Longbed Stepside Expedition Truck Trailer

[496Burb]

Latest addition to the trailer: a license plate holder. Twin 90 degree brackets allows for mounting in ANY angle.

Brian - thanks for the build up detail and great pictures along the way. Wanted to see if you've resolved anything with the sway issue? I have a trailer that was made from a 69 GMC truck - 1/2 ton. It has the coil springs/coil link set up; and the bed bounces all over when I am in it or loading. It's been suggested that I replace the current springs with 3/4 ton springs; and then replace the shocks. Until reading your build up I haven't had anyone comment on the panhard bar - did this fix the sway issue for you (if you've tackled it?)? Thanks!

 

[Pooch72]

Honestly, I haven't done anything to it, as I'm not using the trailer very much lately. But this will give me an excuse to get off my duff and go get that fixed. Won't be difficult, and won't take long. I'll document what I do and let you all know the results.

Thanks for the interest and the post!

 

[Pooch72]

Well, I finally got off my *** and fixed the sway issue. I took a 2" piece of solid rod, cut my panhard bar and then sleeved it to give the whole thing a two inch longer throw.

Painted the assembly black, threw it all back together, then had a chance to test things out this weekend.

Used the trailer to haul my new wheels and tires for the truck. Running all-terrain tires in the snow and mud is a little unnerving, so I've stepped up to military grade mud terrain tires. Here's a picture of them with the (NO SWAY) trailer in the background.

I *STILL* need to tow the trailer with the truck.

Anyways... here's a picture from this weekend.

 

[Pooch72]

Not much progress on the trailer lately, but I have done a couple things and have taken pictures. First of all, I already mentioned that I modified and installed the panhard bar to control the side-to-side swaying issue that I have with this trailer. After I did that, I noticed a HUGE difference. There is almost no sway anymore, and it tows even better than it did before.

Sorry for the crappy pictures. I took these with my Droid, and the quality isn't the best. Hopefully, you get the general idea.

Now, for the next mod. My buddy had some diamond plate lying around, and he gave me a large chunk. I didn't really have a use for it, but decided to lay it over the tongue of my trailer to make it a little more attractive. I think it works. Her's the pictures after install. It still needs to be cleaned up around the edges, but it's a vast improvement.

And, I installed wheel spacers on the outside of the brake drum due to the lip that is on the drum. It makes it so the wheel didn't sit flush to the drum. I noticed that i had a fairly wild "wobble" to one of the wheels. After the spacer (1/4 inch)... no more wobble. It's still an awful lot of tire for a trailer, but it's pretty mean.

 

[Pooch72]

I have ditched the idea of making my own roof top tent (and such) on this trailer, and have come to the realization that a regular canopy would work SO much better. Here's my issue...

First of all, this trailer is old. REAL old. Because of that, it's got odd dimensions.
Outside dimensions for length are 92" long. Right off the bat, that makes it rare. Not many truck beds are that length.

Inside opening for width is 50". The siderails are 4" wide, so I can get away with up to 58" wide.

Searching high and low for a canopy that would fit these dimensions and I'm coming up with snake-eyes.

Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[Pooch72]

Persistence paid off. Found one in the local area with pretty close dimensions. About an inch short in the length, and too wide, but with my bed side rails as wide as they are, this will fit okay. Actual overhang is about 1" on each side, so it's not too bad at all.

I managed to take one picture when I got it home. I'll have to get out and take some better pictures when I get it mounted up and cleaned up. It's filthy dirty and growing mold inside. Needs some work to be usable.

Only damage is the front window being missing. Easy fix with a piece of plexi glass.

 

[Pooch72]

Fixed my front window issue on Halloween night. Kids were out trick-or-treating, and I was feverishly working on my project on the driveway.

So, I unbolted the window frame, and peeled it away from the canopy. two screws to disassemble the window frame and then the new plexiglass went in. A reverse process to put it all back together with some sealant between the frame and canopy to make it water tight. This is a pretty sweet deal in my opinion! Total money spent is roughly 100 bucks for the canopy, and half of that was the plexiglass. 30 for the canopy. 10 for lumber. 10 more for hardware.

more pictures to follow one of these days.

 

[wingysataday]

cool man! Looks good. I would taken that thing to the dump and left it there, but you are turning that thing into a monster!

 

[Mark Harley]

What is the weight at now?

 

[Pooch72]

cool man! Looks good. I would taken that thing to the dump and left it there....

Oh man, that's just not nice! She was certainly ugly in the early stages, but even as a fleetside, it had a certain crappy charm to it. I like it a LOT better as a stepside though. Still working out a couple issues here and there, but I like where it is. Not too terrible for being super low budget.

I think i'll like it a lot more when the paint matches my truck. And, I *still* haven't towed the trailer with the truck.

As for the weight... I know that since the WSP inspection, I swapped the tires for bigger ones which probably added another 50 pounds and the canopy and hardware probably added another 50. I'd say I'm sitting at nearly 1400 pounds dead weight right now. It still tows pretty easy though. I think the balloon tires help - well, I think they at least look good.

Thanks for the continued support!