Bolt-together fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer kit

[jscherb]

The design of the tent platform allows the tent to be mounted so it opens any direction - front, back or either side. This set of photos shows the tent opening to the front. The entire thing could be self-contained this way, a ladder could be made to rest on the tongue of the trailer. Unless the tongue were very long, though, you probably wouldn't be able to open the tailgate of the Jeep when the ladder was in place. In this configuration, you could also step on the tailgate to get into the tent from the other end, although perhaps you'd have your stove and cooking gear set up on the tailgate - wouldn't want to step in the scrambled eggs!

More to come...

 

[jscherb]

And here's a set of photos with the tent mounted to open off the driver's side. Could open to the passenger side as well, which I am told might be better for some campgrounds.

I haven't decided whether I like the front opening setup or the side opening setup better.

 

[Ted_Z]

As I recall from earlier in the thread, the length of the trailer body was determined by the availability of a tonneau cover that you found for a LJ. It looks like the tub is too short for the tent to be mounted "open to the side". Since you're now fabricating your own lid this would lead to you have a more reasonable trailer body length, yes?

 

[jscherb]

As I recall from earlier in the thread, the length of the trailer body was determined by the availability of a tonneau cover that you found for a LJ. It looks like the tub is too short for the tent to be mounted "open to the side". Since you're now fabricating your own lid this would lead to you have a more reasonable trailer body length, yes?

Sorry, I don't understand your comment - as shown in the photos I posted, this tent mounts fine on this trailer in any direction. Maybe the angles of the photos are making you think otherwise?

 

[stomperxj]

I cut the corners on a bandsaw.

~snip~

Finish up with a little light sanding and that's all there is to it.

Thanks for posting that Jeff. Great tip! The trailer is looking awesome...

 

[jscherb]

Thanks for posting that Jeff. Great tip! The trailer is looking awesome...

My pleasure on the tip - I hope someone can use it some day. Always happy to share any of my techniques.

Thanks for the comment on the trailer too, I'm really pleased with how it's worked out so far. And I've still got more stuff to build for it...

 

[Heifer Boy]

Great work Jeff. How did you cut the angle on the inside of the corner piece?

I wondered the same thing and why the corner was biscuit joined to the rest like that. After Jeffs amazingly detailed answer I now know :clapsmile

Thanks for all the details of your fantastic workmanship show in this thread. It really helps see how things are put together and give me inspiration for future projects.

HB

 

[jscherb]

I'm now working on an updated mold for a tailgate inner skin that can be set up in either drop-down or side-swinging configuration, with outside lock/latches. Here's a paper mockup of the side-swinging configuration (ignore the actual CJ hinges at the bottom of this taiglate):

This mockup uses CJ tailgate hinges mounted on the side, and an outside t-handle latch.

The inner tailgate skin will have recesses to accomodate the hinge bolts for the side-mounted CJ hinges. I'll do the recesses on both sides, so the tailgate could be configured to swing open from either the left or the right.

This photo/drawing shows positions of hinges and latches for both the drop-down and the passenger-hinged side-swinging (most of the hardware is pictured on the inside, when it actually goes on the outside, this is just for illustrating the placement of the hardware relative to the inside skin of the tailgate):

Doing this, it's possible to mold one tailgate that could be configured to be drop-down, left-opening side-swing, or right-opening side-swing.

Also, I've got samples of both t-handle and flush latches for this new tailgate; here they are mounted in a test piece of fiberglass:

I think they're both really good choices for the tailgate, just depends on which style you like better. I've worked out the new tailgate design so it will support either one of these, in either drop-down or side-swing configuration.

And one more thing... I'm also finalizing the design for something I call the "StoreGate", it's a fiberglass storage add-on that could be used with these tailgates, or with Jeep factory tailgates on the trailer or your Wrangler:

I don't know when/if I'll make the molds for the StoreGate, but I'm finalizing the design details so it could be made if I decide to make it.

 

[jeepdreamer]

Hmm... how about a StoreGate180.?. Add the box portion to the outside and make the access from the inside. That way when it is dropped (open/CJ style) you can access the stuff without trouble. And when the gate is closed it doesn't take up precious interior room.

