Fleetwood Neon Modified for off road

[MountainD]

Davey--although you will find most of his stuff double posted in this thread, BadAndy was working on his version keeping the stock frame here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/143249-Andy-s-Fleetwood-Neon-project Just for more brain food

 

[Bayou Boy]

You could actually cut and sleeve the tongue and use hitch pins to attach it. Drill two sets of holes and you could shorten it for tight trails and lengthen it for the road.

 

[MountainD]

Thats good advice, Bayou---some serious food for thought. If I could do it without introducing slop, which I could do with just a little extra effort, I could probably do that for maybe 20 extra pounds for a stout set up. I'll consider it.

 

[BADDANDY]

Short tongue length is a godsend for our trails.

 

[DaveyCrotchett]

Thanks I did see his also. Seems to be a great platform for starting with.

 

[Jeepinaaron]

Ok, I see you went with trail gear 3" Sammy springs. I am looking to convert my springs over for a better ride. Your trailer is heavier than mine, given that fact should I stick with stock heigh Sammy springs?

 

[MountainD]

I really like the Trail Gear springs-- I did the front, but the rear have a lighter spring rate that may be better for you, depending on weight.

 

[silvrzuki77]

Glad the sami springs are working for ya!

 

[MountainD]

Started building the fenders and finishing the outside. Winter I will start the redesign of the inside. The trailer is working fantastic and I am very pleased with the suspension and axle. I was worried as I have never made an axle before, but it seems to pull perfectly.

 

[BADDANDY]

I'm curious to how you're gonna fill the stock fender holes.

 

[MountainD]

Ha! Me too! Probably mix up some Aluminum filler-- I have some aluminum specific stuff from working on my Land Rover panels. I'll share the name when I dig it out. I believe it is Evercoat. I also have some Devcon Aluminum putty left over that I paid a pretty penny for-- I'll probably start with that.

 

[silvrzuki77]

I say some sticker bullet holes racing flames or Pepboys stick on vent holes! It will be classy!

 

[MountainD]

Maybe a tribal sticker! ... maybe not... Here are the fenders that I have pretty much done. I am still going to bed liner them so I am not concerned with some of the slight dimples from the welding. For my first attempt at making a fender, I am pretty happy although I would definitely do some things differently in the future. I am happy with how they turned out---after I bed liner them, I have an aluminum angle iron that will go around the outside edge. I have some expanded sheet metal that will go on the platforms in front of and behind the wheels as well...maybe next weekend...

 

[silvrzuki77]

Looks good!

 

[MountainD]

Been a while, and I am starting the final phase of the exterior. I had some nice thick scrap aluminum angle iron (I am a bit of a scavenger/pack-rat and love to reuse everything possible) and I thought it would be perfect for my Jerry can holders and my Yeti cooler holder. So I started the prototype water holder and will match a second one on the opposite side--I am mounting two x 5Gal cans on the rear quarter panels of the trailer. But with a caveat--I want to use the cans without removing them from the trailer. Mainly because I am a bit frail (West Nile) and I am always looking for a good place to put them. What my ideal set up would be is they just rotate forward to tilt---but that would cantilever them off the quarter panel, wouldn't be stable, and could potentially be a knee basher at night. Ideally they would rotate in the same place, the rear of the can would lift up and the front would tilt down using the trailer frame as the "stop". I figured out the mechanism and started welding. Don't worry about all the spatter on the base---I'll clean that up

But how to weld the aluminum? I have a Ready Welder II for off road mig welding so I hooked it up to my Miller mig welder (constant DC), got a tank of Argon, and guess what? I can weld aluminum! I am still getting my technique down, but the welds feel strong. Here is my prototype. When done, there will be a mechanism to hold the jerry can into the holder as well as a locking mechanism holding the mechanism locked to the trailer. I love how it is coming out, though! And I am stoked to finally be able to weld some aluminum as well...