Mighty Max (pickup) Expedition/Utility/Rally Support Trailer Build.
- Thread starter irish44j
- Start date
irish44j
Well-known member
So this morning I was woken up at 6am by my wife telling me there were a bunch of police cars out front. I live in a very quiet suburb, with virtually no crime, so one cop is unusual. But there were 5 police cars and a "paddy wagon" van out front, and a disabled Altima in the middle of the street in front of my Sequoia with broken front wheels.
Anyhow, long story short, apparently two non-local individuals, who were apparently very high on something, had been banging off curbs in the ice storm last night, took a wrong turn in my cul-de-sac, and the broken car couldn't make it back up the icy hill. Somoene called in on the suspicious activity, lots of cops came (again, not much crime at 6am on a Thursday in Burke, Va), they were arrested and the car hauled away
However, while the police supervisor (a LT) was there, I asked her to come in my garage and validate my VIN plate and sign off on trailer legality.
So, the trailer is now officially "legal" - or at least now I can get a title/registration for it. Ok, so that's not that exciting but it gave me a chance to tell the story.
--
Separately...so I decided I wanted to get a soft tonneau cover for the trailer to keep weather off our rally gear, etc. DIdn't want to spend a lot since this is a budget project, but since MIghty Maxes are pretty old and unusual these days the only ones available that I could find were pricey (like the bak-flip, etc). I just wanted a cheap Amazon one. So after some research, it turns out that old Ford Ranger and old Chevy S10 pickup beds are similar dimensions to the Max. So I got an S10 one for about a hundred bucks. It's a roll-up with rigid rails, and actually is surprisingly nice quality in terms of materials and fit.
One minor issue is that apparently the S10 bed ISN'T RECTANGULAR! It's actually 2" wider at the front end than at the rear, which is pretty strange, but I had read about that someplace. So while this thing fits the Max bed fine in terms of length, it's actually a bit wide at the front end. It still seals up fine and isn't very noticeable, so hopefully my OCD won't go crazy lol.
So here's the back, which fits perfectly.
And here's the front end, which overhangs by about 1/2" on each side
In any case, I think it will work well....I will have to do a few minor modifications since I don't have a "lip under" at the front end for the clamps it came with, but all in all seems like it should be fine. This is just test-fitted since I still have to paint the tops of the bed rails before I can install it.
Anyhow, long story short, apparently two non-local individuals, who were apparently very high on something, had been banging off curbs in the ice storm last night, took a wrong turn in my cul-de-sac, and the broken car couldn't make it back up the icy hill. Somoene called in on the suspicious activity, lots of cops came (again, not much crime at 6am on a Thursday in Burke, Va), they were arrested and the car hauled away
However, while the police supervisor (a LT) was there, I asked her to come in my garage and validate my VIN plate and sign off on trailer legality.
So, the trailer is now officially "legal" - or at least now I can get a title/registration for it. Ok, so that's not that exciting but it gave me a chance to tell the story.
--
Separately...so I decided I wanted to get a soft tonneau cover for the trailer to keep weather off our rally gear, etc. DIdn't want to spend a lot since this is a budget project, but since MIghty Maxes are pretty old and unusual these days the only ones available that I could find were pricey (like the bak-flip, etc). I just wanted a cheap Amazon one. So after some research, it turns out that old Ford Ranger and old Chevy S10 pickup beds are similar dimensions to the Max. So I got an S10 one for about a hundred bucks. It's a roll-up with rigid rails, and actually is surprisingly nice quality in terms of materials and fit.
One minor issue is that apparently the S10 bed ISN'T RECTANGULAR! It's actually 2" wider at the front end than at the rear, which is pretty strange, but I had read about that someplace. So while this thing fits the Max bed fine in terms of length, it's actually a bit wide at the front end. It still seals up fine and isn't very noticeable, so hopefully my OCD won't go crazy lol.
So here's the back, which fits perfectly.
