lacofdfireman
Adventurer
Well my boys have convinced me that we need to build another trailer. We had such a good time with the last one we decided we could make another one and make it even better this time. We loved our last trailer and had a great time building it. I thought it was a great build but we have learned a few things from the last build that we will do different this time. The plan for this one will be to build a smaller, lighter trailer with less features. We pulled our last one with a 03 Jeep Cherokee WJ.
Both my son Tyler and I have since upgraded to Jeep JK Unlimited’s. My 20 year old son has a 2018 JKU and I have a 2012 JKUR.
We will be towing this trailer with one of our JK’s with intentions of building a 3rd one later on so both of us have one. We will also include my youngest son Logan (14) in the build where he will help with the wood structure part of the build. My son Tyler will do all the welding and I’ll do the cutting so this will be a team effort. It’s going to be a ton of fun. My biggest issue is going to be time to actually work on it. My work schedule at the Fire Department right now has been rough. Getting a day off with over 200 vacancies hasn’t been an easy task this summer for me. And my Son Tyler has been working 2 Jobs and about 60-70hrs per work. He works for the Local Fire Department here in St. George and also at a local bike shop part time also so he is super busy. He’s also taking a few classes here and there to help further his Fire Department certifications. And my son Logan has started back at school now so can’t help me during the days. Maybe I can convince my wife to help me during the day. That would be cool. So this one will take a little more time than the last one but I’m still shooting for less than 2 months for this build if possible.
So here are the plans. Build another hard sided trailer Expedition-Overland style trailer capable of holding a rooftop tent. Features will be a queen bed inside with a small galley area in the back. Not sure if we will do a sink with a manual pump or not but probably won’t. Well probably just have a 5 gallon water jug with a spigot for washing hands, dishes and cooking water. The interior will be basic and I will most likely carpet the interior walls and ceiling like we did on the last one. I really liked it like that and it seem to provide some sound deadening and maybe even insulation also which was cool. It will have a vent fan on the roof and 12v lighting.
Dimensions for this build will be a side profile of 4x8 and an width of the structure at 5ft. The structure will be built with 3/4” Baltic Birch sides and most likely 1/2” Baltic Birch front, side and rear. Bracing will be 2x3’s for the roof The axle we ordered was a Dexter ez-lube with a 76” Hubface with spring centers at 58”. The axle also includes brakes with a 5 on 5 Jeep wheel bolt pattern that will allow us to run our same Jeep JK wheels on the trailer. We will also be running a 2” wheel spacer because the Jeep wheel center bore is smaller than a trailer axle so won’t fit. The 2” spacer will allow the Jeep wheels to fit on the Dexter axle.
So the axle was ordered and took about 2 weeks through Henderson Wheel in Salt Lake City. Cost for the axle was about $430 shipped for axle with brakes, springs etc. Seems like a little more than I spent last time but maybe that’s just the way things are right now.
Day 1 of the actual build process
I happened to get a few days off last week and was planning to leave for work at 5pm when I got a knock at the door and it was my axle. My boys were so excited and asked if I would go buy steel so we could get the frame cutout before I left for work at 5 and my son Tyler could start welding it up. I didn’t even have a cut list at this point but I figured since my days off we’re going to be few and far between I might as well buy steel and get some pieces cut before I left for work. So I made a cut list and headed to The Steel Yard in St. George and bought enough steel to build the trailer frame. OST of steel,was about $400. Got home at about 4pm so didn’t have much time to work on this as I wanted to leave for work at 5pm but ended up just getting after it and cutting the entire trailer frame out and helped my son get it tack welded up so he could do the finish welding on it. So about 8pm I finally left for work. This is where we are at currently with the build.
Axle will be placed on the trailer using the 60/40 measurement with the center axle axle placed at the 60% measurement from front of trailer box structure.
Quick little video of some work getting done by Tyler.
I know my garage is a mess. I absolutely hate a messy garage but my summer has been crazy and just haven’t had time to get into it and get it all organized for a bit. But I’ll get on it.
We are just your average builders here and would love to hear input and suggestions from you. We for sure don’t know it all and gladly welcome any critique or anything anyone notices we are doing wrong or any tips or tricks they may have. I’ll keep it updated as we build and make sure I take a ton of photos because if any of you are like me I like the pics best. A pic is worth a million words they say so I’ll try and document this build with plenty of pics.
