my first trailer idea The Mattmosphere

[colorado matt]

off to moab tonight to get some work done on roommates house over next couple of days and check out the mystery trailer .... fingers crossed it will be towable and something I can work with .... I will update maybe from there and ask what you guys think ..... Matt

 

[colorado matt]

ok here it is ... hooked it up and took it to the tire shop .... had one flat shredded tire and the spare leaked .... shop fixed the spare leak and replaced bad tire with a used one all for 20 bucks ... had a six pin plug and I bout a four flat and managed to get tail lights and brake lights for the red eye home .... . towed great over both passes and the Subaru struggled a bit on the heavy inclines .... it has no tongue weight .... you can actually balance it level when not attached to the car with one finger ... it is big and ugly and I love it



here are some more shots .... already got the gas tank out ...









any of you ford guys I would love to know what year that is ... I would like to get a signal lens and keep original lighting .... I want to chop up the front and make more room as well as change the receiver ..... in my mind I would have a square tube that ran the length of the trailer front to back that would accept coupler in the front and bike rack or some other thing in the back ..... as it sits now the ball is at 80 inches from the axle ... I think it needs to be longer .... I would like advise on that .... also what size square tube do I use so that standard 2 inch hitch accessories will go into it ... and how thick wall would that material be ... and I always see a little square ring around the end of the receiver tube.... is that something that I weld on or will it be on there when I get the tube .. also is my plan of one long piece a good one or no??? ... I am not apposed to hearing about expandable tongue for road and then off road ... and what is for what as far as length . I friend has let me use an older Hobart that I think will do the job of whatever I ask of it ...and my plan is to "have at it" ......................................................... while visions of custom trailers still dance in my head .... and this trailer is bigger than I pictured it would be ... about 4 inches wider than the scout ... and wheel track is 2 inches wider ... I am quite happy and plan to put some effort into it ... get some practice and practical experience .... oh and it has the same bolt pattern as the scout ... yeah .. ..... gonna get some measurements and then questions of trailer axle swap will start maybe ... ... need some more research on how they would attach to my setup ......curious of the weight difference between the current setup ......Matt ................................................................................................................................... and toying with names as it appears that my trailer should have one .... TOI ... the outside inn (actually stole that one from some reading here..is that allowed?) .... or the mattmosphere .... still struggling with other acronyms

 

[1v6pony]

Hey, Matt
made it over to look at what you got. Great start, you mention the welder, since you are not familiar with how to weld, one thing to make sure is that it is capable of welding the thickness of steel, Do not skimp on this!!!!!
Got my axle at trailerpart.com, best price I found
Also you will find out that welding thinker material than sheet metal is a lot easier.

Also topper are a lot different, since you do not plan on sleeping in it, Find one that is thin sheet metal not the heavy fiberglass ones.
Mine is very light weight.

Really like the Scout, cant wait to see what you do with the trailer.

 

[colorado matt]

thanks pony ..... top will be whatever craigslist will produce ... ideally the top will get racks for RTT or I will go with your setup and have a separate ladder/lumber rack that will still work with the top ... but things will go slowly as $$$ money is an issue .... it is not that I am cheap ... just poor .... my first order of business is to get the hitch redone .... no answers to my questions about how long it should be and my plan to use a single piece of square tubing front to back ..then adding pieces to the front of the trailer for a platform ... I really need another set of eyes on the trailer to help give me a plan as I am pretty lost as how to proceed ...... I need to draw up my idea ...maybe that will generate more response from those in the know ... however paint program is about the extent of my abilities in that area ..... you can see in the pic that on the Subaru it sits almost level .... the scout ball is a good 10 to 12 inches taller than that .... you can also see in the pic that the hitch on the trailer is at the bottom of the frame .... eyeballing down the bottom of the truck from underneath it looks like attaching a tube to the cross members and running it straight out the front will gain me the needed height .... but again I just don't know ????? and then if I decide to swap in a trailer axle how will that affect the height and where do I attach the springs for the new trailer .... again I just don't know........... Matt

 

[Swegner99]

By the taillights it is 80-86, would be pretty tough to narrow down to one year. Maybe run the axle tag?

