aggie79 wrote:Very nice work! I just now stumbled across your build but will follow it from this point forward.
What part of FtW do you live? We're in Watauga, so not too far away. The heat has been crazy this summer. Stay hydrated!
PS - I like the flag and cornhole board. Are you the Aggie in the family?
Take care,
Tom
Thanks! I'm just down the street in Keller so we're practically neighbors. Small world! And yes, I'm the Aggie. What's not pictured is the corresponding Baylor cornhole board that goes with it (one of them had to be relegated to the floor to make room for plywood so it was an easy choice). The wife went to Baylor, but I still tolerate her.
I got excited when the axle showed up and made some progress during the week. First up was drilling holes to mount it. Unfortunately, SOMEONE went ahead and permanently mounted the floor to the frame so I couldn't fit the drill on the inside of the frame to use a step bit for easy drilling, so I had to get creative and use a series of different sized bits to drill the second hole for the bolt through the first hole I drilled.
Everything was going great until... I realized that that same SOMEONE designed the frame with a cross member right where the middle bolt needed to go. So there was absolutely no way to put a nut on the inside of the frame. What I wound up doing was getting a shorter bolt and tapping the outside of the frame with threads. This probably isn't the best solution but I wasn't about to cut out a cross member at this stage. I doused it in loctite and will watch it as soon as the trailer is mobile. I also decided to go with the optional 2x2 square tube that connects the axle-less axles (thereby forming an axle??) to help keep them aligned and in place.
So everything was back on track until... I decided to stand back and admire my work. Something just didn't look right so I started measuring. It turned out that Timbren's specifications of their axle were not correct. I had measured and marked three times over before drilling any holes, but the holes were in the wrong place. The center of the axle was off 2 1/4". I probably could have dealt with 1/4 or even 1/2" off center, but 2 1/4" off wasn't going to work. So what to do? Drill more holes!!
I welded up the extra holes the next day. Let's keep this our little secret.
After that things went pretty smoothly. Timbren actually includes excellent instructions for mounting brakes or hubs. But that said, there was a request for pictures, so here they are!
It's pretty straightforward to put the brake assembly on the axle. Four holes, four studs. Just make sure it's upright (the magnet goes on the bottom, wires on the top).
Add some nuts and lock washers (which aren't included?? I noticed when I was trying to find the thread size that etrailer sells a nut/washer kit for $1.65. You'd think they could just up the price of the brakes that much and include them)
Pack the inner bearing with grease and drop it in
Gently tap in the grease seal
And push the brake drum onto the spindle. I went with 6x5.5 drums to match the 4runner so I don't have to carry a spare tire for the trailer.
After that pack the outer bearing and place it on the spindle, followed by a washer, castle nut, and cotter pin that come with the Timbren kit. At this point I did deviate from the instructions though - you need to use a grease gun to fill the hub with grease before installing the dust cap as opposed to after, because the etrailer brakes don't come with a removable plug to access the grease fitting.
And there you have it! A rolling trailer, finally. I would've taken it for a victory spin but it was raining. It has 17.5" of ground clearance at the bottom of the tongue when level. The 4runner has 13" so that should be plenty.
The tread of the tire comes out juuuuust to the edge of the fender. The wheels I ordered didn't specify what backspacing they had but I ordered them anyway and after receiving them realized they would stick out farther than I wanted. I had originally planned a 12" walkway, but had to extend to 13" after measuring where the tires would hit the fenders. I'd actually like them to be in another inch or so, but this will do.
by dirtsailor2003 » Mon Aug 08, 2016 2:18 pm 
