World Record Trailer Build

[KYNate]

Prepare to witness history being made. I am going to build this thing - start to finish - while wearing no other shoes besides my trusty Crocs!
*edit* That was a terrible idea. Once my feet heal up, I'll make some progress and update.

 

[KYNate]

Trailer is 4x6 base with upper supports 5' wide to accommodate a Gem Top utility camper.
I have Timbren 3500 lb HD axle-less with 4" lift. US Adapters from 6x5.5 to 5x150.
Tundra steel wheels with (eventually) matching BFG KO2S.
There will be a rack NOT ATTACHED to the camper top but to the trailer only that will support a RTT. I have a light weight 23zero.
Front tongue box with room between it and the trailer body to house 3 jerry cans.
I have water tank and 12v pump.
will have 3 jacks for levelling.
Planning on a solar/battery system but have no idea where to start on that.
Like to have some counter top space attached, as well as lighting. Maybe propabe tank. All the little stuff.
Goal is to have it done, well "done" in time for expo east in November.

 

[KYNate]

Reached the point where I could not buy more stuff - had to start sticking metal together. Started with the stick welder tacking things together. But I eventually started using my new Hobart Handler 210...I'm still better with the arc.

 

[KYNate]

Box starting to take shape. Placed

45s anywhere I could do so reasonably.

 

[KYNate]

the tongue box support going together. Took a few cuts to figure out the angles, but got it pretty close eventually.

 

[KYNate]

Trying to decide if I need a full length tube welded underneath the entire frame front to back for my tongue just to tie it all in, or if I can just add a length of receiver to the front of the tongue box. I'm using a Max Coupler.

 

[cmck]

Prepare to witness history being made. I am going to build this thing - start to finish - while wearing no other shoes besides my trusty Crocs!
*edit* That was a terrible idea. Once my feet heal up, I'll make some progress and update.

Look out for that splatter burning the crocs

 

[cmck]

What I read said, you get the most bang for the buck with a triangle tied into the front and second cross member.

 

[KYNate]

What I read said, you get the most bang for the buck with a triangle tied into the front and second cross member.

Does the triangle inhibit being able to "jacknife" properly? I guess it wouldnt, just might contact sooner?
Also did you make your tongue extendable to travel better on the highway? Mine is almost the same length - and same length hitch-to-axle as my 5x8 utility trailer that tracks very nicely. So all that to say I don't think it's necessary but wondering if I'm overlooking something.

 

[cmck]

The triangle might change the limit of jack knife. In my case I can go 10 degrees past 90 before contacting the bumper. I can do a photo tomorrow sometime if you would like. I tested it with the wood prototype.

I toyed with a fully adjustable tube in a tube idea. I scraped it in favor of a 30” extension to the tongue for the road. I haven’t made that yet. I find the tracking short is good, however backing is really quick. The steering wheel on the 100 going from 11 to 1 on the clock gets the trailer really turning. (I have all of 6 miles on the trailer and backed it twice.)

I expect the big usage for the extension will be when I drive road to the trail and around town in utility mode.

My tongue to frame is 3’6” and the extension adds 2’6”. Then there is the maxcoupler and the hitch maybe 8” off the bumper face.

Let me know if you need more measures.

 

[KYNate]

The triangle might change the limit of jack knife. In my case I can go 10 degrees past 90 before contacting the bumper. I can do a photo tomorrow sometime if you would like. I tested it with the wood prototype.

I toyed with a fully adjustable tube in a tube idea. I scraped it in favor of a 30” extension to the tongue for the road. I haven’t made that yet. I find the tracking short is good, however backing is really quick. The steering wheel on the 100 going from 11 to 1 on the clock gets the trailer really turning. (I have all of 6 miles on the trailer and backed it twice.)

I expect the big usage for the extension will be when I drive road to the trail and around town in utility mode.

My tongue to frame is 3’6” and the extension adds 2’6”. Then there is the maxcoupler and the hitch maybe 8” off the bumper face.

Let me know if you need more measures.

