Longbed Stepside Expedition Truck Trailer

[RandomAbstract]

There was a very serious FAIL this weekend on the way to the dump. The trailer coupling latch failed while driving down the road. The locking latch managed to "unlock" itself. I went over a rise in the road and when the truck came down, the trailer tongue continued up!

I lock my couplers now. I taught myself the same way as you did. However, it's much more exciting at 75 mph on the freeway! Luckily, no one was hurt except the trailer and my ego.

It looks like you are having fun with the build. Good job!

 

[Pooch72]

I lock my couplers now. I taught myself the same way as you did. However, it's much more exciting at 75 mph on the freeway! Luckily, no one was hurt except the trailer and my ego.

It looks like you are having fun with the build. Good job!

"exciting"?!? Good gawd. That would be terrifying!

Thanks for the compliment. It's been a fun build thus far. Now that it's functional, it's time to start on phase 2.... Home-made canopy with Roof Top Tent.

 

[trail-explorer]

..., but being that the springs are so long, they just allowed the trailer to rock side to side. I need to figure out how to minimize the squat and keep the trailer from swaying.

My dad a trailer made from the next generation Chevy truck bed, which was also coil spring. It did the same thing - the bed rocked side to side a lot.

Ditto on using some sort of pin or lock on the coupler, the little buggers can come loose when least expected! (unless you have a lock or pin through them.)

 

[Damaged 1]

Well I see it's been some months ......But I just wanted to say my 2 cents . I think you did a great job with that prodject . I have what looks like the same fleetside trailer as you had .....a couple of questions ..... where did you find the metal to go between the wood for the bed ? Cuz I have to replace my bed as well ...... and as far as beefing up the suspension to get those bigger tires , worth it ? Did you ever figure out how to stop the sway to your liking ? Thanks for posting all the great pics ...... Glenn

 

[Pooch72]

Hey Glenn, Great questions, and I'll address them all.

First of all, thanks for the Kudo's.. I always appreciate it. It's still a work in progress, though not much progress lately. I just haven't touched it, though I have been planning some new things. Paint and a home-made canopy are in the planning stages.

As for your questions, first being the metal strips between the bed wood. Simple solution, but a bit expensive. LMC catalog.

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cbe/full.aspx?Page=20

You will need to know exactly how long of strips you need, as there were several different bed lengths between 1955 and 1966. LMC stocks all of them though. Good quality, and in my opinion, worth every penny. I'm not wealthy, but I splurged on this and haven't regretted it yet. If your bed wood is completely rotted away (i've seen it before) then you may need this website to cut new boards. I cut all new pieces for my bed floor out of pine. I decided to go with the cheap stuff for my first try, and now that I've learned some tricks and lessons, I'll be replacing both my truck and trailer bed floors to match. Should look sweet.

http://www.gmcpauls.com/47-72_BedWood_Info.htm

As for the bigger tires. Well, It sure makes it look like it means business, but honestly, with tires bigger than what's on my truck, it's just plain overkill. I wouldn't say I'm unhappy with them, but I haven't worked out all the bugs yet either. I went with the same wheels (and lug pattern) that are on my truck in case I ever had a blowout and had to do a tire swap to get me into the next town. Hopefully that never happens, but I figure it's planning ahead.

The swaying hasn't been addressed yet, though I just need to lengthen that sway bar underneath the trailer and get it hooked up. Considering dropping the attach point like suggested for a better fit. Piecing that together in my mind, I think it would eliminate my swaying issue. If not, I'll go back to the drawing board.

Hopefully, I'll have some kind of updates by the end of the year, but I'm leaving the country for a month in a couple weeks, so the trailer will have to wait for my return.

 

[Pooch72]

I finally got out and DID something on my trailer this weekend. I'm getting it ready for a Washington State Patrol inspection so it can be licensed. I had to make mud flaps, and re-locate the safety chains. Safety chains cannot share the same hardware as the coupling, so I had to move them. In order to move them, I had to lengthen them. Here's the pictures.....

