10K for an Expedition Trailer? Not in the budget, Custom Exp Trailer to follow...

[capnjackcanon]

Hey gents, this will be my first post in the forum. I picked up my new to me '08 JKU last year and have been excited to get back into 4x4 after a year long vacation to Afghanistan. Some radical changes in life have show me how important it is to spend time with my family and so I've made off roading and expedition style travel a priority now with the family going out at least 1 weekend a month for 8 months out of the year ( I live in Phoenix, AZ and can do it year round if the kids could handle it.)

So, with that background, I picked up a little john boat and trailer from my Dad when he had decided to get rid of it. Here are some pics of it at the beginning.



After I took it home, I decided I wanted to make it more of a utility trailer, that I could put doors on and cover up.

I tore apart the trailer when I got it home, and after a couple paints of coat and some tongue and groove 1x6's this is what I ended up with.

 

[capnjackcanon]

I took the trailer out in this configuration on a few camping trips with the wife and kiddo's.

On our third trip with it we ended up leaving town 3 hours later than the desired movement time. I was resolved to get out of Phoenix ASAP though due to high heat and silly city life stressors. Long story short, I had to four wheel into our favorite site in the dark, whilst it was raining, and flash flooding.

The camp ground was 3 hours from home, and when we left PHX there was no inclement weather, so the rain was a bit of a surprise.

The trailer held up ok on this trip, but I was concerned that I had gotten pretty lucky in my nocturnal maneuvers that I hadn't tweaked the frame of the trailer, nor my JK.

This got me thinking about what kind of trailer I really needed.

So I checked craigslist and I bought this.



an M-105. I was stoked, it was "exactly" what I wanted... or so I thought.

I picked up the trailer and it was... huge. I knew it was meant to be pulled by a Deuce and a Half, but I had forgotten just how big the M-105 is.

I got it home, and it wouldn't even fit in the garage.

After a quick buzz cut, I took a little off the top and it would fit in the garage.

I was super excited. I started reading about Jeeps pulling M-105's on different forums. On one forum another soldier had said he was going to do it (with the intent to offroad) and he was hammered by the forums. M-105 is too much trailer for your Jeep, the poor guy tried to defend himself by saying he'd done a ton of upgrades, suddenly I realized that a trailer that weighed 2500 lbs empty was not the solution for me while I was doing my 4x4 thing with the family in tow.

So, back to my original trailer, but with a new plan!

 

[capnjackcanon]

So, I stripped the frame on my Dilly Utility Trailer. But I didn't strip it like I did last time (this is read half @ssed) I really went for it, and got all the way down to the rust and steel.

I pulled out the grinding wheel and started knocking off rusted over bolts and getting as much corrosion off of the frame as possible.

View attachment 304386

I found a great deal on CL for 4 OEM tires for a JK and decided my trailer was getting some 33's with matching hubs!

My buddy came over and we squared up a box and welded it to the frame. I'm going for a mix between a http://http://turtlebacktrailers.com/ and a "Jack-Wagon" http://www.jackwagonoffroad.com/

 

[capnjackcanon]

Yesterday I did some more welding and added a bit to the frame.

View attachment 304387

Don't mind all of the gear adrift, space is hard to come by. I went with 4 ' width x 6' length x 3' height. I am planning to add much more to the trailer, it will be a box, with a nice roof rack, that should be getting a Roof Top Tent once I can find one of you guys on here to sell me one used

I'll be designing the kitchenette for the trailer this Saturday, in preparation for that I picked up a really great deal from Ikea, their http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S59896365/ Fyndig sink, it's only $26 bucks and has great dimensions for what I have planned. Chris from http://www.4xoverlandadventures.com is my neighbor and had been talking about I should get a pump, but I just really want to minimize my dependency on electricity (even off the grid) so I'm opting for a 33 gallon bladder that will sit on a stand I weld over the axle, and then a 10 gallon water tank that I mount behind and above the kitchenette so that it can be gravity fed.

I forgot to mention one of the fun things I've run into trying to get matching tires for this trailer axle was that the OEM Jeep rims wouldn't fit on the trailer axle, and apart from having a custom one made for me, my local guys at SpecTrac sent me to get my rims milled out, so the rims are off at the Bid Shop.

I can't wait to get them back and see how the trailer rides with the 33" Jeep tires.

 

[Mark Harley]

105's are fine behind jeeps!

 

[capnjackcanon]

@Mark Harley I wasn't worried about on the road, but I did get a little concerned about any of the off road action, 3500lbs while wheeling just sounds like a lot of push...

I will say though, my M-105 does pull really smoothly and you only notice it when you stop (because of the pintle hitch).

 

[Gallowbraid]

I'm in! Anxious to see what you do with this.

 

[capnjackcanon]

Well, this morning I was pretty excited, I called "Bid Machine" the shop that had milled out my tires, and they were ready for pickup!

 

[capnjackcanon]

On a sidenote: to my Phoenix folks, if anyone knows a good place to get my frame sandblasted, I'd love to find a local shop to do it. Otherwise next weekend I've got to take my grinder to the frame...

 

[Xrunner]

On a sidenote: to my Phoenix folks, if anyone knows a good place to get my frame sandblasted, I'd love to find a local shop to do it. Otherwise next weekend I've got to take my grinder to the frame...

I would try a needle scaler before grinding if you go the DIY route.

If you do remove the paint be careful with the chips and dust... the coating the military uses is pretty nasty to breathe.

 

[BurbanAZ]

Seems like ur making good progress. I'm about to start building my trailer here soon so I look forward to seeing what u do.

 

[capnjackcanon]

I would try a needle scaler before grinding if you go the DIY route.

If you do remove the paint be careful with the chips and dust... the coating the military uses is pretty nasty to breathe.

@Xrunner, yeah definitely, I should have clarified my brush fitting for my angle grinder, but yes, a needle gun would definitely do a great job.

I found a place here in Phoenix called Stardust Industries, they resell stuff from torn down offices and homes and stuff, I paid $5 for my countertop that almost perfectly fits what will be my kitchenette. I did a few cuts on it today and I'll get that box built tomorrow and plumbed. Also picked up materials to start skinning the frame, very excited here!

I'll post pics once stuff is welded and built up.

 

[Shlaytim]

I live here in Phoenix as well & I use Glendale Powder Coating. They are awesome to deal with, priced right, and quick turn around times. We have used them for years and never had a single issue.

 

[ZMagic97]

Cool build! I like seeing other Phoenicians projects....excited to see more.

 

[capnjackcanon]

Little bit more...

Well, welded in the forward bulkhead on the trailer today, and welded up 2 additional side support beams.



Also, converted the tongue from a 2" ball to a pintle lunette. I have the M-105 still and have decided instead of getting a lock n roll right now I'll just use pintle hitches for the foreseeable future.

Eventually I do want to get an articulating hitch though.

You may not be able to tell, but I was able to weld the skin (38" x 48" sheet metal 16 gauge) onto the frame, so it should end up being water tight.

Also, not pictured we cut the flooring (5/8ths Plywood) and installed it. I chose to go with plywood for now because I want to figure out where all of my plumbing is going to go, so I will mock everything up on the plywood first, figure it all out, and then I'll swap out for steel sheet metal, probably 14 gauge maybe 12 .

My goal is to have everything skinned and my kitchenette installed in 2 weeks. (it's a lofty goal, but if I can achieve it i'll be stoked!)

Thanks for watching!