Northern Tool 4ft Overland Trailer Build

Roam.Wild

Active member
I hate packing up the vehicles more than anything, even though we have everything condensed into boxes it still seems like it takes forever and everything ends up buried. So after looking through SO many threads and videos I decided to tackle building an overland trailer myself!

The starting point is a 4ft Northen Tool utility trailer that I'm extending 18 inches and making a RTT platform and a box with drawers and shelves for storage. My goal is to be under $800 and 40 hours of time spent, so we will see how that goes! I want to make something quality, that will last a bit, and that looks nice. Going to spend a lot of time polishing out details to make it look and feel quality. I don't want to be dragging an ugly piece of junk down the trail.

Day 1:

Picked up the trailer kit and put it all together, fairly simple and straight forward. You can tell this thing is going to need additional support for sure. It has quite a bit of flex and generally doesn't seem too strong, but I'll change that.

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As of 9/14/2020
Total time - 1.5 hours
Total $ - $298
 
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Roam.Wild

Active member
Took a bit of time to try and plan out what I wanted to do. Ordered some new metal for extending the trailer and making some bracing. Fired up the welder and got to work.

Here the extra metal I had cut. Some square tubing, some flat bar and some 1/4 inch thick sheet.
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Grinded all the seams, going to weld everything together because the bolts just weren't cutting it.

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Welding time! Got to weld up all the seams on top, over the next few days I will weld them all.

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I used the 1/4 inch thick flat bar to box the axle since it was just C channel and I'm hoping this makes it a bit stronger. It said the axle was rated for 1080 lbs out the box, and I shouldn't even be close to that when I'm done, but I figure boxing it may make it a bit tougher. I don't know anything about structural engineering though.

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And finally end of day 2, mocked up for the next stage!

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As of 9/25/2020
Total time - 4.5 hours
Total $ - $411 ($298 trailer, $111 metal)
 
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Roam.Wild

Active member
Got right to work yesterday!

Extended the tongue, welded in a new center support beam.

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Added in cross-bracing for the original section, I will be adding some more gusset corner support later.

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Extended the front by 18 inches, added in cross supports.

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Grinded down some welds, eventually, all the visible welds will be smoothed out.

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More grinding done, leveling, triple checked that everything was square and level before moving on.

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Last step for the night, 5ft RTT supports. The box will be 40 inches tall, so that is going to leave about 20 inches in between the bottom of the crossbars and the top of the box, I have an idea for some extra storage, mainly for firewood probably.

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As of 9/26/2020
Total time - 6.5 hours
Total $ - $411 ($298 trailer, $111 metal)
 

john61ct

Adventurer
Looks great! Don't intend to imply criticisms in questioning here.

I haven't seen the diagonal bracing, any function besides keeping the framing square? Maybe corner gussets would have served at less added weight?

Do you think weight & money were actually saved compared to starting with your own (probably simpler) design from scratch?
 

Roam.Wild

Active member
Looks great! Don't intend to imply criticisms in questioning here.

I haven't seen the diagonal bracing, any function besides keeping the framing square? Maybe corner gussets would have served at less added weight?

Do you think weight & money were actually saved compared to starting with your own (probably simpler) design from scratch?

Before the diagonal bracing, it just didn't seem very rigid, and after it feels strong as hell. I am adding some plate gussets to each of the 4 corners this week and that will help even more. I added the bracing after looking through other's builds and some quick google searches on how to brace a frame.

I've never made a trailer before, and originally I was just going to keep it 4ft and not extend it, but after planning out what I wanted, I needed to the extra room. We are building a second one for my dad starting this week and will be building from scratch instead of based off the Northen Tool frame, it will certainly be stronger and cheaper, but lesson learned!
 

john61ct

Adventurer
Yes like most things by the time we as non-pro's really start getting it right, it's time to stop and move on to the next learning experience :cool:
 

mudraider

Adventurer
Yep, no need for gussets with that bracing in there. That's redundancy you don't need or want

Sent from my pretty good android phone
 

Roam.Wild

Active member
very cool, the added steel and welding will do wonders for rigidity but the Northern Tool frame was never intended to leave a paved road. If you keep to well traveled roads I think it will do well. It will definitely meet your goal of being trail ready at a moments notice. It is a great way to keep camping. An $800 budget? Most would spend $8000 to get where you are (y)(y)(y)

I do wonder about the axle location, this represents weight distribution. 60% of the loaded weight should be ahead of the axle. Looks like the axle is bolted on so it can easily be relocated. Don't weld it until you know where the weight will be loaded.


ps, your goals of making camping as easy as living at home are the same as my goals when I built my trailer.

The axle /springs will be moving forward about 5 or 6 inches once everything is done for better weight distribution. $800 will be tight but I think I might pull it off!
 

Roam.Wild

Active member
Got a little more done last night!

Finished welding up the RTT rack and the awning arms! I must have ordered my metal wrong because I am short my front/rear cargo bars and two gussets for the front RTT rack, but I am picking them up today!

Also did lots of grinding and sanding. Metalwork will be 100% done Friday, barring anything small thing I may add on later, just have to weld on those 4 metal pieces, the front wheel jack, and 4 small corner leveling jacks! Then hopefully I'll lay down at least the first two coats of primer and maybe paint on Monday...

This weekend I’m going to take measurements and go get all my wood and stuff needed for the box!! My drop-dead date of October 24th is looking good, I think I can finish all the woodwork in two days and then 2 more for finishing touches.

As of 9/30/2020
Total $: $411
Total time: 9.5 hours

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Antwon412

Active member
Maybe it’s just the angle, but that looks super tall for being so short (lengthwise) of a trailer.
Looks like it would be very...unstable.

I do want add, cool project and great skills! I’d love to build a trailer but have zero welding knowledge.
 

Sloth Cruiser

New member
You're going to want to gusset those uprights for the RTT from the top of the original C-Channel frame to the inside face of the uprights. Then add additional bracing in the channel itself directly below the gussets the full depth and height of the C-channel frame. Those are going to fatigue over time, or just rip a coupon right out of that relatively thin C-Channel all together. If you have the space might be a good idea to also drill a hole or two from the inside of the C-channel through the inside face of the square upright and plug weld as well.

Trailer looks awesome though, especially for the money spent.
 

Roam.Wild

Active member
So I had finished all the welding and metalwork Friday! Welding on the leveling jacks in the corners and finished up the RTT rack! Did lots of sanding and grinding and got to lay one the first coat of primer...

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...but something several people have said was starting to make me second guess how tall this thing was....

as of 10/2/20:
$ spent: $494
Time spent: 11.5 hours
 

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