Jumpin in on my first build "The Danger Cart"

[Cummins01]

I made the mistake of finding this website and after a few months I'm jumping in with both feet on a 5x10 build so here we go.

[Cummins01]

I'm helping my sister build a tear, first we were going to go the HF trailer route but I was able to aquire a pretty shabby utility trailer that only cost me an 18-pack of Keystone Light.



Currently, it's 4x7 so we will have to stretch the frame 3' and then build the floor out an additional 6" on each side to gain the extra foot in width. The axle was bent so we will have to build a new one but thats a good thing because I have a pair of Chevy rallae wheels and good tires to put on it
Here's how the teardown went on the first day. The frame looks good it's 2" channel and all welded, I can't find any fractures or anything so I think we're good to go using this one.

[KCStudly]

Good start and thrifty.

Are you sure the axle was "bent" and not just crowned in the middle to add camber? Most axles have a little camber built in by being bent up slightly in the middle.

Either way, I can't argue with the Chevy Rallye wheels (they are my favorite) and from the looks of those old spoke wheels the patterns probably didn't match.

Any thoughts on your profile yet?

[RandyG]

An 18-pack for a trailer??? Is there anything beer can't do?

[Cummins01]

Good start and thrifty.

Are you sure the axle was "bent" and not just crowned in the middle to add camber? Most axles have a little camber built in by being bent up slightly in the middle.

Either way, I can't argue with the Chevy Rallye wheels (they are my favorite) and from the looks of those old spoke wheels the patterns probably didn't match.

Any thoughts on your profile yet?

Yea, the trailer had been overloaded so there was a pretty good sag in the axle, (it's turned in the photo so you cant see it) I really like the look of Tom & Linda's Silver Beatle so the profile will probably look similar.

[Cummins01]

An 18-pack for a trailer??? Is there anything beer can't do?

Ha ha, it seems to be the universal currency among us in the construction industry.

[Junkboy999]

Nice start.

I kinda like how it looked before you started. It looked like the “ Aqua Teen Hunger Force Danger cart.”
from late night Adult Swim cartoon network.

[WhitneyK]

I was able to aquire a pretty shabby utility trailer


...will have to stretch the frame...

I can relate to that.....

[Cummins01]

So here is a quick sketch of the side profile look we are going for. Some things will change I'm sure as far as the cabinet dimensions and such but you get the idea. I'm thinking that once we get the floor done and insulated etc.... I'm thinking about adding some "fairing" to the bottom of the side wall to be able to maximize interior height as well as making it look lower to the ground. I really don't want to hack up this frame a whole lot to give it the stance so we'll try the next best thing. On the tongue, there will be a storage tray that will hold the battery (if we don't build a battery box with a trap door in the floor) and a propane tank that will supply the cooktop in the galley as well as firewood/camp chairs etc....

[KCStudly]

Looks good so far.

If it were me, I would consider just a little more curve in the top of the roof. Maybe just leave the area where the roof vent will go flat and bring the front and rear curves in a little further. You will never miss the tiny bit of space this takes up. Just what my eye says... but then again, everyone has an opinion, right?

[Dean in Ct.]

Love the spoked wheels! I'll be keeping an eye on this!

[Cummins01]

Looks good so far.

If it were me, I would consider just a little more curve in the top of the roof. Maybe just leave the area where the roof vent will go flat and bring the front and rear curves in a little further. You will never miss the tiny bit of space this takes up. Just what my eye says... but then again, everyone has an opinion, right?

No worries, I welcome any opinions and/or tricks you may have as this is my first rodeo with one of these but yea I like the more "curved" look too, it was just a PITA to get it to look right on autoCAD. I tend to be more of a sketch it out on the wood in person till it looks right anyway so Im sure it will probably change a little before I actually make the first cut.

Love the spoked wheels! I'll be keeping an eye on this!

Thanks! they are kinda cool but we're ditching them for the chev ralley wheels since I have them just laying around and the tires are good.

[RandyG]

Over 7' inside length? I like that, being 6'4" I don't think I would be comfortable in a 4x8.

[Cummins01]

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since we've had a chance to get together and work on the tear (haven't come up with a name yet). This weekend I went to the steel yard and got the 2" channel to extend the frame the 3' up front and build a new "A" frame for the coupler. We cut the original "A" frame apart, and straightened the two sides since they were exactly 3'. So in my mind (I'm not an iron worker and I don't play one on TV) I thought that since the originals were 1 long piece of steel that they bent when they built the trailer originally that it would be stronger to straighten them and reinforce where it had been bent rather than try to butt weld a new piece on. So once they were straight, we welded a piece of 1/8" angle to help carry the weight where the metal might be weaker.

In this picture you can see a slight sag on the far side. The piece we straightened out had a pretty good bend in it as well that put the front measurement out almost an inch so we had to cut part off and put some new metal on. We found there is about 1/8" low spot in it but I don't think we're going to worry about it. We'll just make sure we get the floor level when we get to that point.



I got 2" square tubing with 1/4" walls for the axle tube. We ordered an axle kit that had the hubs with the correct bolt pattern for the ralley wheels, bearings, seals and spindles for right around $140 (with shipping) which was cheaper than I could find locally piecing the parts together. The spindles are 1-1/2" square so we are going to cut the 2" tube to length and insert the spindles into the tube and weld the ends for the axle. My dad also had a couple of smooth center caps for the ralley wheels that he said my sister can have so I think we're going to use them, it looks a litle cleaner plus they don't say "Chevrolet Motor Division" on them.

[WhitneyK]

In this picture you can see a slight sag on the far side.

No, I don't really notice that. Heavens sake, if that's all the farther off it is, count it good.

My "salvaged" frame had a little more to overcome. As long as you get it half way flat when you start with the wood part, it will help. I accomplished my "leveling" process using wood cut to the "contour" of the frame. (just a slight sag )



Needless to say, we overloaded this trailer a bit in it's previous life, but hey, it had over 10 years to rest in the woods before it's new adventure began.
Is that an El Camino in the back ground?
Keep up the good work!