Villageidiots Trailer Build.

[villageidiot327]

ok, so i have had this little trailer for a little while, about 8 months. its a 4x6 Carson standard utility trailer.

i had this trailer built for my former vehicle, a 2016 transit connect, i could sleep in the connect, and the trailer was to haul stuff to shows (overland expo, etc etc). the trailer was built with a 4" drop axle, the ride height was PERFECT for the van, it was a GREAT match.

heres it loaded up in southern CA, heading to overland expo west..... its maiden voyage.

i built the box out of wood, 1/2" ply and 1x3 boards. it held all our product, and the vendor booth, etc.

Now, i have a SEVERE case of vehicular ADHD, and after 10 months with the van, and 22,000 miles, it moved on to its next owner.

enter my jeep.

2018, JK wrangler, 2 door.

Now, we know 2 things...... my 6'2" self can NOT sleep in a 2 door jeep..... so its back to a tent, or is it?

manual trans, base model sport. only options are AC and hardtop..... i told my salesman, i like my vehicles like i like my women, white and stripped. (he's my father in law!!)

next morning, it got new wheels and tires, and then 2 weeks later another set of wheels..... here it is is as it sits now, last weekend in death valley.

that brings us to the trailer........

first step was to swap the 4" drop axle for a straight axle.

from how it is above, to this

now lets pull the spare off the jeep and see how it fits....

looks like it'll work, needs a wheel spacer (going to go with 1.5")

this brings it up to "current" as of 3-22-18

 

[villageidiot327]

ok, so now its higher, but the wheel and tire package won't fit.

so what to do..... swap fenders? keep the box? start from scratch? how far should i take this......

so today after work, i backed the trailer in, pulled the box off, and got to work.

this is at 4pm....

couple in progress

pile of carnage,

and heres where we sit now.

and with the jeep spare back on.

 

[Hummelator]

So what's the plan?
RTT setup or teardrop style?

 

[villageidiot327]

the initial plan....

-reframe the upper portion with box tubing instead of angle iron

-make custom fenders/steps

-make a sheetmetal tub and floor, Tub to be 16" from the trailer floor to the top rail not including the lid.

-aluminum lid

-steel tailgate

i need to have the ability to forklift a pallet of parts into the trailer, and it needs to be able to be covered for cross country transport etc.

eventually, i will put a RTT on to the lid, but it will be low slung, floor of the tent right at lid level.

i will be doing this build in "phases", basically as money allows, time too, but mostly money.

 

[villageidiot327]

now, if you can't tell, I'm a mechanic. i work in a shop that does vintage mercedes. ill be doing this build at work, on nights and weekends. I'm NOT a fabricator. i dabble in fabrication, but its not my specialty, i have some good friends who are more versed in the fabrication area and they will be helping me out as needed.

 

[R Thomas]

Looking forward to your build. Way to jump into it and make things happen.

My son has a '66 200D. Obviously, it's not a fancy model, but it's an interesting car to drive around.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[villageidiot327]

Looking forward to your build. Way to jump into it and make things happen.

My son has a '66 200D. Obviously, it's not a fancy model, but it's an interesting car to drive around.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

200d fin body car is a neat little buggy. Best with a manual trans, the auto robs anything that little car can muster.

We do em all. Mostly SL’s as that’s where people are spending the money because that’s what brings money. Some of those mid 60’s sedans are starting to climb and a lot of them are coming out of the woodwork. They’re all pretty neat. I personally do mostly 190 and 230/250/280 sl’s as well as 300sl gullwing and roadster.

I don’t like working on the v8 cars, I prefer the inlines. We as a shop do them all.

 

[southpier]

could you share the jeep wheels source? thanks

 

[villageidiot327]

could you share the jeep wheels source? thanks

the wheels are a US wheel, series 68, in a 17x8 5"x5" with a 4.5" backspacing. had i not swapped to OEM 17x7.5 alloys on day two of the jeep, i would have ordered them in a 16x8, but i wasn't going to buy another set of tires. maybe when these tires wear out.

i ordered them from Summit Racing. currently, theyre $85/wheel.

the series 68 comes matte black.

series 63 is gloss red*
series 65 is gloss black*
series 66 is white*
series 69 is raw steel*

*not sure what color variants Summit carries.

