Smittybilt Scout Trailer Reviews?

ebrabaek

Adventurer
Yep, just finished of a plate of burnt end brisket boudin, where all of the ingredients are cooked on the smoker!

I was just talking with one of the guys that I'm going to run High Water Mark with next weekend and he mentioned putting me in the back in case we have to turn around so I'll hopefully have more room to turn around. That got me to thinking about building a hitch I could extend out the back of the trailer that would allow the trailer to be towed backwards in case of emergency. I got a full joint of 2" square to mount my tire swing on, so I'm thinking about cutting a length off that, that will slide into the rear receiver and extend as far forwards a possible. I think it'll be about 4 feet before it reaches the tube the swing arms mount to, there I'll add a short section of tubing the 2" will slide into to keep it from bouncing around to much. With it slid all the way forward, I'll cut it off flush with the back of the trailer. If I get into a bind I can extend it out and bolt the ball hitch on to it. I can then set it on a 2" ball and pull it backwards.

After you mount the tire on the swing, one person can maneuver the trailer via lifting the front tounghe. So it will be easy to disconnect, flip the trailer 180 then set it aside ready to tow in the other direction.
What your proposing is off course doable, with some crazy negative tongue weights, but not necessary imho.
Are you only using 2x2 as frame material for the swing mount??
There are a lot of twist and torque on it.
 

Tkhawk

Adventurer
Yeah, the negative tongue weight concerns me, like I said it would only be for emergency use and I would probably shift some weight around to minimize that. I'm looking forward to getting the tire moved to the back and gaining maneuverability. I could also us the 2" tube out the front to give me a better lever arm to make it more maneuverable as is.

Yeah, I ran some calculations on the torsion of the 2" x 2" x 1/4" tube my spindle will be mounted on. Totally ignoring the upper hinge, and with 250 pounds (much more than I'm planning on running) centered on the swing arm, it will still have almost a 2 to 1 safety factor when opened to 90 degrees and less than 0.02 degrees of rotation. If it was going to be an on road trailer, I would be happy with that. Since I'm going to be banging it around off road, I wasn't quite comfortable with that even though it probably would suffice.

The main bars of the swing frame are 2" x 3" x 11ga. Since I ended up using 2 hinges, I know its well over built so I didn't bother running any calculations on it.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
Yeah, the negative tongue weight concerns me, like I said it would only be for emergency use and I would probably shift some weight around to minimize that. I'm looking forward to getting the tire moved to the back and gaining maneuverability. I could also us the 2" tube out the front to give me a better lever arm to make it more maneuverable as is.

Yeah, I ran some calculations on the torsion of the 2" x 2" x 1/4" tube my spindle will be mounted on. Totally ignoring the upper hinge, and with 250 pounds (much more than I'm planning on running) centered on the swing arm, it will still have almost a 2 to 1 safety factor when opened to 90 degrees and less than 0.02 degrees of rotation. If it was going to be an on road trailer, I would be happy with that. Since I'm going to be banging it around off road, I wasn't quite comfortable with that even though it probably would suffice.

The main bars of the swing frame are 2" x 3" x 11ga. Since I ended up using 2 hinges, I know its well over built so I didn't bother running any calculations on it.

Well.... That sounds like you have a great plan forward.
FYI.... The smitty stock Jeep swing carrier arm is fabbed from 3/16 inch thickness.
Looking forward to see it being built.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
Finally, I had an opportunity to weld the final rear jack design in place. Rather than using the odd ball square tubing the jack braces came with, I started from scratch with good ole American 1.5x1.5x120 steel. I used 2 x 3/16 flat bar to weld the outside housing.
I then fabbed the round jack collar from 2 x 120 inch pipe. Drilled the holes, welded it up and then painted it black.
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I used 3/8 inch pins purchased from the tractor supply store, and sat the jacks in place.
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This is the position the system will be in while camping.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
Then when you mobilize you unhook the jack. Turn the jack tube 180 deg upside down........ and re install the jacks....
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This will be the configuration for on road towing.
 
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ebrabaek

Adventurer
When you then need more clearance and better departure angle, you can turn them sideways ( with a strap for the handles off course... :) :)
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The total with is on par with the with of the tires. If you need more clearance due to tight trails.... then you can rotate them upside down....
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ebrabaek

Adventurer
A few extra close ups.... :)
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I am very satisfied with this set up. It is another benefit to having a rear swing spare tire mounted bumper.
 
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jhalbrooks

New member
I really like the idea of this trailer. I was looking at them this morning and I am really interested. I don't have the welding skills to build my own.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
I really like the idea of this trailer. I was looking at them this morning and I am really interested. I don't have the welding skills to build my own.

IMHO this is the best bang for the buck, by a long shot. There are off course trailers that have much more features and refinements, but if you look at other trailers for 6k, you will find a few, and none have the compartmentalized modular features the little Smitty does. Let alone coil sprung, with double shocks.
The next closest in size that we looks at was the CVT at just under 7K. Just a box with a lid on it. Good luck with your decision. We home to see ya back with one... Spring is coming awfully fast. Even here in the Rockies.
 

Tkhawk

Adventurer
I got started on the modifications to the trailer for my swing out tire carrier. I moved the jack receiver tube back 2" and out about 4". I chopped up part of the shipping frame to put in to weld the jack receiver tube to. Where the jack receiver tube was, I welded in 2"x2"x1/4" tube to hold the spindle.
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