Expedition trailer made from FJ40 tub (4 Viewers)

[Super Slow Rodeo]

If that tire is pneumatic then it's going to be a pain to keep air in. Linda like a wheel barrow tire.
It's looking good and looks like it will be just what you wanted.

Enjoying the build, now hurry up. Springs a coming!

SSR

 

[misterpepper]

Very slick. I love the new caster setup. Nicely done VI.

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

If that tire is pneumatic then it's going to be a pain to keep air in. Linda like a wheel barrow tire.
It's looking good and looks like it will be just what you wanted.

Enjoying the build, now hurry up. Springs a coming!

SSR

Your probably right. Maybe I will squirt some slime in it. I like how nicely it rolls over rough terrain though.

 

[Walking Eagle]

I've used fix a flat in my wheel barrow tire, it sorta glues it on.

 

[77TLCFJ40]

Top notch trailer fabbin' VI.

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

Not much to show, but got the safety chains welded on. Here's a side view of the trailer and tow vehicle. I put 33X9.50's all around. Not the greatest quality photo but you can see how nicely the tongue jack tucks up when raised. Trailer has extended shackles, 40 does not. Rear springs are sagging badly as well. I will need to do some work there before taking her out.

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

I have been working on the design of the lift system. I think I have it pretty much locked down. I bought some springs and will start to test spring rate to make sure that they will be adequate. Now that My mechanical engineer (MisterPepper) is back from China, maybe we can make some real progress.
The lift will be a home built variation of the pic below. The springs are hidden inside the tubes and connected to cables.

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

I finally built up the nerve to take the fiberglass top apart again and widen it so that I have the proper driprail overhang all the way around. I decided that this time I would screw the wood slats to the outside. I had some trouble the first goround with the slats cracking in the tight radius. No problem this time. So far so good. Still have to work my way up to the center but everyting is flush and lining up at this point.

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

Got the rest of the wood slats on. Long story short, with some care and pursuasion the pieces all came together . The curvature turned out really well. Nicely rounded. On the underside I now have about a hundred screw tips that I need to grind off before I can lay some glass. There are a couple gaps in between the pieces 1/8" wide at the widest. Any sugestions on filling those? I am a noob to fiberglass.

 

[Super Slow Rodeo]

First off!
Did you use a releasing agent on the underside of your stir sticks?
If not the fiberglass resin is going to stick to the stir sticks real bad and make a mess!
You can wrap them in saran wrap or coat them in a thin coat of wax for a releasing agent if you want to save money.

If that were mine I'd get some heavy construction paper, cut them in 3 inch strips and coat enough sheets with a releasing agent to over lap and cover the gaps and use under the stir sticks you have now. Just overlap the waxed construction a bit to use as a simple mold. Start at one end and remove one stir stick and lay the coated paper against the gap and replace the stir stick. Work your way to the other end. Peel the paper back without folding it and it will stay smooth when you apply the resin and glass by brushing it in between the gaps.

It makes it easier to shape the glass and resin now than to have to sand all the bumps down later.

Then cut some fiberglass cloth in strips the width of the gaps.

You don't want the resin to get a grip on the screw tips.
Makes them real hard to remove once the resin sets up on them! So, do grind the points off your screws flush with the underside.

From the underside, brush on some resin in the gaps against the underside construction paper that coves the gaps then stuff the cloth strips into the gaps and paint it in with more resin. Try to get all the air bubbles out and smooth as you paint it in. Try to keep it smooth and flush as possible. Once this cures, remove most of your stir sticks, but leave enough to help hold it together at the stress points and then lay another coat of resin and wider fiberglass strips over the seams on the underside. Overlap the seams by at least an inch or two. More is better but then it becomes heavy real quick if you add too much.

If you have some underside ribs, now is a good time to glass them in for strength.

That is a brief description, just remember fiberglass is not that hard to use. It just gets heavy real fast the more resin and glass cloth you use. But, it will also be stronger the thicker it is. Wood or steel ribs help keep the weight down and the strength up.
Barriers and molds can be made out of anything as long as the resin can't get a grip on it. That's what the Releasing Agent is for. It helps you remove the mold pieces once the resin and glass had cured.

The hard part is learning how much is enough and how much is too much.

I hope this makes sense!

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

What about duct tape on the seams?

 

[Super Slow Rodeo]

What about duct tape on the seams?

It will work, but duct tape has a texture and if you use it sticky side down the glue is going to have an effect on the resin.
You will find your cloth mat sticking to the tape funny and not letting the resin smooth out like it should.

But, it will work if you're not real particular.
Or if you put a 1/2 strip top side down under a 3 inch wide stickside down. It will still may show a pattern but nothing that can't beblock sanded out with some elbow grease..

Gap splicing really needs a releasing agent or wax coating to keep it smooth.

Try a short strip and see if it works well enough for you.
Most of my experience comes from Corvette bodies and and such so they pretty much have to be perfect or the painter throws a fit.

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

Well, I think duct tape may work then for this application, because I will be Glassing a layer on the outside as well. So any litte patern left by the tape will be covered up anyway. Im not real particular either. I understand that I am a novice and nothing on the trailer is perfect anyway. Just trying to learn as I go. When I set out to do this project, I envisioned it being a good practice run before I build the 4 door 40. I think so far I am acomplishing what I set out to do. Thanks for the tips I really apreciate it!

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

lift arm sketch

MRPEPPER whipped out his mad solid works skills and sketched out the lift mechanism. The next step will be to test spring rate on the trampoline springs and then run some mechanical advantage calculations to give me an idea of how much these arms will each lift and weather or not I need to change some geometry. So far so good though. It looks like the way we have it now there wont be any interference between moving parts. I think I have found some pullys that will work too.

