Finally getting it together

[navy jay]

For a while now I've been looking through the forum at all of the great expo trailer builds that are out there. There are some fantastic builds out there and the more that I saw the more I wanted to get one put together. I guess my wife saw that look in my eye every time I would look at the threads. You know, that look that says "man, I would love to start a project like that. If only I had a welder, a chop saw, a grinder..." You get the idea. So a couple of weeks ago she said to go and do something that would make me happy. I bought a welder. And a grinder. And all of the other goodies one needs. She immediately regretted her statement. Having learned to weld a bit in AFG I figured I'd practice a bit more and while I put my plans together and then get started.

I'm putting this on the forum because there are some experienced builders out there that I hope to get some feed back from or constructive criticism on what I'm about to do. I'm a big fan of learning from the trials of others and would appreciate any and all feedback. I took a lot of direction from Box Rocket and Tom Foolery and their builds, so if it looks familiar that's the reason! So, here it goes...

Box frame and tongue will be 2.5" square with 1/8" wall. Box is going to be 64"L x 48"W x 26"H. Tongue will be around 54"L (to accomodate a tongue box and allow for the FJ's door to fully open with the trailer still attached.) I'm planning on having a lid hinged at the front of the trailer and incorporating Box Rockets RTT rack/lift concept. Side boxes (like Tom's) will be 30"L x 10"W x 10"H. I decided to go with the Timbren Axel-less suspension for clearance considerations (although probably wasn't necessary, but it's too late now as the parts are here!) Today was day 1...

 

[johnspark]

Great start. I'm looking forward to your progress.

 

[johnnycakes]

Looking forward to see your progress. Good luck!

 

[navy jay]

On Thursday I put my order in for the trailer hitch assembly. Went with the Lock 'N' Roll because of the ability to choose a trailer end that fit the 2.5" tongue, but could also select the vehicle end to match a standard 2" receiver. Today I had sent an email to the company because I had received the confirmation email that said it would ship when the payment went through and hadn't heard anything else. At 1800 it shows up on my doorstep! I decided to go with the trailer end that fit over the 2.5" tongue, run two 1/2" grade 8's through there and weld it on or extra security.

If anyone has any Timbren experience out there I have a question WRT the amount of compression they experienced with their trailer loaded up. I'm debating on putting a 1/4" plate between the frame and suspension for a bit of extra height, but not sure that it's necessary. I've done the calculations regarding wheel/tire height and the added distance from the spindle to the bottom of the suspension and it gives me about 5/16" above the bottom of the FJ's receiver...but I'm a PoliSci major. So there's that. I'm figuring a total weight of around 1700 lbs, so I'm not sure how much that will affect the compression. If there are any Timbren guys out there I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.




So new the popcorn is still attached!

 

[navy jay]

Thanks guys. This should be an interesting experience. This will only be mildly interesting for the wife!

 

[navy jay]

So, it's been a bit slow going. I did get the mid section bracing complete today and dry fit the suspension, but I'm going to wait until I get the tongue installed before I actually mount the suspension. I decided to up the wall thickness from 1/8" to 1/4" based on some interesting reading from another build. It basically was a spreadsheet that let you input the dimensions of the tongue, weight of the trailer and type of use (heavy duty/off road, medium or light) and it calculated what you would need. 1/8" wasn't going to cut it. 3/16" would have, but the shop where I'm getting the steel doesn't carry 3/16", so 1/4" it is. Would anyone be able to tell me the size of the pull out slide that they use for their fridge's? The vendors usually list the outer dimensions, but don't list the actual part that comes out. I'm trying to figure out if I'll have room on the side of the trailer for an access door to the fridge. Thanks for any info!

 

[AZXJ]

Looking really good, keep in it going. Subscribed...

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

[SamM]

Very nice! I am also using the Timbren suspension system. From what I understand, loading it about 3/4 of it's capacity is a key factor. Looking forward to seeing more of your build.

SamM

 

[navy jay]

That's good info to have. I'm figuring that the weight of the trailer (without travel gear) will be around 800 - 850lbs. With around 500 lbs of additional gear (fridge, water, electrical, etc.) that'll put me around 1300, which is where you're saying the sweet spot is. The one thing that was still bothering me was the ride height of the trailer with respect to the hitch on my FJ. It had looked as though it might ride just a bit higher, but the guys from Timbren told me to expect about 1" of compression for 1500 lbs of gear, so the 1/4" plate that I'll use as a spacer should work out well. Have you seen anything different WRT ride height loaded vs unloaded? How has the suspension held up for you?

 

[navy jay]

Made a bit more progress today. I was hoping to get the suspension mounted, but didn't quite get there with due to some other distractions. However, I did get the tongue in along with the angle arms from the tongue to the box and the gussets welded (at least on the top side, still need to grind those and weld the bottom side). I've gotten to the point now where I'm scratching my head wishing I had a motor lift. This thing is just a tad heavy. It was easy to move around as the frame, became a bit more difficult when I added some of the floor bracing and is now just really darn heavy. I have to have it upside down in order to install the suspension and then flip it over, so this should be a real treat. Next time I'll do all of the fancy floor bracing AFTER I put the suspension on. Tomorrow I'm aiming to have the suspension bolted/welded on and sit the trailer right side up. Then maybe sit in traction for a bit with a glass of my friend Jack.

 

[jah310]

Awesome man! Looks like this is going to be super solid! Enjoy the build... : )

 

[SamM]

navy jay,
My suspension is not mounted yet. I'm just getting ready to start the mock up next week. My trailer previously had an 8-lug TorFlex military axle with Nigeria brakes. It was just too heavy and too wide to work with my plans. Also, I'm not flipping my trailer to fit the suspension. I'm using 6" angle steel plates that are 3/8" thick. Since my frame is aluminum, I'll be clamping the steel to the aluminum frame. It should work out well. I plan to use 2" square tubing as an axle between my Timbren units.

SamM

 

[navy jay]

So, I'm kinda stuck. I'm getting ready to put the suspension on, and I've got the tips of the spindles equal distance to the centerpoint of the tongue (96 1/16"), but when I then measure the spindle mounts to the back of the frame (or front) they're off by about 3/16" from each other. I know the frame is about an 1/16"-1/8" off of square. So which is more important? the distance of the spindles to the tongue or how lined up they are (equal spacing) on the frame. I'm thinking to split the difference and get them as close to being lined up on the frame while ensuring that they're no more than 1/16"-18" off at the tongue. If there is anyone that has a better answer please let me know. Thanks.

 

[navy jay]

Sam, sounds like you have a good plan forward. I thought about using a 2" tube as well, but there's so much steel already above the units that I figure the flexing should be minimal if any...but like I said before, I'm a PoliSci maj so what do I know.
Got a bit more accomplished today. Finally mounted the suspension. Man, I envy the guys with drill presses. My DeWalt sure got a workout today! I managed to get the spindles to within a 1/16" of an inch, give or take a fuz so I'm hoping that it's withing tolerances to track straight down the road. I did manage to get the trailer flipped up right after I had them mounted. Ok, I didn't do it by myself. I will say this, I sure don't want to make my wife really mad at me ever. She is really freakin' strong! Had her hold the tongue while I flipped the back end around. A couple of popped discs later its up right! I'm debating on whether to tack weld the mounts in now or wait until I take it for a quick spin to ensure everything is good to go. Plan for the weekend is to mount the e-brakes and hubs and order some more parts for later on in the build. A couple of pics below.

 

[jah310]

Looking real solid : )