Box Rocket Homemade trailer build.

[Box Rocket]

I've been toying with the idea of this stuff, but the horror stories of the various products just scares me off.

Did you prime before spraying it?

The stuff I can get in Canada says you have to prime bare metal, but then doesn't tell you what to prime it with, exactly. I certainly wouldn't put it over standard grey primer and expect it to stick.

Looking back at it, it was definitely a PITA but not a horror story. And now knowing how to remedy the problem, I'd have no problem with it. In the end, for DIY bedliners I think the Raptor is the best option. If I could have afforded to have it Linex'd I would have. Unfortunately with having to buy a second gun and some extra liner I was probably getting closer to the cost of having it sprayed professionally. But I think I still saved about 30% on cost.

I did prime before spraying. Rustoleum gray primer. I take it you've had bad luck with gray primer? I've used it a lot in the past with good results so I didn't hesitate with it for this. The liner seems to have excellent adhesion. Time will tell of course but I think it will be just fine.

 

[Box Rocket]

Small update (sorry no new pics). So I'm pretty much done with the trailer with the exception of the lid. The lid won't be a huge expense but I'm out of funds for a couple weeks until I can get another sheet of 16ga and a couple other peices for the lid frame. But the trailer is useable and I've dragged it around a few times just to see if I can find any issues.

Well one came up. I took it out on Sunday and and jacknifed it (on purpose) but did something stupid. I knew I was going to jacknife it and was waiting for the sound of the tongue bottoming out against my rear bumper and took my eyes of the mirror for a second. Well it turns out that the way my rear bumper is trimmed up toward the outside corners allows the tongue to not bottom out against the bumper but actually slide underneath the bumper. That, along with the lock-n-roll that allows it to rotate past 90* I jacknifed it a little too far and the top lip of the trailer tub came in contact with my rear fender flare on the Cruiser. Not a big deal (other than a crack in the fiberglass flare, since I wasn't paying attention), but I need to figure out a way to keep the trailer from over-rotating in a jacknife situation which will definitely need to happen from time to time on the trail.

Kinda hard to see from this picture but maybe you can see how my rear bumper slopes up (bottom edge) toward the corners and that the level of the tongue can pass underneath. I'm looking for suggestions on a way to limit the rotation during jacknife situations. Any thoughts?

Edit: Maybe you can see the rear bumper better in this picture. I would have thought that the center portion of the bumper before it angles upward would contact the tongue but the distance of the point of rotation on the hitch away from the bumper face puts the tongue at an angle past 90* before the tongue contacts that center section of the bumper, letting the trailer tub come in contact with the truck.

 

[Box Rocket]

So my thoughts are to weld a "stop" to the top of the tongue. Basically another peice of the tongue material boxed in on top of the tongue to contact the bumper as the trailer jacknifes. Once I get my cooler rack on the tongue that will probably contact the truck as well, but I don't want to damage the cooler or the cooler rack by using them as the "stop". Thoughts?

 

[sseaman]

Adam, that is an interesting problem, the stop idea sounds like it would work, any way to use the safety chains as a limiting factor?

 

[Box Rocket]

Adam, that is an interesting problem, the stop idea sounds like it would work, any way to use the safety chains as a limiting factor?

Don't think the chains would work. Even if I can get them maxed out they will still rotate in a consistent arc and won't limit the rotation of the trailer.

 

[ntsqd]

What about using a lower drop slider and slightly lifting the trailer? Put the tongue itself into the bumper.

How about a short section of a fiberglass CB antenna fixed to the tongue so that it would make bumper contact near the outer corner of the bumper. When it hits the bumper it will deflect and if it is tall enough you'll be able (?) to see that the top is no longer vertical.

Don't back up so far? :sombrero:
If I jack-knifed any of my three trailers they would all kit something on them or the 3 4X4's that is easily damaged.

 

[Box Rocket]

The problem is ( I guess) that there are times where it is necessary to jacknife the trailer on the trail, purely because you have no other option. I think i'm going to have to test this theory, but if I'm thinking correctly, I should only have issues on level ground, as odd as that sounds.

If the trailer is uphill of the truck and it's jacknifed, then the tongue should contact the bumper and keep the trailer from contacting the truck. Sound reasonable? Likewise, if the trailer is downhill of the truck, the tub of the trailer will be leaned farther away from the truck and although the tongue may not "stop" against the bumper during a jacknife there should be less chance of contact since the trailer is leaned away from the truck. Yes, no?

So if that thinking is correct, then if I build a short "stop" onto the tongue that is tall enough to contact the bumper when the truck and trailer are both level, then I'm eliminating most problem scenarios. I think.

Now don't get me started if the camber of the trailer is different from the truck.

 

[sseaman]

Maybe make the tongue long enough you can see it out the front window when the trailer comes around.


J/K

 

[Box Rocket]

Still trying to get this out on an actual trail but I put it to use for the first time over the weekend. Picked up some trees for the yard, hauled a bunch of crap away that needed to be tossed. It's a dream to pull around town. Stoked about that. Hopefully it will be just as pleasant on the trail.

 

[Box Rocket]

Trailer Shakedown

I finally got the trailer out for a shakedown run this weekend. We spent most of the week looking at different places to camp and had narrowed it down to Left-hand Fork up Logan canyon, Norway Flats in the Uintah mountains and near South Broons Canyon in Skull Valley. Cody Morgan a local cruiser-friend who lives in Logan was extremely helpful with information about Left-Hand Fork. He even drove up the canyon thursday night to check it out for us before we made the drive. It was a good thing he did as he found out that the canyon was packed with campers for the Memorial Day weekend and we'd be hard-pressed to find a place. We would probably have a similar issue with Norway Flats as the Uintahs are a popular place for camping as well. Additionally Norway Flats ran the risk of still having snow. Normally the snow wouldn't be a big deal, but not only was this a shakedown run for the trailer but a bit of a shakedown run for our new twins.

