One Swell Trailer

rustED

Adventurer
Nice progress so far, I like how your 3 axis coupler is coming along. That's a good idea using AC port plug, another idea I might have to borrow!
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
This morning was occupied with various chores, but then around 1:00 pm I got a note that the steel for the trailer was ready to be picked up. Well I didn't need to be told twice. I quickly went over to my buddy's place to get the goods. Of course I had to spend some time with my buddy catching up on things. I made it home with out dumping the steel off of the trailer or having anyone run into the steel tube either. (It was hanging off the end of the trailer up to 10' to 12'.)

Time for some cutting!

Trailer_Frame_001.jpg


Trailer_Frame_002.jpg


I ended up running out of light but I was still able to get most everything cut to length. From right to left there are the two main frame rails, four cross-members, the 8" front frame piece that will joint the main frame rails (on top of the cross-members), 4' of 2" square tube for the three-axis coupler, two sections of 1-3/4" DOM tube for the trailing arms, and then some left over 2"x3" tube and 2" square tube.

Trailer_Frame_003.jpg


Of course with the DOM tube on hand I just couldn't help but try dry fitting the threaded tube adapter and joint to the DOM tube. With any luck this will be welded into place using one of the automated TIG welding systems that we manufacture at work.

Trailing_Link_001.jpg


I didn't have a lot of time to work on the trailer today, but I'm happy with the progress so far.

Mike
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
I think that if I keep chipping away at this project a little each night I just might be able to get this completed in a reasonable amount of time. Tonight proved to be one of those time where I felt like I was just starting to chip away on a couple different areas of the build.

Tongue

Tonight I took the opportunity to cope the ends of the front most frame rail. Each end was cut at a 30* angle. I also coped the front ends of the main frame tubes at a 30* angle. This will give an included angle of 60* at each weld joint. With any luck my calculations on the angles and everything turn out to be correct. I ended up just mocking up this front frame piece using the drops that came from trimming the tube to the correct angles. Unfortunately I didn't get the time to pierce this section of rectangle tube for the receiver hitch tube to pass through. Next time.

Trailer_Frame_004.jpg



Trailing Links

I also worked a bit on the trailing arm links tonight. I started by heading over to a friends place and bending a couple lengths of tube. Earlier on in the day I sketched a few different ideas about the geometry of arms. Just trying to get an idea of what I wanted to end up with.

Trailing_Link_002.jpg


With the bent tube in hand I headed for home and started mocking up the trailing link. I had called one of the industrial supply houses looking for some 9/16" all-thread rod to help hold the two joints into alignment, but was informed that they didn't stok all-thread in that diameter. Hmm, what to do in a pinch. Well, since this was just the roughest of mock ups I grabbed a length of para-cord, doubled it up and ran it through the first joint, a spacer made out of 1" tube, and then the second joint. A bar to hold one end in place and another bar on the other end was used to wind up the para-cord, and in turn draw the joints and the spacer together. Which, by the way, worked fairly well.

Trailing_Link_003.jpg


Initially I tried the bent tube in one orientation with the bend closest to the suspension joint. That didn't look right to me though.

Trailing_Link_004.jpg


So, I flipped the bent tube end for end, and did a little adjusting and I'm a lot happier with the results. I also narrowed up the spacing between the two tubes a little as well. If I remember correctly this now measures right at either 15" or 16" wide from the outside of one joint to the outside of the other.

Trailing_Link_005.jpg


I also trimmed the tubes to length to give the trailing arm a 36" length from the center of the mounting bolt/suspension joint to the center of the axle spindle. Speaking of which, the spindles and the wheel mounting hubs were ordered today and I hope to see them show up tomorrow. If that's the case, then I just might have to get going with fitting the spindles to the 2" square tube and then integrating them into the trailing arms. Wish me luck!

Trailing_Link_006.jpg

Mike
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
Thanks rustED. I'm excited to see it all come together myself. The spindles and hubs arrived today. Watch for upcoming project updates.

Mike
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
I was out in my 12' x 16' shed Friday night trying to get some things ready for Saturday, and can I just say, I love my metal band saw! I used it to put a 45 degree miter on the rear ends of the two trailer main frame rails. I then also miter cut the rear cross member while the saw was set up to cut 45's.


