Another conqueror build

[lx450landcruiser]

Well I've had the trailer 2 years now and I'm just now getting to play with it. Sadly Ive only taken her on one real trip and that was from Arizona up to Wa state where I currently reside. While I love the conqueror trailers there was a few things about them I really couldn't stand. Don't get me wrong the trailers are excellent the way they are but with a few improvements there can be even better. To start my first trailer build was about 4 years ago when I bought and converted a Can m101 trailer, Ive owned 7 small trailers since but when time came to pick up a conqueror I couldn't help myself.


So here we go!

 

[lx450landcruiser]

first trailer build

 

[lx450landcruiser]

So to start I really got to know the trailer pretty well on the 2 week trip up to Wa, There were 4 of us and we all stayed in the trailer for the entire trip. here's a few shots from then

 

[lx450landcruiser]

Ok on to the build. One for the biggest weaknesses for m on the trailer was the axle. its a South African axle with weird bearings and frankly the leaf spring hangers are a joke and a scary one at that. I also feel that the shock placement is inconsistent on these trailers. Some are aligned and some seem not to be, Mine wasn't and it was evident after the road trip when I already had a bent shock bolt. These factors coupled with the weight of these trailer when fully loaded (full water as well) I wanted electric brakes. I opted to put a new 3500# Dexter axle under it, I added the brakes and since I picked up a new truck last summer (06 tacoma double cab trd) I chose to run the same wheels on the trailer. I choose to run a slightly wider axle then stock to allow correct Clearance since the back spacing on the tacoma wheels was different. I also laser cut new leaf hangers with a slight lift from the originals out or 3/8 plate and changed out all the hardware.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

With all this brought me new problems, After getting the axle all set up it was time to bolt the wheel on and then I realized The Toyota lugs were not going to work on the standard wheel studs. After spending the whole day looking at different lug nuts and studs I was finally able to source correct metric studs that I pressed into the new hubs, this allows me to use the tacoma rims with tacoma lugs. I really didn't want to have to run spacers especially since I choose to run a wider axle to begin with. I choose to take the flares off the trailer as well and trim the bottoms for better clearance and look. I also modified the stock wheel caps for use with the trailer hubs and now I can still grease the hubs with out taking them off.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

With the new wheels I needed to modify the tire carrier to carry the Tacoma wheel as well. Unfortunately they assembled the trailers tire carrier before they rivet the interior panel on. This means if you try and take the stock one off the bolt will just spin. I didn't want to drill out the whole panel so I added a 2 inch spacer (welded) to the existing carrier. The Struts still do there job perfectly and the tire doesn't hit the tent when open.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

Another thing I didn't like about the conqueror was the water tank set up. I had a slight leak in one of the tanks on the road trip and after pulling both tanks I found that where the fill tube connects with the tank was cracked. Now from the start it seemed odd to me they would hard mount the fill tube like that to the tanks and low and behold it cracked. Bad way to do it in my opinion as any movement whatsoever would cause this. I opted to change it out with some food grade clear re-enforced tubing and hose clamps. This also allows me to see when the tank is full with out dumping water everywhere. Funny thing is after going through some old photos of mine from a trip to south africa about 5 years ago I came across one of a newer conqueror compact and they have stoped making them hard mounted as well.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

For the bottom of the water tank I decide to get rid of those crappy ball valves they had on there since both the handles rattled off a long time ago. I was lucky enough to find these water quick disconnects that fit a standard garden hose attachment. The cool thing about these newer ones is they automatically stop the flow of water when disconnected (like an air hose) This cleaned things up nicely under there and allows me easily access to water when I eventually hook up the shurflow pump.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

Some of the other quick mods have been, new quality drawer sliders for the fridge as the original ones were terrible and rickety. the new ones are rated much higher and allow the fridge to come out further for easier access. I made a secured shelf for the fridge as well and will finish up the tie downs tomorrow.

I replaced all but one hello receptacle with marine grade cig plugs as that's what most our stuff runs off of.

New Led tail lights

 

[XJBANKER]

Great start. I really want to change my axle. Do you have photos of how you did the water caps for the clear hose? What size of tire are you running now?

 

[Honu]

looking good

 

[rockman]

Any up-dates or further mods .
I'm just about to start changing my Conquest around to suit myself a bit more .

Cheers

 

[mountainclimber8]

Nice job LX450.

You've hit all the points so far that make these Conqueror units really nice when you get done with them.

I'll be watching this thread for your updates. :elkgrin:


One of these days I might get around to posting a build thread on my Conqueror as well. :ylsmoke:

 

[lx450landcruiser]

No real updates I've just been moving out of my shop and down to seattle. I am experimenting with a new type of lighting that may revolutionize not only trailer lighting but lighting in general. I had some left over samples from another project and Ill be testing it out soon as I get a chance to get out camping.

 

[rockman]

Ok on to the build. One for the biggest weaknesses for m on the trailer was the axle. its a South African axle with weird bearings and frankly the leaf spring hangers are a joke and a scary one at that. I also feel that the shock placement is inconsistent on these trailers. Some are aligned and some seem not to be, Mine wasn't and it was evident after the road trip when I already had a bent shock bolt. These factors coupled with the weight of these trailer when fully loaded (full water as well) I wanted electric brakes. I opted to put a new 3500# Dexter axle under it, I added the brakes and since I picked up a new truck last summer (06 tacoma double cab trd) I chose to run the same wheels on the trailer. I choose to run a slightly wider axle then stock to allow correct Clearance since the back spacing on the tacoma wheels was different. I also laser cut new leaf hangers with a slight lift from the originals out or 3/8 plate and changed out all the hardware.

When you extended the spring mounts , did you also extent the mount for the shockie as well , and how much did extend them by ?.

Cheers Jim