That makes sense. It'll make even more sense when I get out in the garage and start mocking it up probably, too! Thanks for the info. I cut my tongue to be 38" or 1/2 the width of the rear bumper. I also have an 18" receiver tube so I might just extend the whole thing 12" or so. Went with 3/16 2" tube for the tongue so the tongue should be no problem.

 

[ntsqd]

If you put the tongue tube UNDER the frame as built so far you could simply extend it to the third cross-member. If you want to add triangulation to that it will help, but it shouldn't be totally necessary unless you're really going to beat on the trailer. I would go up in dimension though. Say 2.5" square x 3/16" wall would be my minimum and if you're willing to have the weight of 1/4" wall then it it fairly simple to step it down to 2x2 at the coupler.

My grandad's RoT for trailer tongue length is that it be a minimum of 1/3 of the distance between the coupler and the trailer axle. Best towing trailer I've ever towed and now own is one that he built to this rule in 1958.

 

[KYNate]

Making some headway after a month off - summer vacation, work trips, weekends at the lake. It was just too hot to be welding!
Anyway, trying to settle on the location for this timbren suspension. If I mount the center of the suspension at the center point of the main bed, it puts the wheels waaay toward the back. I think that's the way to do it though. Any feedback or insight on this?

 

[ntsqd]

......
My grandad's RoT for trailer tongue length is that it be a minimum of 1/3 of the distance between the coupler and the trailer axle. Best towing trailer I've ever towed and now own is one that he built to this rule in 1958.

Simple math to find the spindle's starting ideal position. 2X the length that the unladen tongue tube sticks out from the front of that rack/shelf framework as measured back from the same feature.

I worry that the 2X2 tongue tube is going to be a bit small.

 

[KYNate]

Simple math to find the spindle's starting ideal position. 2X the length that the unladen tongue tube sticks out from the front of that rack/shelf framework as measured back from the same feature.

I worry that the 2X2 tongue tube is going to be a bit small.

My confusion is around the way the axle-axle-less suspension is put together. Do I dis regard the mounting hardware and simply put the center of the wheel bearing where I want it as if it were a standard trailer axle? I'm going to reinforce the 2" with both some triangulation and some angle. Think that will help?

 

[ntsqd]

The location of the spindle is all the matters to how the trailer tows. The rest of it is merely support hardware.

 

[KYNate]

The location of the spindle is all the matters to how the trailer tows. The rest of it is merely support hardware.

Great thanks! That's the key piece I needed!

 

[kirvesmies]

What I read said, you get the most bang for the buck with a triangle tied into the front and second cross member.

x2
with the triangle you get 3 points of support before the tongue starts to bend
re: axle cl, work off the wheel as you would with a standard axle. presonally i'd set the axle to inherently build in 10% more tongue weight but i'm no engimahneer.
fab work is lookin' good by the way

 

[ntsqd]

Really need to do a Free Body Diagram (FBD) to see how it all works. It is too bad that the M.M. Smith book on building trailers is out of print and expensive because it does a great job of making this as simple and easy to do as possible. The various Rules of Thumb out there for trailer building all fall apart in some specific instances. An FBD makes it easy to see if you're in one of those situations or not.

In the case of a single tube tongue the dimension of the tube is crucial to its bending strength in both the vertical and the horizontal. Wall thickness buys you a lot LESS bending strength for the same weight than does increasing the size of the tube. An example (if I've done the math right)-
A 12" long tube supported at each end with a 1000 lbs point load at the center:

2 X 2 X 3/16" wall tube bends .008" at the center & weighs 4.6 lbs/ft

2 X 2 x 1/4" wall tube bends .008" at the center & weighs 6.0 lbs/ft

2.5 X 2.5 X 3/16" tube bends .003" at the center & weighs 6.0 lbs/ft

Don't look at how small those bending numbers are, look at how the 2.5" tube bends less than half of what the 2.0" tube does when under the same load.

 

[cmck]

Making some headway after a month off - summer vacation, work trips, weekends at the lake. It was just too hot to be welding!
Anyway, trying to settle on the location for this timbren suspension. If I mount the center of the suspension at the center point of the main bed, it puts the wheels waaay toward the back. I think that's the way to do it though. Any feedback or insight on this?

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Welcome back!