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As you can see I'm dealing with shall "shop" problems. I guess that having the old 1946 Sheldon lathe in there doesn't help with the limited space.


Small Shop Problems.jpg


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On Saturday I hope to get the trailer frame welded together and ready for the still to be made trailing arm suspension brackets.


Mike
 

ripperj

Explorer
Nice work, I have a whole two car garage and am tripping over things, you never have enough room, having a truck camper under construction in one bay doesn't help.
Keep the pics coming :)
I need to get a saw like that , I have a big wood band saw that I use on aluminum , and a porta band for steel, but it gets tiring
 

rustED

Adventurer
Nice work, I would love to have a bandsaw! All the cuts I make including 45° cuts I've had to use my angle grinder with a skinny wheel, lol. I definately need to invest in some new tools!
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
Looking good Geo. You have some serious kit in your shop. That bandsaw would be awesome.

Thanks indiedog! It's taken a few years but little by little I keep adding to the tool collection. It sure makes projects a lot more enjoyable when I have the tools to make them happen.

Mike
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
Weekend Progress

It's starting to come together. I spent part of Saturday helping a friend start the rebuild of his rock crawling truggy. About a year and a half ago he "flopped" on an obstacle named Captain Insano and did a number on the cage. This was a big hit though as a flop on the Captain results in about a 25 to 30 foot drop down into a wedge between the rock hill side and the massive boulder below. Everyone came out of the accident a little bumped and bruised but safe thanks to a well designed cage. After the truggy was recovered and he was able to get it home the damage to the cage was assessed and determined that it was no longer safe. Out came the reciprocating saw and the cage was cut off. It's the sure way to keep from being tempted to wheel an unsafe rig. Here's a picture of his Chevrolet K10 truggy before the drop.
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I did take some time to gather up all of the parts that I had previously cut out and start sticking them together. I think that the only cut that I had to do was to relieve the main frame tubes by cutting out a 30 degree wedge on the inside of the frame rails where the tongue would come together towards the centerline of the trailer. I printed up a quick little template that allowed me to mark the cuts on each rail (top and bottom). Just a few minutes with the angle grinder and a cut off wheel and we were ready to go.
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Now it was time to start making all these sticks of metal look like a trailer. I used a few sticks of metal to elevate the frame rails off the floor of the shop. Doing this helps to minimize the expected unevenness of the shop floor. A handful of clamps and a couple ratchet straps were used to hold everything in place prior to welding. At the rear corners and where the cross member was placed I followed this process: 1) clamp a scrap of flat stock under the frame rail where the connection will be 2) position the mating piece on top of the flat stock plate that was just clamped into place 3) position the mating piece in place and then use a second clamp to secure it 4) use a ratchet strap to pull the side rails together near the cross member.

With all of that done I used a framing square to verify to positioning of the rear mitered corner joints before tack welding them in place. With the rear corners secured I moved on to the cross member and tacked it in place as well. Now, using a framing square is a good check of things but an even better process is to measure the diagonals, so for this I measured the corner to corner distance from the rear corner to the position of the front of the cross member. Things were out ever so slightly, so out came the second ratchet strap to pull everything into alignment.
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With all of that taken care of I put a couple pretty strong welds on things before moving to the front section. This is where the cuts in the main frame rails come into play. I man handled the steel and made it bend to my will. Out came a few more clamps and some scraps of flat stock and everything was held into position. Once again, especially with the converging angles, it was important to make sure that things were square. But, with no right angles the framing square was now useless. Time to break out the tape measure again and check the diagonals. this time I measured from the rear corners to the forward most joints between the main frame rails and the short 8" wide front tube. To my surprise they measurements came out perfect on the first try. A few more welds and the clamps came off.
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With everything stuck together to that point I set myself to going through and welding all of the joints. I must say that I'm very pleased with how everything is coming together.
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Oh, and just incase you're curious about how tight the mitered corner joint was before welding, well just feast your eyes on this.
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Mike
 

Titanpat57

Expedition Leader
Looking great Mike...awesome miters...your crown molding in the house must be spectacular!...:ylsmoke:

Technical noob question..when you miter steel like that, is it necessary to grind back the cuts in order to weld?

Keep the updates rolling in!
 

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