The trailer thread

[Hypoid]

I have not found any trailer specific threads, so I started one. I know Sean has a trailer he wants to outfit for camping. Maybe others can post up their own ideas for me to copy as well. :)

My current hauler was in need of a VIN, which the State gladly provided in exchange for $50 and a completed DR 2049 "Statement of Assembly of Homemade Trailer."

Although mine has been off road to salvage recyclables, it's intended purpose is hauling. It started life as an F-250, so the hard work was done long before I got my hands on it. My initial build was quick and dirty. It's maiden voyage was to my dad's house to use his welder. You'd be amazed what can be done with a few bolts and a C-clamp. :eek:

Although it has worked hard without fail, I've wanted to finish tying to frame rails to the tongue. Before today, the only attachment points were the carrier bearing bracket, and the bottom lip of the frame rails. It is now unitized with the front, top, and bottom.

Carrier bearing mounting point and old tie-in. Looking at the back of the end plate, you can see some of the gaps that needed filling. :redface:

[Hypoid]

The top plate tacked in place, and finally, the VIN attached.

[Hypoid]

Just for fun, urban sliders! I'm off to buy a trailer jack. :)

[Mporter]

Or the poor mans drag wheelie bar.

[Aaron]

Funny you should post this today. I just bought this M416 today. Very excited about the possibilities. I'm going to have Brody work me a lid very soon. But this is going to be a HUGE help with getting camping supplies to Moab.

[Chris]

Cool Aaron, here a nice informational thread on a nice trailer build by a local guy: http://forum.ih8mud.com/trailer-tech/158552-my-scratch-built-expedition-style-trailer-build-up-thread.html

Not an M416 but lots of thought went into Drew's build. He's a great guy if you ever want to see his, I'll be seeing him this week.

[Aaron]

Cool Aaron, here a nice informational thread on a nice trailer build by a local guy: http://forum.ih8mud.com/trailer-tech/158552-my-scratch-built-expedition-style-trailer-build-up-thread.html

Not an M416 but lots of thought went into Drew's build. He's a great guy if you ever want to see his, I'll be seeing him this week.

I'll take a gander at it. 1st step, sandblasting. I need to do some research and see if that is a job for me or a job for paying someone...

Did I mention the Jeep and the trailer fit in the garage. Very cool!

[Chris]

And Anna's car too? :rolleyes:

[Aaron]

Yeap. All three. I have a tandem 3 car but the tandem part is all workshop type area and storage. The pics show the jeep and trailer. In the well lit pic, you can see the tongue of the trailer behind the jeep...

[Funrover]

There is ALOT to do with those M416 trailers.. I will start finding my old links again

[1freaky1]

Hey Mike, how did you figure out the weight for the form DR 2409 just guess at it?

[Hypoid]

Hey Mike, how did you figure out the weight for the form DR 2409 just guess at it?
I was told to guess, so I did. One caveat was that 2000 lbs. and up put the trailer in a different category.

Since you didn't have to purchase any major components, or buy a manufactured unit, just write "materials on hand." in the big box.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1031695

I was asked the amount I'd sell it for, that's what the clerk used for the taxable value. ;)

[Hypoid]

I'm off to buy a trailer jack. I wanted to wrap this up last night. On Saturday I went to the Chineese toolbox and bought a jack rated for two tons. This is what you get for $25, some assembly required.
11879

I chose to keep the task simple: Do the hard part on the bench. It was thoughtful of them to galvanize a weld-on part.
11880

A quick mock-up with tack welds before making it permanent. I think I'll be able to use this thing without banging my hands on stuff. :)
11881

11878

Time to put this thing to work! If I do anything else, it will be to make a better support for the toolbox mounted on the front.

[Brody]

I'll take a gander at it. 1st step, sandblasting. I need to do some research and see if that is a job for me or a job for paying someone...

Did I mention the Jeep and the trailer fit in the garage. Very cool!

Having done an awful lot of sandblasting: big trucks, little trucks, cars, trailers, building, bridges, etc, etc, this is a job that whatever you manage to rent or buy to do yourself is simply not going to be enough. Your best bet is to take it to a place that specializes in sandblasting and have them do it. Be prepared to pay top dollar if they have to take the trailer apart to do it right. You are going to be better off taking the bed loose and the fenders (and anything else that you can unbolt) , strapping everything to the base trailer and then taking it down there. Also be prepared to replace the axle bearings unless you specifically tell them to NOT blast the areas around the ends of the axles and to cover the wheel areas. Sand will get in there and wreck the bearings if you don't and the 'sandblaster' is not going to be that careful without specific instructions to the contrary.

[Aaron]

Having done an awful lot of sandblasting: big trucks, little trucks, cars, trailers, building, bridges, etc, etc, this is a job that whatever you manage to rent or buy to do yourself is simply not going to be enough. Your best bet is to take it to a place that specializes in sandblasting and have them do it. Be prepared to pay top dollar if they have to take the trailer apart to do it right. You are going to be better off taking the bed loose and the fenders (and anything else that you can unbolt) , strapping everything to the base trailer and then taking it down there. Also be prepared to replace the axle bearings unless you specifically tell them to NOT blast the areas around the ends of the axles and to cover the wheel areas. Sand will get in there and wreck the bearings if you don't and the 'sandblaster' is not going to be that careful without specific instructions to the contrary.

