My Camping Trailer Project

[Dirtco]

Once I got the spindles welded up I got to work on the spring perches. I cut some square tubing in half, then notched it for the axle tube and welded it together.

Then I greased the bearings, installed the hubs and painted the axle.

 

[Tom Foolery]

Nice work, and very clean welds.

 

[Dirtco]

Nice work, and very clean welds.

Thanks!

 

[K2ZJ]

... I decided to save some money and build my own.

After a LOT of research I found some 1 1/2" square spindles that would fit some 6x5.5 hubs.

What did it run, and where did you find them?

 

[Dirtco]

What did it run, and where did you find them?

Trailerpart.com. The spindles were about $25.00 each and the hubs were about the same price. I can try to find the part numbers if you need them.

 

[Dirtco]

The stock tires in the first pictures were so dry rotted they would not hold any air. So I searched through our junk tire pile and found some wore out 15" tires that would hold air, some big old 205's . These will be used to roll the trailer around until i get the real tires and wheels later down the road.

I also got the gas tank skid plate sanded and painted.

I picked up the springs too, they are the 4" Superlift springs that used to be on the truck. I gave them to a friend years ago and he never used them.

First I had to get it in the shop, I think I should leave it like this!

 

[Dirtco]

First I picked up the springs that used to be on the truck. I gave them to a friend years ago and he never used them. They are 4" Superlift springs, and were stiff as hell back in the day, so I needed to pull a leaf or two to soften them up for the light trailer. The springs only have three leaves, plus the overload. I removed the overload and the middle spring from the pack.

 

[Dirtco]

Before I installed the leaf springs I added a little bracing to the stock spring hangers.

I got some 5" TG Shackles and installed the leaf springs.

The U-bolt plates that came with the U-bolts were too narrow for the larger truck leaf springs, so I had to make some new ones (I'm waiting to trim the U-bolts until I know the spring pack will work right).

 

[Dirtco]

I officially have a trailer, it rolls and can be towed!

With the suspension figured out (for the most part, I still need to mount the shocks), I started planning out the tongue length and configuration.

 

[Dirtco]

I knew the tongue needed to be cut down, so I wheeled the trailer outside and started taking some measurements. I had to be able to jackknife the trailer without it damaging the truck or itself, but I also didn't want it too long.

I wanted to be able to switch between a normal coupler and an off-road coupler, (I also wanted some extra theft protection) so I added a reciever to the tongue.

 

[Dirtco]

I also added the final bracing to the tongue. There will be more bracing behind the tongue when I build the storage box.

 

[Dirtco]

The street coupler is ready.

 

[Dirtco]

And here it is, after I towed it around the block!

 

[Piet]

Why have the box so high?

 

[1x1_Speed_Craig]

Great work.
But i think that the tongue(the way it is connected to the frame) is weak comparing to the HD frame...Just my 0.2$

Sleeved, lap welded & plug welded? It looks like a solid set-up to me, but it's just my opinion.

Nice work, dirtco.

Craig