 

[Super Slow Rodeo]

Well, I think duct tape may work then for this application, because I will be Glassing a layer on the outside as well. So any litte patern left by the tape will be covered up anyway. Im not real particular either. I understand that I am a novice and nothing on the trailer is perfect anyway. Just trying to learn as I go. When I set out to do this project, I envisioned it being a good practice run before I build the 4 door 40. I think so far I am acomplishing what I set out to do. Thanks for the tips I really apreciate it!

Personally, I wouldnt worry about it too much.
Try it and see if its good enough for you.
If not, the nice part about working woth fiberglass is you can sand it down and fix it.
I'm not a real expert, as my Brother tells me.
Hes the expert, but Ive spent a lot of time helping him patch up the glass cars. More than Ive wanted to do. He's the Perfectionist!!!!!

Have fun with it and do it your way. But do use a releasing agent on the stir sticks. It will save you a lot of frustration and sanding. Cause once those wood sticks get resin on them they are part of the structure. And sanding them off is the only way to get them off. Maybe use some duct tape on the contact side of the stir stick and see if it works well enough for you as a releasing agent.
I'm enjoying the build and someday I'll get baclk to mine.
Been playing with my Expo motorcycles this year and having fun getting ready for some long rides.

My friends are bugging me to get my Rock Crawler running again.

Still enjoying your build!
SSR

 

[misterpepper]

VI, Super Slow makes a good point about the stir sticks becoming part of the structure. I think some 2" wide masking tape might be even better than duct tape because the resin will disolve the glue on the duct tape and it will change the way the resin cures. Masking tape has a lot less glue to disolve and taint the resin. One stick at a time and it shouldn't be that big of a deal to put on. I can come over and help if you think it's going to be a problem getting some of the gaps to line up but with a stick on either side as you swap them out one by one everything should remain pretty lined up.

Super Slow, the plan is to put a layer of fiberglass on top as well as bottom, similar to how it is from the factory. The gaps will need to be filled with something (other than fiberglass and resin). Would you recommend Bondo? VI could lay some fiberglass on the underside, then fill the gaps with bondo, and lastly fiberglass the topside. Also, how wide should the fiberglass strips be to get good adhesion with the top and how many layers do you think he will need both top and bottom considering the top will be inherently weak where the seams are. Would it be wise to start with a narrow strip and then go progressively wider as the layers build? Cosmetically the underside does not need to be anything special, and on the topside it will receive bondo and paint to smooth out any imperfections.

 

[Super Slow Rodeo]

VI,

Super Slow, the plan is to put a layer of fiberglass on top as well as bottom, similar to how it is from the factory. The gaps will need to be filled with something (other than fiberglass and resin). Would you recommend Bondo? VI could lay some fiberglass on the underside, then fill the gaps with bondo, and lastly fiberglass the topside. Also, how wide should the fiberglass strips be to get good adhesion with the top and how many layers do you think he will need both top and bottom considering the top will be inherently weak where the seams are. Would it be wise to start with a narrow strip and then go progressively wider as the layers build? Cosmetically the underside does not need to be anything special, and on the topside it will receive bondo and paint to smooth out any imperfections.

I wouldn't use bondo as a structural filler. Its not designed for strength. I would cut some glass cloth into narrow stips. Mix up some resin and brush it into the gap from the under side, then pack the the gap with the cloth. Use a plastic paddle to push it in and smooth it across the surface making sure to get it as level as possible. Premember you have something (be it duct tape or something suitable like wax papaer) on the under side,(whitch will be the outer roof of the top) to keep the resin and glass strips from poking through the top and give it shape.
Then once it cures, sand it down some, and then I would overlay at least a six or eight inch strip (3 or 4 inches on either side of the gap) across the underside as a reinforcement patch. Don't forget to sand (rough up sand) the underside of the roof 3 or 4 inches to either side of the gaps for the overlayment to grab onto the old fiberglass.
Two or three layers of light cloth this way should give you enough strength you will only need one layer on the top. That will make feathering in the top patch much easier and less work.

Then use the Bondo to fill in the air bubbles and low spots in the top side finish. Use as little bondo as you can get away with.
Think of Bondo as nothing more than a plaster with the strength of sheekrock and your project will turn out great.
Bondo is an external filler for low spots in the finish.
Not a bonding agent.

I must confess though that its been a few years since I built anything out of fiberglass and there may be more products in the Bondo Product Line that I dont know about.
I found this out one time last year when giving advice about POR 15. I was giving advice based on the POR 15 product I'd last used 6 years prior and it seems they had expanded their line to do other things I wasnt aware of. I think it was a bed liner product they'd come out with, and this guy was talking about using POR15 as a bed liner and I thought that was stupid. Come to find out POR 15 Corporation had come out with a Bed Liner.
My Bad.

So remember the advice I'm spewing out is based on 10 year old technology. Old School knowledge. All these new fangled products dont always come through my shop. But, I do know some Pro's still in the field, if I need to update my knowledge base.

Have fun with it and do small area test to see if you like your method. If it works then do the rest of it that way. If not then you have only screwed up a small part and it won't take so long to fix.

SSR

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

I kind of took a diversion this week from Working on the top. Instead, I media blasted and painted 2 sets of OEM steelies. One set for the trailer and one for the tow vehicle. Im excited to mount up the 33X9.50's all around.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Love it

Funny about the stir sticks for the top assembly, I used the same thing

Would love to check this out in person!

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

Love it

Funny about the stir sticks for the top assembly, I used the same thing

Would love to check this out in person!

Im trying to make a push to get it road worthy for Cruise Moab. Obviously won't be anywhere near complete. But hopefully I will have it with me hauling my gear.