New guy. Building my first trailer.

[wolfcri]

I'm new so I'm sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place.

So... I was surfing the internet and saw one of these:


This got me thinking... (its always bad when I start thinking)

I have had a Suzuki Samurai sitting around for about 3 years now. It had a blown motor and the trans was stolen (long story) so I decided not to invest anything into it...

After looking around the internet at "Adventure Trailers" I decided that the rear half of the perfectly good Samurai shell is a great candidate for the tub and axle for my off-road camping trailer. Insane, you say? Well, not if you grew up watching as much McGyver, A Team, and Mr Wizzard as I did.

Last thursday, under the cover of darkness, I had my buddy tow the samurai 3 miles from its storage location to the place where it will undergo its transformation.
When I say tow, I mean pull with a 25' tow strap behind his fullsize chevy. I was in the samurai praying that the brakes still worked and hoping there were no other parts that I had loosened or removed. I was also attacked by a small bird who thought it was a good idea to build his summer home in the glove box. Although scary, the trip was uneventfull.

Friday, I took a ride to Fazzio's in Glassboro NJ (metal source).

Here is the rough idea of what I had in mind when I started.(gotta love ms paint).
Thats not my truck. Just a pic I found online.


I will update this thread with my progress.
I am open to suggestions and feedback.
If anybody is interested in the hacked-off front half of a suzuki samurai or parts of it, let me know before they end up at the dump.

Here is (was) my sami


Heres where the attack bird was living


Buzzzzzz




Fabbed up the crossmember for the tongue


Got extremely frustrated with a POS welder and modified it with a sledge hammer


Got what I should have a long time ago


And heres where I left off saturday night.


Didn't get to do too much on Easter.

Finished to tongue and coupler.


Started on boxing in the tub.


I have to admit that I probably should have just sold the sami shell and started from scratch. But that is in hindsight because I have purchased a second angle grinder, a nice MIG welder, and a chop saw during this project. If I have them when I started, I would have built from scratch. I have gotten a lot of interest over at the suzuki forum so I think I could sell this trailer to a guy with a samurai who wants an identical trailer and then build myself a completely custom one from scratch. We'll see. I am happy with the way it is turning out though.

One important thing to note is that I am playing this entirely by ear. I had no actual PLAN for what this thing would look like when finished. It is becoming a fabrication learning experience as much as it is a purposeful build.


Heres monday's progress.

Finished installing the pannel that will be the front of the main bed.



I decided to partially enclose the front end of the trailer with box tubing. This is the area that will be used for water and gas contailers.




Alooominum front pannel for that. Painted the tubing and the pannels.



Added angle plates to the tub where the rack will mount. I am still not sure how this will work out. I'm trying to decide if the bed will have a tonneau type cover under the rack or if the whole trailer will just be tarped... or ???



Tuesday I built the rack. I decided to go with an open design that I can tie a canoe/kayak down on, but with no floor so I can still carry larger objects in the bed. I am going to have a snap-on soft cover made for the bed. It will have cutouts to go around the rack posts. I have a lead on a guy who does really nice work. He did my fiance's dad's boat cover (huge).

Here's the rack.


Naturally, since last night was the first time I left the trailer outside... it rained. Heres the very wet trailer. You can see that I filled the gas filler area with "great stuff" expanding foam from cheapo depot. It will get sanded and body fillled later.


I had to dry the rain off the trailer to sand/weld etc. so I broke out the Industrial Strength Bastardized Samurai Trailer Dryer.


Welded the rack on.


Had to use a tailgate straightenamafier before welding on the rear section of the rack.


And heres the rack finished ( i think ) and where I left off tuesday.



I have been thinking about building a platform for one of those cool rooftop safari type tents. I have to find a tent to build it around though. My current tent is 7x8 wich is way too big. I would like to find a 5x7 or even a 4x6 tent for cheap and then go from there.

I have no idea what is on the ajenda for tomorrow (wednesday)...

I will be towing it with one of the following.

[FinsUp]

your build looks really cool. I have been kicking the idea around of building an expedition type trailer vs a td. I know, I know, like I said, just kicking the idea around.

[madjack]

SON...I say, I say Son, y'all been busy...huh...interesting project ya got goin' there...welcome to the madness and thanks for sharing the pics with us...keep 'em comin'
madjack

p.s. I REALLY like your mods on the welder ..................MJ

[schaney]

That is shaping up to be a cool trailer. The ideal tow rig for it would be a Sammy

When a "standard" Rooftop tent is closed they are 4'x5'x12" and 8'x5' when opened.



Check out, Tent Units for additional information.

I also have a new DIY Trailer Top tent in the works that will have a changing room on it. Here is what the main tent body will look like.

[Dewi]

All you're missing is a jewellry-ladened muscle man with a mohican shouting "I ain't gettin' in no Suzuki fool!"

And I notice you have the desert version of Street Hawk in your build area

Nice work though and very much liking the welder modifications... I may well make the same modifications to my air compressor, then beg my other half for a new one

Cheers, Dewi

[wolfcri]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I am definitely getting hooked on this little community.

