New Trailer Build Thread

[Jerkeejoe]

Akyota made me nervous so I double checked the Timbren spec sheet and confirmed that I did leave enough space. (Whew) To be extra sure before I move on and it becomes an unfixable problem, I called Timbren and was told that the suspension actually has 3" of travel. ******? I'm not sure at this point which is correct, but I think to be safe I'm going to add a 2" spacer on the fender attachment to be extra sure I have sufficient space.

Damn it!

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Being absolutely and totally confused, I called Timbren back to see if I could get to the bottom of this. Turns out, I was right (kind of). I do have plenty of clearance for my fenders. The spec sheet at the link below shows travel distance for the various suspensions. The "r" dimension is the maximum travel. The suspension I installed has 1 3/4" of travel and not the 2 1/2 I originally thought. Clearance wise, this is a good thing. It makes me a little nervous - as far as the ride goes - that it has so little travel, but I trust that Timbren knows what they're doing, particularly because I've never read a negative review.

Hopefully this helps others out who are in a similar situation.

 

[Mccool]

looks good! I have the hypertherm xp30 as well, its a nice little machine. struggles on anything over 1/4" but tears through 14 gauge.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Had a few minutes to mess with the hitch today. I think I’m going to shorten the tongue by a foot or so.

 

[Hummelator]

Why do you want to shorten the tongue?
Up until I built my trailer I had only driven 16’ deck trailers. Now trying to back my little trailer up is still hard for me. If anything I kinda wish I had made my trailer longer.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Why do you want to shorten the tongue?
Up until I built my trailer I had only driven 16’ deck trailers. Now trying to back my little trailer up is still hard for me. If anything I kinda wish I had made my trailer longer.

It just feels a little longer than I anticipated, particularly with the lock n roll hitch and the drop assembly I needed to get the trailer level. Honesty, having the drop adapter on the trailer side makes for more parts and adapters than I wanted, but I don’t think it will really matter in the end.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

It’s starting to look like a trailer! I’ll be picking up the 16ga sheet for the sides, top, and fenders tomorrow.

I broke out the new plasma cutter for the first time today and started by cutting a piece of 1/4 plate to go on top of a small rolling parts cabinet. Then made the cuts on the sheet for the trailer floor.

Learned two things today:

1) Plasma cutters are amazing. Fast clean cuts and the ability to cut small shapes and tight spaces. Game changer.

2) Even when I measure twice I can still screw things up. ? All of my notches in the floor are 1" too deep. I forgot I recessed the floor by 1" on each side, so my 2" uprights only needed 1" notches. Oops. Should be an easy fix.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Got the side and front panels cut out. Top panel only needs a trim and a couple holes for the tent rack. Fender bending tomorrow.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Both side panels tacked on and the light brackets built and tacked on. Going to my buddy’s fab shop tomorrow to weld on fenders and weld on the rest of the panels. We should also get the wiring done tomorrow. All that will leave is the doors and I’ll take it to get a title, vin, and registration.

Spoke to my local Line-X shop today and I think I’m going to Line-X the entire thing in a medium gray color.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Wiring completed and bumper attached. Fenders going on tomorrow morning. DMV this week to get a VIN and title and get it registered.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Been crazy busy at work lately, but found some time to get some more work done. Nearly completed!

Shortened the tongue a bit, finished the wiring, including the brake controler, put a coat of primer on interior and top to prevent rusting until I get it line-x coated. Tent is mounted right now but not yet tightened down. Mounted the d rings for the chain. Need to shorten the chain a bit still.

All that's left is the doors, interior trim, and exterior trim until coating. Can't wait to get out and use it.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

And with the tent installed and set up.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Line-X scheduled for Friday, so I have to get this thing wrapped up this week.

Trim today, doors tomorrow. Nothing like a little time pressure to get my ass in gear.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Just ordered solar panels and batteries. Solar controller was delivered last week. Recommendation on a pure sine wave inverter? I do not need anything large.

Did some trim work yesterday. Planning on building the rear door today, but the hinges wont arrive until tomorrow.

 

[Jerkeejoe]

Well, I blew my plan to get it to Line-X last Friday. Didn't want to rush myself.

The rest of the electrical components arrived today, so I'm ready to get the solar setup all configured. The bulk of the system will go in a Milwaukee packout rolling tool chest so that I can take the battery bank, charge controller, inverter, and solar panels off the trailer quickly and easily by disconnecting the packout from the fuse box and rolling it away to have portable power anywhere.

Door frames are build and the hinges are here, so I'll likely have the doors finished in the next day or so. After that, it's just a matter of finishing touches before coating. I'll do the rest of the weather sealing, figure out how I want the doors to latch, attach jerry can holders, and maybe install the permanent portions of the electrical system (fuse box, switch bank, and internal lights.)