Benroy Woody

[Midget]

This is the start of our build journal for a 5x8 Benroy woody. 11 years ago we finished up building our Midget trailer from scratch and it has been fun. We decided we could build a smaller trailer with less weight that we could pull behind our Mini Cooper S Clubman. Thus we begin our next journey. We will be building the frame from scratch and then the cabin which will have woody sides and aluminum on the top. We have been digging through postings on the website for construction details for a couple weeks and last week we picked up the steel for the frame. After I cleaned out a big area of our barn, I laid out some pieces. It will be made up from 2x2 square tube perimeter rails and one cross member in front of the axle. The axle will be the second cross member. The tongue will be 2x3 and will be underneath the plane of the trailer connecting to the front and second cross member.

We ordered a set of Atwood stabilizers for the rear, wheels, hub caps and trim rings and after a trip to Harbor Freight we came back with a tongue jack and ball hitch. Next week I'll be welding up the frame so we can get measurements for a new Torqflex axle. This should be enough to have a rolling frame ready for the body to be built. Stay tuned for more on our second trailer build.

Bob

[Vedette]

Looks Great Bob
Dexter is shipping at one week after confirmation of specs. Mine will be shipped on Tuesday.
Brian

[Midget]

Brian,

Did you order direct through Dexter? When we built the Midget we ordered ours through our local Redneck Trailer branch. They are about an hours drive each way. Maybe I could order direct on the phone. Is it a #8 or #9?

BTW. Love the pics of Kermit and Miss Piggy together.

Bob

[Midget]

Yesterday I started tack welding the perimeter pieces together. I purchased a new 240v MIG welder and it is really nice to use instead of my old 110v. Lays down some really nice welds especially with an argon tank attached.

We purchased some 15x6 artillery wheels from US Wheel through Summit Racing. When I pulled them out of the box I found they had not been deburred and little bits of metal were sticking out. I used gloves and a Scotchbrite block to smooth them out. Had to pull a couple slivers from my palms and I have little slices in my finger tips. Nothing bad, no blood. I think they should have done this after welding up the wheels though.

I'll be welding up the frame this weekend then I'll be able to measure for the axle. I'm still not sure if I should go 10 degrees down or 0. The Midget is 10 degrees down. I crawled underneath and checked it under 1200# load and it sits ay 0 degrees. Any thoughts?

Pictures are coming!
Bob

[Vedette]

Hi Bob
I used an 1100 lb #8 Dexter on Miss Piggy 22 degrees down.
For Kermit I have ordered a 1200 lb # 9 22 degrees down.
Ordered both directly from Dexter (very easy and eliminated the middle man) the only difference between the #8 & #9 is the tube size (1 3/4" vs 2")
# 8 =$229.00 & # 9 + $234.00
I week shipping time from time of order.
Are you using straight argon with your new welder or Argon/Co2 mix??
Brian

[Midget]

Brian,

I "borrowed" our 100% bottle from the winery. We use it to purge the air from the tops of barrels and carboys when working with wine before bottling. Oxygen turns good wine to vinegar.

I'll check the axle on the Midget thanks for the measurements. Today is welding day!

Bob

[Midget]

Welded up the side rails, front and back cross members as well as the second cross member. Welded the tongue under the front and second bars. In the rear corners I welded 1/8 x 2 flat plate to mount the Atwood stabilizers at a 45 degree angle.

We set the wheels up next to the frame allowing for tire sidewall, thickness of the tear wall over the frame rail as well as an extra inch for spacing of the tire away from the tear and came up with 74.5" hub flange to hub flange distance for ordering the axle.

Things may slow down on the project as I was offered a job and they want me to start Monday! I'll probably be spending a lot of time on the job for awhile but after 6 months unemployed it's a relief to finally start getting a paycheck again.

Bob

[pchast]

Congratulations on the new job.

[KCStudly]

Yes, good to have a paycheck. Congratulations on that.

You will find the time to build and we will be watching when you do!

