Box Rocket
Well-known member
Resurrecting this thread. Twelve years of pretty hard use with the trailer is starting to show some effects. May last post from this past spring with the broken spring hanger was the impetus for a relatively complete refresh of the trailer planned for the next few months. Here's what I've got planned.
Few minor repairs/tweaks to the tub construction.
Replace the tongue mounted cooler with an actual locking Tongue box and start putting together a full power system.
But the big ticket item is a revamp of the suspension. I've long been a fan of the simple reliability of the leaf springs. They've just worked well for the past 12 years and with the exception of the spring hanger failure last spring, have been trouble free. Can't complain considering the many thousands of miles and my driving style that isn't very kind to the trailer. But I'm doing something different this time. Should be fairly inexpensive since I have most of the components already. I got this idea from a friend in Australia who built this setup for his offroad trailer.
FZJ80 front radius arms will be used as trailing arms. FZJ80 rear panhard will be used as a panhard on the trailer and I have a pair of Firestone airbags to be used as the "springs". I already had a set of spare radius arms and a panhard. So the airbags have really been the only cost for parts and i got a brand new set of bags for $100 on the local classifieds. Any additional cost is just materials for fabricating the brackets etc.
One thing I'm quite excited about is the adjustability with the airbags and being able to "tune" the suspension for different trailer loads/terrain.
This pics are my friends, Australian trailer.
radius arm by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
radius arm2 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
In this completed photo you can see that the arms were ultimately turned right side up, rather than upside down in the other pics. Not sure which may I'll set mine up yet.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
One other bit that has happened recently was some new tires. I've been running some 33x10.50 BFGs that were take-offs from my tacoma. They still have some tread left but are showing some cracking from age. It was time to replace them. I found a pair of used 37's in great shape on the local classifieds for $30! Couldn't pass up that deal. Worked a trade for some 17" wheels to match the cruiser and now I have the new wheel/tire combo for the trailer. They will force me to build some new fenders. LOL. The current fenders just won't work with these big tires.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
Few minor repairs/tweaks to the tub construction.
Replace the tongue mounted cooler with an actual locking Tongue box and start putting together a full power system.
But the big ticket item is a revamp of the suspension. I've long been a fan of the simple reliability of the leaf springs. They've just worked well for the past 12 years and with the exception of the spring hanger failure last spring, have been trouble free. Can't complain considering the many thousands of miles and my driving style that isn't very kind to the trailer. But I'm doing something different this time. Should be fairly inexpensive since I have most of the components already. I got this idea from a friend in Australia who built this setup for his offroad trailer.
FZJ80 front radius arms will be used as trailing arms. FZJ80 rear panhard will be used as a panhard on the trailer and I have a pair of Firestone airbags to be used as the "springs". I already had a set of spare radius arms and a panhard. So the airbags have really been the only cost for parts and i got a brand new set of bags for $100 on the local classifieds. Any additional cost is just materials for fabricating the brackets etc.
One thing I'm quite excited about is the adjustability with the airbags and being able to "tune" the suspension for different trailer loads/terrain.
This pics are my friends, Australian trailer.
radius arm by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
radius arm2 by Adam Tolman, on FlickrIn this completed photo you can see that the arms were ultimately turned right side up, rather than upside down in the other pics. Not sure which may I'll set mine up yet.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on FlickrOne other bit that has happened recently was some new tires. I've been running some 33x10.50 BFGs that were take-offs from my tacoma. They still have some tread left but are showing some cracking from age. It was time to replace them. I found a pair of used 37's in great shape on the local classifieds for $30! Couldn't pass up that deal. Worked a trade for some 17" wheels to match the cruiser and now I have the new wheel/tire combo for the trailer. They will force me to build some new fenders. LOL. The current fenders just won't work with these big tires.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
