Burley_Industries prototype expedition trailer

[Burley]

I'm curious what you guys think for paint? Color? Scheme?

Also I'm looking into sealers to apply between the stitch welds around all the sheets to help keep moisture from getting between the frame and skins and rusting. Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with a product that might do the trick. It needs to be, obviously, able to stick to metal and be paintable and probably not dry in a hard form. More of a rubberized form when dry.

 

[XJSuperman]

Yeah, I just used this stuff from my local NAPA while doing the floorpan in my XJ. Paintable, dries hard, but not toolable and not like concrete. Has a little rubbery feel to it. Sticks to bare, primed, painted, as long as it is clean. Much cheaper than the 3m products they compare to. This was like $17, and I can't see you using more than 1. Maybe all of it, but you shouldn't need anymore than that.

 

[Burley]

Thanks for the info

 

[colorado matt]

well ... matching the tow vehicle is quite a popular option ..... white.. silver... army green and black ... seem to be a lot of those .... my favorite though is whatever color you like with the top being white .... I have toyed with the idea of white and getting red yellow and blue and doing hand and foot prints from the kids and dogs ... or 60s hippie flowers and swirls (google hippie vw bus) .. with the fenders being also a work surface I would probably stay away from black just because they would get hot in the sun unless you have tent out one side and awning out the other than that may not be an issue .... the more involved the coating the more work to fix scratches .... this will not push me to a rattle can paint job ..maybe .... powder coating is just out of my price range and don't know enough about it to know if you can drop off a whole trailer and expect them to do the whole thing .... bedliner the inside and underneath ..... myself I will most likely have fun with it ..try to make it personal to me .... I rarely care what others think ... some crazy one-off design that after time will be recognized easily as "there's Matt and that crazy trailer" would not bother me a bit ...... but I am in idiot and should not be taken seriously .... it is great to hear about your hitch height ... I am having quite the time trying to pre-build in my mind the height of the trailer I want ... may I ask did you get the spring setup that just comes with the axle kit?? ... x2 on seam sealer ... great stuff .... thanks again for posting your build and letting me pick your brain some ... Matt ... EDIT ... I would spray some primer sealer in the cracks before sealing them up

 

[Burley]

I got the lid skins cut and installed tonight. It's two pieces that join flush on the center of the lid, across the center cross bar.

 

[colorado matt]

wow ... I am an idiot ... I pictured. and wondered. how you were going to skin the top ... and by top I guess I meant the rack ... could not figure out how that was going to happen ... as stated ... idiot ... will you utilize the space between the skin and the rack for storage or some cool slide blah blah blah .... seems like you are not far off from being able to stick the spare up there and free up for a nose box .... it looks better every picture .. Matt

 

[Burley]

Thanks Matt. I'm planning just some basic tie down points along the base and along the inside of the rack. I'm also thinking of adding maxtrax mounts on one side of the rack and a high lift mount on the other side.

 

[Burley]

I got a lot done this week. I got the fenders, lid, and floor skins welded up. I pulled the axle and took 8 5/8" out of the center, slugged it and welded it up. It turned out good but the next trailer is definitely getting a custom length axle that just bolts in.
I also built some mounts for the hi lift out of 1" DOM and 1/2" bolts.

 

[colorado matt]

looks good ... like it belongs there ... must feel nice to have all that welding done ... got another newb question for you .... full length tongue front to back ... seems like that would be done so you could have a receiver hitch out back ... but it looks like on the front there is a bigger tube attached so that you can slide in a 2 inch cup or some type of articulating hitch ... but the back looks straight .... how will something slide into the back ?? or was it just for strength going all the way to the back ?.... had to look up what slugged meant.....jealous of talent that can just say "oh just cut it and re-weld it to fit" .... no really ... jealous ... hope to be competent and confident enough to pull off my own build soon .... watching different builds and the willingness of those like you to share is a huge help ... any hints on coating or color choice yet... also curious how you will address rear supports for stability when tent is deployed ... Matt

 

[1store]

I though this was great .Tell you cut the axle. You should cut at the ends .How are you going to reline the axle. There should be a small bend . Also cutting at the ends there less working on the weld. But other than that looks great. Befor you sell this trailer get the right axle .If it break at the weld someone new will own you house.

