan]

Originally Posted by REZARF

if grade 8 isn't man jewelry... what is!

[REZARF]

I got the gas struts installed tonight. I made up a little plate with a nut welded inside them, then opened up a hole in the tubing on the side and lid of the trailer and welded them in place. This allowed me to keep all the mounting nuts blind, so you can't see them from the outside of the trailer. Keeps the lines clean!



Got the buggers installed, closed up the lid... got the wife, to show off the struts of course... opened them up... and HISSSSSSSSS one of the struts puked its guts out and died. Bummer, this is my first bad item from McMaster, I hope they come through for me.

Any way here are the pics...

[REZARF]

Here is a few shots of the measuring fiasco... my geometry skills are kinda weak, but things started to come together once I had the tape up and could visualize the struts and their placement.

McMaster has a great write up on figuring out the pressure and length needed. Just search gas struts on their site.

[REZARF]

The non-dead strut installed.

:cry:

[spressomon]

Geez Drew...how many times can we say "great job", "nice", etc.? But just about every set of pics and rhetoric you post inspires the same desire to send you kudos!

Great job!

[partsprofessional@ho]

Originally Posted by REZARF

Mike! Welcome, I recognize your name from ExPo, lots of good stuff here too. Aren't you doing the indy suspension build up?

Rezarf <><

Guilty as charged! It looks like I have a lot more reading to do over here. Nice work on the struts. I'll have to check out McMaster on the install instructions. Thanks for the tip. It's amazing some of the tech info in some of the catalogs out there.

Top notch, just like the rest of your build.

Mike

[AxleIke]

Are you sure both struts were the same. For those ratings, they shouldn't have had a problem. But if they sent you a 200 lb rated, instead of 500, i can see it puking easily.

[REZARF]

Nope, it just burst. Both are rated at 150 lbs of lifting force, and I have them arranged that it will aid in the lifting but probably still need a prop to hold open all the way. The lid actually opens a good bit higher when they were both working.

Cool thing to know, McMaster got back to me in about 20 minutes last night at 11pm Mountain time, and they are sending out a new one today for free! Got to love a place that knows customer service!

Lid gets stripped and cleaned up for white powder coat tonight!

ALso, anyone here used Crossfire paint from NAPA, best deal around, I think it is what I am going to shoot.

THanks!

[AxleIke]

Ah. I thought they were 500# units. Which is why I was so surprised to see it burst.


Good that they are getting you a new one. Have fun at the PCer.

[REZARF]

Originally Posted by spressomon

Geez Drew...how many times can we say "great job", "nice", etc.? But just about every set of pics and rhetoric you post inspires the same desire to send you kudos!

Great job!

Thanks man, the encouragement helps!

Originally Posted by partsprofessional@ho

Guilty as charged! It looks like I have a lot more reading to do over here. Nice work on the struts. I'll have to check out McMaster on the install instructions. Thanks for the tip. It's amazing some of the tech info in some of the catalogs out there.

Top notch, just like the rest of your build.

Mike

Mike, more on that indy build man! You should post up a link in a new thread over here to your build up on ExPo. killer stuff for sure. I might have to hire you out to install an indy suspension on my trailer

[Project60]

Originally Posted by REZARF

ALso, anyone here used Crossfire paint from NAPA, best deal around, I think it is what I am going to shoot.

If you don't mind me asking, what do they want for a gallon? I presume it is Single Stage Urethane?

[REZARF]

IIRC it is acrylic enamel, which is great for my application, and I only priced out a quart, which is only 37 bucks.

[miker]

Originally Posted by REZARF

ALso, anyone here used Crossfire paint from NAPA, best deal around, I think it is what I am going to shoot.

Drew, I've been following your build. You've done a fantastic job of building this trailer. Very, very nice!!

Regarding the paint, I don't recall the exact name "Crossfire" but a few years ago I painted a friend's Bronco with a NAPA automotive paint. We used all the same brand for sealer, surfacer, paint, reducers, hardeners, etc. Followed prep and mixing instructions carefully, etc. It looked great but the paint peeled badly after a couple years and this vehicle is garaged most of the time. There was very little adhesion of the paint to the sealer. The paint was not very expensive but in the end, it was