And here's the front end, which overhangs by about 1/2" on each side
In any case, I think it will work well....I will have to do a few minor modifications since I don't have a "lip under" at the front end for the clamps it came with, but all in all seems like it should be fine. This is just test-fitted since I still have to paint the tops of the bed rails before I can install it.
irish44j
Well-known member
Painted the upper rails today so I could install the tonneau. Because of the rail misalignment I noted earlier, I could only use the included (kinda cheap) clamps from about midway back. Toward the front I just drilled a couple holes and bolted it down. More secure than the clamps anyhow.
I don't really like the clamps anyhow, so i think I'm going to fab something up that works better.
Whatever, it's installed now and will work fine for my purposes. Not very secure, seeing as the tailgate doesn't have a lock anyhow, but it's not really for securing stuff anyhow, just hiding it from the weather.
I also installed a bunch of small tiedowns in the bed. Though it has the four factory ones at the corners, they're up high and I want low ones. When we load this up with our rally gear (including floor jacks and stuff like that) I want to be able to strap everything down VERY securely.
I don't really like the clamps anyhow, so i think I'm going to fab something up that works better.
Whatever, it's installed now and will work fine for my purposes. Not very secure, seeing as the tailgate doesn't have a lock anyhow, but it's not really for securing stuff anyhow, just hiding it from the weather.
I also installed a bunch of small tiedowns in the bed. Though it has the four factory ones at the corners, they're up high and I want low ones. When we load this up with our rally gear (including floor jacks and stuff like that) I want to be able to strap everything down VERY securely.
irish44j
Well-known member
In order to have a cover panel for the motorcycle "notch" in the front I dug out the original metal piece I cut out of there in the first place, because waste not, want not... Since I want the panel to overlap, and it doesn't need to be as tall (due to the square bars top and bottom), I just rotated it. Then cleaned up the edges, and voila, with a few self-tapping screws:
I'll get some foam weatherstripping to make sure it keeps any water out.
Speaking of which, I decided to used bedliner on the entire front of the bed, as well as part of the trailer neck, just to reduce future chipping from rocks and crap kicked up by the tow vehicle. In any case, the front end is more or less "done" other than installing some attachment points for hitch chains.
I'll get some foam weatherstripping to make sure it keeps any water out.
Speaking of which, I decided to used bedliner on the entire front of the bed, as well as part of the trailer neck, just to reduce future chipping from rocks and crap kicked up by the tow vehicle. In any case, the front end is more or less "done" other than installing some attachment points for hitch chains.
irish44j
Well-known member
It was 60 degrees today and I was off work, so time to haul the trailer outside and do some sanding and painting and stuff....
Started off by sanding down the 4-5 layers of paint and bondo on the tailgate, then wet-sanded the whole thing and primed it.
Next order of business (after wet-sanding the sides of the bed) was to paint the lower section below the crease line with some Rustoleum SAND color (same color as used on the Raider roof and rockers, though I slightly tinted that stuff so this is not quite an exact match).
I think you can see what the paint plan is here....
After that, I bolted the hitch onto the Raider to get a look at how level everything is riding and/or what hitch height I'll need to pick up. Keep in mind, this is with the 275 tires on it, and it will have 31s eventually to match the truck, so it will be going up ~1 inch.
All in all, pretty happy with how level everything is. Figure the trailer will drop down a bit once it has a load in it, as well.
Then spent some time sanding and prepping two of the wheels and gave them the same bronze paint as the ones on the Raider.
After that, I finally got around to wiring up all the trailer wiring on the Raider, which I hadn't done yet since wiring outside when it's cold SUCKS. In any case, that's done...though might want to shorten up the lead a bit.
In any case, tested all the lighting and everything works, including reverse and license place lights. So, pretty happy about that. Man, those reverse lights are yellow....will need to get some LEDs in there.
Started off by sanding down the 4-5 layers of paint and bondo on the tailgate, then wet-sanded the whole thing and primed it.
Next order of business (after wet-sanding the sides of the bed) was to paint the lower section below the crease line with some Rustoleum SAND color (same color as used on the Raider roof and rockers, though I slightly tinted that stuff so this is not quite an exact match).
