One Swell Trailer

[indiedog]

You look to be well on top of things Mike. I agree, making decisions is the hardest part of the entire process!

I've also been considering the Wolf Pack storage containers as they have been around for quite a while and I suspect will be in the future. This is important as basing a storage system on something which then isn't available is possibly a PITA in the future. I will have this issue on my car storage whenever the current boxes break. I have thought though I may make up some ply boxes as replacements. Unfortunately the Wolf Pack's are not cheap!

For your water, could you not find a suitable tank to fit up under the floor? This would keep the weight down low and then free up the entire internal space. This is common here with some good proprietary tanks available. You can add a steel shield to it if desired. Just need to plan your cross members to accommodate whichever one you choose so you may be getting past that point.

And I'm still envious re' the equipment you have access to!

 

[BSR]

Related to your storage conversatioin guys; they're not cheap, but the best storage boxes I've encountered are Pelican cases.
http://www.waterproof-cases.co.uk/
Some are airtight, let alone watertight, bullet proof and used by armed forces worldwide.
Shop around and you can find many different sizes and the odd bargain.

 

[GeoTracker90]

BSR, the Pelican cases and the very similar Storm cases are some of the best cases out there for sure. I have a couple of the smaller Pelican cases, but I'm afraid that their larger cases are pushing it for my budget. Another storage system that I really like is the exceptional products being made by Goose Gear. (Example photo and website link.)



http://www.goose-gear.com/


That said, it seems like I have champagne and caviar taste but I only have a Root-beer and Doritos budget. So, what's a guy to do? Well I did a quick Google search for the terms "nylon filled square tube insert connector" and I think I struck gold when I found Esto Connectors. Here's a picture of just one of the styles of connectors that they offer as well as their website.



http://www.estoconnectors.com/


I need to take some time over the next few evenings and look around their website some more, but I'm liking the idea of buying the components myself and making my own Goose Gear style storage system. More ideas to kick around now. It never ends.

Mike

 

[BSR]

Those cabinets by Goose Gear look very nice indeed. :drool:

Maybe (being a bit random here) you might find some secondhand marine cabinets for sale?
Craigslist, eBay or even boatyards in Idaho.
Would be the same marine ply, ingenious and neatly packaged, compact and (possibly) cheap if they've been ripped out and you can repurpose them?
I know it's yet another idea to think about, but scanning a few classifieds might yield a result.

Or, sell the wife and get the Goose Gear stuff! :********: :********:

 

[indiedog]

In Oz we have a similar system called Qubelok. I don't think you get it there but apparently this stuff is similar; http://www.brunnerent.com

 

[GeoTracker90]

Man things have been crazy lately. The DXF file for my suspension brackets became corrupt and the trial version of Rhino that I was using to model them up with expired. And in the mean time one of my co-workers suddenly retired. Needless to say things truly have been crazy. It feels like it's been forever since I did any work on the trailer, so tonight I tried to fix some of that.

With the help of my good friend James we were able to recreate the drawings for the suspension brackets. Tomorrow night I'll hand off the files to my other friend Mike who will do the plasma cutting. Once the brackets are cut I'll hand them off to the machinist at work and with any luck at all I will have brackets ready to weld onto the frame by the 21st of this month.

This Saturday I will be buying the sheet metal for the main box as well as the fuel can holders and the propane tank holder.

I really need some more shop therapy time. I can't wait to start posting pictures again of some progress.

Mike

 

[axehead]

Hey Mike,

Might be a stupid question but did you try using the .bak file to recover your suspension design?

I hate losing cad files

 

[dubbinchris]

Cool build so far....I'll be following.

 

[GeoTracker90]

Hey Mike,

Might be a stupid question but did you try using the .bak file to recover your suspension design?

I hate losing cad files

No I didn't, but I'll have to remember that if there is a next time. The brackets are a fairly simple design and it didn't take too much time to recreate. The biggest hassle was that if the file would have been good initially instead of corrupt I would have the brackets done and in my hands, ready to be welded on. Oh well, I still have roughly 2-1/2 months to get the trailer ready for its maiden trip. Plenty of time, right?

Mike

 

[awol]

Plenty of time! Lol. I've been in the same boat with needing more shop time. I feel like it has been forever since I have been able to spend some quality time working on mine. It will happen this weekend though and should be some decent progress.

