Villageidiots Trailer Build.
- Thread starter villageidiot327
- Start date
villageidiot327
Explorer
The curves in the fenders were bump bent, yeah, buncha small bumps on the break, they won’t be smoothed out, but it’ll disappear when it gets raptor lined.
The reason for the sheetmetal inside the tubing vs on top is I wanted the sheet metal edge at the top rail underneath the lid when it goes on. In order for them to be flat it intersected the tubing where it does. I kinda dig the reveal really, and again, once it’s lined, it’ll be alright.
villageidiot327
Explorer
Just think of it as a table that things won’t slide off.
villageidiot327
Explorer
made the steps for the trailer tonight. I'm a big non-fan of diamond plate, i get it, its easy, it works......... its not for me.
dave made me the pieces that we'll use for the steps, and i got to work.
laid out a grid 1.5" squares, starting with the straight edges.
every intersection got spring punched, then center punched.
then drilled to 1/8", then 1/4" then uni-bit til they were half inch.
borrowed a dimple die from my buddy mike at the exhaust shop. (thanks mike!)
seeing how they look before i finish drilling.
pressing the dimple dies.
one down, one to go,
2 down.
100 holes,
3 drill sizes from one side, one from the other side, and then pressed each hole.
700 operations in total.
all cuz i hate diamond plate.
dave made me the pieces that we'll use for the steps, and i got to work.
laid out a grid 1.5" squares, starting with the straight edges.
every intersection got spring punched, then center punched.
then drilled to 1/8", then 1/4" then uni-bit til they were half inch.
borrowed a dimple die from my buddy mike at the exhaust shop. (thanks mike!)
seeing how they look before i finish drilling.
pressing the dimple dies.
one down, one to go,
2 down.
100 holes,
3 drill sizes from one side, one from the other side, and then pressed each hole.
700 operations in total.
all cuz i hate diamond plate.
villageidiot327
Explorer
Dave shoots me a text, steps are on, come get it.
looks pretty good to me
some stinkin rain came thru this morning for about an hour and dropped off some patina
ran to harbor freight and picked up a set of lights while i was on lunch, then went to dave's place after work and drug the trailer back to the shop
i beat on the body in a couple places to tighten it up, it'll go over to muffler mike for some under body welding tomorrow.
looks pretty good to me
some stinkin rain came thru this morning for about an hour and dropped off some patina
ran to harbor freight and picked up a set of lights while i was on lunch, then went to dave's place after work and drug the trailer back to the shop
i beat on the body in a couple places to tighten it up, it'll go over to muffler mike for some under body welding tomorrow.
villageidiot327
Explorer
thanks, stay tuned, more to come.
villageidiot327
Explorer
ok. saturday update.
went in to the shop and made plates to mount the BAL C jacks, on the rear of the trailer. got the plates welded in and the jacks mounted up, then i realized i goofed. one plate went on upside down. NABD, just a 1/4" plate with holes threaded into it. so...... the right C jack is 2" forward of the left C jack. i don't think it'll matter, and i sure as hell aint cutting all that weld off to fix it.
these are the 22" model, initially i had ordered the 25" model, but they would not fit in the space i needed to mount them, even at an angle. as it was i had to cut the corner off the end of the right jack to get it to fit in the space.
then got started on the tailgate, cut the material to fit and zapped it all together. still need to be skinned, and mounted. that will happen this week.
came home, watched supercross on the TV, and then took off for the races last night. no trailer work today, have other stuff to do. more this week.
went in to the shop and made plates to mount the BAL C jacks, on the rear of the trailer. got the plates welded in and the jacks mounted up, then i realized i goofed. one plate went on upside down. NABD, just a 1/4" plate with holes threaded into it. so...... the right C jack is 2" forward of the left C jack. i don't think it'll matter, and i sure as hell aint cutting all that weld off to fix it.
these are the 22" model, initially i had ordered the 25" model, but they would not fit in the space i needed to mount them, even at an angle. as it was i had to cut the corner off the end of the right jack to get it to fit in the space.
then got started on the tailgate, cut the material to fit and zapped it all together. still need to be skinned, and mounted. that will happen this week.
came home, watched supercross on the TV, and then took off for the races last night. no trailer work today, have other stuff to do. more this week.
