Bolt-together fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer kit

[jscherb]

I got a couple of StoreGate shells trimmed this morning. A mockup on a TJ tailgate (still with the plywood mockup door/table, still have to stop by the local sheet metal shop and pick up the necessary diamond plate aluminum):

And a test fitting on the trailer tailgate:

 

[jeepdreamer]

Looks great JS! My only thoughts are two...Are the drink holders deep enough to keep a beverage from being blown over? And what about a piece of cutting board material mounted inside the door of the storage?

 

[jscherb]

Looks great JS! My only thoughts are two...Are the drink holders deep enough to keep a beverage from being blown over?

Depends on how strong the wind is? The cup holders are not intended to be used when the vehicle is in motion, they're intended to be used as parts trays as I showed in the mockup, or if you're using the table to prepare lunch, you could put your drink there while you're using the table to make your sandwich.

And what about a piece of cutting board material mounted inside the door of the storage?

An interesting idea. Could make it out of HDPE plastic, the white stuff cutting boards are sometimes made of. Would a cutting board door/table be clean enough that people would want to use it though?

 

[postalWagon]

If you could make it easily removable, to clean it, it would be simple enough, Or you could have a template that goes with it so that owner could make it how they like it.

 

[jscherb]

If you could make it easily removable, to clean it, it would be simple enough, Or you could have a template that goes with it so that owner could make it how they like it.

One thought I had was maybe the shell could be offered unfinished as a DIY project, then it could be finished off by the buyer to suite whatever needs they might have.

Here are a few photo/drawing mockups of ways the StoreGate could be finished, first with a diamond plate door/table:

and with just a net:

I'll be doing one of each style to test. And as soon as I figure out an alternate door material that I like, I'll do one more prototype with that door material.

or.. set up as a speaker enclosure (you'd have a cloth cover over the speakers, I've omitted that from this drawing):

 

[jscherb]

Here's completed StoreGate prototype #1, temporarily propped/clamped in place on a TJ tailgate. I'll install it on the trailer tailgate later today.

 

[jscherb]

Here's prototype StoreGate #2, net only, no door/table:

 

[jscherb]

Here are some shots of the StoreGate installed on the trailer tailgate.

 

[jscherb]

I'm regularly getting requests to draw build idea trailers for people who are planning to build one and yesterday I was asked to draw a trailer with a rack basket mounted above it:

Right now I've got the RTT mounted on the LJ Safari, but the tent platform is still on the trailer, so I decided I wanted to see what a rack basket would really look like on the trailer (although not mounted 12" above the trailer like the drawing above). Make believe this is the fiberglass hard tonneau instead of the tent platform with a hole in the middle :

In these photos you can also see some d-rings I installed on the tent platform mounting bolts, these can serve as tie-downs for stuff in the rack.

And "fully equipped" with the bike rack as well:

 

[Mako1114]

Here's completed StoreGate prototype #1, temporarily propped/clamped in place on a TJ tailgate. I'll install it on the trailer tailgate later today.

Great work! I'd buy one of these for my LJ if they came into production. For aesthetics, I'd be interested in black diamond plate.

Cheers

 

[jscherb]

Great work! I'd buy one of these for my LJ if they came into production. For aesthetics, I'd be interested in black diamond plate.

Cheers

Yes, black would be nice. I scrounge materials from a local sheet metal shop's scrap pile, and all they had on hand when I went to get the piece for this prototype was bright aluminum.

 

[jscherb]

Here's a photo of another trailer tub kit being assembled. This one is using CJ rear flares and wheels/tires to match a Suzuki Sidekick.

 

[jscherb]

I was thinking about a kitchen setup design for the trailer, and remembered this example I saw at SEMA last fall:

I don't quite get why that one has two stoves, or why the slide-out table that comes out of the tailgate opening seems to get in the way of moving gear in and out of the inside of the trailer... but I did think the swing-out frame idea might be a good one.

So I cooked up )) this wire-frame concept. The swing-out would fold over the tailgate, and would work with either a side-swing or drop-down tailgate on the trailer. It would use hinges similar to the factory TJ hinges (Exogate hinges, actually), and would have a latch on the opposite side. It would be hinged on the opposite side that a side-swing tailgate would be hinged.

Here's what it might look like stowed (remember this is just a wireframe concept, and also I haven't dealt with interferences such as the license plate):

Once open, a table swings down, and at the same time a shelf swings down (the shelf would have some low sides to prevent stuff from falling off). In combination with the StoreGate, you'd have quite a lot of storage space at hand for kitchen supplies.

Is this a dumb idea or a useful one? How would you make it better?

 

[reece146]

JS, when looking at these setups sometimes (most times?) the presentation is about bling and not practicality. Follow your gut on it and your set up will be perfectly valid.

 

[loren85022]

if it were mine, i'd rather have a few 1" sq receiver tubes in a few places along the frame. And then have a 12"x36" table-top that had a frame that could be slid into the receiver. Now I can have some cooking area on either of the 3 sides. When done, I stow the frame and table top inside. With your design, it might work to have the mount inside the wheel well. The table would clamp on or slide in to a receiver and offer a table on the entire side of the trailer.