 

[colorado matt]

ok laugh away .. I can take it .... very simple but black is existing frame ... red is the tub .... grey is axle and wheels..... blue is what I want new ... .... pink circles are weld points on black frame ..... and loose the two front legs of the black triangle all together ..... opinions please ....

 

[1v6pony]

Hey Matt
That all looks fine, What I would ask it where you are welding the new addition on the front to the old one. Will the new tube fit completely flat on the old , You will only be welding on one flat plane so it needs to fit tight, i would also suggest using gussets on those areas.
i would also suggest before you actually weld these things in place that you follow up your post with photos in case their are strength concerns

 

[1v6pony]

Oh one more thing I am sure you thought of it but, the center long tube, do not cut it, cut the other tubes and weld to this one.

 

[colorado matt]

thanks again .... I think that I am going to remove the bed from the frame ...that should give me a much clearer view of how to attach everything ... had to look up gusset ..lol ... but yes I had planned for those along the center tube .... need to find my local steel company and start collecting parts and pieces .... chances are this thread will go silent for quite some time as I do that ... I will continue to lurk and soak info ..... keep an eye out ........................... and "The Mattmsophere" is now the official name ..... Matt

 

[Brain's 97 Diesel]

Truck bed is an 80-86 Ford, looks like a 6' bed, but a pair of lights from 87-91 or 92-96 F-150, 250 or 350 should also fit.
If you want to run a single tube from front to rear to use as the trailer coupler mount in front and as a hitch receiver in the rear it should have a 2" X 2" inside measurement for any accessories you want to attach to the rear. If you buy a tube you will have to add the ring and any other hitch items to the back as well as the coupler in the front.
I would attach the new front A to the insides of the truck bed frame, stitch & plug welding it in place and gusset it as well. You could also fab a rear receiver instead of having a tube running the full length, it could mount to the rear of the frame and be up high near the bed floor, you could mount it like a standard bumper or class V hitch making it the rear bumper as well.
The wiring if not cut up too bad, it should be there to run a 7 wire plug especially if the original truck had a tow package. If not get some wire and wire loom and make your own or go to a pick & pull & take a harness off another F series truck. You could wire up the reverse lights to work as well, or change the reverse bulbs (clear to orange) to turn signals so you have separate turn & brake/tail lights. you will also need to wire up electric brakes if you add them & a charging wire for your onboard battery.
Removal of the bed is a good option especially for access & so you don't have to weld upside down. If you plan on adding any water storage tanks poly gas tanks could be used, will mount where the factory tanks were, but cost $$$.
A cap is a good option & if you are going to sleep in it a utility cap is another option, or one with side windows that fully open like a hatch back.
Axel options are whatever you like or can afford. Trailer axe w/ or w/o brakes, a FWD solid rear axel, or what you already have.
Welding? Practice, practice, practice, with scrap metal that you are going to be working with, but you know that from the work you did on the Scout.
I hope some of this helps.

 

[waterboy222]

There will be a massive weight difference between the live axle and a trailer axle. When I switched mine out, I carried the new axle to the truck alone. The old axle took an engine hoist to get it out. And my fuel economy went up.


Typed one handed while lane splitting

 

[Xtreme XJ]

Matt have you checked out this thread ? There are a couple Ford beds & tons of ideas & set-ups... mine is on Pg. 2 white JEEP XJ.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/65308-show-us-your-truck-bed-trailers

I went front to rear with my draw bar... I did have to cut (& re-weld) it due to the difference in height front to rear...
As mentioned above 2" X 2" inside is what you're after... I believe there might be a difference from normal square tubing to hitch tubing (maybe not...) I wanted to be able to swap from a normal ball coupler to a articulating coupler and to adjust the length of the drawbar AND if need be should I get into something too tight I can remove the drawbar from the front & run it to the rear and have someone pull it out from behind.

