High Country Hillbilly
Observer
Love the big slide-out! That will make for a really cool kitchen....keep us posted!
Hillbilly
Hillbilly
unique utility trailer build
- Thread starter rain76king
- Start date
rain76king
Adventurer
So I mysteriously hurt my knee last week. No specific instance of injury, but swollen to the point where I couldn't walk normal and certainly couldn't work as well.
9 days later I'm back at it, light duty but at least it got me into the garage.
I used a few come alongs and brought the utility body high enough so I could slide the new shoes underneath.
From there I measured inside rim to inside rim and got a measure of 52''.
Still looking into it but I think the adapters I need come in 1.5 inches x 2 gives me 3 inches.
49 inches is the magic axle length. Will order it with electric brake and e brake.
Will shoot for 5,200 pound axle. As some mentioned earlier if you use the 3 inch diameter axle it seems to up the weight capacity.
The only down part about using the same tire size as my rig is the overall height of the trailer.
I will also need to do some trimming to make the meats work.
Trailer height at the moment will be 77''. One reason it's so high is that I want to be comfortably able to step under the doors when they are open.
I want to have the RTT hang over so I can walk under it and use the add a room feature.
I'm not overly concerned about being top heavy because all the weight is down low and I don't think it will be a huge issue.
Plus once I fill the water tank and a possible aux fuel tank, it should offset any concern.
Enough with the chat, here are some pics.
9 days later I'm back at it, light duty but at least it got me into the garage.
I used a few come alongs and brought the utility body high enough so I could slide the new shoes underneath.
From there I measured inside rim to inside rim and got a measure of 52''.
Still looking into it but I think the adapters I need come in 1.5 inches x 2 gives me 3 inches.
49 inches is the magic axle length. Will order it with electric brake and e brake.
Will shoot for 5,200 pound axle. As some mentioned earlier if you use the 3 inch diameter axle it seems to up the weight capacity.
The only down part about using the same tire size as my rig is the overall height of the trailer.
I will also need to do some trimming to make the meats work.
Trailer height at the moment will be 77''. One reason it's so high is that I want to be comfortably able to step under the doors when they are open.
I want to have the RTT hang over so I can walk under it and use the add a room feature.
I'm not overly concerned about being top heavy because all the weight is down low and I don't think it will be a huge issue.
Plus once I fill the water tank and a possible aux fuel tank, it should offset any concern.
Enough with the chat, here are some pics.
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Mark Harley
Expedition Leader
I look at your pictures and see so many options.
I may replace the tub on my 101A2 with a utility body now.
I looks at the gull wing doors and see an easy pop out tent option.
with sleeping quarters inside, the other side a covered kitchen with pull out sink and stove.
I like this build!
I may replace the tub on my 101A2 with a utility body now.
I looks at the gull wing doors and see an easy pop out tent option.
with sleeping quarters inside, the other side a covered kitchen with pull out sink and stove.
I like this build!
rain76king
Adventurer
Thanks, I saw a number of metal ones and fiberglass ones that were too wide.
When I looked at a few it seemed more than manageable to trim the center of the utility body to cut down on some of the width.
When I looked at a few it seemed more than manageable to trim the center of the utility body to cut down on some of the width.
rain76king
Adventurer
I am hoping to have most of it done by June, so more than likely you will see me depending on the date.
I have another Fall Crawl to hit this year in VA and the my club's event the "Fall Gathering"......Makes the Fall busy!
I have another Fall Crawl to hit this year in VA and the my club's event the "Fall Gathering"......Makes the Fall busy!
rain76king
Adventurer
Placed my order with Redneck supply in Albany NY. Jim and Mark have been super helpful so far.
My measurement ended up being 49 inches after I subtracted spacers.
Went with the 3'' as well which beefs me up to 5200 lbs.
2 week wait time which is somewhat disapointing, wish I had done this earlier.
I ended up paying $330. before shipping and I added the parking brake feature. Was only $9?
Will see if that ends up sticking....I think someone at Dexter forgot to add a 0 to that quote........
My measurement ended up being 49 inches after I subtracted spacers.
Went with the 3'' as well which beefs me up to 5200 lbs.
2 week wait time which is somewhat disapointing, wish I had done this earlier.
I ended up paying $330. before shipping and I added the parking brake feature. Was only $9?
Will see if that ends up sticking....I think someone at Dexter forgot to add a 0 to that quote........
rain76king
Adventurer
Redneck trailer supply had an internal miscommunication and goofed on my shipping. Should have trailer axle in the next week.
I was told this is something that does not happen often with them and I believe it. Just a hiccup.
I was told this is something that does not happen often with them and I believe it. Just a hiccup.
rain76king
Adventurer
Box mounted to frame. The trailer is too tall. I need to downsize the tire size quite a bit.....
indiedog
Adventurer
Great find Rain. Total bonus that it's all aluminium as well. Look forward to seeing what you do with it.
Something I've wondered about with tall + short trailers is how much the ball weight changes depending on the slope you are going up/down. If the COG is reasonably high and you are going up a steep incline then the ball weight will drop as the trailer tries to tilt backwards (depending on where the COG is relative to the axle) and vice versa for going down a steep incline. With this thing being aluminium that will help no doubt but do you have a plan for keeping the COG down low?
As a starting point, I love it and probably would snap something like that up myself. Good luck with it.
Indie.
Something I've wondered about with tall + short trailers is how much the ball weight changes depending on the slope you are going up/down. If the COG is reasonably high and you are going up a steep incline then the ball weight will drop as the trailer tries to tilt backwards (depending on where the COG is relative to the axle) and vice versa for going down a steep incline. With this thing being aluminium that will help no doubt but do you have a plan for keeping the COG down low?
As a starting point, I love it and probably would snap something like that up myself. Good luck with it.
Indie.
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rain76king
Adventurer
COG will be offset by the water tank and 2 diehard marine batteries.
Most gear will be stowed down below in the storage compartments.
That is obviously one of the downfalls to the build is it's height.
At this point I'm looking at taking it down to 33's from 35's.
There's going to be about 140 pounds on the roof between the RTT and the twin awnings.
I'm just going along and figuring out what I need to do as I get there.
At this point it tows well and is super light. I can't even tell it's behind me.
Below is a picture, I need to tweak a few things and get it down a bit lower.
Most gear will be stowed down below in the storage compartments.
That is obviously one of the downfalls to the build is it's height.
At this point I'm looking at taking it down to 33's from 35's.
There's going to be about 140 pounds on the roof between the RTT and the twin awnings.
I'm just going along and figuring out what I need to do as I get there.
At this point it tows well and is super light. I can't even tell it's behind me.
Below is a picture, I need to tweak a few things and get it down a bit lower.