[Midget]

Still finishing up my first week of work. Has been pretty busy but at least it is only a few miles from the local Redneck Trailer place so yesterday at lunch I ordered our axle. It has a week and a half lead time. We also ordered the trailer hitch for the Mini. Once installed it will be hidden behind the license plate. I should have a rolling chassis by the end of May.

[Midget]

Picked up our Dexter Torflex axle this past week. We measured twice to get it located and tacked down the brackets. The axle was pulled off and I burned in the brackets.


The body mounts were welded on. These are 2x2 angles with 3/8 holes for the body bolts. I also welded on some thick washers where the trailer light wiring will run along the frame. I did this with a mini bike I built a few years ago to hold the brake and throttle cables. It works really well and the thick washers reduce chafing on the wires. I'll be using heat shrink tubing on the wires as it looks better and adds another layer of protection.

Last weekend I put a trailer hitch on our Mini Cooper. I did the wiring this morning. Very straight forward and since we have a Clubman model, I didn't have to remove all the interior panels. I was able to drop the taillights out to access the wiring. The hitch on a Clubman hides behind the license plate so I picked up a folding license plate holder from a Jeep. The plate now pivots up for access to the receiver hitch. Only problem is it spaces the plate away from the bumper and now the license plate lights illuminate the area behind the plate. I put LED license plate bolts on my Triumphs so I may use them.

We painted our new artillery wheels and will pick up some tires. This will allow us to flip the frame right side up and give us a good idea of the hitch height. I'm not sure where it will level out with the Mini hitch.

Looks like we'll need some wood for the floor next

Bob

[pchast]

Great progress... What brand hitch did you find that hides so well?

[Midget]

It's a Curtis hitch we picked up from E-Trailer. You have to remove the bumper cover and then the big aluminum bumper underneath. The hitch sandwiches between the aluminum bumper and the body using the existing bolts. Only modification is to drill a 2 1/2 inch hole through the bumper cover directly behind the plate. This is made for the Clubman model only due to the exhaust outlet location.

Bob

[Midget]

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

We're staying home so I thought I would get some work done on the trailer. Since the frame is basically set up but needing a couple of details before we paint, We tackled the floor. I picked up some 1x4 clear pine boards and two pieces of 1/2 plywood. I cut the pine so it covers the full perimeter of the frame and has 5 cross members. One is on the seam between the two plywood sheets. One sits on top of the front metal cross member And another in the back. We glued and screwed everything together.


After it set a while we coated the underside with roof tar compound.


One thing I found that needs attention is the front jack. On our midget we use a swing down arm attached to a clamp on mount. For this build I picked up a swinging jack but it uses a spud that welds to the tongue and then has a pin to set it in an up / down position. Only problem is that it is very wobbly. I can just see us moving around in the trailer at night and having the trailer move around. I'm toying with the idea of putting two Atwood jack stands on the front corners like we have on the back.

To finish up the frame, I'm putting a couple of angle iron braces from the front cross member to the tongue so we have a place to mount a tongue box.

More later!

Bob

[Midget]

The frame is painted!

Flipped it over Saturday morning and started painting the underside of the frame. On Sunday morning we flipped back and painted the top.



Now we have the wheels and tires back on and I started running the wiring for the trailer lights. We are putting Model A style tail lights on the fenders but in the back under the frame rail I'm placing LED stop/turn/running lights. I want people to see us! I also have to splice in wires to feed the side marker lights. I have lots of solder and heat shrink tubing to handle this. Once the wiring is done we can bolt the floor on. We plan to rig it up with fenders and temporary lights so we can get it registered as a utility trailer. Once the DMV gives us a plate and a VIN number we'll start building the teardrop.

Since it was in the high 90's this past weekend we spent the afternoons with a pencil, eraser and graph paper laying out the galley cabinets and the interior cabinets. We wanted to put the cooler under the counter in the galley but being that it is only 8 feet long, we can only mount it crosswise and the wife doesn't like it taking up so much under counter space. The cooler will now reside in the back of the Mini.

Bob