My turn for a trailer build!

[Spicy McHaggis]

Figured I'd give it a shot. This is my first ever fabrication/welding sorta project.

This is gonna be towed behind our JK as well as my FJ62. Will use it for camping supplies, and when we transfer (I'm active duty Coast Guard), we'll be hauling personal stuff in it as well.

Outer frame is 2"x3" .120 wall steel. Cross members are 2" square .120. Tongue is 2" .188 wall. 3500# Dexter axle assembly.

Ordered everything...and waited. Things do NOT come quickly to Kodiak.

Finally...things started showing up.

Started laying pieces out, measuring, and cutting. This is the basic layout (4'x6') with the tongue in position, but not completely ready to go (see later pics).

Main frame welded up, mocked up with the tongue and axle assembly.

Horizontal parts welded - done! This is the underside. I braced in the 4 corners, and added a lot of extra tongue support as well. A little overkill is just fine with me...

Topside ready to go.

I'm VERY happy with things up to this point. Square was only off by 1/16th of an inch. This rookie is VERY happy with that. The plan WAS for a 4'x6' trailer, but some crappy cutting equipment at the base auto hobby shop changed that to a 46"x70" (outside dimension) trailer. No worries!

Up next...getting the leaf spring mounts in place and welded up. Then start working on the sides.

 

[titanpat57]

Very nice start!!

I'll be following

Pat

 

[Vitesse_6]

Very nice indeed!
I remember starting what seemed like a daunting task like that... Keep up the good work.

 

[Teotwaki]

What brand of axle did you purchase? It looks as if the center of it is curved slightly upward to give a little negative camber to the tires. Or maybe I'm reading too much into a photo.....

 

[Vitesse_6]

What brand of axle did you purchase? It looks as if the center of it is curved slightly upward to give a little negative camber to the tires. Or maybe I'm reading too much into a photo.....

FWIW, Mine also has a bow to it, However I don't recall mine looking like I had any negative camber

 

[Sanchez]

nice work man keep the pics coming!

 

[Spicy McHaggis]

What brand of axle did you purchase? It looks as if the center of it is curved slightly upward to give a little negative camber to the tires. Or maybe I'm reading too much into a photo.....

Nope, you are correct. It's a Dexter axle. It's meant to be bowed that way.

 

[Teotwaki]

Nope, you are correct. It's a Dexter axle. It's meant to be bowed that way.

I also have a Dexter axle on my offroad trailer. Mine has electric brakes though.

 

[Teotwaki]

FWIW, Mine also has a bow to it, However I don't recall mine looking like I had any negative camber

Dexter's web site says:

AXLES - Why are some axles bent in the middle?

The upward bend in the axle is called "camber". Camber is the angular relationship of the wheel to the road surface in the vertical plane. Axles are typically built with a pre-determined bend in the tube that compensates for the expected deflection under load.

 

[batcon]

Looks great! Just curious, what welder are you using?

 

[nat]

Looking good so far!

 

[Teotwaki]

In this photo of your frame

What are your thoughts/plans about a rear bumper and some sort of receiver or tow points?

Something else worth thinking about is grab handles such as the ones on the Canadian M101 trailer. From personal experience they help a lot with repositioning a trailer that's off track on a trail.

 

[Spicy McHaggis]

Looks great! Just curious, what welder are you using?

Was using a 220 for the main frame, then had to step down to a 110. Both Lincoln wire feed.

 

[pbgbottle]

X2 you will at some point want a 2 inch reciever on the back of your trailer

...

In this photo of your frame

What are your thoughts/plans about a rear bumper and some sort of receiver or tow points?

Something else worth thinking about is grab handles such as the ones on the Canadian M101 trailer. From personal experience they help a lot with repositioning a trailer that's off track on a trail.

 

[Spicy McHaggis]

In this photo of your frame

What are your thoughts/plans about a rear bumper and some sort of receiver or tow points?

Something else worth thinking about is grab handles such as the ones on the Canadian M101 trailer. From personal experience they help a lot with repositioning a trailer that's off track on a trail.

Been following your thread as well. Very nice.

No plans as of right now for a receiver or tow points. Because of $$ I'm taking this one step at a time. Once I get the leaf spring mounts welded on, then I'll begin planning for the sides and top. Once those are done, then I'll come up with something for a tow point on the rear. Probably.

 

[REZARF]

Looks good bud. Keep up the good work. Try to picture two or three steps down from where ever you are to keep things moving along well.

 

[womacje]

Well done! I was torn between building my own and modding an M416... If I were to do it again, I would have gone your route, self build, no regrets though. I'm loving my M416 build. Its a great example of how much metal you need to make something strong.

 

[GILBERTO PEREZ]

AXEL SIZE

Nice, im preparing to fabricate mine, i jus finish my multy axist coupling,
???? On the axle how did you determine the size ( length ) what leght are you using,on the out side hub to hub,

 

[womacje]

Nice, im preparing to fabricate mine, i jus finish my multy axist coupling,
???? On the axle how did you determine the size ( length ) what leght are you using,on the out side hub to hub,

I posted the dimensions in my M416 build. I measured off my existing axle.