I've been re-thinking the sandblasting. There is not a lot of rust on the trailer so I'm thinking of using one of those drill based rust removers and remove the spot rust everywhere and immediately priming. This is what I did for the rack on the Jeep and it worked well.

When it comes time time to paint, I think I'll remove the tub from the frame so I can paint the entire tub and the entire frame separately. That may be this winter since I plan on using the trailer this summer regularly.

Question: When you run your finger over the paint, there is some residue. Obviously I can't paint over that. If I wash the tub with abrasive steel wool or something like that, should that be good enough?

Brody, the wires for the jeep should be in Thursday so I think I should be able to get there Thursday or Friday.

[Brody]

Question: When you run your finger over the paint, there is some residue. Obviously I can't paint over that. If I wash the tub with abrasive steel wool or something like that, should that be good enough?

Brody, the wires for the jeep should be in Thursday so I think I should be able to get there Thursday or Friday.

Denatured alcohol is going to be your friend here as it will remove all sorts of mystery residue without leaving any behind. If it were me, I wold take some regular engine degreaser, hose it down and run it through a carwash. Then use the denatured as a pre paint prep. If it isn't a glossy finish, you shouldn't have to use steel wool, but it sure wouldn't hurt, either. Green scrubby pads also work well and don't tend to leave as much mess behind.

Call me on either the cell or home number as far as Thursday or Friday goes, so I can plan around it.

[Andrew]

If there is not that much rust, I would just spray some POR-15 rust converter on it, then repaint everything.

[Hypoid]

It looks like Hypoid & Hypoid is rolling again, much to the despair of my little Cherokee. It turns out we were a little over our GVWR...quite a little. :eek:

[1freaky1]

Wow Mike it is sitting level with the Cherokee when you have that much weight in it! I got the tail lights done ended up buying a complete trailer tail light kit at Wally world $24.

[Hypoid]

I got the tail lights done ended up buying a complete trailer tail light kit at Wally world $24. Wow, I forgot to mention, I think I changed the sockets in the Yota housings. I had all the trailers plug in to the '74, so I made everything work the same. :)


Wow Mike it is sitting level with the Cherokee when you have that much weight in it! I thought it was a little high in the hiney when I was pulling it home. ;)

[Hypoid]

Holy revived threads, BATMAN!!!

One of my neighbors is moving to Florida, she bought this home built trailer that has been sitting in a field for several years. Soon as I saw it I cringed, and asked permission to re-do some of the welds. I don't plan on rebuilding the tongue, just work with what is there with the hope it makes the trip.

I called Sean for some input. I see some teaching opportunities embedded in this project.

On to the horror show...

[Hypoid]

Grind, grind, grind.

Measure, measure, measure.

Pattern, pattern, pattern.

Grind, grind, grind.

Layout, layout, layout.

Cut, cut, cut.

Grind, grind, grind.

Fit, fit, fit.

Grind, grind, grind.

Weld, grind, weld, grind, weld, grind.

Weld, weld, weld.

Bend, bend, bend.

Grind, grind, grind.

Weld, grind, weld, grind, weld, grind.

Weld, weld, weld.

Grind, grind, grind.

I have about 20 hours into this simple project and I still have to make a tail gate. I'll try and get some pictures up this weekend. :)

[Brad]

Those are some UGLY welds. My first welds are better than that!

[Hypoid]

Maybe I can get this posted up before I doze off again. :D

There were a few things that bothered me about the way this was made:
One, obviously, is the weld. Not only is it craptacular, it is run downhill, which is arguably not as strong as an uphill weld.
Two, is the fact that the joint (and the weld) is run straight up and down. I've always been told that weakens a car or truck frame.
Third is that the two different materials have less than an inch of overlap.

What I have been told, is that a weld across the frame section, can not handle the dynamic loading and stress that the frame is designed to withstand. With that in mind, I copied the method I see used at work. I cut doubler plates to reinforce the joints. What is specific to the pattern is that there are no sharp corners, no weld perpendicular to the grain of the structural members.

Since I have obsesive-compulsive tendencies, I cut the patches to incorporate a longitudinal grain.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER039a.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER040a.jpg

I ground and rewelded the top and bottom before grinding the side.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER041b.jpg

[Hypoid]

As expected, there were occlusions in the old weld.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER043a.jpg

One of the tricks I learned, is to use a chipping hammer and peen the weld area. The old weld will sink into the hole as you hammer away. The main reason for doing this is to round out the root area before you weld. I'm told this will allow the roiling action inside the puddle to lift any contaminants from the root of the weld. This works for mig welding too!

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER054a.jpg

The old welds have been ground off and rewelded. Time to attach the doublers.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER056a.jpg

I cut the holes in this patch without much forethought. Since the frame already had holes, I should have used them instead instead of making more holes. :redface:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER057a.jpg

Uphill!

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER072a.jpg

Without the slag. ;)

I wish I saw more uphill welding on the interweb. Any structural, vertical welding I see at work, must be uphill.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER073a.jpg

Done at this end.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER077a.jpg

Now for a tailgate.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER078a.jpg

Done!

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/TRAILER/TRAILER079a.jpg

[Brad]

Nice Mike!

[Cr33p3r]

Looks a lot better Mr. Mike! That will out last her trip.

[Java]

Wow. That was some scary stuff. Nice work, and a big thanks on behalf of everyone driving on the highway near it!! :thumb: