Two Design questions...

Rezarf <><

Explorer
Mike-

You gotta post up a pic of the front of the rig! I like that design idea for sure. The swapping/removal thing was HUGE for me in doing this.

Thanks man!

Drew
 

ntsqd

Heretic Car Camper
A little while ago I posted pics of the trailer I referred to earlier in this thread here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=73484&postcount=18
It has most of those same features. One of the biggest deviations is that the sliding tongue has a socket receiver on it. This allows easily changing the coupler type by pulling a normal socket receiver pin. The idea was to beta test a coupler design I had to the point of doing the analysis on when I discovered the Lock-n-Roll patent. Though I feel it is inferior in it's rotation design (essentially a rivet in tension) it pretty much killed my concept.

However, the trailer has been a great trailer and the frame is probably oil-field stout. :) Note that the tube that the coupler is pinned to extends completely thru the frame past the rear-most cross member.
 
Last edited:

Xtreme XJ

Adventurer
Rezarf <>< said:
Which would you run? The first or the second?...

The first one has better triangulation of the chasis, at the cost of a useable platform in front of the "box."

Rez
This might be a little late in your design and not totally related, but how about adding a 2x2 receiver to the point where the rails come together at the lunette, that way you could have both a normal coupler for the ride to & from then a lunette to slide in for the rougher trails.
You could add a crossmember midway back to the tub which would help support the rear of the 2x2 tubing AND add support to the "A" area of the frame.... of the two drawings I might go with #2.
I'm enjoying this site (2nd. post) and it's trailer builds... I too some day want to build one...
Thanks for the great ideas and good luck with the build.....

Curt (with a "C")
 

Rezarf <><

Explorer
Curt, Thanks for the imput. There is a third design in question check it out and let me know what you think.

ntsqd, that trailer is beefy! I don't see many differences for what I want to do, I will have the same amount of front end hanging off as the trailer picture and I will be adding crossmembers that triangulate the designs in question. How about a few more trailer pics? :D

Thanks!

Drew
 

ntsqd

Heretic Car Camper
I took those pics of it shortly b4 posting them and they're currently all that I have. I'll take more if you can tell me what you want to see. Distance for perspective might be an issue as I got trucks apart on both ends of it in a one lane driveway, but transfer case parts for the 'land-locker' & tow rig Suburban should be here tomorrow.

It is stout, but not particularly heavy. I don't think I want to tow it up the hill into the desert with my yota mini, but it did just fine around town and that was b4 I removed all of my friend's camping gear from the bottom.
 

Mike S

Sponsor - AutoHomeUSA
Wish U could send a photo

Rezarf <>< said:
Mike-

You gotta post up a pic of the front of the rig! I like that design idea for sure. The swapping/removal thing was HUGE for me in doing this.

Thanks man!

Drew

Drew

My Windows machine is fried. I am now setting up a new Mac Book Pro and don't have access to my stash of photos until I rescue the contents of the PC hard disk.

I definitely sucks, but I am stuck ntl I get it done. I will try to take some new photos for you. The system I described really works well, and is simple to build.

Mike
 

Rezarf <><

Explorer
ntsqd said:
I took those pics of it shortly b4 posting them and they're currently all that I have. I'll take more if you can tell me what you want to see. Distance for perspective might be an issue as I got trucks apart on both ends of it in a one lane driveway, but transfer case parts for the 'land-locker' & tow rig Suburban should be here tomorrow.

It is stout, but not particularly heavy. I don't think I want to tow it up the hill into the desert with my yota mini, but it did just fine around town and that was b4 I removed all of my friend's camping gear from the bottom.

Yeah, I relooked at your trailer, I can see how short your tongue is too. I thought it was a bit longer last time I looked.

Thanks for all your opinions!

Drew
 

Rezarf <><

Explorer
Mike S said:
Drew

My Windows machine is fried. I am now setting up a new Mac Book Pro and don't have access to my stash of photos until I rescue the contents of the PC hard disk.

I definitely sucks, but I am stuck ntl I get it done. I will try to take some new photos for you. The system I described really works well, and is simple to build.

Mike


Ouch, man I hope you can recover all your information and files Mike! If you get some time down the road, I would love to see it. I am going with the single draw arm out front, I have checked it out with a few enginerds now and they have each given me a green light.

Thanks man!

Drew
 

ntsqd

Heretic Car Camper
Rezarf <>< said:
Yeah, I relooked at your trailer, I can see how short your tongue is too.
I wouldn't call it short, un-extended it makes up roughly 1/2 the tow ball to axle length. Extended it is ~3/4 of that length.
The Extendable Tongue:
TB-TongueExtended.jpg

Can also see the receiver socket best in this pic. There is a normal trailer coupler on a section of tube to tow with. There was also a Ring but with the Original Owner's untimely demise I suspect that it has been lost. I do have the pintle coupler, probably should buy a ring just in case. The short section of tube sticking straight up off the socket is for the landing jack's caster wheel.
 

Xtreme XJ

Adventurer
ntsqd said:
I wouldn't call it short, un-extended it makes up roughly 1/2 the tow ball to axle length. Extended it is ~3/4 of that length.
The Extendable Tongue:
TB-TongueExtended.jpg

Can also see the receiver socket best in this pic. There is a normal trailer coupler on a section of tube to tow with. There was also a Ring but with the Original Owner's untimely demise I suspect that it has been lost. I do have the pintle coupler, probably should buy a ring just in case. The short section of tube sticking straight up off the socket is for the landing jack's caster wheel.

Now that's versatility......


Curt :safari-rig:
 

cruiseroutfit

Supporting Sponsor: Cruiser Outfitters
Wow, I came back to this thread today and there was alot of discussion I seemed to have missed. I'll play catch up here.

ntsqd said:
I really haven't been keeping count. I'd guess somewhere btwn 1/2 dozen & 1 dozen that I've personally seen plus those photo documented floating around the net, plus those used as examples in the book. Note that these are trailers in general, not OR specific. Usually they some basterdized contraption made from what ever that was laying around..

I guess the term "apples and oranges" comes to mind here. I too have seen plenty of "trailers in general" fail, but none of those would qualify for my definition of "built to a worthy standard" let alone built for the rigors of offroad use. I had a commercially built car hauler that started experiencing cracking where the v-style tounge met the deck construction of the trailer... failure. My opinion that a "single tongue" trailer can be built and used is assuming that proper fab techniques are used... plain and simple. If crappy construction is combined with crappy material secection, any design can fail.

Rezarf <>< said:
Kurt, what deminsions are you running on your trailer tongue? It looks beefy. ...

Once again sorry for the late response, it is 3.5" x 3.5" - 3/16" wall. More than adequate for the job.

Rezarf <>< said:
If I run with a single draw arm, I can always retro fit side supports like an A design if I start to show signs of torsional flex in the main tube. But it will only be free standing for 24" overall, it is hard to think that I could have a failure in that amout of space...

Absolutely, your first rendition doesn't have to be your final... mine sure wasn't :D
 

ntsqd

Heretic Car Camper
Finally tracked down my copy of Smith's book. His main objection to a non under-lapped tongue stems from the large twisting, bending, & pushing loads in that area. By promoting an under-lapped tongue he gains many inches of weld seam and Moment of Interia in this, as he puts it, "critical area".

That being said, I've never said that a non under-lapped tongue wouldn't work, just that it should be approached with caution. My desire & intent is that said caution will produce the necessary level of design, material choice, and fabrication for the trailer to be safe & a success.

If we can't agree on that then we'll have to agree to disagree. :)
 

Rezarf <><

Explorer
ntsqd said:
That being said, I've never said that a non under-lapped tongue wouldn't work, just that it should be approached with caution. My desire & intent is that said caution will produce the necessary level of design, material choice, and fabrication for the trailer to be safe & a success.

If we can't agree on that then we'll have to agree to disagree. :)

Nobody is disagreeing with that! :D

I have decided on the single draw arm, I have 3" square tubing with .25" wall with a 2.5" sliding tongue...

It will be triangulated but not to the coupler.

As soon as my travels slow down I will be starting.

Thanks!

Drew
 

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