Noob on a trailer

Geodoc

Adventurer
Hi all, well, I decided to go ahead with my trailer build today. I've got all the metal (2x2x.120). wheels, axle, just about everything except for the box material and electric.

Here's the plan - I'll be building the frame from 2x2x.120 (I just took a welding class at the local community college, so I now know what I'm doing). The cargo area will be about 4x6 (maybe a little wider, but no longer) with a tongue that will have the A-frame style (don't know what it's called) extending from the middle of the tongue to the first support under the trailer. I will be putting supports every 18-24" (but being sure not to interfere with the axle). Tabs will be on the frame to so that I can bolt the box to the tabs (don't want to penetrate the tubing).

The axle is a 3500# leaf spring axle. Wheels are 15" with 205 70R15 tires (sorry, can't recall if their bias or ply).

The design is the same as I used on a little Harbor Freight trailer - a side door on each side near the front, and a drop down door in the back, with two compartments. I'll be doing a sandwich, in which 1" foam insulation sanwiched between 1/8" covered with epoxy, with the corners fiberglassed.

One piece of advice I'm looking for is how to create a weatherproof/dustproof door. Any suggestions?

The plan is to be complete by the 25th. If it is, you'll get to see it at the NW Overland Rally.

Todays work involved assembling the axle (talk about a lot of grease :Wow1:), putting on the wheels, and cutting the angle iron for the tabs. I'll do some more work on Tuesday when I start cutting the frame material and welding it up. Pix to follow.
 

java

Expedition Leader
I used a piece of weather striupping on the door. Against the piece it closes on. Went for a very dusty drive in eastern WA without too much inside.
 

Geodoc

Adventurer
Just about ready to weld - playing with the welder to figure out the best set up. Today's plan is to drill the holes in the tongue for the coupler and to weld up the frame. We'll see how far I get.
 

Geodoc

Adventurer
Sorry for the lack of pix, but I'll post some later.

Got the frame squared up and welded most of the way (outside edges of the all pieces and the crossframe pieces). Still need to weld the inside corners of everything, but since most of it was done bent over, with the frame resting on angle iron.... Tomorrow I'll put the frame on some sawhorses to make life easier :coffeedrink:

Also got the holes drilled in the tongue and put the ball mount in place - all holes lined up :wings:

My goal tomorrow is to complete the welding and get the the spring hangers welded on - thereby completing the basic frame.

If I have time I'll drill holes in the angle iron and weld it on the frame (will be flush with the frame, instead of up the sides of the box).

I'll also be ordering some fenders (Jeep style, naturally) - they should be ready by Thursday or Friday, just in time for the weekend.
 

Geodoc

Adventurer
No time to drill angle iron or weld it on, but I got the tongue mostly finished (welded the bottom and sides, now I need to flip the frame and weld the top). It's a composite tongue (meaning it's a straight tongue with two angled pieces extending from about half way up the tongue to the outside of the second crossbeam of the trailer - I know, sounds flaky, but I'm too tired to drag my skinny, white, little donkey out to the garage to retrieve my camera to upload the pix - maybe tomorrow).

Spring hangers are on, so the axle is ready to go back on tomorrow.

Picked up the trailer lights, safety chains, and thingees to weld on the trailer tongue to hold the safety chains onto the trailer. Also order the fenders, which will be in tomorrow.

Turns out that when you have a homebuilt trailer in Washington State, prior to getting a title and license plate you have to have the State Patrol inspect it. They only do this by appointment, and the earliest appointment I could get was on July 15th :mad:, but the guy told me I could get a "moving permit" for my trip to the NW Overland Rally (actually, I need two).
 

jays0n

Adventurer
Yeah, that part stinks. I just went through that here in WA and have a couple tips that nobody mentioned to me before I went in. First, in case they didn't mention it you have to bring all your receipts with you to the inspection to prove that the parts weren't stolen from other vehicles/trailers etc. Second, you need to bring a certified weigh slip of the trailer's weight. I paid $15 to weigh it at a local gravel pit, they put a stamp on it to show it was weighed on a certified scale. Third, the inspection was a joke. I never got out of the truck, he never checked the lights or basically anything and never even said anything about the Lock'n'Roll hitch, which if you've never seen one looks like it was built by aliens! He looked at my receipts and weigh slip, asked a few questions about it (mostly about my design, nothing about construction or safety), riveted a VIN onto the tongue, stamped that VIN into the steel with some punches and sent me on my way to the Dept. of Licensing for plates. He told me to take all the paperwork I showed him plus what he gave me and show it to them.

Now this is where i wish I was smarter. THEY want the receipts so they can establish a value for the trailer and charge you sales tax on it! Now if you bought everything in WA state then you already paid the tax and you're good to go. I bought much of my stuff online and the fiberglass tub is a Dinoot (jscherb's design, which comes from OR) so I got to pay about $500 including the plates and tabs for one year and I believe $65 of that was for the inspection!!!

Here is my finished product behind the FJ, wish we could make it to the rally this year but we'll be camping with the trailer at Yellowstone for the whole week, never been so we're pretty psyched! Good luck with your project, can't wait to see pics!

 

Geodoc

Adventurer
Thanks for the info jaysOn - nobody mentioned I needed a weight certificate (lucky I live near a quarry).

Okay, let's see if I can upload some images.

Okay, think I figured out how to upload images. Anyhoot, got the frame all welded up, including installing the axle and safety chains.

cutting tube web.jpg

mounting the axle web.jpg



Picked up the fenders, lights, and angle iron for them all today, so plan on welding them up tomorrow. Also picked up a small sandblaster attachment for my air compressor ($25) and a bag of sand for it ($10 for 100 lbs). After I get all welded up, I'll sandblast the frame and all exposed metal (covering up the axle hubs/spindles to prevent sand from getting in). With any luck I'll be done welding tomorrow and can get a coat of primer on it. Decided to do a dark brown paint for the frame (why be conventional? As we say in our family, "The only thing normal in our house is the setting on the dryer").

ready for fenders web.jpg
 
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Geodoc

Adventurer
Finished putting on the fenders today, along with a ton of brackets to hold the cargo box in place (that took a while!). Other than the brackets for the tail lights, the welding is all done. Tomorrow I'll put those on, sandblast the frame, and primer it. With any luck I'll also get a coat or two of finish paint on it.

Also picked up the wood and foam for the cargo box (ouch - pricy).
 

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