Box Rocket Homemade trailer build.

[ntsqd]

Those particular hinges are designed to be oriented vertically, but I do not see why they couldn't be used as you need.

How robust does the hinge need to be? How much slop can the system withstand?

My first thought for a robust hinge would be nested round tubes. Use a 1" OD x .125" wall tube as the pivot 'pin' and alternately weld short sections of 1.25" OD x .125" wall tube to the upper and lower mount parts. I wouldn't do alternating all the way across the width, just 4 or maybe 6 sections placed so that the lid can not slide sideways on the pivot.

Weld a ~.5" long section of the 1.25" tube to one end of the 1" tube. At the other end place another piece of ~.5" long 1.25" OD flush to the end of the 1" OD tube and drill through both of them for a bolt hole. Ideally you would then drill the 1" slightly bigger and weld in a sleave and grind smooth to the OD.

Removing the lid would consist of removing the bolt, then the short piece of 1.25", and pull the 1" out of the alternating 1.25" tube sections.

 

[Box Rocket]

That sir would be robust indeed. Thanks for spending the time putting that together. Gives me some interesting ideas

 

[ntsqd]

You're welcome. Hope it helps you and possibly others too.

 

[mmcan]

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.

You, Sir, have made my heart and soul happy by sharing these pictures of your beautiful family with us.

Seriously, I have tears in my eyes showing this to my wife and daughter.

Your labor of love building the trailer is already paying dividends to you, your family, and those living vicariously through your pictures and posts.

Thanks again!

Mark

Dallas

 

[Box Rocket]

You, Sir, have made my heart and soul happy by sharing these pictures of your beautiful family with us.

Seriously, I have tears in my eyes showing this to my wife and daughter.

Your labor of love building the trailer is already paying dividends to you, your family, and those living vicariously through your pictures and posts.

Thanks again!

Mark

Dallas

Wow! Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I appreciate your thoughts.

 

[mmcan]

Not to criticize but.... I'm continually amazed at people (usually from the southwest) who don't seem to have any idea what it's like in the rest of the world.

Unfair to use such a broad brush to paint the entire southwest with this comment. It's almost the same as that guy slamming someone for not appreciating who built the infrastructure in a pick-up,... or whatever he was trying to assert.

Not jacking with you, just saying there are millions of wonderful and interesting people who wouldn't be offended reading that the OP doesn't prefer Yukes/Subs/Excursions,... and enjoys his Yota for the stated reasons.

Let's all get out there and have a great time! And bring the kids!!!!!

This thread really tugs at my heart strings. I've been taking my sons with me for years (my wife and daughter refuse,... ) and I hope they'll have great memories of this as they get older.

Getting ready to do a 2 week Colorado Trek, Jeeping, camping, fly fishing, and hiking. I'll let you know when I post up.

 

[Box Rocket]

Had the trailer out a few more times over the past month. Took it on a 6+ hour drive (each way) into Wyoming to camp at Martin's Cove with my wife's family. Been on two seperate trips to Idaho (~3 hours each way) and just got back from a camping trip (~6 hours each way) to Utah's Boulder Mountain with some 16-17 yr old scouts last week. The more I use it the more pleased and amazed I am with how smooth it is and how well it behaves behind the Cruiser. It pulls super straight, never sways, rarely bounces except on very sizeable bumps and has handled full load of camping gear and RTT really well. I still need to build the lid, but that will probably be next winter's project.

Just saying that for someone that had no idea what he was doing when the project started, I can't be happier with the results.

Here's a few pics from Boulder Mountain last week.

 

[Poorboyota26]

Hey!!! you there. the one with the deflated manican hanging out your trailer. :elkgrin:

AWSOME PICS. Sounds like a great time.

 

[4 play]

Nice trailer and write with photos.
STOP making fun of his blow up camo doll.

 

[Box Rocket]

It can get lonely out in the woods.

 

[LTFJC]

WOW!!!! awesome build thread..im thinking about building a trailer and this was very informative. thank you...

 

[RJ40]

Very cool build! I was curious about a couple of things: 1st, What is your tongue length from the front of the trailer frame? 48"or ? 2nd, when you have the trailer loaded, have you had any wheel rub on the inside of the fenders? They seem to be very tight on clearance.. Last, how is the Raptor holding up? Does it stick well to roughed up primer?

Cheers!

 

[Box Rocket]

Very cool build! I was curious about a couple of things: 1st, What is your tongue length from the front of the trailer frame? 48"or ? 2nd, when you have the trailer loaded, have you had any wheel rub on the inside of the fenders? They seem to be very tight on clearance.. Last, how is the Raptor holding up? Does it stick well to roughed up primer?

Cheers!

Answers:

1: I used a peice of 48" 2.5" tubing that is partially cut to overlap with the front of the frame. So it is probably about 46" from the front of the frame to the end of the tube. Add a little length to the actual hitch point with the lock-n-roll.

2: No wheel rub at all. The pictures may seem a little deceptive but there is actually a fair bit of room in the fenderwells. The flares make it appear to be closer than it really is. Without actually pulling out the tape measure there is probably ~3" of clearance before the tires would hit the flares, and something like ~5" before the tires would hit the actual fender.

3: The Raptor liner is so-so on durability. Overall it's been fine and I still think its one of the best DIY liners. I have a few spots that have small chips, but I have some liner left over so I can touch it up. If I were doing it again and had to use a DIY liner, I would still choose the Raptor. But if I could afford it, I would have it professionally sprayed with something like Linex as the durability is much better.

 

[cjj98xj]

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.

Any idea roughly how far White Rocks is from the general area you camped the first night? I'd like to head out and visit that area, possibly this weekend.

Chad

 

[Box Rocket]

The turnoff for whiterocks is almost exactly 20 miles south of Horsheshoe springs on Skull Valley Road. There's a sign for it. Head west at the sign for Whiterocks approx 8.5 miles.