villageidiot327
Explorer
more tailgate progress, the hinges and closing mechanism will be next, but i think it'll do just great.
for the tailgate and lid its getting bullet hinges
https://www.mcmaster.com/#1071a36/=1cl6t8y
and for the tailgate closure, going old school simple.
handle nuts, and a welded bolt.
https://www.mcmaster.com/#91044a031/=1cl6trh
I'm into simple and reliable, hell, i even ordered a third handle nut in case i lose one.
villageidiot327
Explorer
more progress. getting closer, and thats a good thing, this has to be done, hooked to the jeep, and en route to overland expo via moab on may 13.
tailgate hinges are done and welded on.
close up of the closure mechanism, handle nut/stud arrangement.
lid getting laid out and starting to get stitched.
hinges going on, dave getting down with the get down.
lid all buzzed together, swung up, nice big opening available.
i bought some hatch struts, but theyre way too gnarly for this, so i will go back to mcmaster and return them, and get some lighter duty ones, this lid is going to be pretty light.
tailgate hinges are done and welded on.
close up of the closure mechanism, handle nut/stud arrangement.
lid getting laid out and starting to get stitched.
hinges going on, dave getting down with the get down.
lid all buzzed together, swung up, nice big opening available.
i bought some hatch struts, but theyre way too gnarly for this, so i will go back to mcmaster and return them, and get some lighter duty ones, this lid is going to be pretty light.
villageidiot327
Explorer
busy day today, left the house at 6:30am
-to mcmaster carr by 7am, exchanged the 150lb struts for 50lb struts of the same dimensions.
-back on the freeway 30 miles toward home
-autozone, picked up some replacement tailgate cables for a ford ranger
-local industrial hardware store to get hardware for said struts and cables
-stopped at 4wheel parts to get my ARB inflator kit, not my first choice, but for $35 ill figure out what i really want later, i just need to be able to inflate and deflate in Moab.
-from 4 wheel parts to industrial metal supply for a chunk of material
-quick stop at del taco for a spicy jack quesadilla and a combo burrito
into the shop by 10:30
-cranked out 2 brackets to mount on the tailgate for the tailgate cables
-realized i had the wrong size angle iron for the lid brackets and went to home depot to pick up a chunk of angle since IMS was already closed.
-made 2 brackets for the lid to mount the lid side of the lift struts to, each one has 12 holes for adjustment of struts so i can figure out how high/what angle etc.
-made 2 mounts for the lower strut mounting point, just going to put these in a predetermined location
-installed ARB's fitting into the ARB compressor underhood of the jeep, i had previously installed automotive type air fitting under hood, but the ARB fittings are different, theyre the standard industrial ones.
Didn't take any pics of the made parts, forgot.
Dropped all the procured/made trailer parts off to Dave on the way home. bull shatted there for a little bit, hopefully he cranks out the rest of the work early next week so i can get this thing off to paint.
-to mcmaster carr by 7am, exchanged the 150lb struts for 50lb struts of the same dimensions.
-back on the freeway 30 miles toward home
-autozone, picked up some replacement tailgate cables for a ford ranger
-local industrial hardware store to get hardware for said struts and cables
-stopped at 4wheel parts to get my ARB inflator kit, not my first choice, but for $35 ill figure out what i really want later, i just need to be able to inflate and deflate in Moab.
-from 4 wheel parts to industrial metal supply for a chunk of material
-quick stop at del taco for a spicy jack quesadilla and a combo burrito
into the shop by 10:30
-cranked out 2 brackets to mount on the tailgate for the tailgate cables
-realized i had the wrong size angle iron for the lid brackets and went to home depot to pick up a chunk of angle since IMS was already closed.
-made 2 brackets for the lid to mount the lid side of the lift struts to, each one has 12 holes for adjustment of struts so i can figure out how high/what angle etc.
-made 2 mounts for the lower strut mounting point, just going to put these in a predetermined location
-installed ARB's fitting into the ARB compressor underhood of the jeep, i had previously installed automotive type air fitting under hood, but the ARB fittings are different, theyre the standard industrial ones.
Didn't take any pics of the made parts, forgot.
Dropped all the procured/made trailer parts off to Dave on the way home. bull shatted there for a little bit, hopefully he cranks out the rest of the work early next week so i can get this thing off to paint.