Weight wise you might look into a trailer axle... sell the O.E. one & defray the new one's costs...

Lots of ideas out there... Have fun...

 

[colorado matt]

ok thanks guys .... couple of questions .... you said mount the new A on the inside of the frame rails .... any reason for that as apposed to outside ... I have lots of room between the rails and the bed on the outside is the only reason I thought that would be best .... I will look for years suggested for tail lights .... wiring is a mess ...lots of splices and connectors along a few of the lines .... looks like it had been cut in a few spots and then just put back together .... so most likely I will rewire ...... I am interested in brake control if I go that route with the axle and charging battery from the tow truck sounds cool ..as far as function for the lights I wold be happy with lights turn signals and brake lights ///. more research needed on that ...... the reason for a front to back tube was I thought it would be needed for strength ... and there is no back bumper now and really don't care if it has one or not just want the receiver in the back also for hitch gadgets ..... don't think it will be possible to just hold up the tube in place and weld it .... going to have to notch or cut something to get it the way I want it ..I want it as high off the ground as I can get it and still be able to open the tailgate..... again when the bed come off I will know more .... looks like some cutting has been done on the rear end so not sure how I would mount a bumper/receiver ...... I would love to find a utility cap .... I think that would be great being able to get into the sides but cost will make that decision for me ... now the axle ..... is it possible to use existing spring setup ... and u-bolt new axle to the springs? ..... waterboy .... I can only imagine the difference in weight .... just looking at axles online and it seems that if I have the funds it is a no brainer to swap it ...... ..extremexj thanks for the thread .... so many ideas

 

[Xtreme XJ]

I went to Redneck http://www.redneck-trailer.com/Portals/4/web_content/files/A.pdf for my axle... I believe they can do just about any lug pattern... brakes/no brakes... spring pads/no pads...
Personally I would graft the new front section on the inside... wait... is the frame a 'C' or boxed ?? My quandary might be that I wouldn't want a frame rail (from the front of the bed forward) that was as "tall" as the OE truck frame. I'd want it as high as possible & as clean as possible... if boxed I'd get an ID measurement and slide the new tubing inside the old (sleeving it) & weld it up... taper the old into the newer section plating the outside from new to old as well.

Maybe there isn't much need for a backbone from front to back as mentioned above... maybe just tie the drawbar back to the first of your black OE cross members and a good class 3 hitch out back... it should help with strength back there...

If you were to keep the OE axle & go with the backbone F. to R. keep an eye on the distance from the top of the pumpkin to the backbone... it might hit if the trailer is loaded & depending on the location of the backbone.

 

[colorado matt]

it is a c channel frame .... 7 inches tall .... I see what you mean about the backbone hitting the pumpkin .... it may hit if both sides of the axle were on the bump stops ...from the front of the bed to the first cross member is about 18 inches .... next cross member is behind the pumpkin .... moot point if I switch the axle but great thinking .... again money will decide how those upgrades proceed and when .. quote My quandary might be that I wouldn't want a frame rail (from the front of the bed forward) that was as "tall" as the OE truck frame. I'd want it as high as possible & as clean as possible.. unquote ..... as do I .... the whole reason for the new front ... besides I think it should be longer (more on that in a moment) and space for storage is that the ball sits at the bottom of that frame .... you can see it in the pics .... I want that ball up as high as I can get it ...I know I could use a drop hitch but I worry that would kill my departure angle off road .... it would have to be 10 to 12 inch drop ... now about the length of the tongue .... read somewhere and just found it today( been searching) for some idea how to figure tongue length .... several people talk about extending the tongue ... but never say how much or how they came to that decision .... found today someone said " it is not so much how long the tongue is what you want to shoot for is from the axle to the ball you want that to be the same as your wheel base " if this is correct ?? than my current 36 inch tongue can be extended almost 2 feet more and then it would match wheel base of the scout and I would be a happy camper .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

and redneck trailers has a store about half an hour away