I think you can see what the paint plan is here....
After that, I bolted the hitch onto the Raider to get a look at how level everything is riding and/or what hitch height I'll need to pick up. Keep in mind, this is with the 275 tires on it, and it will have 31s eventually to match the truck, so it will be going up ~1 inch.
All in all, pretty happy with how level everything is. Figure the trailer will drop down a bit once it has a load in it, as well.
Then spent some time sanding and prepping two of the wheels and gave them the same bronze paint as the ones on the Raider.
After that, I finally got around to wiring up all the trailer wiring on the Raider, which I hadn't done yet since wiring outside when it's cold SUCKS. In any case, that's done...though might want to shorten up the lead a bit.
In any case, tested all the lighting and everything works, including reverse and license place lights. So, pretty happy about that. Man, those reverse lights are yellow....will need to get some LEDs in there.
irish44j
Well-known member
Got going on the first couple coats of black on the trailer today. Just did foam roller, so right now it looks pretty meh. Plan is to wet sand it now, then do another couple coats, wet sand again, and hit it with some compound on my orbital. Just to be clear - the goal here is NOT for it to look "awesome" in terms of paint, but more to try out some things since at some point I want to repaint the Raider on the cheap as well, so I want to see if doing it roll-on will actually come out reasonably ok. And if it doesn't, who cares, it's a trailer and it will always be dirty so nobody will notice anyhow lol.
Please ignore the messed up pinstripe down at the bottom. Because I'm an idiot I did those before I masked everything and of course part of one peeled up. doh.
Also pulled the front basket off and painted it, since I have two cans of this "sand" spraypaint and what the hell else am I going to use it for? Also, that basket was sitting outside for a couple years so it was kind of rusty anyhow, figured the sand might look better than black, and it kind of aligns on the same plane as the sand colored part on the bed.
Please ignore the messed up pinstripe down at the bottom. Because I'm an idiot I did those before I masked everything and of course part of one peeled up. doh.
Also pulled the front basket off and painted it, since I have two cans of this "sand" spraypaint and what the hell else am I going to use it for? Also, that basket was sitting outside for a couple years so it was kind of rusty anyhow, figured the sand might look better than black, and it kind of aligns on the same plane as the sand colored part on the bed.
irish44j
Well-known member
I mean, it's getting close to that lol. This isn't going to have any fancy racks or tents or anything on it since it's primarily for hauling gear and rally support, not expedition stuff. There will be some other features, but most of them will be hidden in the bed.
old_CWO
Well-known member
Good grief man, all those tires in your garage and nothing to fit? That's a drag...
irish44j
Well-known member
lol, ironically, I have 6 vehicles (and 2 trailers) and ALL of them have different bolt pattern wheels other than the Raider and Sequoia (and this trailer) with 6-lug.
That said, ALL of the tires in the photos of my garage are for the e30 rally car, since we use different tire for different terrains, etc. So they're all like 195/70/15 lol. I actually only have a single set of wheels/tires for each of my other vehicles, other than a few spares back in the shed.
In addition, I wanted to get the same tires for the trailer that the Raider has - mostly so I can do a 6-way rotation to keep the Raider with the freshest tires possible for as long as possible. Also wanted to get the same size so I don't have to carry a spare for the trailer. And, admittedly, because it will look cool
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
I was more impressed by the "nut jars" hanging under the tires.
irish44j
Well-known member
Those nut jars are old school, my grandfather used to rock them in his basement workshop, a whole line of pickle jars full of bolts with their lids screwed to a shelf
Yep, my grandpa did as well, which is where I got the idea.. these are baby food jars from when my kids were little. That said, I've broken enough of them now (they do fall occasionally if you don't tighten them up enough), that I'm out of spares haha...
I also have most of the same nuts, bolts, etc. organized into some dewalt cases that I can take with me out of the garage, but when here it's convenient to have everything sorted this way.
irish44j
Well-known member
I swear that's the comment I get from 100% of people who see my garage in person or in pics, haha.