New Build All comments welcome (5 Viewers)

[titanpat57]

Thanks guys....I'm all excited about the welder coming tomorrow night!!! I was out laying in the driveway cutting the old POS tongue off, and of cousre, Murphy's friggin Law, it starts to rain. So I'll have to come down with a "headache" so I can bail outa work early and finish before he gets here at 6p.m. Interesting though..I'm heavy in the rear by about(the best I could figure) 40 lbs. I hope the new extended length of the tongue, new jack, new 2" coupler, rack for the cooler/3 water jugs/battery, give me some needed weight. Obviously once the last items are in place, and loaded, I should have a couple hundred pounds of weight.

Geez Fred..ya think you'd come and give a guy a hand here....I'm not a cheap SOB like some of these guys. Hell..I'd even get you a six pack of Guiness so you felt at home.....lolol

 

[Farmer_Fred]

Sounds like the extra weight will even things out. I'll be over with a tin of Hammerite, oh and get some John Smith's in the cooler!

 

[titanpat57]

WELDER'S DONE!!

Poor guy left an hour ago..did one helluva nice job..all for a buck and half!! The tongue is long now but I'm pretty sure it'll be ok once the racks go on. Once we got head long into it..we realized how friggin bent the old one was (bent upwards like 2" in 3 feet) so we opted to cut the old stuff out and run some 2" x 2" x 1/4" stock for the new supports. I kept asking the poor guy "ya think we ought to run a bead here...and over there?" I'm sure after about an hour he figured I was crack or something, and gave me one of those "don't you have some grass to cut looks". So i just shut my mouth and watched intently, refraining from offering any more direction. Sorry about the night pix. What a pleasure to back it down into the bottom yard now, even at night. Ok...beddy bye time, gonna see what the inside of these eyelids look like for a couple of hours. Gonna take a break until Friday....I have off, and probadly going to pull the wheels and get the new rubber on, then some more lighting, and finish paint.

 

[titanpat57]

Hi All,

Well the rain stopped long enough to get some wiring done (NOT my strong suite). All connections are soldered, and heat shink tubing...so it's slow going. Also made the LED tail/stop lights with totally friggin awesome 5 watt LED backup lights in the same housing. The fly in the ointment was a catastrophic paint job failure when I went to spray them black...there some sort of reaction betwen the primer and finish coat. I had to totally strip one and repaint it..a real PITA.

I'm running all the wires also to a converter in a panel box , housing some lighting circuts, shore power connection, and 3 -12v plugs (all on seperate circuts too) . It will be nice to have a working 120v outlet for the "hair dryers and curling irons" so I'll look good for my fan club. All the other LED lights will be wired to the battery on the front of the tongue..which will draw next to nothing. A special note of thanks to "sseamans" for the link to "teardrop" page. The info on electric layout was invaluable, and a huge help. I'll get some pictures up in the middle of the week.

 

[PScottBx]

Just a quick note. I saw your first drawings and thought it looked great. I then saw the trailer you started with and thought to myself you had your work cut out for you and really not impressed from the initial choice. However, this thing looks awesome! Very very nice job. It really has come a long way and you've transformed it. Would love to know how much total $$ you have in it when you're done. I bet you come out sweet. Can't wait to see how it comes along.

You've done an outstanding job.



Bx

 

[titanpat57]

Thanks alot BX..It's nice to hear someone's watching the build. I wish I could get more of a run of time at it. A few hours here and there don't cut it. I work at a college (with almost a 2 hr. commute) so were flat out getting ready for the students to return in 2 weeks. I probadly went too crazy with lights and electrical, but I love useing LED's and like lots of light at night.

I'm going to insulate the floor and side walls with 1" foam and cover with finish plywood..3/8" I think. The inside would be a great place for someone to sleep if it was finished a bit. The only thing that's hard is not having a welder or a bunch of metal laying around, so when I need to connect something I have to bolt it up or wait to get help. It's really been wild watching everyone else's builds too (Gilz, Rezarf to name a couple) and appreciate any input good or bad. I'm having such a good time here maybe I'll even go trade that Titan in for a FJ.........hmm.....

 

[TheGillz]

Its looking good, that is like a expo/teardrop hybrid, real outside the box design. Well done.

 

[titanpat57]

Thank you Master Gillz...I know YOU know quality when you see it...lol. It's kinda like a teardrop on crack and/or steriods. I'm just chomping at the bit to get some more finished stuff done...and I know you know that feeling right now too!!

Be Well Pat

 

[sseaman]

thats one long hitch, are you sure it will be strong enough?


Check out this website
Tongue Strength

 

[titanpat57]

Thanks for the concern sseaman..as usaul you pull through with great info! I used a pc. of 3" x 3" x 1/8" for the tongue, the welder agreed that it would hold a ton (I hope he's right ) I can adjust the weight in the racks going up front to help distribute weight as needed, just as I can hold off carrying 21 gallons of water if there's going to be water where I'm going (say a campground) The size didn't show up on the spreadsheet with the tables on it. Best I could tell the square tubing weighs 4lbs a foot. So given the tongue length (72"), gross trailer weight (1200 lbs.) and metal used will support what I'm going to carry. I also plan to add some 1-1/2" angle from under the trailer to even further add support and stability.

 

[sseaman]

I have done a little research in planning for a trailer, but just never went through with it all. My small utility trailer I made can carry about 3 times more than I will ever have in it.

 

[titanpat57]

Her's some pix from tonight..just got done finishing some wiring and hooking up all the lights...whew!!

 

[titanpat57]

Sseaman's got we worried now over this tongue weight/length issue..so let me have your thoughts. The battery will go in front of the cooler but I'm also adding to 1-1/2" x 1/4" angles to the corner of the trailer extending towards the front, it really should make a considerable difference..although I can jump on right now with no major spring (and I'm 280) and feels good and solid. I only care about the safety of others I share the road with and wouldn't take a chance on hurting anyone or their family in the event of a problem...just want to be sure..that's all.

 

[cruzzer]

That trailer really came together nice!! and great line in your sig,, My sound for voicemail on my cell is "can I have 10,000 marbles please"

 

[titanpat57]

That trailer really came together nice!! and great line in your sig,, My sound for voicemail on my cell is "can I have 10,000 marbles please"

LOL..Ty and good sig yourself !!

 

[STB Power Systems]

Hey,

Just had to say great looking trailer, i really like your rear bumper/jack stands setup. It came together quickly from picture to trailer, now it's all the little stuff that seems to take forever. You will be camping in no time. Looking forward to seeing your cooler and water can mounts come togehter on the front.


Scott

 

[titanpat57]

Thanks Scott for the kind words!!

I took the wheels off yesterday, sanded ,primed and painted those bad boys. Went to get the new tires put on today and the guy only charged me 20$ to put on new tires and tubes...sweeeet!

I'm gonna stop at the Autozone and pick up new shiny lug nuts and run em' back on and take her for a test spin around the track. New pixs by mid-week, thanks for all the comments guys.

 

[titanpat57]

Update Time!!

Got some painting done, wheels done, and a few other small things. Even got a chance to put some "icing on the cake". My decals showed up!! I'll try to get some decent day shots sometime. Now the front rack and some interior finishing.

 

[titanpat57]

Damn!!! Almost forgot the ICING!!

 

[OlympiaFJ60]

What do you have for reverse lamps?

Your tongue should be ok for highway use. Your biggest problem may be bending it on tight backing. Once you have the coolers and batteries on I don't think it will look to long. Just make sure it is long enough to jack 90 deg to the truck.