 

[system-f]

The suspension design on my trailer is VERY similar if not identical to yours. Assuming your panhard bar is tight and doesn't have any play then it is probably fine as is. My trailer has a lot of angle on the panhard but has no sway. One thing I have is airbags that will not push air into one another. When one airbag is compressed a one way valve keeps the air from going from one bag to another, kind of like an air sway bar.

As for a 4-link on the trailer it is WAY over kill. This kind of flex just isn't needed on a trailer, though he says the design works great and I have seen it in action.

 

[Pooch72]

I had a PM yesterday about the coil springs I used on this build. Figured that if one person had a question about it, that it might be a question for more than one person. So, instead of responding to one... I'll post for all.

The question:

"On the coils you swapped in from the Ford.. did both ends have a pigtail? I have a set of ZJ coils that i believe will give me the height I'm after.. if i can figure a way to attach them. The one end does not have a pigtail.

Any pics of what you did?"

So, I picked up these coil springs at a 4x4 swap meet. I was *TOLD* they came off a Ford F150, but I was just visually looking for springs that matched my requirements. Not anything from a particular vintage. The swap meet just seemed like the best place to look.

Both ends of these coil springs have the tighter pig-tails. My trailer springs already had the "cups" for the old springs, so I didn't have to do any fabrication. My old springs were about 12" normal, and 9" compressed. These springs were over 16" at rest, and much stiffer construction. They gave me an instant 4" lift, and I've had the trailer loaded with over 800 pounds thus far, and hardly a sag.

I took a couple pictures last night from under the trailer, so hopefully you can get a better idea of what I did, and how it went together. Enjoy!

 

[Pooch72]

I had an appointment with the Washington State Patrol today to get my trailer inspected. I had a whole list of requirements that they would (supposedly) be looking at. I made sure to not waste their time, or mine, and had them all taken care of.

However, the reason for THIS post, is because I had to have a certified weight slip today. I was HORRIFIED! That stink'n trailer weighs in at 1300 pounds! I thought it was a mistake!

I was honestly thinking 800 pounds. I had no idea.

 

[Balzer]

Yikes! Sounds like its time to ditch the truck frame and build a lighter one for the bed to sit on.

And rattle can it yeller so we can see it with the purdy truck HAHA!

 

[Mark Harley]

1300 that's not bad!
My M101A2 military trailer started off at 1690lbs and now it weighs 1360lbs
You have an American Iron V8 to pull it so it should be fine!

 

[java]

I had an appointment with the Washington State Patrol today to get my trailer inspected. I had a whole list of requirements that they would (supposedly) be looking at. I made sure to not waste their time, or mine, and had them all taken care of.

However, the reason for THIS post, is because I had to have a certified weight slip today. I was HORRIFIED! That stink'n trailer weighs in at 1300 pounds! I thought it was a mistake!

I was honestly thinking 800 pounds. I had no idea.

wow amkes me wonder waht mine is.... i know its a lot more than my old one because its alot harder to move!

 

[Pooch72]

Yikes! Sounds like its time to ditch the truck frame and build a lighter one for the bed to sit on.

And rattle can it yeller so we can see it with the purdy truck HAHA!

It's funny you say that. I've been considering building a frame from scratch and really getting into some fab work. But, alas, I've got other things going on, and that little project will have to wait.

I am, however, ready to get this sucker painted! That's actually a high priority.

 

[Pooch72]

1300 that's not bad!
My M101A2 military trailer started off at 1690lbs and now it weighs 1360lbs
You have an American Iron V8 to pull it so it should be fine!

Mark,

I love your trailer. Very clean. Very stout. You're right about the weight though. It's not a problem, but I honestly underestimated how much that thing really weighs. It's clearly well ballanced, as I can unhook it from the ball and move it all over the place by myself. Had to do that yesterday in fact. Wheeled it to the truck scale, and hardly seemed like it weighed anything at all. When they told me it was 1300 pounds, Imagine how strong I felt! (grin)

 

[Pooch72]

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