Jah310 Trailer Build. Here goes...!

[jah310]

It's been a while since I worked on the trailer but I found some time this morning to finally weld the sheet metal to the fender. It required a ton of grinding to get the edges smooth but it actually turned out fairly good. Still going to do some touch up welds and little bit more grinding before I permanently weld to them to trailer.


I also filled the frontrunner Water jugs with water and baking soda and let them sit for a couple weeks. I flushed out the water yesterday and put in freshwater and when I tested it this morning it tasted quite good. Hopefully the plastic taste is gone for good. Time will tell...

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Fenders look good...nice work. I picked up Scepter water jugs, and with only a quick swish out, they had zero plastic taste at all. Was really pleased about that!

 

[jah310]

That's awesome regarding the Scepter cans... Mine weren't bad, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any trace of that taste. I added the baking soda and frankly forgot about it : / came back from vacation and realized they needed to be flushed. Oh well, it seemed to work great.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Good stuff. Most of the plastic out there for water containers seems to be mostly taste free. Hopefully the are BPA free too (I didn't check that on the Scepter cans)??

 

[jah310]

It's been a while since I updated - just been super busy. I did however manage to make a little progress since then...

I wanted to make sure the trailer sits level and is sturdy during camping so I decided to weld on mounts for stabilizer jacks on all four corners. I welded a female pipe fitting to the jacks and welded the male fittings on the trailer.

I also decided I'd fab up some other mounts for when the tent is not in use (or for on the road) in between the water jugs. I'll store the jacks here rather carry them loose in the tub. I was able to fit all four of them perfectly once I switched the direction of the feet. I drilled a new set of holes on the jack legs which allowed me to pull them out and rotate...perfect. Now all four jacks fit perfectly between the water jugs.

 

[jah310]

Next I built some brackets for the McMaster draw latches that will secure the lid down. They are stainless steel and work great. I like that they're lockable and can really pull on the lid. I used some 5/32 Stainless steel rivets to secure them down. It's my first time using rivets...I'm guessing they'll hold well?

You can also see I fully welded the sheet metal to the lid. I have yet to grind it down...welding that sheet metal without bending the lid was a challenge. Can't wait to get the welds all smoothed out.

While I was at it, I also make brackets for the tail lights...the lights add a little personality to the trailer : )

 

[jah310]

Also wanted to share that I found a much better water spout for my front runner water jugs. These are awesome quarter turn brass pieces that fit perfectly - got them at Home Depot. Highly recommend this upgrade to anyone using these jugs...way better than those hard to turn plastic spouts...

 

[Mark Harley]

Nice work!
Looks great.

 

[jah310]

Thanks Mark...slowly but surely!

This afternoon I mocked up the frame for the tailgate - clamped it against the back of the trailer to see how it would fit. Glad to see everything is still pretty much square. The bullet hinges will fit right below the tailgate and have just enough room. I was worried they were going to hit the hitch.

This week I'm keeping my eyes out for the Thule racks I ordered...!

 

[jah310]

Did a bit more work this weekend. I welded a "lip" to the back end of the lid that will fit over the tailgate. Required a lot of grinding - I really hate welding sheet metal... It should serve for a better seal and perhaps provide as a little rain guard too. No real pictures of that.

The thule roof racks came this week so got those mounted up as well. I set the tracks the exact same distance as the tracks on my Tacoma so in the event I ever want to use the bars or even the rtt on the truck I can just unclip the load bars from the trailer feet and clip them on the Tacoma feet. I used three load bars for good support.

You can sort of see the grinding from the "lip". I still need to touch up and regrind the perimeter of the lid - I was so sick of grinding that I couldn't do any more. When I take the trailer apart for paint I'll hopefully touch up all the welds.

With the help of my bro in law we threw up the eezi awn 1800 for a test fit. Still need to get better mounting brackets (in the mail) but this gives a good idea of the set up. I was pretty fired up to see this view in my driveway.

 

[jah310]

After mounting the rtt, I need to make a few adjustments.

I used a set of pro comp leafs but one side is sagging more than the other (even before the rtt was mounted). I checked all the suspension measurements and both sides are exactly the same. I'm thinking about upgrading to a set old of man emu's (part number CS036R) because of the lean and because they don't seem to have enough spring load - it's just too soft.

I'm a little worried that I mounted the spring hanger and shackle hanger too close together - I measured eye to eye and they are 41 inches apart. Not sure what they are on a YJ wrangler, but I do know the springs are 43 inches apart. I'm hoping those two inches aren't what's causing the relatively soft suspension. The shackle angle doesn't look too extreme (about 60 degrees) but it is certainly more than a stock wrangler. You can see the angle on the sagging side in this pic...

I guess I'm going to try some new springs and see what that does. If not I may need to move the shackle hanger back a bit: / that would suck.

Any thoughts?

I'm also going to adjust the lift springs for the lid. I noticed that the way I have them mounted is the opposite than what I see on all the professional trailers. I'm going to move the bottom mount from the hinge side to the non hinge side. I think that's more efficient and will assist in opening right from the start. Right now when I open the lid I have to use considerable force...then when it's opened a few inches the lift springs take over. I've got a set of 250 pound lifters which should be plenty... Hopefully that's an easy fix.

I guess that's what you get when you build your own trailer - a bit of trial and error. It would be unrealistic to think everything is going to work in the first try... I don't have the advantage of experience of say Mario at AT trailers! Haha .... Oh well that's the fun.

Any thoughts on both the leaf springs and or the lift springs would be much appreciated.

Thanks-

 

[matthewp]

I love this storage idea! You have motivated me, I'm stealing this if you don't mind!:bowdown:

 

[jah310]

Of course... Glad you like it.

At first I thought it might be an overkill to have the four supporting jacks, but when I got the rtt mounted this weekend it sure made for a real solid platform. The storage mounts up front keep them from being loosely stored in the actual trailer...

 

[Mark Harley]

X2 Great idea and so much better than throwing them in the box.

"I love this storage idea! You have motivated me, I'm stealing this if you don't mind!"

 

[b63215b]

Trex, never even though of using that as a paneling for the sides. Genius, did you seal the gaps with anything inside? Would you suggest doing that?

Do they make tongue and groove Trex?