 

[southpier]

thanks. they look "boss".

 

[villageidiot327]

ok, up at 6am and got an early start on scraping off more angle iron and welds off the trailer. the amount of flapper wheel/cutoff wheel dust is insane! must have been 3 dustpans full, shop dustpans, not that nancy dustpan the wife keeps under the sink

had to use a cut off wheel and cut thru the welds to free up the bits left over from yesterdays demolition.

once those were off, i could start scraping off the welds with a flapper wheel.

after copious amounts of flapper wheeling, the frame starts to look better again.

after that i couldn't quite figure out how to dissect the rear cross member out of the frame. it was basically 3 layers of angle iron, one from the old vertical post, one from the trailers side rail, and one underneath across the back of the trailer. i tried to cut it apart to no avail, multiple layers of weld were gunna make it next to impossible to cut off clean. so i just cut it off. i don't think the trailer will miss those three inches.

heres where the trailer sits now.

after i finished sweeping up the mess, i bailed so i could make the metal store to get what i think i needed.

framing the uprights with 1 3/4" box tube, i think its 13ga, maybe 16, kinda light, trying to keep the weight down. the main frame on this thing is pretty hoss, so I'm going a touch light. the top rails will be 1x3 laid on side so it kinda makes a flange/rail. the tub will also be sheetmetal, likely a 14ga floor and front panel, with 16ga sides. it'll all be welded, so the tub will also stiffen the upper frame work. thinking a carpeted or bedliner'd sheet of 1/2" ply on the floor will add a little insulation to the bottom, as well as stiffen up the tub.

the new rear crossbar is 2x2 box steel, .120" wall.

not sure what i will make the tailgate from.

so today i bought:

-set of 2 wheels for the trailer.
-40' 1x3 material
-24' 1.75" box tube
-10' 2x2 box tube.

had to be home by 11:30, wife drug me to the book of mormon. funny musical. she doesn't ask much, but when she does, i oblige.

 

[villageidiot327]

ok, didnt get much done today, being easter and all, well, actually, my easter didnt start til 5pm, but i was working on my side project (see link in signature)

came to the shop today to find the material i bought yesterday cut to the lengths i specified and stacked neatly on the trailer (thanks bob)

stack on the left is drops/remnants from the cuts

stack on the right

40' of 1x3 13ga

48.5" of 2x2 11ga (.120")

12- 15" 1.75x1.75 16ga box
4- 12" 1.75x1.75 16ga box.

i think i need to get some more 2x2 11ga material, and make the corner risers out of it. the 16ga pieces can go in the middle, or maybe I'm overthinking..... the trailer will be skinned in 16ga (maybe 14ga) on top of the box tube structure, so should add plenty of rigidity. i do not intend to get too wild with the trailer attached, or with the jeep for that matter. this is my "national parks cruiser"

 

[COUNTRYCOWBOYRANGER]

Any plans for swapping out that ball coupler for a receiver tube that can accommodate a Max Coupler or Lock N Roll?

 

[villageidiot327]

Any plans for swapping out that ball coupler for a receiver tube that can accommodate a Max Coupler or Lock N Roll?

Don’t know yet. Haven’t got that far. Right now i need to make the trailer usable again so I can get it ready to head to overland expo west in May. I can add one later. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[villageidiot327]

No trailer progress today.

Did get the new set of wheels for trailer from summit. Ordered Saturday, on my door 10am Monday. Freaky fast.

Tires are ordered and will be installed tomorrow.

Not a loss of working today, I wired and installed the arb ckma12 compressor on my Jeep. Simple install, switched under hood, no ignition feed, just a stand alone OBA system.

Hopefully more trailer progress tomorrow