 

[jscherb]

Hmm... how about a StoreGate180.?. Add the box portion to the outside and make the access from the inside. That way when it is dropped (open/CJ style) you can access the stuff without trouble. And when the gate is closed it doesn't take up precious interior room.

Not sure that's a winner - doing that would preclude the use of any rear-mounted tire carrier, so it couldn't be used on a Jeep, or on a trailer where the user wants a spare carrier on the back.

 

[Ted_Z]

Sorry, I don't understand your comment - as shown in the photos I posted, this tent mounts fine on this trailer in any direction. Maybe the angles of the photos are making you think otherwise?

In the "open to the side" configuration the width of the tent looks to be wider than the length of the trailer body.

 

[jscherb]

Earlier today I posted a photo/drawing showing how I planned to make a new version of the smooth tailgate that could be configured to drop-down or swing to either side; I thought you might like to see how I "modified" the existing mold to accommodate these changes. The mold itself isn't truly modified, all I've done is added four inserts to make recesses for the various hardware. The inserts are made from wood, they're held in with doublesided tape, and filleted smooth into the existing mold with modeling clay. What these inserts will do is to create recesses in the inner skin of the tailgate for the nuts that attach the hardware.

The first photo shows the drop-down hardware configuration (except for the cable brackets) with the hardware setting in place. It's got a locking t-handle/latch, but the flush latch I showed earlier would also work.

And this is where the hardware would go for the side-swinging setup. Same latch and latch position as the drop-down configuration, except only one latch.

I'll probably mold one of these tomorrow. When I assemble the parts into a test tailgate I plan to configure it as a side-swinging gate and I'll test it on the black trailer.

 

[jscherb]

I molded a new tailgate inner skin based on the modified mold in my last post; here it is just out of the mold, I haven't washed off the mold release (that's why it looks a little green) or clay yet. In this shot I'm beginning to trim and fit it to the outer skin.

And here the inner and outer skins of the tailgate are bonded together. It's on a perfectly flat table, so the cinder blocks ensure it will cure flat, and the steel angle clamped along the top edge will ensure that the edge cures perfectly straight.

Once the bonding has cured, I'll wash off the mold release, trim it to the final finished size and then install the hardware and mount it on the trailer.

I'll be configuring this one as a side-swing.

 

[jscherb]

I've been thinking about ways to mount a kayak/canoe/gear rack above the tub, so I've worked up several photo/drawings showing possible ways to do it.

1. Outside stake pockets. These would bolt to the sides of the tub and provide stake pockets on the outside of the tub so a tonneau cover could still be used to close the tub. They'd have inside backing plates that sandwiched the fiberglass side panel. The internal backing plates would ideally have a 90 degree bend and a flange that tied in to the bolts joining the end panels to the side panels:

2. Inside stake pockets. These would be simple tubes with a few tabs welded on for bolting to the joint between the end panels and the side panels. There would be a 1/8" steel plate on the bottom, to seal the bottom of the stake pocket, serve as a "foot" to rest the assembly on the floor, and also to bolt the assembly to one or more of the floor bolts. The tonneau cover would have to be removed when these were in use. You'd want the rack to be gusseted well to reduce forward/back levering of the rack against these stake pockets. A prototype might possibly show that this design needs a little more strengthening to brace it against the fiberglass.

3. An external rack. This one would use receivers bolted to the frame in the back, the same receivers that would be used for the stabilizer jacks for the camping configuration . In the front, there would be a bar bolted across the tongue to support the verticals. Everything would be slip jointed and bolted, so the frame could be disassembled into mostly straight pieces of tub for storage. Tonneau usage and tailgate opening would be unimpaired.

Alternately, you could build an external rack with the vertical pieces coming out from the sides of the frame instead of from the front and back as shown here.

Just some ideas. There are probably lots of other ways to do it too. Got any other good ideas?

Disclaimer: I haven't built or tested any of these; prototypes would have to be built to test the strength and weight capacity.

 

[Espo78]

You really are a man with a plan, that executes accordingly. There seems to be no limit to what these trailers can be made to do!