Bolt-together fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer kit

[gorogergo]

Thanks, glad you're finding it useful. But I have a confession to make about the step-by-step - I'm only posting a summary here on Expo, I'm posting every detailed step on another forum. Yesterday, for example, I showed pretty much every step in the fiberglass layup process for these parts.

Thanks, I found it and will use that build thread to supplement this one.

 

[Espo78]

Do you think a TJ tailgate with a spare tire attached would be too much stress for the fiberglass tailgate panel?

 

[jscherb]

Do you think a TJ tailgate with a spare tire attached would be too much stress for the fiberglass tailgate panel?

To safely support the weight of a spare tire on a swing-out tailgate, some additional bracing would probably be required. Once I get the tub assembled, we'll see just how strong it is and what would be required.

I'm assuming most people would want a CJ-style drop-down tailgate on a trailer, it's much more practical for carrying loads since you can travel with it open when necessary.

 

[Espo78]

You could put the TJ tiregate on the front of the trailer though which would still give you access to inside of the trailer as well as give a good location for the spare.

 

[jscherb]

You could put the TJ tiregate on the front of the trailer though which would still give you access to inside of the trailer as well as give a good location for the spare.

I'm building this first trailer with the same bolt circle as the Jeep, and making the wheel wells large enough to fit Jeep-sized tires, so one spare can be shared between the Jeep and the trailer. That way no need to use up space in/on the trailer for a spare.

But if your trailer wheels/tires and Jeep wheels/tires were incompatible, yes, the front would be a good place to keep the spare.

 

[jscherb]

Here's the results of yesterday's molding work...

The tub front panel:

Here's the inside of the front panel; the plywood sandwiched inside the fiberglass makes this panel very rigid and strong. You can also see the floor mounting flange just above the bottom, this is where the panel will get bolted to the floor.

I also molded the second inner fender yesterday, here is along with the rest of the kit so far.

Tomorrow I'll mold the side panels, which will complete the kit of parts for the basic tub.

 

[jscherb]

I've set up the two end panels with the tonneau cover on top so I can get an exact measurement for the length I need to make the side panels to fit this "off the shelf" Gr8Tops Jeep half-cab tonneau cover.

To fit this tonneau exactly, the side panels will be 43 3/4" long, which with the corner/end panels will result in a tub that's 51 1/4" long outside dimension.

The side panel mold I've built is capable of making side panels up to 8' long; a few weeks I showed how I'll use dams inside the 8' mold to make two shorter side panels that will be just the right length for this tonneau. This afternoon I'll set the dams at 43.75" and prepare the side panel mold for molding.

 

[jscherb]

You could put the TJ tiregate on the front of the trailer though which would still give you access to inside of the trailer as well as give a good location for the spare.

Since I had the parts of the tub mocked up, just for fun I mocked up some ideas for tongue storage...

A 32" spare and two Jerry cans fit nicely:

Since I'm building the proof-of-concept trailer to accept Jeeps-sized wheels/tires, a separate spare won't be necessary for the trailer though.

Or a 36" storage box plus 2 Jerry cans:

This is my LJ "trunk box", which has a slope on the front edge to match the slope of the LJ's back seat, so it's not the best box for this application, but you can find 36" diamondplate boxes for less than $200 that would be perfect.

 

[jscherb]

Popped the side panels out of the mold this morning and clamped everything together for a test fit.

The tonneau cover is a perfect fit:

A few shots of the inside:

Everything goes together exactly as planned.

The tub is just clamped together for now, I haven't done the bolt holes in the flanges yet.

Now the fun part of this project starts... all of the hard work is done (except for molding the tailgate, which I'll do Monday). From this point forward I'll pretty much be assembling the trailer frame and the tub kit more or less as someone who bought the kit might do.

Speaking of tailgates, I've got a question and I need your input. Which tailgate, if any, would you want the kit come with?

1. No tailgate included with the entry-level kit to keep the cost of acquiring the basic kit as low as possible. (Maybe you'd pick up a used CJ-7 tailgate for $40 from Craigslist or eBay).

2. A fiberglass "SAFARI" tailgate like I'm building.

3. A fiberglass tailgate without any logo on it.

4. A metal CJ-style tailgate without any logo on it.

5. A simplified, lower cost metal taiglate, perhaps diamond plate.

6. A simplified, lower cost fiberglass tailgate designed just for this trailer.

Don't answer "include a tailgate with a Jeep logo on it" because that would require licensing from Chrysler/Fiat and would raise the cost. If you would want a Jeep logo, the answer is #1

As a reminder, here's what I'm building for the proof-of-concept trailer:

I'd really like your input on this one, it will help me in discussions with the companies that are interested in producing the trailer kit.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[jscherb]

A couple more photos:

 

[reece146]

You may want to consider setting up bracketry behind the fiberglass to handle both swing out and drop down tail gates.

I can see the usefulness of a drop down CJ7 type tail gate on a short trailer to act as a mini table or whatever but on the longer version of your trailer I would prefer the swing out YJ style tail gate so that it is easier to reach in deeper into the trailer.

If you are marketing this to non-Jeep people I think you'd be better served to do one tailgate, either with no script or with something marque agnostic like Safari. Make the tail gate a separate kit, those that want the Jeep script tail gate can go get one themselves without paying for the tailgate portion... or not. If they want the Jeep logo tail gate that badly they can pay the bucks to go get it.

For me, I'd prefer plain because then I can put reflective Jeep logo stickers off a Comanche tail gate there even if the logo is not embossed into the panel.

2¢

 

[jscherb]

You may want to consider setting up bracketry behind the fiberglass to handle both swing out and drop down tail gates.

Yes, that's part of the plan.

I can see the usefulness of a drop down CJ7 type tail gate on a short trailer to act as a mini table or whatever but on the longer version of your trailer I would prefer the swing out YJ style tail gate so that it is easier to reach in deeper into the trailer.

If you are marketing this to non-Jeep people I think you'd be better served to do one tailgate, either with no script or with something marque agnostic like Safari. Make the tail gate a separate kit, those that want the Jeep script tail gate can go get one themselves without paying for the tailgate portion... or not. If they want the Jeep logo tail gate that badly they can pay the bucks to go get it.

For me, I'd prefer plain because then I can put reflective Jeep logo stickers off a Comanche tail gate there even if the logo is not embossed into the panel.

2¢

Thanks for the input.

 

[gorogergo]

In regards to the tailgate question, I like a tailgate with a logo or wordmark specific to this product preferably sized to a Jeep tailgate.

 

[jscherb]

In regards to the tailgate question, I like a tailgate with a logo or wordmark specific to this product preferably sized to a Jeep tailgate.

The tailgate opening in the tub kit is exactly the same size as a CJ and Wrangler tailgate opening:

I'll be molding the first SAFARI logo tailgate tomorrow; I'll post photos of that as soon as it's out of the mold.

 

[bdosborn]

For me, I'd prefer plain because then I can put reflective Jeep logo stickers off a Comanche tail gate there even if the logo is not embossed into the panel.

X2

Bruce