BFR Homebrew Trailer

[bfr]

It is time to import my trailer build into expedition portal. I finished principle construction of this trailer in 2012 and have been using it since. At this point the main thing missing (and the primary reason for this thread) is a well thought out kitchen setup. I have been working out of crates or plastic totes to this point which has worked out so far, but my trips to date have all been relatively short (seven days or less). In planning for longer trips the advantage of something better thought out becomes more and more obvious.
Frame:
The frame is primarily .125” wall 2”x4” rectangular tube with a built in receiver tube in the rear. The tongue telescopes with a .250 wall 3”x3” outer tube and .250 wall 2.5”x2.5” (receiver tube) extension. With the exception of the interior cross members (t welded) all joints were mitered and welded leaving no openings,

 

[bfr]

Hitch:
I had initially planned to use a max coupler by kilby, but decided to try my hand at building my own instead

Roll Axis
I welded a piece of 2x2 solid stock with a 1" hole through it into the end of the tube and used a 1"x8" grade 8 bolt through the stock for the roll axis. In order to get the thread length I wanted I ended up with a much longer shoulder than I planned so I used a tractor hitch part from tractor supply as a spacer it's ID matched the bolt and it OD just fit in the tube.

Pitch Axis
I used more of the 2x2 solid stock for the pitch axis. This piece was drilled and tapped to accept the 1" diameter grade 8 bolt. After assembling the bolt into the solid stock, a 5/8" hole was cross drilled through both the stock and the bolt (not fun) This block is then pinned into a bracket made from a short length of 2.5"x2.5" tubing After initial assembly I welded a machine bushing to each side of the block to make the fit between block and bracket closer.

Yaw Axis
The bracket that allows for pitch also allows for yaw as it is bolted to a ball mount/ draw bar with a layer of polyurethane sandwiched in between. There is a small piece of tubing that runs vertically through the drawbar, poly spacer, and bracket that allows me to tighten the bolt without crushing the poly isolator.

Pics of the completed assembly.
Allows for...
- infinite roll (of course the RTT might have issues with that)
- greater than 180 degrees of yaw (limited by trailer / tow vehicle contact)
- approximately 140 degrees of pitch

 

[xkmacx86]

How are you netting 140 deg of pitch? I don't see that poly bushing netting any more than 20-30deg. Curious since I should be building my trailer this summer.

 

[bfr]

Body Construction:
I am pretty sure Rezarf from ih8mud is a member here as well. I found his build on mud when researching roof top tents, and adopted his method (thin tubes inner skinned with sheet metal) of construction. The body design/dimensions are meant to echo those of the t3 trailer i used to own, but scaled up to match the dimensions of the Jeep Wrangler TJ/LJ.

All the sheetmetal panels are welded around their entire perimeter to the tube and then ground flush.

In order to maintain access to cargo regardless of whether or not the tent is deployed I decided to make the entire floor of the trailer a slide. To do this I used a bedslide meant for a toyota tundra(craigslist find). I cut down and rewelded the slide's frame & rails to fit the trailer's size and replaced the deck.

The lid is hinged along the front

Detail of tailgate & tail lights

 

[bfr]

How are you netting 140 deg of pitch? I don't see that poly bushing netting any more than 20-30deg. Curious since I should be building my trailer this summer.

The poly bushing is not meant to allow any pitch. It is only there to allow for yaw (think about the left to right rotation seen when the trailer tracks behind the tow while turning on flat ground). I consider it a wear item and inspect it every time I hook up the trailer, and carry a spare in the nose box. Instead, the pitch motion is handled by the pin through the machined stock

max down
About the only way it will see this angle is if I back the trailer off a steep embankment, or find myself attempting an obstacle with an extreme break over angle. Not really an issue for me though as I actively avoid backing it off cliffs and the trailers break over angle is marginally better than that of my jeep so if the jeep clears the trailer will as well.

max up
similar to above, but greatest concern in this case would be the opposite... trying to drive in and back out a ravine/ ditch narrow enough that the tow vehicle is climbing out while the trailer is still descending.

 

[xkmacx86]

Gotcha. That's the part I missed. Nice job on the trailer

 

[bfr]

thanks, I am pretty pleased with how it turned out

 

[bfr]

I decided I wanted the fenders to match the lines of TJ rear fender flares, but I wasn't able to bend tube to the shape I wanted so I had a local fab shop bend it for me. Then I built their structure using the same method as the tub.

 

[BADDANDY]

Awesome, and thanks for posting your build and especially for not previewing the already completed project.

 

[bfr]

deep cycle battery and fuel can rack

 

[bfr]

Paint & Reassembly:
After considering different options I decided to go with powder coating.

all components sand blasted, ready to be taken powder coating.

reassembly

 

[bfr]

Trailer Equipment:
The trailer has two power systems. The house system includes a pair of 12 volt deep cycle batteries that power four circuits via a Blue Sea Systems WeatherDeck fused switch panel. The four circuits are water pump, fridge/freezer, 12v accessory outlets, and interior lights.

one nice feature of this panel is that the labels are red when off, green when on, and brown when the fuse is blown.

The tow system includes a standard 7 pin RV style connector to power STT lights, marker lights, and brakes.
For the most part the two systems are isolated, but the on board battery charger is capable of using shore power, or taking 12V from the tow vehicle and using it to charge the deep cycle batteries.

The switch panel, onboard charger, and shore power connections are all housed in the tongue box.

 

[weeman]

Very nice so far. Any updates on this?