G'Day all - I thought I'd start a build thread on my 7x5 off-road trailer that I have started cutting up and re-fabricating recently. I bought it for $350 from a guy that used it as a farm trailer for the last 30 years or so. It was built by his grandfather originally, modified a couple of times, and has now ended up with me.
I spotted it on a Facebook Buy, Swap & Sell group back in February. It was about 70km away from me, but the price was right in my neighbourhood so I went and had a look. It was pretty rough, un-registered and had taken some punishment on the farm, but the rust wasn't "too bad" other than the front floor where it had sat out in the weather and filled up with water over the years. I wiggled a few wires, scraped a few contacts and swapped a bulb or two to get the lights working, paid the guy and towed it home under the cover of darkness. When I arrived home I noticed that one of the taillight lenses had fallen off on the voyage, so it would have been a guess for anyone following to see if I was stopping or not!
What I liked about it up front was that it sat level behind my 200 Series from the get-go, and will be the same on my other two Cruisers as well. Its also just a fraction wider than the 200, meaning I can see it in the mirrors when backing it up - another big plus!! Stripping it all down and getting the floor out has been the next order of business. This has uncovered a few dodgy welding jobs and some more rust, but that's all part of the fun right?
As I found it back in Feb 2018
And at present in the shed, ready to have a couple of patches welded back in to clean up and paint
The long term plan is to get the floor back in it, weld the patches up, new LED taillights, weld up the holes & gaps between some of the rough modifications, paint it with a 4E9 style colour & get a couple of new tyres. It will then most likely be pressed into duty as the dump hauler and carting dirt, railway sleepers & various plants to our home where my wife is keenly designing a garden. I'll probably regret how high this thing is once I'm trying to carry railway sleepers up and out of it, but it should handle the treatment - hence the name "The Punisher" (plus I really liked the Netflix series).
I spotted it on a Facebook Buy, Swap & Sell group back in February. It was about 70km away from me, but the price was right in my neighbourhood so I went and had a look. It was pretty rough, un-registered and had taken some punishment on the farm, but the rust wasn't "too bad" other than the front floor where it had sat out in the weather and filled up with water over the years. I wiggled a few wires, scraped a few contacts and swapped a bulb or two to get the lights working, paid the guy and towed it home under the cover of darkness. When I arrived home I noticed that one of the taillight lenses had fallen off on the voyage, so it would have been a guess for anyone following to see if I was stopping or not!
What I liked about it up front was that it sat level behind my 200 Series from the get-go, and will be the same on my other two Cruisers as well. Its also just a fraction wider than the 200, meaning I can see it in the mirrors when backing it up - another big plus!! Stripping it all down and getting the floor out has been the next order of business. This has uncovered a few dodgy welding jobs and some more rust, but that's all part of the fun right?
As I found it back in Feb 2018
And at present in the shed, ready to have a couple of patches welded back in to clean up and paint
The long term plan is to get the floor back in it, weld the patches up, new LED taillights, weld up the holes & gaps between some of the rough modifications, paint it with a 4E9 style colour & get a couple of new tyres. It will then most likely be pressed into duty as the dump hauler and carting dirt, railway sleepers & various plants to our home where my wife is keenly designing a garden. I'll probably regret how high this thing is once I'm trying to carry railway sleepers up and out of it, but it should handle the treatment - hence the name "The Punisher" (plus I really liked the Netflix series).
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