Davids29's Scratchbuild Trailer Thread

[Davids29]

I have been browsing this forum for almost a year now. I come here to look at other peoples projects and see what others have done in other situations.

At first I wanted an M416. I found one in Houston and made the drive down and picked it up and drug it home. After tinkering with it for a few months, I realized it wasn't what I really wanted. There is so much prep work with an average condition M416 that I figured I could scratch build me something for the same costs and time.

If you are local to the DFW area, you might have seen my thread so far on the LSJC website.

This is 2 months work so far.

1st, I cleaned up the garage and bought some supplies. The garage was a mess with crap everywhere.

1st order of duty was to build a flat (most concrete floors are not flat) level surface.

That was all I got done last night.

This morning the real work started. I started by laying out my plan on the plywood platform. I used some 2x4 scraps to build a fixture to hole parts in place and assist with assembly.

On a side note, if you are goin to cut a lot of steel, buy one of these. Its a Milwaukee Dry Cut saw

It cuts in 1/10 the time a fiber wheel does, no sparks, its precise, almost zero burs, and no black dust. Then get a magnetic broom and you just pick up the clips in a nice quick swipe.

Back on subject, I started cutting the steel and making sure everything fit and was aligned. It was.

Here is the lower frame all laid out.

Then I cut the upper frame. Here it is just placed on the lower frame.

Next I cleaned up all the welded edges to prep for welding. I laid out the top frame first for welding.

After I tacked the top frame all up, I laid out the frame and started welding it together.

After fully welding the frame and the top rail, I ground down the welds on top of the frame and the bottom of the top rail. I laid them on top of each other here for a picture.

Then I cut, tacked, and welded in the corner uprights and then attached the top rail.

And that's where I got today. I rolled in a wheel and put it by it to give an overall glimpse of what it will one day by.

 

[Davids29]

Well, Saturday I went to the local steel yard and picked up some more materials for this project.

I knew I was going to dinner with my folks Saturday night, so I figured I would only have time to saw all the parts.

So I took some pictures of sawing before, its not that exciting, so there aren't any pictures.

Here I have sawed most of the parts and have them just laying about where they go.

So That was all for Saturday. This morning I set me up a little table out in the driveway to clean all my parts for welding today.

The I started tacking parts in place.

More tacking

Ok, so then my wife wanted the camera to go take some pictures while rock climbing so I don't have any action shots for a while.

This is how far I got

I fully welded the frame, and then I took it off the platform and ground down all the welds. There was a problem that I noticed. During welding, the main frame member got too hot and warped a little. I was planning on adding the bottom support later, but I flexed it back and welded in the brace. While I had it setup for that, I went ahead and welded the receiver into place for the front.

After all that, I started tacking the front box area together.

I need to finish placing the front parts and then fully weld the front box area.

I also need to work on the model file to figure out how I want to do the suspension.

 

[Davids29]

Well, we left work at noon today since the looming government shut down has a lot of companies not ordering parts that they don't know will be funded. I decided to try to finish the front area. I have not been working on this lately, but I decided to work on it today.

I cut the remaining parts for the front support area and welded them in.

Here is a picture with the front box set in place.

Then I heaved it up on its side and on to the dolly to do some welding on the bottom.

And upside down...

My welds are starting to look pretty good. As I get more experience, I see how to weld different things and in different positions. Sometimes I still get a ****** weld, but its becoming more and more rare.

Then I drug it outside and ground down and sanded all the corners and other areas that needed it.

Then while the trailer was out of the garage, I cleaned under the platform and picked it up. I think I am done with it. I have the suspension next, and then it will be sitting on the wheels from then on out.

That's where I got today. Suspension is next. I need to figure out what I want to do there.

 

[Davids29]

So, over the last 2 weekends I have been working on this some more. I have had to save up and procure some parts from here and there. We have been slow at work and I have been leaving early on Fridays. I had time to drive into down town and pick up an axle and some other parts from a large trailer supply store. Problem has been that they are only open from 8-5 M-F and I am usually working then.

I put the frame on the platform one last time (Hopefully).

My wife has the good camera, so I had to pull out the 6 year old point and shoot and the picture quality has really taken a dive.

I didn't take any pictures of setting up the suspension. I forgot. When I had remembered, here is where I was.

I made some new upper bag mounts

This is what I did on the frame mount for the suspension. Its a standard hanger and a wedge welded to the front for some more support and to make a ramp if I need to drag it over a rock or something. It should get the obstacle onto the arm if needed.

The rear suspension area looks like this.

Since I wanted to use the matching Rubicon Moab wheels I have, I needed to use some wheel spacers to get the wheel to clear the bearings. This will let me use my spare if needed without modifications. I ordered the axle 3" narrow to account for this. I chose the Spidertrax wheel spacers because they have a lip that centers the wheel hub centric. I had to take the spacers into work and turn the inside out so that they would fit on the trailer hubs.

So here are the airbags all mocked up

I had to get creative when flipping the trailer over using my anchor on the ceiling to help me heave it over.

After it was over I mounted the other wheel and was done for the night

Its looking more and more like a trailer. Its kind of amazing looking over this thread and seeing it come from nothing.

There was a week or two gap here

So last weekend I welded up a cheap 2" ball coupler. Its just for some future shake down runs until I get a real coupler. I painted it a nice flat black for now.

I gathered some steel together to start mocking up the tail gate.

My platform makes for a nice cutting table now.

After cutting some steel I started placing it into place. I left a 1/8" gap all around to have a place for some weather stripping.

After tacking it all together, I tested it for function.

Then I welded in some vertical tubing.

Then I just couldn't resist it any more. I hooked it up to the jeep for the first time and took it around the block. Then I stopped for a photo op of it in progress so far.

That's it for today. I may or may not work on it more this weekend.

 

[Greenmonkey]

Look really good. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

[Rivera1833]

Awesome! I am impressed with your skills.

 

[ethernectar]

Looks stout! How are you going to skin it?

 

[highlandercj-7]

Nice work man. I like it. About the saw you pictured, is that a blade that fits the normal chop saw? Or is it a totally different saw?

 

[Davids29]

Nice work man. I like it. About the saw you pictured, is that a blade that fits the normal chop saw? Or is it a totally different saw?

Its a special saw. Its RPM is slower then a fiber chop saw and faster than a cold saw and cuts dry.

 

[TRACTION]

Great build, looking forward to seeing its progress.

As for the saw question, figured I'd chime in while I'm here. It's a different saw entirely. The saw runs at a much slower speed. It would be awesome though if someone could invent a blade that'd work in a regular chop saw though.

Nice work man. I like it. About the saw you pictured, is that a blade that fits the normal chop saw? Or is it a totally different saw?

 

[tclaremont]

I will be curious to learn what it weighs when you are done. Any estimates?

 

[Scoutman]

What are the dimensions of the main box? Looking good so far.