We had twins (boy and a girl) in November and this would be a test of probably the most time in their car seats they've had since they were born, along with camping. So the snow and possible cold-temps at the higher elevations in the Uintahs helped us decide on Skull Valley in Utah's west desert not far from Tooele, Utah. Desert camping is not my wife's favorite so this would be a bit of a challenge. My two older boys, Bjornn and Liam were just excited to go.

First things first, as we prepared to leave it became painfully obvious to me that this trailer project was indeed a must for our family. Now that we are packing for 6 plus the dog, there is no way we would fit everything inside or on the truck, even for a short trip like this would be. We got the trailer packed with the majority of our gear with just a few items going in the truck.

Packed up and ready to leave on the first real test of the trailer.

We headed west out of Salt Lake City toward Tooele and exited off of I-80 at the Delle/Iosepa exit onto Skull Valley Road and headed south past Lone Rock and Horseshoe Springs. We got off the pavement just east of Horseshoe Springs and headed up into the foothills as the base of the Oquirrh Mountains.

We found a nice spot in a small wash that secluded us from the road and gave us a nice view up the canyon and also back down into the valley.

We set up camp and had some tasty tin-foil dinners and crossed our fingers that the forecast of thunderstorms would stay away long enough for us the have a good night and following day.
Here's what I woke up to.....Bjornn and Liam still crashed after working hard to help setup camp.

This too....Michelle snoozing away but the twins (happy as clams) just laying there wide awake after their first night camping. Sleeping in their carseats actually worked out quite well.

This was our view up South Broons Canyon from our campsite.

Liam out on a morning walk with me while we waited for everyone else to wake up.

 

[Box Rocket]

We came back from out walk to make breakfast and my 40 year old Coleman white gas stove decided it had finally had enough and I couldn't keep any pressure in the fuel tank so I couldn't use the stove. So I pulled the grill off the stove and threw it over the fire since we'd be cooking over the fire for the trip.

Bjornn and Zetta waiting for some bacon and sausage.

After breakfast we just relaxed and hung out. The weather cooperated and the boys played cards with Michelle while I took a nap.

Finn (our Welsh Corgi) had a good time too.

As the day warmed up the flies began to show up. It didn't matter what bug spray we used, by early afternoon we were fed up with the flies in this camping spot. Liam also began to suffer from severe allergies. Must have been all the sage since we haven't spent much time in the desert with him before and had no idea it would bother him. So we packed up and headed out.

Michelle and Zetta helping us get packed.

Finally all loaded back up and ready to head out. Michelle got me that Coleman cooler on the front of the trailer last week. I built a rack for it the night before we left and it worked great other than the latch is a bit weak.

 

[Box Rocket]

Headed back down the road into the Valley with plans to check out White Rocks.

Dave Connors had suggested we check out White Rocks as a possible place to camp but it can be a popular place and we thought it might be crowded on the holiday weekend so we didn't camp there the first night be we wanted to check it out anyway yesterday and let the boys climb around on the rocks. It turned out to be a great suggestion from Dave. After driving through the Goshute Indian reservation toward the Dugway Proving Grounds we saw the sign for White Rocks and headed west. It is a really cool place as a huge peak of sandstone with a couple smaller sandstone hills rise up out of the valley with no other formations like them in the area. There are caves all over White Rocks so we stopped to let the boys enjoy it.

Rounding the last bend with White Rocks in the background as the thunderstorms finally begin to develop.

Parked at the base of White Rocks watching the storm roll in.

Liam was still suffering badly from his allergy attach so he was crashed out in the truck on Benadryl. Bjornn and I hiked up to some of the caves while he slept.

My one complaint about the trailer right now is the DIY Raptor liner that I sprayed inside and underneath it. I was not abusive at all with it but did have coolers and camping boxes sliding in and out of it while we set up camp. It chipped in a few places and I worry about it's long-term durability. It held up ok, but I believe the extra expense of a professionally sprayed bedliner would be worth it. The Raptor liner which I believe is still superior to other DIY bedliners would work well on other applications such as I've seen with people spraying fender flares or rocker panels to protect from brush scratches. But under heavier use in a truck bed or trailer I think it is still lacking in durability.

 

[Box Rocket]

We thought about staying and camping there since it was such a cool place but with Liam's allergies and the storm moving in we decided it was best to not test out luck with the twins, and the weather. So we headed for home just as the storm moved in on us.

We made it home just as another heavy thunderstorm hit us from the north. I was glad we weren't stuck out in the desert getting rained on. But all in all it was a very successful trip. The trailer performed perfectly. It tracked extremely well on the highway and on the trail. The simple leaf-spring trailer suspension worked out better than I had expected and I currently have no more plans to change the suspension. In the future I'll add some propane mounts so I can cook with something to replace my old Coleman stove.

 

[stomperxj]

Wow... GREAT pics and a nice first shakedown trip... Trailer and the family both look good

 

[indiedog]

Fantastic pics Adam. Sounds like the trailer handled everything well too. I couldn't really tell from the pics but do you have your lid done as yet? Did it rain and how did the contents of the trailer go?

And is the "desert" where you come from usually that green??

We also have twins and a single. We will stop at 3 however! Your pics just make me want to get out there as soon as with the family. I can't wait to get my trailer done for a trip away.......