Bolt-together fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer kit

[jscherb]

How are you planning to mate the bed to the sides? I was thinking of doing something like this. I am surprised that know one has done this sooner.

There will be a flange molded into the inside of the side panels; the sides will bolt to the floor through that flange; the flange will rest on top of the floor. The flange will be similar to the flange on the inside of a typical Jeep hardtop. I'll post photos of the sides-floor assembly when I get to that point in the build.

About the floor... since this kit is designed to be an affordable, buildable by a DIY-er in his driveway with ordinary tools on a tight budget, the entry level floor choice will be plywood. You'd seal it with a good exterior wood sealer, after which it could be painted or shot with DIY bedliner.

But the flange will also be compatible with standard pickup bed floor systems from the 30's through the 80's, so if you wanted to do something fancy, you could do bed wood like this (also note the "angle strip" spot-welded to the inside of the bed side, it is used to bolt the bed sides to the floor, just like the fiberglass flange that will be on the tub kit sides):

BTW, that's not wood in these photos, it's TimberTech plastic decking. Essentially zero maintenance, looks great.

 

[Espo78]

The quality of craftsmanship shown here is amazing. This doesn't appear to be just a hobby. You must be a highly trained professional. Outstanding!

 

[jscherb]

The quality of craftsmanship shown here is amazing. This doesn't appear to be just a hobby. You must be a highly trained professional. Outstanding!

Thank you very much. I have no formal training in fiberglass or fabrication (unless you count one year of high school metal shop many years ago). Degrees in Business and Computer Science, spent my career in high tech management. This truly is a hobby for me, I do it only for my own enjoyment. The first automotive project I ever built was my "Retro Wrangler" pickup, I did that in 2008. I've done one "big project" each year since then.

2008 - "Retro Wrangler":

2009- Gaucho" CJ Pickup:

2010: "Safari Cab" modular fiberglass hardtop:

2011: Metal Jeep-tub trailer (with Safari Cab-based prototype camper top, not completed yet) , and fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer kit (this thread):

2012:

 

[jscherb]

Moving along with the mold making phase of this project... today I'm making two more molds - the solid tub end and the tailgate outer skin. Here's photos of both prepped with wax and PVA mold release and ready for gelcoat.

The solid end is made from the same master as the tailgate end, just with a filler panel set in the tailgate opening.

The tailgate outer skin includes the "embossed" SAFARI letters.

Tomorrow I will post photos of these molds completed.

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Your fab skills are mad, mad, mad!!
Love the work.
D

 

[Espo78]

You should quit your day job and start working as a Jeep designer. All of your projects look production quality and I think they would have seriously sold well if they were production models.

OR

You should start a small company making turn key versions of your creations or at least selling the parts to DIYers which it appears you plan on doing with the trailer. I bet that Safari cab would sell well too.

 

[jscherb]

You should quit your day job and start working as a Jeep designer. All of your projects look production quality and I think they would have seriously sold well if they were production models.

OR

You should start a small company making turn key versions of your creations or at least selling the parts to DIYers which it appears you plan on doing with the trailer. I bet that Safari cab would sell well too.

Thanks for the kind words about my work. My goal is always to achieve a "factory look" with my projects, I work very hard at that, both in the design phase and the fabrication phase.

Only two problems with what you wrote...

1. I don't have a day job (or any job) to quit .

2. Starting a company and turning this into "work" would take all the fun out of it for me.

But if anyone wants to take my projects and turn them into production products, they should talk to me. I have already licensed the Safari Cab to a company that's working on bringing it to market. At this point the trailer tub kit is up for grabs .

 

[jeepdreamer]

Like that tailgate a LOT! Nice work as alaways JS! Maybe you should do custom tailgates for folks that want to personalize their Jeeps... like vanity plates.

 

[jscherb]

I finished up the tailgate outer skin and the solid end panel molds yesterday, so here's the set of molds so far - side panel, tailgate end panel, solid end panel, tailgate outer skin, tailgate inner skin:

There's one more mold I need to make before I start making actual parts - the inner fender mold. I'll do that one over the next few days and they I'll have all the molds necessary to start molding trailer tubs.

 

[jeepdreamer]

Oh yeah... meant to ask about how you will work the tailgate cables into it. I'm not up to speed on fiberglass's strength and wondered how the cables will bolt to the tailgate and if they will hold someone standing on it?

 

[jscherb]

Oh yeah... meant to ask about how you will work the tailgate cables into it. I'm not up to speed on fiberglass's strength and wondered how the cables will bolt to the tailgate and if they will hold someone standing on it?

The tailgate will have nut plates for the cables, hinges and latches fiberglassed inside, so factory-style CJ tailgate hardware will bolt right up.

If you're going to want to stand in it, you're probably better off with a metal tailgate, used CJ gates seem to be about $40 these days. The tailgate opening in the tub exactly matches the factory opening, so no problem using a factory metal tailgate.

I'm not saying the fiberglass tailgate won't take that weight, but it is a lot of stress to put on a fiberglass part with only about an inch of depth for structural strength. I wonder what the aftermarket fiberglass guys say about their tailgates - Kentrol, for example, do they say you can stand on their fiberglass 'gates? The one I'm building will be the same strength as the others that are currently available (http://www.quadratec.com/products/22850_000.htm).

 

[jeepdreamer]

Good to know it will use all the factory stuff. I don't know what the aftermarket folks would say...? Maybe the ones made with Kevlar (if those are still made)?? While I suppose it wouldn't be tested if one ran just the toneu type cover... I find the tailgate is a natural "get up" point while accessing stuff on my scrambler. Guess a flip down step or usable bumper could solve that just as well. Have to put a load on it just to see.

 

[Ageless Stranger]

i like this number :wings:
i wonder how this would look behind my montero....

It would look great, if your Monte was a Jeep.

Just kidding you Derek.

I'm excited about this thread. Hope it all comes together.

 

[jscherb]

Now that I've got the basic five molds made for the tub shell and tailgate, I've got a few other tasks I'm going to do before I start molding actual parts. Most important, I need to make the master and the mold for the inner fenders. I'm laying out the dimensions of the inner fenders so the wheel openings will support factory TJ rear flares, I'm using a clip cut from the back of the LJ that became the Retro Wrangler (then the back of that tub became the yellow trailer, and now it's a template for this project):

I've thought about two different designs - curved and angular:

I've decided I'm going to make them angular, like the ones I put in the yellow trailer:

I'll probably start the construction of the master for these tomorrow. I'm going to build the master in two pieces so it can be used to make molds for different width inner fenders, from wide ones for very narrow track axles down to the same width as the ones in the yellow trailer.

 

[Espo78]

Good choice. I think the angular will suit the look of the trailer better.