 

[GeoTracker90]

Well I dropped the CAD files off to my buddy tonight and he confirmed that he will be cutting them tomorrow (Friday, March 13th). On Monday I'll be passing them off to the machinist at work to do the finishing touches on them. It nice to get things moving again.

In spite of not working on the trailer tonight I did get outside for some cutting and grinding, only this time on the 1994 S-10 Blazer tow rig. I'm getting ready to do a body lift and then I'll build a custom rear bumper. Part of the idea was to trim up the rear quarter panels and have the bumper wrap around the sides. I ended up diving into things and getting the passenger side trimmed up tonight. Here's a few quick pictures of the process. Why? because everyone loves pictures, that's why.




















And yes, I now need to rework my exhaust system.

Enjoy!

Mike

 

[Titanpat57]

Watching and enjoying all the progress Mike!

 

[GeoTracker90]

Well my friend Murphy seems to be alive and well and he has reared his ugly head once again. I checked with my buddy that was scheduled to perform the CNC cutting of the suspension brackets and was informed that the machine was off-line for repairs when he went to use it last Friday. Maybe it wasn't Murphy, it could have been Friday the 13th instead. Either way I'm still crossing my fingers that he will be able to get the job done this coming week.

The weekend wasn't a total loss though. I did get the other quarter panel trimmed on the S-10 Blazer tow vehicle, and when I went to get the mail I had a special package waiting for me. BSR was kind enough to post a pair of Antiluce pins to me from the UK.






Because I wasn't at the point of being able to put the pint to use right away I took them into the wilds of Idaho today when I went for a little Sunday afternoon drive. They seemed to like it although they were complaining that they weren't making the trip attached to the trailer. I'll have to see what I can do about fixing that.

Mike

 

[BSR]

The weekend wasn't a total loss though. Antiluce pins to me from the UK.

View attachment 275678

Mike

Yay!

 

[GeoTracker90]

Well, things are hopefully going to start coming together her fairly quick. Over the last week I've been in parts collection mode. Some of the parts are a little more exciting than others, you'll have to tell me what you think.

1) Battery Charge Controller


I ended up grabbing a 10 Amp solar charge controller that I will use between the tow-vehicle and the trailer's battery. The intent is to have the input from the tow-vehicle tied to a relay that is only energized with a key-on power source. Between the relay in the vehicle and the charge controller the two batteries (trailer and tow-vehicle) will be in effect separated electrically from each other when the vehicle is off.

2) LED Lights


I bought two of these flush mount LED lights. The intent is to utilize them in the rear bumper build of the tow vehicle, but the flip side of this was to have a sample LED light to evaluate. The amount of light these guys throw out there is pretty impressive. I sure wouldn't want to be driving behind a vehicle with two of these pointed at me, that's for sure. I'll probably be looking for some other LED light bars to put around the trailer for when things are set up in camp.

3) Kitchen Sink


On a recent trip to the big city I stopped in at the IKEA store. When I did I learned a very important lesson - do not go shopping at an IKEA on a Saturday!!! IKEA in and of itself is a maze of a store and I can accept and deal with that. I'm pretty much ok with it as long as I'm not getting jostled around with the rest of the rats in the maze at the same time. Now the reason I was there to begin with, I needed a kitchen sink and they happen to have one at a reasonable price. This sink with the drain tray was just under $40 before tax. I couldn't beat that for the price.

4) Suspension Brackets


Good golly!!! What's this? I was finally able to get the brackets cut out. It's hard to tell but in the picture they are stacked in pairs. The plasma cutter ended up putting a bit of a slant on the cuts so that they cut wasn't straight up and down. Right now I'm taking care of that and cleaning up the cuts. Once I have them straightened up I will hand them off to the machinist to drill the holes and machine the slots needed for attachment of the trailing arms. The concern is that if I didn't clean them up first that the milling machine vice might not get the grip on the part that's needed for the machining operation. Last thing I want is a part to come flying out of the milling vice.

5) Sheet Metal

Sorry, no pictures for this one. I did pick up two 4' x 8' sheets of 16 gauge sheet metal to use for building the trailer body. Hopefully I can start cutting, bending, and welding this up sometime this week. I'm really getting anxious to start seeing things take shape again.

Mike