jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
As some of you have seen, 2 months ago I bought an old 60's Apache Raven tent trailer. Well, after reinforcing the "frame", running new wiring for the lights, lifting it almost 2 inches, extending the tongue, and putting 12 inch wheels under it we managed to beat it up on our first trip over July 4th weekend. Damage was a bent wheel that led to a leaking tire, bent the tongue, and bent two of the support jacks. Only about a $200 loss so no biggie, just lost hours put into it.
So the day after we returned from said trip I found an old trailer frame in the classifieds, and after confirming that it was the exact width of the Raven I went to pick it up. Needless to say it was raggedy and needed a lot of work, but the price was right. The day after I got it home I measured the hubs and bearings and made some phone calls to find some 5 lug hubs for it. Did I mention this frame was old? It used a hub and spindle that was less than 3 inches long and NOBODY carried a 5 lug hub that would fit the spindle. So after more phone calls I found a complete brand new 2k axle with 5 lug hubs and all mounting brackets for $112, score!! Went to pick it up, welded it, and painted it the same afternoon. Back to the frame, this thing was so raggedy that if you stood on one corner you would be almost 2 inches lower than the other due to flexing, holes, and broken welds. The trailer was the remains of an old tent trailer that had been stripped down and abused, but was still a great starting point for my project.
Did I mention I had never welded before this project? I have watched friends use my welder before but I decided this was time to break me in and learn to do it! Well, I'm a quick learner with anything mechanical and once I figured out the line speed and distance between the wire and the metal it was pretty easy, hardest part was sweating my butt off in 95 degree heat while wearing heavy clothes for protection and a welding helmet. My welds slowly got better and before I knew it I was filling in some nickel sized holes and even got some pretty nice beads down. Once I finished re-welding the original frame it was time to add a real rear bumper, so off to the steel place I went and came home with a 10 foot section of 3/16 wall 2.5x2.5 square tubing. All I can say is that I love my air saw, sliced through the tubing with ease and cut it straight. After cutting it I got it level with the trailer and held it in place with a ratchet strap while I welded it up. After the welding was done I tapped all of my welds with a hammer to check for penetration and loose slag, then I cleaned them up with a drill and wire wheel. Then it was on to painting the frame, which I just used some of that flat black grill paint that I also used on the wheels.
Next up was the support jacks. The trailer came with some short support jacks on all 4 corners and I bought 4 of the long style seen here http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Two-...5fRVQ5fTrailerQ5fCamperQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories thinking all jacks must use the same mounting holes and bolts. Wrong!! So after re-drilling all of the holes and relocating the front mounting points I finally got the jacks mounted.
For wheels and tires I picked up some early 90's 15x7 Ford Ranger wheels and mounted some cheap 31x10.50's I had in the garage. I have some stock Jeep wheels but the Ranger wheels have a larger center bore and fit without machining. Once I painted them flat black they looked pretty decent.
The hardest part of the project was swapping the tub of the Raven over from its original frame to the new frame without using any jacks or blocks. So then I remembered using my shop crane to move a car once that had no wheels onto a trailer. After removing the trailer wiring, frame, and years of dirt and cobwebs it was time to strap it up and swap it over. Sounds easy, right? So after snapping one strap that was dry rotted I finally got it in the air and ready for the other frame, but little did I know that I had to trim part of the bottom of the Raven on all 4 corners to fit inside the frame rails of the new trailer using my air grinder. This wouldn't have been so bad except that my compressor kept tripping its fuse from overheating, so I got a window fan and put it in front of the compressor on high. Eventually I trimmed it to where it fit perfectly inside the frame rails and got it swapped over and bolted down.
The pictures are in no particular order, but easy to figure out. Feel free to ask questions, I'm sure I left something out.
So the day after we returned from said trip I found an old trailer frame in the classifieds, and after confirming that it was the exact width of the Raven I went to pick it up. Needless to say it was raggedy and needed a lot of work, but the price was right. The day after I got it home I measured the hubs and bearings and made some phone calls to find some 5 lug hubs for it. Did I mention this frame was old? It used a hub and spindle that was less than 3 inches long and NOBODY carried a 5 lug hub that would fit the spindle. So after more phone calls I found a complete brand new 2k axle with 5 lug hubs and all mounting brackets for $112, score!! Went to pick it up, welded it, and painted it the same afternoon. Back to the frame, this thing was so raggedy that if you stood on one corner you would be almost 2 inches lower than the other due to flexing, holes, and broken welds. The trailer was the remains of an old tent trailer that had been stripped down and abused, but was still a great starting point for my project.
Did I mention I had never welded before this project? I have watched friends use my welder before but I decided this was time to break me in and learn to do it! Well, I'm a quick learner with anything mechanical and once I figured out the line speed and distance between the wire and the metal it was pretty easy, hardest part was sweating my butt off in 95 degree heat while wearing heavy clothes for protection and a welding helmet. My welds slowly got better and before I knew it I was filling in some nickel sized holes and even got some pretty nice beads down. Once I finished re-welding the original frame it was time to add a real rear bumper, so off to the steel place I went and came home with a 10 foot section of 3/16 wall 2.5x2.5 square tubing. All I can say is that I love my air saw, sliced through the tubing with ease and cut it straight. After cutting it I got it level with the trailer and held it in place with a ratchet strap while I welded it up. After the welding was done I tapped all of my welds with a hammer to check for penetration and loose slag, then I cleaned them up with a drill and wire wheel. Then it was on to painting the frame, which I just used some of that flat black grill paint that I also used on the wheels.
Next up was the support jacks. The trailer came with some short support jacks on all 4 corners and I bought 4 of the long style seen here http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Two-...5fRVQ5fTrailerQ5fCamperQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories thinking all jacks must use the same mounting holes and bolts. Wrong!! So after re-drilling all of the holes and relocating the front mounting points I finally got the jacks mounted.
For wheels and tires I picked up some early 90's 15x7 Ford Ranger wheels and mounted some cheap 31x10.50's I had in the garage. I have some stock Jeep wheels but the Ranger wheels have a larger center bore and fit without machining. Once I painted them flat black they looked pretty decent.
The hardest part of the project was swapping the tub of the Raven over from its original frame to the new frame without using any jacks or blocks. So then I remembered using my shop crane to move a car once that had no wheels onto a trailer. After removing the trailer wiring, frame, and years of dirt and cobwebs it was time to strap it up and swap it over. Sounds easy, right? So after snapping one strap that was dry rotted I finally got it in the air and ready for the other frame, but little did I know that I had to trim part of the bottom of the Raven on all 4 corners to fit inside the frame rails of the new trailer using my air grinder. This wouldn't have been so bad except that my compressor kept tripping its fuse from overheating, so I got a window fan and put it in front of the compressor on high. Eventually I trimmed it to where it fit perfectly inside the frame rails and got it swapped over and bolted down.
The pictures are in no particular order, but easy to figure out. Feel free to ask questions, I'm sure I left something out.
Maybe add some corner protection on the rear. How about some interior lighting?