TheGillz Explo Off-Road Trailer via Geotracker90 Build!

[GeoTracker90]

Update 6-16-08

Another night and another update.

I started the night by pulling the driver side spring and beefing it up a little bit. I disassembled a front and a rear Sami spring pack and combined the two so that the spring rate will be higher. With the single spring pack the trailer would shift wildly as I moved from side to side on the tongue. With the new combined spring pack the spring rate was quite a bit better but still pretty flexable. I need to get the other side done and see how it feels. This trailer will definetly be getting some shocks to control these springs.

It's time to start thinking about the electrical and lighting as this all comes together. We better have some tail lights and what better way to mark them than to clamp a bracket to the tube and trace it out. A 2-1/2" hole saw matches the two radiused ends of the opening, but how do you make sure that they are located in the correct position? I didn't have a transfer punch the same size as the center opening in the hole saw, but I do have a lathe. I turned out the transfer punch in about 5 minutes. Granted, this is pretty soft steel and won't dimple the steel bumper like a center punch. I did mark the spot so that I could hit it with a center punch.

Two holes per tail light and some quick work with the cut off wheel and we're in business. Ready for the tail light and grommet.

One tail light, now two. Can't wait to see these babies light up. They are LED lights so they should be fairly trouble free for a long, long time.

I also made a stop at the local Jeep dealer today and picked up a copy of the Jeep Wrangler sales brochure. Now which color should we try and match with the powder coating. I'm thinking we had better shoot for the Jeep Green in the lower left corner.

That's all for now. Till next time....

Mike

 

[TheGillz]

I wonder what kind of extra it would be to match the Jeep Green Metallic. I bet alot because of the metallic aspect. One of my local shops said its at least $200 extra to match a code rather than go w/ one of their standard colors. Maybe they can do the code on just the base green for not too much.

Do you have a local shop in mind? I was also wondering if having it done here might be wise/less expensive, competition and all?

Also the more I think about it, the more I would like the front to be Rhino lined or similar. Maybe even the whole bottom. Can they put that stuff on fresh powder coat? or does it have to go on bare metal?

 

[GeoTracker90]

Update 6-21-08

Well I got a lot accomplished this weekend, but not as many pictures as I wanted. I started by bending the sheetmetal for the driver's side of the main storage box and rough mounting it into place. I then moved on to the floor and got the sheet notched out to fit around the vertical support bars of the sidewall. Before I started on the floor I began thinking about the tailgate opening and came up with a plan. Part of the plan is to wrap the roof sheet and the side sheets around the 1-1/2" square tubes that they attach to. So, I also made a 1-1/2" wrap for the floor panel as well.

I took it all apart and pulled the axle off of the frame so I could go back and finish weld the joints on the bottom of the trailer frame. With the help of my wife we flipped and flopped the frame untill the bottom was exposed. Murphy strikes again. The welds were going down nice and smooth when all of a sudden the weld puddle began to bubble and have a bunch of voids in it. Darn, my bottle of shielding gas ran out.

I had planed on getting the welding done and re-assembling things and then snapping some pictures to share with at least one of the side box shells in place, but that little gas shortage put an end to those plans. Heck, I had less than 10" of welding left to get done. Oh well, I turned my attention to the other spring pack and assembled it as I detailed in one of my earlier updates. I also pulled one of the trailer hub/drum combinations so that I could verify the brake orientation and make sure that the Left brake assembly goes on the left side of the trailer. I had the axle under the trailer backwards so I marked the right side with a spot of red paint on top of the axle beam. Red for right. Should be easy enough to remember, right?

I didn't make much grinding dust this past weekend, but I did make plenty of these...

Better pictures next time.

Mike

 

[TheGillz]

Well now that's just a tease!!:violent-smiley-031:

But I do like seeing a floor on there! Looking good as usual!:clapsmile

 

[The BN Guy]

Good looking project!

 

[GeoTracker90]

Update 6-26-08

Well it seems like I'm in the part of the build where you have 80% of it complete and the last 20% seems like it will take 80% of the total build time. It's all in the details.

I bent up some 16 gauge to cap the rear bumper where the taper was cut. I then went back and ground things smooth for a nice clean finish.

The front spring hangers needed some attention. The drop pieces from the rear bumper wouldn't work once I had widened the front spring hanger so I welded in some flat iron and capped that. With the spring hangers addressed I was able to get the trailer dressed again.

The trailer is realy starting to come together now. I like the looks of it and can't wait to get the spare tire mount built and a tire hanging off of the side.

And here is a close-up of the spring hanger doing what it does best.

I started building the fuel can holders. On the first one I forgot to bend the lip into the bottom before bending the sides. I guess I liked the mistake so much that I duplicated it when I bent up the second one. I'll have to incorporate the bottom of the holders into the front panel when I get to that point. The sides of the holders will get trimmed up some as well.

Now, when does the weekend start?

Mike

 

[TheGillz]

Dang, looks like you got alot of work done last night. As always, it is looking better and better. I was wondering why the drivers side didn't get the bar going back from the triangle part to the rear wheel. Now I remember the tire carrier will be there and it may get in the way....

Looking awesome!

 

[GeoTracker90]

Update - 6-28-08 part 1

Clark,

I'm sorry but I'll be forced to return all monies spent on your trailer. This is turning out to be too nice to let go!

Just kidding, but I realy do like how this is turning out.

The fuel can holders were trimmed and a solid floor was welded into place. I switched to a smaller 0.023" wire for the MIG welder and it works a lot better for the sheet metal than the 0.030" wire did.

With the fuel can holders trimmed I need a way to support them along the front of the trailer. 1" square tube to the rescue again.

A working man needs some nourishment and I was lucky enough to have some delivered to me with out even asking. My wife is too nice to me some times.

With the tube in place the fuel cans are positioned and it looks like we have room for one more inbetween the two. I'll have to get another one made up from some of the other sheet metal drops.

This is a shot looking forward to the fuel can in front of the passenger side tire. This can will be protected from road debris being kicked up by a fender segment that will run from the storage box down to the 1-1/2" square tube under the fuel can.

Part 2 coming up...

 

[GeoTracker90]

Update 6-28-08 Part 2

With the fuel cans sorted out it's time to move onto the spare tire carrier.

I welded in a 1" square tube in to offer some protection to the tire in case Clark cuts a corner too close and clips a tree. The 2x4's are under the tire just to help position it and keep it up off of the steel tubes.

The spare tire carrier needs to have a center section to bolt the wheel to, but all I had was a piece of flat steel. Time to make a square into a circle. I mounted it in the lathe and turned almost all of the way through the steel plate and then tapped the remaining center section out.

The resulting center piece was then taken back to the lathe and the edge was cleaned up. While it was mounted in the lathe a 5" diameter guide mark was scribed that matches the bolt circle of the Jeep pattern wheels.

The first hole for the wheel stud was drilled and the center section was place on the back side of the wheel to check the fit. PERFECT! It is a little hard to see in the picture, but the spare tire plate is almost exactly the same diameter as the wheel mounting surface. The one lug was tightened down and I used a transfer punch to locate the center point of the other two holes to be drilled.

I'm skipping ahead a little bit. This shows the back side of the spare tire assembly. The tire fits up tight to the vertical post when mounted. This should keep it from exerting any extra leverage against it. The tube between the vertical support and the spare tire plate worked out to be 7" long and was braced by another tube that angles back to the vertical support. The two other braces help to keep the vertical tube, well vertical. They also distrubute the load over a larger area of the trailer frame.

I ran out of daylight and steam for another weekend but managed to swap the passenger side tire over to the spare position in order to get theses pictures of what it is going to look like from the side. Not to bad right now. Once it gets powder coated and a lid on the side box it will look killer. Also the fender segment that will run down from the storage box to back of the spare tire will add a lot to it as well.

Things to finish up on the trailer include:

Tailgate
Side box for passenger side and lids for both boxes
Front fender segments
Rear fender segments
Propane tank mount
Shock mounts & shocks
Expanded metal for front deck area (Unless Clark wants to spring for dimple dies and more sheet metal. 1" dimple dies are $41.00 and 1-1/2" dimple dies run $73.00. That would look so cool.)
Powder coating
Trailer light wiring

I'm sure that there are a couple more things that I am missing but I'll update the list as I remember.

Mike

 

[jerdog53]

This is getting more and more interesting as the posts go on.

 

[TheGillz]

Again....I am astonished at the awesomeness!! Really. Speechless. Almost!

ps. don't forget the roof rack on your list....


Well done again. I feel like a cheerleader, wish I was over there helping you out every weekend, it really looks like a blast!

 

[1speed]

Love that side mount spare, stellar job!

 

[The BN Guy]

Looking good!

 

[TheGillz]

Hey mike, I'm wondering if you can make something like this with any leftover piano hinge you may have, considering the price of gas and all?

So I don't have to stand around and :gunt: or :ar15: or :sport_box

LOL

 

[Rezarf <><]

I'm loving what I am seeing bud, keep up the good work!:wings: