BeST One - An offroad teardrop build

[CMC]

Curtis,
I'm actually on the north side in Round Rock. I've seen your build thread - that certainly is a big beast, and looks good too! That thing looks like the ultimate bug out trailer.

Well thank you for the complements. I do appreciate it. I just like to dry camp for a week or two at a time and needed room for everyone including my service dog. My parents live around Leander which is not far from you. Also another builder lives in round rock. I can't remember his name off the top of my head. Anyways, do you have any more sketchup pictures of what the final product might look like?

Curtis

[javajaws]

I do, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I'm gonna make you'll wait a bit!

But in short...the lines will look pretty much like a Moby1.

[javajaws]

Not much to update on...been hibernating out of the cold and rain mostly.

But here's a few shots of the fender framing. These will be bolt on and mostly removed during the building of the cabin to stay out of the way. Still haven't decided if I'll weld on steel treadplate or bolt on aluminum treadplate. Probably leaning toward the aluminum for a little bling and replacement factor.






Here you can also see the removeable/bolt-on water tank mount. I'll place some plywood on the bottom of the tank for support then some foam on top between the tank and the deck to keep everything from moving around. I built the front supports to the tank mount at an angle to deflect rocks and so that I could mount some sheet metal later if I want for protection.






And on an unrelated note, here's a shot of the front jack mount I hadn't posted before:

[lfhoward]

Awesome looking offroad trailer frame! I am looking forward to following your build. I'm working on an off road trailer design as well, using a military trailer chassis. I like how your purpose-built frame is exactly designed for your tow vehicle and your needs.

[javajaws]

Minor update from the weekend...


Added some sheet metal to line the inside of the wheel wells. I'll screw/bolt the bottom edge to the frame to keep it from flapping around:



Got one of the rear support brackets welded in place. It doesn't sit quite flush against the inside edge of the frame - it's spaced out a little and mounted with some angle iron on the backside so that it leaves some space to get the aluminum siding down between later. I'll probably trim the galvanized vertical stabilizers down a bit later on down the road. The stabilizer and mount was made with Telestrut to get a reasonably tight fit between the pieces without too much slop.



The stabilizer is adjusted with a spring loaded pull pin and I've also got some holes drilled through for a lock pin as well for use during travel. I still have to build some landing pad feet to go on the bottoms (started, but not finished...).

[javajaws]

So I took off Friday and made a 3-day weekend out of it. I haven't got a chance yet to take the "after" pictures, but thought some of you might find these setup pics interesting.

So how do you paint all sides of frame easily? Simple, put it on a rotisserie! Having a front and rear receiver hitch makes it a snap:





It was actually pretty easy to get it mounted up there. I used my rear 2 stabilizers to hold up the back of the frame so we didn't have to lift it all at once. On the front I used the jack and then a sawhorse to do the same thing. Only had to lift each end in small increments at a time before we could slide the supports into the receivers.

It turns at the touch of a finger!

As for the painting and prep:

I started with 2 rounds of cleaning - first with SPI 700 cleaner, then SPI 710 cleaner on the second pass. I then primed everything with 2 coats of SPI black epoxy primer I had left over from a smoker build project I did. This stuff is the bomb and gets rock hard. But it isn't UV protected so I had to topcoat with something. I originally thought about using a matte black single stage urethane - but decided it was overkill for something likely to get scratched up and wouldn't be easily repaired. So I opted for plain old Rustoleum Satin Black which would be easy to make spot repairs later with some rattle cans. I bought a couple quart containers of it and thinned it out 30-40% or so and sprayed it in my HVLP spray gun. It turned out great! Unfortunately I forgot to get pictures today after it dried. I promise I'll get some tomorrow both before and after I take it down off the rotisserie (it's still on there letting the paint harden).

[javajaws]

Oh, I forgot I brought the fenders into the garage, so here's a pic I just took of one to show the sheen of the finish. These will have aluminum diamond plate on the top eventually.

[javajaws]

Here's a few pics of it painted still on the stand. I'll have to wait until later today after work to take it down and mount the wheels back on. The paint has hardened up nicely!

[bc toys]

Great job you are doing. Keep pics coming

[KCStudly]

+1

It all looks very neat and tidy.

[Gold5one]

I think you could build frames for formula one race cars-- -- ain't no pot hole gonna break that trailer frame!!