Come along for the build.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Both my son Tyler and I have since upgraded to Jeep JK Unlimited’s. My 20 year old son has a 2018 JKU and I have a 2012 JKUR.
We will be towing this trailer with one of our JK’s with intentions of building a 3rd one later on so both of us have one. We will also include my youngest son Logan (14) in the build where he will help with the wood structure part of the build. My son Tyler will do all the welding and I’ll do the cutting so this will be a team effort. It’s going to be a ton of fun. My biggest issue is going to be time to actually work on it. My work schedule at the Fire Department right now has been rough. Getting a day off with over 200 vacancies hasn’t been an easy task this summer for me. And my Son Tyler has been working 2 Jobs and about 60-70hrs per work. He works for the Local Fire Department here in St. George and also at a local bike shop part time also so he is super busy. He’s also taking a few classes here and there to help further his Fire Department certifications. And my son Logan has started back at school now so can’t help me during the days. Maybe I can convince my wife to help me during the day. That would be cool. So this one will take a little more time than the last one but I’m still shooting for less than 2 months for this build if possible.
So here are the plans. Build another hard sided trailer Expedition-Overland style trailer capable of holding a rooftop tent. Features will be a queen bed inside with a small galley area in the back. Not sure if we will do a sink with a manual pump or not but probably won’t. Well probably just have a 5 gallon water jug with a spigot for washing hands, dishes and cooking water. The interior will be basic and I will most likely carpet the interior walls and ceiling like we did on the last one. I really liked it like that and it seem to provide some sound deadening and maybe even insulation also which was cool. It will have a vent fan on the roof and 12v lighting.
Dimensions for this build will be a side profile of 4x8 and an width of the structure at 5ft. The structure will be built with 3/4” Baltic Birch sides and most likely 1/2” Baltic Birch front, side and rear. Bracing will be 2x3’s for the roof The axle we ordered was a Dexter ez-lube with a 76” Hubface with spring centers at 58”. The axle also includes brakes with a 5 on 5 Jeep wheel bolt pattern that will allow us to run our same Jeep JK wheels on the trailer. We will also be running a 2” wheel spacer because the Jeep wheel center bore is smaller than a trailer axle so won’t fit. The 2” spacer will allow the Jeep wheels to fit on the Dexter axle.
So the axle was ordered and took about 2 weeks through Henderson Wheel in Salt Lake City. Cost for the axle was about $430 shipped for axle with brakes, springs etc. Seems like a little more than I spent last time but maybe that’s just the way things are right now.
Day 1 of the actual build process
I happened to get a few days off last week and was planning to leave for work at 5pm when I got a knock at the door and it was my axle. My boys were so excited and asked if I would go buy steel so we could get the frame cutout before I left for work at 5 and my son Tyler could start welding it up. I didn’t even have a cut list at this point but I figured since my days off we’re going to be few and far between I might as well buy steel and get some pieces cut before I left for work. So I made a cut list and headed to The Steel Yard in St. George and bought enough steel to build the trailer frame. OST of steel,was about $400. Got home at about 4pm so didn’t have much time to work on this as I wanted to leave for work at 5pm but ended up just getting after it and cutting the entire trailer frame out and helped my son get it tack welded up so he could do the finish welding on it. So about 8pm I finally left for work. This is where we are at currently with the build.
Axle will be placed on the trailer using the 60/40 measurement with the center axle axle placed at the 60% measurement from front of trailer box structure.
Quick little video of some work getting done by Tyler.
I know my garage is a mess. I absolutely hate a messy garage but my summer has been crazy and just haven’t had time to get into it and get it all organized for a bit. But I’ll get on it.
We are just your average builders here and would love to hear input and suggestions from you. We for sure don’t know it all and gladly welcome any critique or anything anyone notices we are doing wrong or any tips or tricks they may have. I’ll keep it updated as we build and make sure I take a ton of photos because if any of you are like me I like the pics best. A pic is worth a million words they say so I’ll try and document this build with plenty of pics.
Come along for the build.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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