My first Trailer build.

[HenryJ]

Welded the floor on. I am not too sure that I should have done it this way though. I removed the box (it was only tacked in a few spots) and welded the floor down. Then I'll weld the box to it. I only question myself here for the fact that the box is welded to the floor and not the frame. would this concern any of you pro's?

Set the top on, mark around the feet and cut the floor away. Fairly easily done with a grinder and cut-off disks. Leave a little room and you can weld the frame together and run a bead to attach the floor too.
You are better to weld the frame together. I would avoid sandwiching the floor between.
I have been known for overkill too. Others may disagree.

Looking good. Although I may not always speak up. I am watching and enjoying the build.

 

[Poorboyota26]

I was thinking of doing it that way. I really didn't want to cut the floor out before I welded it down. I figured it would be easier to cut out afterwards.

 

[Poorboyota26]

Got some work done today!

the rear reciever

Then I cut the floor where the box will weld to the frame and welded that all up.

I have warpage!!!

The top of the sides is 1/2" narrower than the bottom. I don't know how it got worse after rewelding it to the floor but it did. I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I was thinking of cutting a little out of the bottom and then pushing the top outward.

 

[seanz0rz]

i battled alot of warpage when i was doing skidplates.

to fix your specific problem, you should just be able to slice the weld out, tap it where it should be with a hammer, or just pull. tack it in place. make sure its where you want it, add a few more tacks, check again. if you can, hold it in position of where it should be with some clamps or a strap or whatever you can think of. it needs to not move. then weld it up, go slow and let the metal cool. do 1/4 of a side alternating sides and keeping the heat even. let it cool to the touch between sections of weld bead.

if it warps over again, just hit it with a huge hammer... hahaha!

build looks great! i really like it.

 

[Poorboyota26]

I about killed myself cutting the tailgate. The cuttoff wheel on the grinder caught as I cut through the last bit and it bloodied my nose through the face mask. Good thing I was wearing it. Need a new one though.

I was thinking of cutting out the welds on both sides and then setting the trailer on it's side, standing on it and pushing up with my shoulder, then tack. Check for square, tack, check for square, tack, etc I am doing this after hours by myself so I may recurit the owner of the shop tomorrow to help me square it out. I am OCD about it cause it has to be square for the lid and tail gate to fit right.

 

[HenryJ]

I about killed myself cutting the tailgate. The cuttoff wheel on the grinder caught as I cut through the last bit and it bloodied my nose through the face mask. Good thing I was wearing it. Need a new one though.

New mask, and not a new nose , I hope. Be careful!

 

[R_Lefebvre]

You were wearing a full face shield? You were lucky. I wear one too, people make fun of me but... f-em. We have guys at work welding OCC style, it's crazy.

I've got ear muffs, full face shield, gloves for grinding, auto darkening helmet for welding, flame resistant welding shirt...

Did you tack before welding? I didn't have that much warping on mine. Tacked it all together, then welded. Things still warp, but it's more controlled and even. Then I built the doors to fit.

And it's funny... some people don't get why I didn't want to weld a sewer cap onto my diff for protection.

 

[Poorboyota26]

So I haven't welded the tongue on yet for one reason. I am really unsure about the length. My axle is going to be about 2" rear of center, which I know isn't enough(by an inch or so), and I don't want a bull whip for a trailer. Everyone I've talked to has said that 5-10% of the weight of the trailer should be on the tongue. At 10% that's 100lbs maxed out. I don't think I'll be in the 1k range very often while it's just the wife and I, but it's possible.

One of the local trailer shops (who's been building horse/livestock and flatbeds for 30yrs) told me "just build it and see". I kinda like that approach. There really is only one way to learn without completely engineering the thing and sending it through it's paces on the computer.

Currently thinking of a tongue length of 5' from main box. making the total length 9' hitch to rear. That would put the axle 7' 2" from the ball. hmmm

 

[indiedog]

My little trailer has a 5ft long box and it's 7ft from the hitch to the axle. The axle is only just behind centre of the box. I've driven it on the highway at high speed and it was fine. I will be lengthening the drawbar by about 48inches so that I can put a kitchen box on the tongue if needed. This will make the distance from the hitch to the axle just shy of the wheelbase of the car. So tracking should also be better after this. I don't think there's an exact science on drawbar lengths.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Drawbar lengths would be easy to figure if you had an exact idea of the load you'll be packing. Failing that, it's pretty much a crapshoot. I just built mine so that the tongue weight looked good when the trailer is unloaded, and I'll just have to move weight around until it works when packing.

 

[ntsqd]

Should be required reading in this sub-forum:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_12729_12729

A simple Shear-Moment diagram will give you a reasonable idea of tongue weight, and you can do all of the iteration on paper instead of in steel. The method is explained in the book.

 

[Poorboyota26]

I've seen that book pop up more than once. I'll have to invest.


Thank you!

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I think I was looking at Volume 1 of that book just yesterday in a store. I took a calculated guesstimate and went with it, and it's worked out.

If you put the axle at the 60/40 point on the body, and use a 50° tongue, that's a good starting point. Run the numbers and it'll probably work out.

 

[sseaman]

I think a 60/40 split of the cargo box is the standard, and it seems the tongue should be around half the box length at a minimum for small trailers.

 

[Funrover]

Great welding. that will be a nice little trailer!