Your 2 cents please...

[Mark Harley]

Post a couple more pictures of the water door.
That is a cool idea for easy fill.
Trailer looks great! Looking forward to see the fenders.

 

[jrfII]

Fenders

Mark,

I grab a pic or two of the water access door tomorrow evening. Thanks.

Today I fit the fenders to the trailer. I had originally thought about loosing some of the angle iron on both sides. But I keep thinking that those side rails may have value somewhere down the line. So I trimmed the fenders to fit around the rails.

Both fenders will be held to the trailer box with 1.5" angle iron with 1" supports directly attached to the fenders. Below is a pic of the one top center brace prior to welding.



Good news, I was welding like mad today. Must be like riding a bike. Hardly a pro but it felt more natural again, it has been 20 years or so. You can tell when a MIG is setup right, sounds like a T-bone sizzling on the grill!





Next up, prime, paint and permanently mount to the trailer. Should be mounted by.mid week, weather dependent.

I did get a little more done, bit will wait to post better pics.

 

[Mark Harley]

Like the fenders a perfect match. That is a lot of wheel weights on that rim.

 

[jrfII]

Thanks...

The fenders will be getting painted and I really am pleased with the look.

As far as the wheel weights, indeed! Those are the dried rotted BFG's that were on the trailer when I bought it. The new/used Kuhmos are going on this week and I am anxious to see how they balance on the factory Jeep rims.

Amazingly, the wheels and tires run straight and true. I'll get your pic uploaded sometime later today.

 

[jrfII]

Water access

Mark,



Here are the detail shots you ask for of the water fill pocket.



The large hole is big enough that a garden hose can be slipped in and left lay while filling the tank. The brass fitting is direct to a garden hose fitting. The small fitting bottom middle is a screened vent for the water tank. We have had two motorhomes with similar setup. About $30 shipped from Ebay.

Hope this gives you some ideas. The brass fitting has a one way valve that will be removed as it is for filling rather than exhausting the supply tank. No big deal a simple plastic disc that will be removed with needle nose pliers.



On another note, when I had the trailer open for these pics the wind was wicked here tonight. The lid never twitched even with the tent attached. Pics of the tent are soon to follow.

Happy trails!

 

[Mark Harley]

Thanks! Looks good and functional.

 

[jrfII]

No pics tonight

Made a mad dash home tonight after running late at work. Had just enough daylight left to use the tongue jack and rear stabilizers to lift the wheels off the ground. Hoped this would work for emergencies and had yet to test it.

So the wheels came off and the replacement tires will get mounted and balanced tomorrow. Removed both hubs with bearings. These will get cleaned, inspected and either fresh grease or replaced. The stub axles look to be in good condition. The grease looked pretty fresh and clean, hopefully the bearings and races are good.

Nothing going on tomorrow evening but there is a chance of rain. Weather permitting, we'll get back on the wheels tomorrow evening.

Fenders and brackets are still waiting for paint. May not get back until Friday. Not to up tight about it as the weather is looking bleak for the weekend and the wife and I agreed the shakedown run will be done when the forecast is clear.

 

[jrfII]

Moving along

Down to the spindles . The bearings, races and axles all look in good condition. So I simply repacked them with grease and reassembled them. Had to replace one spindle cap as one was destroyed during removal. :Wow1:



Next up was mounting the Kuhmo's that were bought to replace the weathered BFG's. Since the Jeep wheels on the trailer had the centers modified to fit the trailer spindles, I decided to give Equal a go for balancing the trailer tires. I'll post how it works after a few miles.

Heres a pic of the fenders and brackets painted and ready to go. This is gonna wrap up the outside of this build other than somepaint work, wiring and some polishing on the hinge.



More to come....

 

[jrfII]

Fenders on

Couple of days late on this update. The fender mount brackets and fenders have been installed. Take a look.



The mount brackets are backed with a strip of rubber between them and the aluminum box.



All stainless fasteners were used to keep things from rusting over time.



The sides of the frame have been etch primed and painted now.



So this concludes the majority of the big modifications. Wiring and plumbing still needs wrapped up. We had a major snow in our area yesterday and the temps are to moderate over the next couple of days. Should have some more posts for the weekend that will show the wrap-up. I am going to relocate the license plate to the back of the box and add a couple of LEDs for light under the lid.

Hope to run the shake-down cruise soon. Will give a full report on how things work then.

Enjoy!

 

[Titanpat57]

Very nice job...congratz!!

 

[Mark Harley]

The build looks Great! Keep us posted on any new add ons.

 

[oldboyscout]

Have you had any problem with the trailer frame twisting? I have the same frame and wanted to build it up likewise, but was repeatedly advised that an angle iron frame would self destruct if used offroad.

 

[jrfII]

Ready to get it wrapped up in the next day or so....

Had to take a little break from the trailer to replace the cooling unit for the fridge in the MH. :violent-smiley-031: Not near as relaxing as the trailer build. But the fridge is about wrapped up now. So I expect to finally complete the trailer in the next week.

oldboyscout, in severe conditions, the angle iron is nowhere near as strong as box steel or tubing (pending wall thickness, compostion,etc.) so if you are looking at heavy duty offroad use, build it strong. After the research that I have done and the people I have consulted, I believe that this trailer will suffice for our moderate offroad intentions.

The Disclaimer: If we really enjoy the experience and the trailer does fold, then we will build our own frame. But only if necessary. I do not believe in overbuilding unless it is for EXTREME conditions. I like to build on a budget to fit the need.

As for the promised update, EQUAL rocks. The new/used 35's were mounted on the last installment. We DID NOT ATTEMPT TO BALANCE the wheels and tires. Two 6oz bags of Equal per tire were added when we mounted the tires. The first 5 miles at 45-50 there was some wobble, then the bags self-destructed and everything smoothed right out. Amazing!!!

Ran the Cherokee with the trailer out on the four lane for about 70 miles last Friday and it pulled straight and true. Had to drop the trailer tire pressure to about 14 psi to minimize bounce but the results are exciting. I just punched two vents in the hood of the Jeep today to allow heat to dissipate quicker for pulling the trailer.

Some completion photos for next week!!!! Happy trails!!!!

 

[jeeps4fun]

I'm pretty new to Expedition style travel and have been reading thru your build. U used an angle iron trailer, which you said can tweak under hard use. Is it possible to weld a reinforcing strap and make it a "triangular frame"

 

[jrfII]

Tested the grille...

Still haven't done a full blown shake down trip, but we did use the trailer last evening for the camp fire in a can. It was a nice calm evening and we were hoping to see the moon as it was closer last night than it will be all year. The cloud cover was too heavy for the moon but we drained the LP tank hangin' at the camp fire.

Today we broke in the grille doing veggies. The grille mount works great and there is plenty of clearance with the tent. Had some onion, pepper, portabela and fresh asparagus. Yum. Glad to report the grille is fully functional!

Off topic but happy to report that the fridge in the motorhome is working great! Thats a project I hope won't need done again soon!

Wiring is the final leg of the build and I hope to nail it this week. :chef: