My little Harbor Freight trailer build

[rnArmy]

Excellent work.
I like the rear spare too. Did you use a jeep mount?

Yes I did. I had to trim the bottom off and re-drill the mounting holes so it didn't interfere with the angle iron that mounts under the box and up 2". But other than that it was a very simple install. On one of the pictures above you can see two pieces of channel mounted inside to the back panel of the trailer tub. The spare tire carrier is mounted to that channel on the outside (you can also see two bolts in the middle between the two channel pieces). It really helps to stiffen that back panel.

I have a piece of 2" receiver tube coming out the back of the trailer that the spare tire rests on to also help take some of the stress off the aluminum box. The spare's not going anywhere.

 

[91AzXJ]

I liked the trailer before, I love it now! Nice job!

 

[Dirtytires]

Very nice trailer. I like it.:wings:

 

[rnArmy]

Thanks. We're extremely pleased with how it came out. We're looking forward to take it out on an adventure (which is the whole reason for building one of these).

 

[rnArmy]

So one of the last things I needed to do for the trailer was put some brackets on the cooler tray to keep the cooler from sliding around, and adding some eyebolts for bungee cord (or ratchet strap) attachment points. I had to use some large fender-washers for the bracket bolts as the flooring under the cooler tray's padded mat is expanded metal. But it came out nicely.

I'll be taking the Jeep (and trailer) to the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival next month, so that'll be it's first major road trip since this latest rendition.

 

[Mark Harley]

Very nice!

 

[rnArmy]

Very nice!

Thanks. Today I got the bungee cords for the cooler, and then went and got it weighed. When weighed it included a heavy rubber mat on the floor of the trailer tub, the empty gas cans and cooler, and of course the angle iron used to lengthen the tongue and the 24" length of 2" receiver tube on the rear, upgraded suspension, the cooler tray itself, the spare tire carrier and spare tire (all three tires 205/75/15" on 15x5" steel rims), and the 2" receiver adapter on the trailer tongue with lunette ring in place (as you see it in the picture). And of course the aluminum tub and lid (even being aluminum it's got some weight to it - hate to see what an equivalent sized steel one would weigh).

The weight came out to 560 lbs; a little heavier than I expected.

I'm planning on taking the TJ and trailer to the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival in Butler, PA next month.

 

[Dirtytires]

That is a decent weight. :victory:

 

[matthewp]

The weight came out to 560 lbs; a little heavier than I expected.

WOW! THat's waaaaaaaay to heavy....


















...Almost 2/3 the weight of my trailer frame!:snorkel: Very nice trailer, you do great work!

 

[jays0n]

Yeah, my trailer weighs twice that and the tub is made from fiberglass!! Great job, super clean build, my fav of the small trailers I've seen hands down!

 

[irish1371]

Love the trailer. I have been looking into doing my own with a 4x6 trailer I got from gander mt. I always thought it was big enough to allow me to over pack so I might try your idea thanks

 

[rnArmy]

View attachment 226917

Thanks for the compliments! This little trailer has been an ongoing project for a number of years, and I've had fun building it. I tried to make it so others could replicate it without the need of a welder, and with easily obtainable parts. The aluminum box kinda pushed it over the limit, but I've been wanting to go this route for a number of years. Finally pulled the trigger and went for it, and so far am very pleased with the results. Kudo's to Diamond Deluxe for building a well-made tub based on the old military Jeep trailers.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/...ype-trailer-ultimate-build-up-thread-1180456/

I was trying to keep the trailer light since it gets pulled by a four-cylinder TJ that's only rated to tow 2000 lbs. When we had it loaded up for our Alaska/Canada trip in 2012 (pictures above - well before the diamond plate tub) it practically pulled like it wasn't even there - we were quite pleased. There's only so much you can put into a Jeep TJ; a trailer's a must.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f312/alaska-canada-jeep-adventure-1371427/

They're fun to build, but it's more fun to actually get some use out of it. Next trip with the trailer: The Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival in Butler PA 13 - 15 June.

http://www.bantamjeepfestival.com/

 

[rnArmy]

Been adding a few things to my little trailer. I swapped out the two Kolpin 1.5 gallon fuel cells for two 2.5 gallon jerry cans. I got a set of quick-fists and mounted a shovel on the rear and put the axe up front. And I put a Cam Can water jug on the spare tire carrier. The Cam Can sticks out a little too much for my taste. The brackets are 3" long; I've got some coupling nuts on order that are 1.75" long, so that should bring it in an inch and a quarter. If it wasn't attached to such a narrow spare tire rim it wouldn't look so bad.

Of course you really shouldn't just bolt heavy stuff to the sides of an aluminum diamond plate tub; you should put some reinforcement bracing on the backside. (bottom picture). The black triangle things are just black duct tape covering a hole previously used by the Kolpin mount (I filled the rest of the holes in with small nuts/bolts/washers). The bottom two sets of bolts are for the actual jerry can holder; the upper three are just to tie it in to the tub and provide additional strength/integrity to the tub.

 

[rnArmy]

I had some 205/75/15" tires with 5" wide rims on my little trailer. However, I wanted to increase the track width since it was getting taller. And I didn't want to have to buy a new axle.

So I bought some 15x7" Bassett racing rims (DOT approved rims) with a 3" back spacing from Summit Racing. And I added some 235/75/15" Good Year Wrangler Radials. I still have plenty of room between the tire and the frame (same amount as before actually), and it sticks out a few more inches on both sides (which was my goal). I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

 

[rnArmy]

Last year (mid-2016) we took the little trailer up to Canada. We ran the Dempster Highway and had a ball. Here are a few pictures of the trailer and scenery. It pulled beautifully, and it is amazing how much you can put in a little HF 4' trailer based adventure trailer. The only issue we had with the trailer wasn't the trailer's fault. We didn't have mudflaps on the Jeep, and 900 miles of that gravel road just put a beating on the trailer (like sandblasting it for hours on end). Also busted the trailer's yellow side marker lights from rocks being kicked-up and hitting the light.

Prior to the trip we swapped out the 51.25" wide 1800lb square-tube axle for a 52" wide 3500lb round-tube axle with electric brakes (overkill maybe, but that's not always a bad thing), and rewired the trailer for a seven-prong harness. The Jeep was also wired for a seven-prong harness, and we used a P3 electric brake controller (worked very well). We also put a 40" x 50" aluminum cargo tray on the trailer's lid.