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Custom Trailer - How should i build one?

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Mat L View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mat L Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Custom Trailer - How should i build one?
    Posted: 25 Jan. 2011 at 11:14pm
So this started out as a hijack of dennisanvel's post about wheel chalks, then i noticed his statement about a 12 foot trailer...so then i posted:
 
Dennis,

I'm building a trailer for my MB. It is going to be 12' - sorry to hijack your thread - but can you send me a pic of your trailer. How does it work for you? i'm doing tandom axles, with simple ramps, no soilid deck- keeping it light [dedicated to the MB only].

Thanks!

Then ralf responded:
 
Matt, do you already have your axles?  If not, consider torsion axles.  They  are worth a little extra.  You can clock the torsion arm and custom tune your ride height.  I built a single axle trailer with a torsion axle as a car show camper.  At 80 MPH you wouldn't know it is back there.  I have another single axle utility trailer conventionally sprung and it bounces all over the place.  My two axle trailer is the same way, bouncy.  My Buddy just took the torsion axles off an old tandem horse trailer and put them on his dual axle bumper pull trailer.  It is a smooth low ride.  With a couple crib blocks you can drive a jeep right up on it without ramps.

Advice, have your axles before you start your build.  Also, with torsion axles the axle serves as a cross-member.  So, for a 12' trailer you would only have to weld up a rectangular frame and let the axles serve as your cross-members.  I used square tube and mitered the corners.

Perhaps this should be a new thread, sorry.

So here i am, building a new thread.


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Mat L View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mat L Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan. 2011 at 11:19pm

I have old strait axles, but they have been axed from the project!

I am looking for two good torsion axles [reccomended brand?] i have some wide I-beam from the tounge of a mobil home that i will use as rails, the rest of the steel will go on the shopping list.

Basically i am looking to build a dedicated MB trailer, that is light and tows well. Low enough that i can just use a block or so to let her crawl up on the trailer; so no ramps. No need for a flat deck. If anyone has ideas and/or examples please send them, in words or pictures, my way.
 
This little trailer has a deadline - i am bringing the MB to colorado for fall colors tour in september.
 
Thanks again!
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ralf View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ralf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan. 2011 at 11:58pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sireland67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 4:14am

Use the torsion bar axles for sure, I have them on my enclosed trailer, no bounce and it handles real nice.  Trailer pulls so nice that a lady I work with borrowed it, hooked it behind her KIA suv and took it from WV to Kansas to pick up a Harley.  She said after a while she had to keep looking in her rear view mirror to see if the trailer was still there.

My open trailer which is 12' has a standard style axle, and with out a load on it, it will bounce all over the place.  It pulls real good with a 2A on there but it is not near as nice as my enclosed one.
 
With as many commercial builders for trailers, I would just buy a new one or a good used one.
Price wise I think it would be about even on cost if you built it or bought it new.
There were so many different options to choose from when I bought my open trailer.
Plus you dont have the DMV headache when it comes time to register.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ralf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 4:24am
Shawn has a point about ease of licensing a commercially purchased trailer.  But, it was a simple build and it was fun.  I am sure I overbuilt mine and I was building a camper not just a flat tow trailer.  Licensing was no problem, I just bolt on the plate from my single axle flat trailer.  Hey, I can only pull one at a time.  This is legal in all 50 states.Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sireland67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 4:41am
Don't get much cheaper than a screwdriver transfer.
 
My problem is when I go camping a buddy will pull my flat trailer with the 4-wheelers, and I will pull my camper so you can use more than one at a time.LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sibaropsis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 5:03am
Back when I was rehabing a 1968 Airstream trailer, I replaced the old single axle (torsion type) with a new Dura-torque axle.  Great ride and a couple inches of extra clearance.  A bit pricey though.
Steve
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote willys54wagon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 3:30pm
I have thought about this and if I was going to do this I would get the torsion axle hubs that use the same rim as a willys.    Could use some cheap ford rims and if you had a flat on the trailer, your jeep wheel would work.   I think this was an option on some of the axles.
Two jeeps on the road, one is close and the rest are dreams.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dennisanvil Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 3:39pm
i brought a p.j. trailer bulit  in tx. it  has spring on the axles. i find the trailer pull  nice. i pulled it empty and it follow great. i could have bulit myself but i got a better trailer with less trouble. it is 6/5 by 12 ft.Big smileBig smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MFeiden Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 9:43pm
A short, custom or modified trailer for my 2a is one of my regular sleep builds (trying to get to sleep). I have been envisioning c-channel tracks just a little wider than my tires terminating at just the right place for balance and then some way to simply pin the Jeep in place --no messing with chains or straps... doable? And then I read about the guy who drives his right up into the back of a long bed  F250 and everything went to hell... :-)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Longhunter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 10:40pm
I saw this one for sale a few years ago and thought it was cool. At the time I guess I figured I would build me one sort of like it.
 
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dennisanvil Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 10:47pm
it need aother axle for my use. other wise nice design  it would hual much rock .LOLLOL also it need a winch.
dennis


Edited by dennisanvil - 26 Jan. 2011 at 10:50pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Harveynailbanger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan. 2011 at 11:07pm
funny this topic cameup, i saw this going up th road the other day, blackberry camera so pardon the quality.
 
 
Rick
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MFeiden Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan. 2011 at 12:04am
OK... for a moment I thought the SUV was rolling down the road without benefit of the RV! I thought, "Well now, there's an idea..."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ralf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan. 2011 at 12:49am
Mark, I used to "sleep build" wooden boats.  A agree with Dennis on dual axles, not because of the weight but for the redundancy.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ralf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan. 2011 at 3:07am
Why use a trailer?  This was taken by a friend on her iphone on I 64 West between Charleston WV and Huntington WV


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MFeiden Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan. 2011 at 4:50pm
Yeah, the trailer is fairly new. I have a cabin that I could put together with my eyes closed at this point. Now I chase marbles around the interior walls of places I know. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Joe Friday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan. 2011 at 5:27pm
I've got one trailer with torsilastic axles and one with leaf spring.
 
If I were to build a dedicated 'open' Jeep hauler to be used on smooth highways, I would likely use a pair of torsion axles due to their light weight, simplicity, and use as a structural member.
 
If wanted an enclosed trailer capable of handling bumps and uneven surfaces, I would use leaf springs.
 
My enclosed trailer with torsion axles will violently buck up and down on rough roads and beat the crap out of the contents.
 
The enclosed leaf spring trailer can absorb more bumps due to the lower spring rate and tows smooth as glass even over rough roads.
 
Watch enclosed trailers on the highway. The torsion trailers bounce up and down, the leaf spring trailers pitch front to back (which you can control with a load leveller hitch).
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