Off Road Trailer build - Austin,TX

[mlourens]

Hi, first post as I transition from lurker to builder. I wanted to commit to at least having an axle and something to roll on before claiming a build. My primary objective is to have a rugged off road'ish trailer to carry camping cargo and 2 large SOT kayaks (14'). I like to fish the Texas gulf & bays so off road will mostly be beach and sand. Although who knows where we might go. I toyed with a teardrop but managing the kayaks would be hard, doable but getting a 90lb kayak on a high rack is hard when you only have a 11 and 10 year old to help. My tow vehicle is a Ram 1500 Rebel.

The build:

I am basing the design off a Drifta/Xventure trailer - the sketchup is mostly a Drifta clone but still working it. The Xventure bed is wider but it has wheel wells into the bed - might be above my skill level.
my trailer frame would be 7'x49"
The end to end fenders will carry propane and maybe a shower.
Frame steel = 2"x2" x 0.125 or 1/8 or 11 gauge tube - the carrier racks and side bars will be lighter
The tongue length is still TBD, maybe around 60"?
Axle is 3500lbs standard leaf spring and I will add shocks from axle to frame
10" elec brakes
17" steel rims with 32" tall / 11" wide A/T tires
With the wheels on the axle I have 53" from inside tire to inside tire. Any thoughts on frame to tire clearance?
Axle is roughly 16" from the ground
I am still calculating weight - no idea where i'd be but hopefully not crazy heavy.
I'll comment on the extra's like tongue box, water tank, battery power etc at a later stage. All ideas I'd like to work on.


I am a DIY welder at best and my overall experience of building trailers is based on what all you fine people posted in your builds. I hope to document my build to a level of detail that might help others, at least to learn from my mistakes and the advice given by more experienced builders. My timeline is dictated by a busy tech job although I'd like to be done in 4-6 months.

My tools:

Lincoln 180
Klutch Plasma 240v
Evolution cutoff
Lots of other cheap HF bits and pieces


I appreciate any help and advice anyone can offer through the build. I trolled through many build threads but if you have done something similar please share.

A quick snap of my parts thus far - in my too small garage


Sketchup ideas




Thanks
Martin

 

[Curtis in Texas]

Hey Welcome. Another Texan doing a build, yea!



I too Kayak! I'm more of a white water kayak-er, but I have used it in the saltwater in the Florida Keys, in Puget Sound and off Myrtle Beach. Annnnnnd the Gulf!

I carry my boat on top of my very lifted Rodeo.
I have a system for loading mine that may help you with your design.

I'll explain;
Since my Jocasse 2.5 seater is 17.5 inches long, it took some figuring to get it on top of the roof rack on the Truck.
(Before I remarried it was just me and the Dog.) (New Wife is a little thing too!)
Loading the boat was a chore until I figured out an easier way.

Here's how I solved the problem.
I added an extra square tube to my roof rack to assist loading by myself.
(Look at the picture and you can see the small square receiver tube just to the right of the axe head.)

The extra square tube gave me a place to insert a round padded tube in it that added a shelf arm to set the boat on.
I keep the padded arm removable to prevent hanging and bending it on tree branches.
It's only about 24 inches long with 16 inches of padding. (Motorcycle handle bar pad)

First I set the boat alongside the left side of the truck up against the tires.
I take a single motorcycle tie down and hook one end on the rack, behind the padded arm, and the other end on the stern rope.
This keeps the boat from sliding away when I pick up the bow and walk (rearward) under it in order to get the boat at an angle to set it on the loading/ padded shelf arm.

Once I set the bottom of the boat on the arm and then walk out from under the boat and head for the stern.
This has the boat at an extreme angle with the stern still on the ground.
Usually about 60% of the boat rearward of the padded arm so the boat is almost balanced.
(With a little practice and you'll get it down to near weightless to balance.)

Next I walk to the stern and grab the stern line (not the tie down) and pick it up about waist high and start pushing the boat forward as I'm walking at an angle away from the back of the truck.
This maneuver puts the bow over the front kayak saddles. I set it on them, unhook the tie down from the stern rope, and raise the stern up over my head and walk the stern toward the rear kayak saddles.

Next I adjust the boat forward or rearward in the saddles until I get it's length balanced to the length of the truck.

Then it's just a matter of opening the trucks doors, standing in the doorway while leaning in between the door at the hinge and put my tie downs over the boat and secure it down.

Done right the only heavy lift is getting the bow up to the padded arm.


Oh and I should add:
I learned the hard way that if they are forecasting rain I should set the boat on the saddles upside down to avoid it filling it with rain water.

Turning a kayak half full of water over in a rain storm is not something I want to do again.
And not to mention the added weight in the boat sure makes the lifted soft suspension on the truck rather tippy.


Oh and you'll notice I also have a pair of mountain bike racks up there too.

 

[mlourens]

Hi Curtis - thanks for sharing the advice on loading, I follow what you say and definitely sounds like a good plan. i did think about loading the kayaks on my truck with a Thule XSporter rack but my RAM has Ramboxes on the side and haven't found anything on the market that can fit. With the trailer and a low carry rack I hope to make it easy. Love kayak fishing though - not many other places that i'd rather be.

