Andy's Fleetwood Neon project

[BADDANDY]

Scott from Dinoot trailers (M416 Harbor Freight clones) has come up with a trailer spring kit. e-mail him at scott@cttct.com. Basically I'm gonna get an 1150 lb GVWR spring kit which has 29" springs plus some extra bottom leafs to boost the capacity up to 1200-1250 lbs.. He also has a 1750 lbs GVWR spring kit which by pulling the bottom spring out of these would get close to 1500 lbs., but these are 27" springs.
Here is a link to the thread that explains it all. http://tventuring.com/trailerforum/thread-216-page-3.html

I'll replace my short 23" slipper springs with longer 29" eye-to-eyes. I'll cut off the old mounts and bolt in this new system to the existing 4" drop brackets.

 

[BADDANDY]

My trailer is now in the garage with the bottles, batteries, suspension, axle, rear step, and stabilizer jacks removed. Today I plan on cutting off the suspension mounts and the feet of the jacks. Then burning in the spring pads, suspension mount assys and stabilizer feet extensions.

 

[BADDANDY]

Got the spring pads welded onto the axle. I wound up painting the whole thing as there was alot of areas getting rusty from road use. I also got a few mounts cut off of the 3" blocks until my grinder died.



After using the new grinder I got the rail positioned. Still determining how much welding and bolting I want to do.

 

[BADDANDY]

In the last 3 days I got the frame, suspension, and axle ready for install. Lots of drilling holes, grinding and painting. I also painted the wheels, pulled the studs from my used tires, and welded shock mounts to the axle. All I need to do now is make a crossmember for the upper shock mounts, get the tires mounted, and install everything. Once that's done and the trailer is off the jack stands, measure for shocks, cut/reweld wheel jack to sit lower, and extend the corner stands.

 

[BADDANDY]

Ran down to the hardware store and got the bar for the upper shocks mounts and all the hardware for the install of everything. Had enough time to make the upper shock mount bar too.

 

[BADDANDY]

Got the shock crossmember, springs mounts and springs in yesterday. Axle, wheels/tires, cut and move down trailer jack today. Now to start working on extending the corner jackstands.

 

[BADDANDY]

The springs traveled about 2 inches jacking it up to get the tires on and I can bounce it. Shocks deff required. That's 2 inches more than the stock springs, yes, they didn't move before as they are stiff! My axle sits rearward at least an inch, so be sure to mount your spring centered forward of the axle to compensate. The bottom of the frame is at 25". I got 2 corner jackstands lengthened, then ran out of steel tube and it started raining.

 

[BADDANDY]

I bought a 2' ladder for trailer entry, bar stock to finish extending the last 2 corner jacks, and primer and paint to finish everything up Friday as the weather looks good. Shocks ordered and supposed to be here Saturday, so that, weather moving in, 4WP expo, and European Motorcycle show will delay first campout until next weekend, maybe.
If you're starting from scratch for shock lengths as I was, I went to the MONROE website and looked at the "length specs" sheet. I then figured out which shocks I needed based on length, stroke, mounts, and type. I Googled the pn to find what vehicle it's used on, then Googled yr, vehicle, and pn to find best price, or possibly, a different kind of shock. I saved 35% doing it this way, even with shipping vs tax at the store. 2 shocks shipped for $54.
I wound up with Monroe Sensi-trac pn 37187, 9.375" - 14.250", 4.875" stroke, 1/2"x1.5" upper sleeve, and 5/8"x1.5" lower sleeve. This is the only non-HD shock close to matching my mounts and the 2" extension travel I have and the 2.875" compression travel I may get. My at rest span between mounts is about 12 1/2". These shocks fit on the front of a 1962 C-10 2WD Chevy pickup. I could've bought cheap stock replacement shocks for 25% less, but could'nt find specs on them and didn't want to take a chance.

 

[BADDANDY]

Got my last 2 corner jackstands extended, painted and mounted.

 

[BADDANDY]

Shocks arrived and installed today and are perfect for my suspension, swapped to locking nuts on the springs, and turnbuckles with chains to secure the corner jackstands. I'm done with the suspension finally. Weather is still bad on and off, so no test ride, but the suspension flexes good with control.

 

[BADDANDY]

Weeeeelll, so much for being done. I was feeling a little uneasy that I might not have enough holding the suspension to the frame. So I cut, drilled, and welded on some tabs to the angle iron that the horizontal bolts will sandwich to the lift blocks much better.

 

[BADDANDY]

It's out of the garage! Rides smooth. Spent all day tightening/replacing screws and one rivet, sanding off rust spots, then priming and painting the frame. Holy cow this thing has lots of storage space. It swallowed all my crap except one tub full of the kitchen.

 

[BADDANDY]

I crawled underneath and lubed all the pulleys, bent out some of the pulley bracket edges, and inspected the worm gear drive assy. I also found that a PO had replaced a crank drift pin with a 3" nail bent into a S which was wearing a ring into the frame and removing some wood from the floor. I replaced it with a bolt, washers and nut, and did the same to the next drift pin about an inch away that was ready to fall out. She cranks 50% easier now.

 

[BADDANDY]

Made and bolted on some mount blocks for my tongue box. Added some screened grills to the backside of the tongue box as the battery will reside in it and the EU1000 and gas can(s) will be stored in it too. Mounted the box, fed the wiring thru grommets, and mounted the battery. I have the battery secured with the j-bolts thru the holey mount block up into the box. As soon as I get an AGM battery, I'm ready to camp!

 

[BADDANDY]

Got my spare tire and wheel mounted and installed onto the tongue.
I made a battery compartment in the tongue box to which I made a shelf above for small items. There's plenty of room in the other compartment for my EU1000 generator, fuel can and whatever. The batt side has plenty of room for 12v plugs and whatever.
I also ordered an Optima Blue top and Optima Digital 400 charger.
I've decided to make a rear bumper and tire carrier to which I'll probably mount a watercan too.
I also found that my local hardware store sells 1 gal propane tanks, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.