 

[Burley]

looks good ... like it belongs there ... must feel nice to have all that welding done ... got another newb question for you .... full length tongue front to back ... seems like that would be done so you could have a receiver hitch out back ... but it looks like on the front there is a bigger tube attached so that you can slide in a 2 inch cup or some type of articulating hitch ... but the back looks straight .... how will something slide into the back ?? or was it just for strength going all the way to the back ?.... had to look up what slugged meant.....jealous of talent that can just say "oh just cut it and re-weld it to fit" .... no really ... jealous ... hope to be competent and confident enough to pull off my own build soon .... watching different builds and the willingness of those like you to share is a huge help ... any hints on coating or color choice yet... also curious how you will address rear supports for stability when tent is deployed ... Matt

Thanks again Matt. I don't plan to put a rear receiver on this trailer. The tube that runs the full length of the trailer is the same 2x2x0.120, to thin walled and to small diameter for a receiver. It's mostly there to equalize the pulling across the whole trailer frame. I plan to 45 degree cut the tail end of the tube and cap it.
I called my local powder coater and they said they wouldn't be able to powder coat it based on its size and general box design.
Talking with a good friend of mine that is a body shop painter, he came up with a price of around $500-$600 in materials to paint it. So that is definitely an option.
I also plan to talk to a few local trailer manufactures about having them run it through there paint shop as well.

 

[Burley]

I though this was great .Tell you cut the axle. You should cut at the ends .How are you going to reline the axle. There should be a small bend . Also cutting at the ends there less working on the weld. But other than that looks great. Befor you sell this trailer get the right axle .If it break at the weld someone new will own you house.

I totally get the concern. I measured the camber and toe with a digital angle finder before and after to get them as close as possible. Also I didn't just butt weld the axle tube back together. I inserted a tight fitting piece of 2"x8"x3/16" tube slug between the two halves, 4" into each tube. Both axle tubes were 45 degree beveled and root pass welded to the slug before multi cover passes were made. I'm not at all worried about the strength of the axle.
But with that being said I don't plan to sell this first trailer because of the modified axle. I want potential customers to feel totally confident in my product. Any trailer I build to sell will get a custom length axle from the axle manufacturer. I'm glad to hear you liked the rest of the build.

 

[Burley]

also curious how you will address rear supports for stability when tent is deployed ... Matt

I'm still working on this. Most stabilizer legs are to short. A side crank jack on each side in the back is an option. Besides being a spendy option, I'm having trouble finding a tall enough side crank jack that isn't way over rated for only lifting 1/3 of the trailers weight. I like the idea of the stand inside of a tube that can just be pinned at different heights. I just worry about the paint wearing off quickly from sliding up and down inside another tube. I'll probably just end up doing jacks for the ability to fine tune level for the tent, but as of yet, I haven't pulled the trigger on any.

 

[1store]

With all the extra you Done it would been faster to cut the spindles free . AS a trailer manufacturer what will get you sued is the axle and the receiver . The rest is easy. LOTS OF LUCK

 

[teotwaki]

I am enjoying your build narrative and all of the pictures. One comment is the flat fenders may allow rocks and mud to be thrown forward into your tow vehicle and backwards into other vehicles following on the same trail.

I've got a question about the axle leaf springs. I can't claim to know the "correct" answer and the ones in the pictures look similar to those on smaller and lighter trailers. In my first read through of this thread I don't think I saw how you arrived at the selection. They seem to be a "standard" trailer length (25"?) that I've seen at e-Trailer but would a longer leaf spring allow more axle articulation? The folks that built my trailer used springs that are roughly 3.5 feet long based on Jeep JK rear leaf springs.

Thanks!