Jeep Tub Trailers

[SSRx7]

Hey all, I'm new here to this site and am excited by all the info I have been reading.

I have been toying with the idea of a jeep tub exp trailer. Yes I have seen the builds here and admire all the great work.

But I want to do mine just slightly different. I want to use the whole tub from the firewall back (gutted of all the interior stuff of course), with the windshield, full doors and a factory hard top. I would have the gas tank in the stock location for extra gas (20 gallons vs 4 jerry cans), and a fresh water tank on the rear floor between the fenders. Then a shelf or "2nd floor" level with the top of the tub itself. In the front under that floor, inside the doors would be storage areas, above the floor would be the sleeping bags, spare tents other light weight stuff. In the back above the floor would be the kitchen and shelves. Shovels, Axe, tow rope, etc would be mounted on the inside of the hard top. Then a RTT would be mounted on top, either to the roof itself or to a rack on top. The spare tire would be in the stock spare location on the tail gate.

I figure that most of the weight will be above the wheels, with a little behind to counter weight the front of the tub.

I figure that it will balance out. My reasoning is this: I had a 20' boat with an ib/ob that weighed with trailer about 3500lbs. About 2/3 of the boat hull was in front of the trailer axle, while only about 1/3 behind it. With the boat engine and drive counter balancing the front, I could lift the tongue and move the boat and trailer around by myself. If I could acheive the same balancing with my jeep tub trailer, I think it will work.

I would be using a home built frame to mount the tub on, so I think it will work.

Does anyone here have any idea as to the actual weight of the tub, even without the hard top on it?

Tell my what you guys think,

Thanks!! Looking forward to the wealth of info here!

Bill

 

[SSRx7]

This is kinda what I had in mind. Please excuse my poor photo chop job.

Comments on weight limitations, etc?

 

[ex m38a1er]

Sorry but i think it won't be balanced right (60/40 rule 10-15% tongue weight)

 

[SSRx7]

Here is one that someone has built, similar to what I want to do:

Then I went to AT's website and looked at their tear drop trailer specs:
The overall length is 150"
Overall height is 75"
Ground Clearance is 24"
cab width is 54"
Tongue to axle spindle distance is 107"
dry weight is 1283 lbs
Dry weight with accessories (camp kitchen gear, tanks, etc) 1498lbs.


We have a jeep in the shop right now with a hard top on and I measured out some of the specs:

Tongue to axle spindle is 110",
height on 35" tires is 85 "
Interior width (front door window to door window) 54"

So the AT tear drop has alot more hanging behind the trailer axle than a jeep, That has it's pro's and con's. It would aid in balancing the trailer, but departure angles are really decreased. The balancing would be decided by how much is carried inside both fore and aft of the axle.

On my jeep trailer, the tongue to axle centerline is 3" more, but has alot better departure angles (which are even more important on a trailer). I would be counter balancing the weight forward of the axle with the fuel tank and water tank behind the axle.

I just don't know how much a tub actually weighs yet.

 

[1x1_Speed_Craig]

Here is one that someone has built, similar to what I want to do:

That's my buddy Matt's Jeep. If you had questions about the trailer, you could contact him through the www.gr8tops.com website (he owns the company). I'm sure he'd be happy to answer a few questions about the trailer set-up.

Craig

 

[SSRx7]

Craig, thank you for the info!! I emailed Matt this morning. That will be great help on my project.

Thanks!

Bill

 

[highlandercj-7]

If that is the plan, you better be planning on using a YJ. The TJ stuff in that picture is expensive. There's probally $2k in sheetmetal being wasted there. I can see them using it, since it's part of that guys bussiness and it's a write off for him. The hard doors alone bring 700-1000.00 for a TJ/LJ.

 

[SSRx7]

Highlander, You are correct. There are alot of yj tubs on Ebay, and I found a couple here locoally for not too much. I was trying to decide between a YJ and a Cj. Swing open tail gate vs drop down. I like the drop down one to use as a shelf. But I have a good handle on a decent YJ tub right now. I would most probly weld up my own frame and skin it with aluminum for each of the doors. I plan on making them in two halves so that the top half will drop open and provide access to the area above the 2nd floor I mentioned above. The bottom half would open to access the area below that which is where I plan on putting my camp kitchen and kitchen supplies, etc. I plan on making everything below the top of the tub water tight.

 

[Root Moose]

YJ tub can be converted to swing down tail gate fairly easily.

 

[TedderX]

 

[SSRx7]

Thanks TedderX, I have several pics of that one on my thread over at 4x4Him.org

I have emailed several people to find out the weights on the tub. I wont be doing any rock crawling with it, but mainly used to get back into "country' to set up base.

Bill

 

[97tjguzzy]

before I cut my tub in half i would say the tub alone weight in at around 400-500lbs at least. It took 4 guys to pick it up and it was not light.

Also The way you have it shown I think you will be very tongue heavy and will be putting most of your trailer weight on the tow vehicle.

I can tell you that when we load our trailer up and have 4 people in my jeep it can be very heavy and mine is half the size of what you have shown.

here are some pictures to show how mine is loaded, I would feel confident that a fully loaded cooler and jerry cans on mine is not as heavy as the front of the tub would be.

 

[nfunlimited]

You'd be better off using a pickup bed from a compact truck like a Ranger (same wheel bolt pattern). That way there is more overhang behind the wheels to balance the tongue weight. If you could find a stepside it would be sized more like a Jeep.

 

[Token]

As long as we're talking about 'em, can you folks keep your eyes open for this one..?? It's been a while now, but it was stolen from a friend of mine back in Feb 2009 in Memphis, TN.

There is a reward for info leading to it's recovery.. The theft report is on file with the Memphis PD and it does (did) have a VIN. 901-528-CASH will prolly get you in touch with the right folks.

 

[SSRx7]

Thanks for all the input guys. I have been rethinking my trailer. I still like the matching jeep body concept, but I need to be practicle about it. Until I have some solid weight figures, I'll keep thinking about how I'm gonna do this. I have been watching the other trailer builds and am amazed at the creativity of people here. I'm learning day by day, thanks to you all.
Bill