Started my trialer build today.

[awol]

So I have always been into Jeeps and camping such. In the last 2 years I have found myself really wanting an expo style trailer that can follow me wherever I go. I have been eyeballing AT's stuff for a couple years but just can't justify the cost to myself. I have decided to build my own trailer from scratch. If everything goes well I have thought about offering it as a kit for DIY people but that's a topic for another thread...

I have been drawing ideas and recently started messing around with SolidWorks and things are starting to come together. I have come up with a base frame and sent it out to a guy I know through my job who owns a steel working business to quote me all the pieces cut for the frame as well as all the side panels and such for the boxes. I explained my ideas to him and in a shocking move he told me to send up my drawings and cut sheets and he would send me down the parts for my first build at no cost... I was shocked. I still am shocked!! So parts have been showing up at work for the last week and I have been moving them to a shop where a good friend of mine is starting a business. Today after him and I got some wiring ran and the welders hooked up I decided to start tacking the frame together.


My simple frame drawing from SolidWorks.


My materials and the frame starting to get tacked together.


Made sure everything is nice and square. It helps having a good flat steel table to work off of.


Ignore my glove in the bottom corner. LOL.

Once I had the main section of the frame all tacked I was ready to start tacking in the sections that would be in front and behind the wheel well but then realized that we didn't have any good grinding disks or a good cutoff wheel to cut the tacks I had holding the frame to the table.... Guess that is the draw back to working in a building that we just moved into last week. Not all of our tools and boxes are there yet.

So I decided to grab the panels I have for the main box and set them up in place and give them a little tack to hold them. Gives me a chance to check the fit and see if I like the way a designed it.



So far I am happy with my design but there will be a few changes that I am going to make.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Nice start... however I think you may be building in too small of a space.

Kidding of course. Nice start, and thanks, now I have one more build thread to stalk, er follow.

 

[Mark Harley]

Nice start. I like the stepped lip on top. is this for a opening lid?
What would you guess the weight of the frame is?

 

[matthewp]

Nice start... however I think you may be building in too small of a space.

Yep, definitely too small a garage! This trailer building thing is getting adictive!

Nice start you have there!

 

[awol]

Yeah... I really need to expand my workspace. Lol.
The trailer frame is 2x3x.250 with the rear bumper being 3x5x.250. It might be a little overkill and weighs a little less than 600lbs at the moment. I might redo it with .125 wall tube. Thoughts?

The box will have a lid and the lip you see at the top right now will be for a gasket to help seal it up tight when closed. I have also designed the box so that all the panels bolt together and seal with either a gasket or silicone. If I ever damage a panel I can just bolt a new one in. That and if I do try to sell these as a kit it makes for easier shipping since it will all lay flat.


Eric.

Sent from......

 

[awol]

Made a little more progress last night. Only had 3 hours to work on it and half of that was wasted by what I refer to as "shop a.d.d.". I did get all the main part of the frame tacked and started finish welding.

Still deciding on the lid and tailgate. Also looking at spindles and brakes.


Eric.

Sent from where I am to wherever you might be.

 

[Mark Harley]

That is a stout frame! Great work.

 

[awol]

Time to revive the build

So... The more I worked on the trailer and the more I browsed the amazing builds here, the more I questioned what kind of trailer I really wanted. Ultimately I decided that I wanted something more along the lines of a teardrop. This meant a complete redesign and since I didn't feel like cutting apart the frame I had made I decided to give it legs and make one heck of a welding table out of it.

After lots of sketching I have come to this for the overall look. The big rectangle on the very front is a spare tire. This will run the same rims/tires as my Jeep and my plan is to carry the spare on the trailer.


Here is the current layout idea for the galley. Yes, this will be independent suspension with air bags.


I started a new frame from 2x3x.125 wall. Here are a couple shots of it mostly tacked up. Still need to get the rear bumper ready so I can tack it and the rest of the rear up. There will be one more cross member towards the rear as well.

 

[awol]

I was playing around on the computer and worked up a simple model of the main body.


Spindles and hubs arrived today as well. Eventually I will add the trailer brakes but for now I just purchased the regular hubs to get things rolling. The track width will be slightly shorter than the Jeep.

 

[dusty122]

This looks awesome. My teardrop has independent suspension on airbags too. The airbags are nice so when im at camp I can deflates the bags to get the counter height down in the galley. Im looking forward to seeing this project progress.

 

[awol]

At this point I am trying to decide between making the walls out of 1x1 square tube so I can sheet both sides with thin ply and insulate the space between. OR. Use a sheet of 3/4 ply for the inner structure with pockets routered out for insulation and sheeted on both sides... Any thoughts one way or the other?

It is nice to be back on building this. My goal is to have it ready by the time spring hits so the wife and I can take some nice trips.

 

[awol]

This looks awesome. My teardrop has independent suspension on airbags too. The airbags are nice so when im at camp I can deflates the bags to get the counter height down in the galley. Im looking forward to seeing this project progress.

That is one of the reasons I chose to go with the bags as well. My Jeep has on board air and the trailer will have lines ran up to the front to make for easy filling of the bags when needed.

 

[highlandercj-7]

Nice work, I'm sure you will be happy you went with the lighter frame, I built my trailer frame out of 2x3 3/16" and it was over kill. I'm thinking of building a car hauler next and that's the size I'll use on it.

As for walls I'd go with the 1" tube, I believe in a steel framed skeleton, then sheet it with your preferred covering. They are so much more durable.

 

[matthewp]

At this point I am trying to decide between making the walls out of 1x1 square tube so I can sheet both sides with thin ply and insulate the space between. OR. Use a sheet of 3/4 ply for the inner structure with pockets routered out for insulation and sheeted on both sides... Any thoughts one way or the other?

It is nice to be back on building this. My goal is to have it ready by the time spring hits so the wife and I can take some nice trips.

I did a plywood sandwich on mine (1/2" outer, 3/4" routed out with insulation and 5mm inside walls) and it worked out great. I guess it simply bils down to whether you want to spend the extra time welding the sub-frame. Either way, I HIGHLY recommend fiberglass taping the seams between sheets... I learned the hard way!

 

[awol]

Nice work, I'm sure you will be happy you went with the lighter frame, I built my trailer frame out of 2x3 3/16" and it was over kill. I'm thinking of building a car hauler next and that's the size I'll use on it.

As for walls I'd go with the 1" tube, I believe in a steel framed skeleton, then sheet it with your preferred covering. They are so much more durable.

I am already happy with it. The weight savings will be very nice. I took much more time up front with planning out how wiring and air lines will run through it and getting the holes all pre-drilled. Also taking consideration of mounting water tanks and such up in the frame. The strength difference between the two I question a little...

I did a plywood sandwich on mine (1/2" outer, 3/4" routed out with insulation and 5mm inside walls) and it worked out great. I guess it simply bils down to whether you want to spend the extra time welding the sub-frame. Either way, I HIGHLY recommend fiberglass taping the seams between sheets... I learned the hard way!

Your trailer was what really pushed me towards the design I have. Lots of good info in your thread on it. I have been leaning towards your method because I think it would make mounting any cabinets and such easier. On the flip side I think the square tube would save some weight. Either way I think I will fiberglass the whole thing when I am done to make sure it is sealed up nice.