Guidance wanted on type of trailer

[J-No]

Got rid of my pickup, bought a Wrangler Unlimited.

• Love it in every way except when I need to haul a couple yards of mulch/dirt/plywood, etc.
• Would like to have flexibility of RTT at some point, taking it camping. Some forest roads, def no rock crawling.
• NO welding skills
• Need 4x6 to fit through back gate.
• Would like Jeep wheels/tires to avoid spare as well as winter use hauling snowblower.
• Not sure what kind of walls/height I want.

Looking at Morris Mule, 416 refurb, custom local (2 bid for $3K and $4K)--all seem to be pretty high priced for what I need. Like to ideally have complete build for $2K. Not sure I want to put a lot of $$ into a harbor freight bolt together. Dream trailer is a Manley ORV--but not going to happen.

Came across Aluma 486 aluminum. Will fit needs immediately--flatbed.

• 12" wheels on 5x 4.5--spacers and jeep wheels? Realize fenders would need to go.
• 1200# rubber torsion axle--Can I upgrade to 1750-2K# Block spacer to gain some height?
• Once I figured out what I need, I would have a local shop put some walls on.

Base trailer can be had for $1K.



Thoughts? Good or bad idea?

Thanks in advance. Been drooling over the builds here. I keep putting it off-today I am stuck as I need to haul my snowblower.

 

[CampStewart]

my .02 is that it will be very expensive to pay someone to weld on that trailer and you may have trouble finding someone who can weld well. I would try to custom order a steel utility trailer with the specs you are looking for. You may have to go to several dealers to find one who will give you a good price but you can custom order wheel patterns, brakes, axle sizes, etc. For a trailer that may carry lots of different weights I would go with leaf springs or an air bag suspension.

 

[J-No]

Thank you.

 

[rnArmy]

Here's a good way to get started:

https://www.kaiserwillys.com/trailer-assembly-with-chassis-fits-41-45-mb-gpw

Obviously you still need to add suspension, axle, wheels and tires, etc. But you can build it the way you want.

 

[tatanka48]

J-No, might i strongy suggest you seek out a welding/fab shop in your area that has an owner/boss/shop foreman who you can easily converse with

explain your quest and see how you feel w/ the answers you get(may/likely will take visiting several shops)

IF your yard gate will only open to 72"(double check this measurement) IMHO you will not be able to get a trailer w/ a 48" wide bed thru it IF you have wheels n tyres identical to your Jeep specially if your Jeep has the wider wheels n tyres on it

my personal experience is that 205/15 tyres will allow a 48" bed where 215/15 tyres(mounted on stock Jeep wheels) wont work safely(they rubbed the frame)

several of our local Jeep dealers order vehicles in w/ the smaller stock wheels n tyres then take them to local tyre shops for a custom swaps

this ends up w/ the tyre shops having a bunch of stock Jeep wheels n tyres on hand which i have bought for relative chump change in the past

the stock wheels n tyres will likely be narrower than what's on your Jeep(certainly no wider) and may make the build easier for achieving your 72" wide criteria

a convenience of using the stock tyres is that "trailer" tyres have a safe life expectancy of 5 years and the stock Jeep tyres will have a 10 year safe life expectancy

with a welding shop selected and 3 stock wheel n tyre sets(get a spare and have a spare mount in your design) you can have what you want built to suit your situation/quest

consider a "utility/flat bed" base w/ accomodations for the removable RTT platform configuration in your dreams (maybe even have that rack constructed by the fab shop at the same time as the build)

also consider having removable tongue jacks positioned on all 4 corners for leveling/stabilizing when in camping mode(least expensive when spec'd in the original design AND done when the frame is initially constructed)

GOOD LUCK W/ YOUR QUEST

btw, i applaud your initial avoidance of the harbour fright trailer ;-)

T

 

[Brianj5600]

I would look at the above suggestion of getting with a local trailer builder and get a dedicated off road rtt trailer.

A 4x6 utility trailer can be bought for around $300 for hauling mulch etc. I went together with a couple friends to buy a utility trailer to share and has worked out well for over 10 years now.

I don't see a multi purpose trailer being easy to convert back and forth or being as good as dedicated for the task. The extra money to make it convert may cost as much as a second basic utility trailer.

 

[J-No]

Thanks all. Couple more feelers out to some local shops. Spoke with Scott at Dinoot. Shipping costs kill most that I see out west.

Looks like I may need to move a fencepost.

 

[gunsandgearnetwork]

 

[gunsandgearnetwork]

Find an M416 and build it.

 

[J-No]

That is awesome.

 

[rnArmy]

Don't knock the HF trailer frame based builds. You can easily cut down a 4x8' frame to make it work for you. Check it out (warning - it is a very long thread but very thorough):

https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27...ype-trailer-ultimate-build-up-thread-1180456/

 

[J-No]

RnArmy, read your thread a while back. Awesome build. I’ll re-read again. Was thinking similar—hoping to have frame built and save me time/effort.