Elvis (formerlly --> Pepe' Our Little Mule) cont'd trailer build

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Meet Elvis... Originally bought from James Pierce as his "Pepe" Lil Mule. I am going to continue to improve the trailer until I am ready to go to the next level.

The original James Pierce "Pepe' Our Little Mule" can be found here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/88708-Pepe-Our-Little-Mule?referrerid=17713

Mike

 

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So here is our new trailer now named "Elvis" the day we picked it up.

 

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So the first mod was to add a tongue box and 12v power. I found a box that would fit the foot print I needed from Harbor Freight and picked up a 1000w 115v inverter. Added a couple of Diehard deep cycle batteries, NOCO 2X charger (for both batteries), Blue Sea power distribution and fuse block, 12V cigarette and USB plugs (also Blue Sea) as well as a 4 PIN round power plug with 8 AWG wire for a charging circuit to charge the batteries from the Jeep Alternator while traveling (switch selectable of course).

 

[SoDakSooner]

Nice setup.

 

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Thanks, It has definitely been a work in progress.... stay tuned for more photos... I am trying to document the build for sure. It is actually going up on the for sale section as soon as I get all the build photos up.

 

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So the first time we went camping, we thought we were not going to make it the entire trip. I got burned by boiling hot coffee when a jet boil exploded on my arm, good thing I know about field triage and my wife was a chef, we got it squared away quickly. Later that day after getting Silvadene for the burn the wife got stung over and over by a wasp and we had to go back to get antihistamines and benadryl to keep the reaction at bay. The next night we camped off a road in a ravine in Raton, NM. We were actually in CO by GPS. When I opened the swing away tire carrier little did I know that there was not a hinge stop and the tire bumped the lid which caused the lid slide off the hinges. Now the vehicle / trailer was pointed downhill (my fault for a newbie at camping) and the gas struts kept it from decapitating my wife's are (she was working out of the trailer when the lid came off) by pushing it forward of the non hinge side. The following photos are the mess we had to deal with getting it back on.

 

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Here is my fix for the lid coming off. I welded a double stack of nuts in front of the hinge making sure when the bolt is removed that the lid will still be removable. We never want the lid to come off while traveling unless you remove the stop bolt.

 

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So the original owner had fabricated a tumbler lock and pin latch. It was nice and finished well but was a pain to open when putting the key in, turning and lifting at the same time. If found some draw latches and fabricated a double nut stack (drilled out after welded) to accommodate a padlock. I used a BOLT brand padlock that is keyed to match my vehicle. Was nice because it reduced the amount of keys needed to carry and you always will have your ignition key. I also bought 2) Bolt hitch pin locks that is keyed to match the ignition key so I only have 1) key to take with me and that is for the tongue box.

 

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We decided to extend the tongue to make it pull a little better at the sacrifice of mobility on tight trails. Most of the driving is on the road to and from trail sites. Even with it extended it has proven very mobile on trails. I used 2" x 3" .125" wall tubing for the frame and 2" x 2" .250 wall seamless tubing for the backbone. Welded at all contact points on all sides. To top it off I had a piece T6065 .250 waterjet cut to match my tongue so there was solid mounting surface.

 

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So the new rotomolded 25 gallon poly tank needed a makeshift mount. I used 1" x 1" tubing with some plate to make a base to keep it from shifting side to side. I added heavy duty thin gauge straps for temporary fitment. After bolting down the aluminum plate and mounting the water tank, Dual Jerry Cans for fuel and battery tongue box. We took it on it's maiden voyage 3500 miles from Tulsa OK to Charlotte NC and back. Pulls like a dream now with the longer tongue and added weight to the hitch. (I just realized that I uploaded the tongue photos later in the build process).

 

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Again, not in the right order but I am unsure of the correct way to fix this. This is the step / fender guards I built out of 1" x 2" tubing.

 

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Pulled the water tank and added some lighter aluminum straps (with TIG welded gussets at the mounting point) to reduce some weight in preparation for 10# propane tank with removal of the fuel cells.

 

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We decided some hand rails to help support the step / fender guards would be helpful as well as a mounting point for the Fiamma awning that I was planning on adding.

 

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Got the fenders Line-X'd today and my God... $250 for both... I am in the wrong business... they are outrageous!!!

 

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So my friend James that I bought the trailer from had done some fantastic work on upgrading the trailer but I did not like the latch assembly that he had put in. It was finicky about opening when you turned the key. So I removed it and the bolts and welded up the holes. This is the point of no return. There was rust in several places that was bad and I wanted to fix it all the right way. So this is when I found out these are stamped and have 2 layers of material. Good and bad but means more work for me. Thanks James for the heads up on the weldable primer!!!! Lots of grinding, cutting and welding to fix everything prior to rust proofing this baby. I added a 1.5" piece of angle in the front due to the amount of rust that was there. I did not want it break or the floor to come out. The right rear corner had a lot of rust and I had to cut all the way through the bed to the 1/4" plate armored corners. Welding was fun do to not being able to get all the rust wire brushed out. But it took a good weld bead and is sealed top to bottom now.