I started to take the grime off the tubing. mundane job at best


Below is my current sorry little kayak carrier, it works ... it's a HF modified trailer.


Here is the top down dimensions of the trailer thus far.

 

[mlourens]

Worked on frame a bit more. The Evolution saw's 45deg miter stop was not 100% true, leaving about a 1/16 gap on the inside miter corners. At least all the frame corners are 90 all round and the opposite corners are same distance from each others. I also tacked the tongue after a lengthy measuring process. After about 100 cuts the Evolution saw handles the 1/8 x 2" tube better than i thought - hardly any sparks and cuts quick.

Right now the axle is 6" behind frame center which I think is too much. I'll probably go for close to center, keeping the tongue box in mind.


The frame tack'd in place - still need to add the cross bars at the back ... once i know where i will place the axle



Tires are same bolt pattern as my Ram but it is an inch bigger in total height



Evolution setup - i made it flush with the welding table.

 

[Garand]

Following this thread!

I'm batting around the idea of building something very similar. I have a Hobie PA14 that I fish a lot of tournaments in, I'd like to build a trailer a lot like what you've sketched. My thoughts were to haul the PA sitting in the flatbed area and have a RTT over the top.

 

[mlourens]

Oh man I am jealous about the Pro Angler - I'd love to have one of those. So a thought about having the kayak lie flat on the bed is it would stick a bit far out the back? I considered having the kayak sit on a carrier rail just above the trailer tub and then have the possibility of a tent right above that. The tent might however stick out a bit high if it sits above the kayak, likely higher that the tow vehicle when you drive.

I made some progress the last few days although ran into some issue:

• Trailer sits about 3 inches higher than my truck hitch when level. Didn't keep this in mind ...
• I was unsure if the spring seat indeed needed to be welded to the axle - stupid thought, they have to be welded or the axle will spin.
• The bars running on the side of the frame (back to front) warped a bit where the shackles were welded. It banana'd high point in the middle. I did zigzag my welds to allow the frame to cool as I go but still got a warp. I welded 2 beads on the top and it straightened out - i was surprised.

Next I will work on the axle shocks and start with the box/fenders

Couple of pics:

Welds are improving, below is a better one although I am open for criticisms. Should it be wider?



I coated the trailer frame with rust primer

 

[Garand]

Oh man I am jealous about the Pro Angler - I'd love to have one of those. So a thought about having the kayak lie flat on the bed is it would stick a bit far out the back? I considered having the kayak sit on a carrier rail just above the trailer tub and then have the possibility of a tent right above that. The tent might however stick out a bit high if it sits above the kayak, likely higher that the tow vehicle when you drive.

There's really no way around having it stick out the back a ways.. My thoughts were that to build something around a 4x7 cargo box and have the boat protrude forward towards the tongue 3ft or so, leaving ~3ft sticking out the back.

 

[mlourens]

Made some progress over the last week or so. Trailer is upright and the axle permanently mounted. I've mainly been working on the fenders or I should say more testing different shapes - lots of tacking, cutting and changing. I am considering making a bending brake to angle the plates for the fenders. I know it will open a can of worms and spin of another project ...

Here is the trailer side:



Behind my truck - sorry the shadows make it hard to see



Any advice on mounting the shock?
Current pic is the shock at center travel.
I have universal weld on mounts that seem to go a variety of ways. Should work as long as the shock is not obstructed when traveling. I'll have to cut a piece off the top mount.

 

[mlourens]

Pics from the left fender.

 

[mlourens]

Forgot to ask. What is the general thought on suspension travel? My tire has about 4.5" travel to the top of the fender - unloaded. Is that enough?

Be a pain to lift the fender but I'd rather do it now.


Martin

"It's easy to throw tomatoes from the cheap seats"

 

[mlourens]

It's slow going ...

 

[Trailerparksuperstar]

It's slow going ...

Slow and steady wins the race.
Looks good so far, keep up the good work! I look forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[Kyle_Heer]

Looks great. Keep posting pics. It's great and inspiring for my own build (that I'm dreaming of starting) seeing your steps along the way.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[mlourens]

I was unable to get my trailer ready for coast fishing trip. I was finding that I rushed details and messing up the build. I decided to slow down and made a temp rack to fit my RAM box truck. It slides into the utility track. I was still a PITA to get everything on and getting to stuff was hard. Granted I pack too much. This trip gave me good insight into what I need and requirement to get to essential items. 2 hour drive in very loose sand would have been interesting with a trailer. Padre island national seashore drive to the bottom cut is a lot of fun - pick high tide if you want a challenge. Burned about 16 gal of fuel for the 60 miles fighting heavy loose sand. At low tide it's an easy drive.

Followed this Jeep for a bit.

 

[exportexp]

Just picked up the metal for the frame of my trailer today.
I had the same basic design that you are building.
Looks good.