Restomod to Rock Crawler with Timbren Axles

[Shapeshifter]

That's to bad about the axle. The trailer looks great though! Really nicely done and good looking welds too.

Thank you sir! I have been following your trailer build and found lots of inspiration there!

I saw your first outing pics!:clapping: One thing you may know or have recently discovered, when the trailer gets to it's adventure destination, the first thing to grab is a whisk broom to knock off some of the trail dust before you start opening and unpacking the trailer. I keep a small brush/broom where I stow the wheel chocks so I can get to it first thing.

 

[Burley]

That's a good idea. I'll keep that in mind. I'm happy I was able to inspire!

 

[Shapeshifter]

I am hoping to get the suspension done today but for now, here are some pics of some gear. Matching ActionPackers and the recovery schackle.

 

[Shapeshifter]

Okay, my tires will not rub now. I am really tired of working on this trailer but it is finally finished......until I install the roof tent.



Tire rub mark from before the new lift.

Cutting off axles.

Welding on new 2" lift blocks.






The "stack-o-blocks" that the axles sit on seems precarious and is now tall enough to worry about side loads. The whole intent of getting the Timbren "Axle-less" suspension for this trailer was to have maximum ground clearance, however in the axle instruction manual Timbren quietly recommends putting a 2" square cross member between the axles - effectively making their claims of "Axles-less" suspension complete hosre$hit. You can see the square pocket for the 2" cross member just in front of the trailing arm pivot bolt. So, as awesome as I want the Timbren axles to be, just consider their false advertising before you buy any for your own project.

With the first configuration I was not concerned about side loads so I did not make their disingenuously recommended cross member on the first configuration.

Now that these axles are up on 2" blocks, lateral loads are a concern. In order to still have the ground clearance that wanted from these axles in the first place yet still have lateral load support, we decided make some diagonal braces out of 1.75" chromoly tube. This is basically roll cage tube.

The whole thing looks kinda "ghetto" but I am confident in our design.

While I'm complaining about Timbren, I will also point out that this diagram below is from the marketing for this particular 1200lb axle. Note that it says 2-1/8" deflection. My first configuration allowed for 2-1/2" deflection yet the tires rubbed badly even on an unloaded trailer. So that kinda pisses me off too. I would have made taller blocks or possible not used their axlesin the first place if they had listed the ACTUAL deflection which is well over 3" on these 1200lb. axles.





So anyway......

Coincidentally, I put some new rear coil springs on the Jeep which raised it considerably over the old worn out coils. The 2" lift on the trailer makes it, once again, the perfect height for the Jeep.

 

[Shapeshifter]

Im done. Except for this... I will need support legs for when the tent is installed. Nothing off-the-shelf will do so I designed a clean, light and effective system.


I forgot to mention that yesterday, while doing ll the suspension work, I also added two 1.5" square "receiver" boxes on either side of the frame.






This will accept the 1" square outriggers that will hold my support jacks. More on this to follow......

 

[Shapeshifter]

I also added double-sided footman loops to hold straps on the outside of the trailer box and cargo lashing on the inside of the box. The loops are through bolted to each other back-to-back.




This is why I deliberately put the side decals as low as they are....

 

[Shapeshifter]

While I was drilling bunch of holes in the side of my tub, I got the table brackets installed, one on each side.

The aluminum bracket rails are held on the tub with rivets so no bolt heads were exposed to cargo inside the tub.

The 5/8" wood plank has the "male" bracket. I need to seal and do some other work on the table before it's complete.

 

[Shapeshifter]

Here is a comparison between the the first setup and the new 2" lift. Note that the trailer is fully loaded in the 2" lift pic but empty in the orig.

First setup empty trailer





2" lift setup trailer fully loaded

 

[Shapeshifter]

Mall crawlin'

 

[Jason911]

Question if I may - and you may not be able to answer this as you reside in Cali, but what effect does cold have on those Timbren axles? Seeing as they are essentially giant pieces of rubber, do they become stiff when the temperatures drop?

 

[Shapeshifter]

Question if I may - and you may not be able to answer this as you reside in Cali, but what effect does cold have on those Timbren axles? Seeing as they are essentially giant pieces of rubber, do they become stiff when the temperatures drop?

I can't accurately answer that one. I assume they stiffen up. You could contact Timbren...

 

[Shapeshifter]

I took the trailer to a local OHV park that has an obstacle course to test it out. I mainly wanted to see if the hitch was going to be noisy and to see if/how it would effect the Jeep towing something over rough terrain.

The trailer was fully loaded as though headed on an expedition. The ice chest and fuel can on the tongue were full, the tub was full of all my camp gear and included a 5 galon jug of water. I estimate the trailer to be roughly 800 to 1000lbs.

I drove over lots of obstacles but in the video below, I am going up the track on the left in this pic:







https://youtu.be/MSjq8m2ZNN4

 

[superbuickguy]

has your opinion about the Timbren axles moved at all after your day at the park?

5 gallons of water doesn't seem like enough (my other thought)

 

[Shapeshifter]

has your opinion about the Timbren axles moved at all after your day at the park?

The jury is still out on the Timbren axles. After I got home, I noticed that one wheel had come out of alignment and was "toe out". There are four bolts that hold the spindle plate, which Timbren calls the Outboard Arm, that I thought I had torqued properly (instructions say 70-75ft/lbs). The holes in the trailing arm are intentionally a little oversized (a.k.a. slop) to allow toe in or out to be adjusted by simply moving the outboard arm then tightening these bolts. The right arm slipped in the sloppy holes. (Front of trailer is to the right in my pic below).



If these axles are truly intended for off road use, Timbren needs a better design because even when properly torqued, there is no way to lock the two plates from rotating during a jolt. In fact, it could have been caused by pot holes on the freeway trip to the park (California has terrible roads because, instead of fixing the roads as promised to the voters, the criminals in the legislature take the highway tax money and give it to their cronies and illegal aliens .....but I digress). I have re-set the "toe in" and re-torqued both sides to 80lbs but will have to tack weld the plates together. My final opinion of the axles is not yet formed.

5 gallons of water doesn't seem like enough (my other thought)

A full 5 gal jug is 42 lbs and is what fits in the tub with all my other gear. I also have this that I carry on the jeep: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/146913-Hot-and-Cold-Running-Water-(except-for-hot)

 

[Shapeshifter]

I dug out a little stainless steel Force 10 BBQ that I used to have on the boat. This thing has grilled lots of dead animals and plant life while hanging over the gunnels of the cruiser. Its been stored for a while but it fits in the tub of the trailer perfectly so I added it to the load out. Its made to just mount in a typical fishing rod holder so I mounted a plastic rod holder on either side. Now I can have the table and/or BBQ on either side of the trailer as needed.

It's not exactly a fancy slide-out kitchen, but it will be prefect in the high Sierras. Like the trailer, the Force 10 BBQ is rare and not made anymore....