I checked out the link for TENT UNITS. Very cool but way out of my price range unfortunately. I was planning on building something much heavier like a hinged frame with an aluminum or plywood floor that I could set up a regular tent on. Sleeping mats/padding would be needed. That gives me a lot of ideas though.

I am heading out to work on the trailer now. More tonight.

[starleen2]

Got extremely frustrated with a POS welder and modified it with a sledge hammer

That's Taking care of Business

[dreadcptflint]

Very cool start.

[Levi]

I think its really cool, now I want want too. Theres plenty of those Suzukis around here

[stomperxj]

Looks good so far... keep up the good work

[wolfcri]

It was raining again today so I started off by painting the rack. I went and registered the trailer while the paint was drying.


By the time I got home, the rain was letting up.
I decided to start tearing more stuff off and fix any rust or rot I found. Then reassemble with only the necessary parts and maybe do a little prep and painting.

I pulled off the fenders and bumper.




Found some serious rot behind the driver side fender and bumper surround.



Decided to BUZZZ off what I didnt need and fix what I need.




Same on the passenger side. (not the rot, but the trim job).



Trimmed the "bumper supports" and other junk behind the bumper.



Spare parts (junk)




These trucks were not really built extremely sturdy. I think the average teenage girl could have bent the rear bumper my kicking it. The bumper supports were a joke.

I fought with the rust for a little while, sanded and cleaned everything up. Then I painted the bare metal. Since I had already scuffed the rest of the body (not much to it) I kept painting. I did the fender flares too while I was at it. I used some rubber trim moulding to finish off the lower portion of the body where I had to cut out the cancer. The fenders are still wet in this pic.



I will go back and resand the area around the fuel filler when I feel like breaking out the body filler. When I stood back and looked at the way it was coming along, I decided that it was time to make it street-worthey. This way, I can take it to get measured for the soft cover if I need to.

I installed the lights. I purchased these at walmart and I was happy doing so because they are actually made in the US !!!





I installed my kick-a$$ custom safety chains. I went with a welded chain that is rated to 3900#. I really only picked it because it has an orange coating that I figure will fight back rusty-chain syndrome for a little while at least. I welded a link to the right side of the tongue and compensated by making the length of chain that will go the the left safety-chain attachment point a little longer. I did so because I located the wiring on the left side to line up with the connector on the tow vehicle.



Here it is hitched up.



I used wire looms to protect the wiring for the lights and keep everything neat. This may not be the permanent location of the wires... not sure yet.



I also used another piece of rubber trim moulding to cover the rear of the bed under the tailgate where the bumper was. I will take a better pic of that tomorrow.
I have the ability to open the tailgate 180* so I compensated by leaving enough wire to do so. I am thinking about a fold-down counter or bench type thing on the tailgate (inside) to be used when the tailgate is open.



I tested out the lights (they worked), bolted on the license plate, and then took it for its maiden voyage.










90* and no jack-knife contact with the jeep. My poor jeep is wearing its "little tires" today. Cant beat those michelins in snow, rain, and for gas milage.





And my brain is starting to shut down (tired) so I parked it in the garage again until tomorrow and snapped a few more pics for my friends on the interweb





On my list of 'things to do' ...

Soft cover
Build a hand-brake or disable the brakes all together
Spray bedliner in the front and main compartments
Build a folding counter for the tailgate
Start arranging item-specific storage gizmos, compartments, etc.
Back-up light?
Cargo light?
Guard for differential pinion?
Roof-top tent platform?
???

[Nitetimes]

Put a seat back in the front of there and you've got a good mother-in-law seat, or even a good wife seat some days!!!!

[wolfcri]

I didnt get to post thursday or friday nights because I had a lot going on but heres the progress.

Heres a pic of the gas tank skid plate in its original location (about).
I had a lot of good suggestions about this and a few ideas of my own so I wanted to think about it a little more before I attacked this part of the project.



Here is a pic of the trim piece I put under the tailgate. Its crooked... I must have been getting tired. So... I redid it.

Thats better



Then I got annoyed by the hump in the front storage area. Since this area will be used for gas and water cans and maybe a cooler etc. I needed it to be humpless.





Then I cut some plywood for the floors. I used 5/8" non-treated plywood and I hit them with a few coats of rubberized bedliner. I fastened them with self-tappers.






I decided that the area where the gas tank used to be... should indeed be able to carry gas. However I really liked the thought of being able to convert that space to carry a few deep cycle batteries later if I decided to use a pinion mounted alternator set-up. If I used the stock gas tank, it would require too much modification that was devoted to only fuel.

Sooooo...
I built it to carry 2 gas cans, or a few ammo cans, or a few batteries... or whatever else I stick down there. I finished it off with paint on the outside and bedlined the inside.








I modified the stock spare tire carrier so I could mount it to the tongue.






Please keep the suggestions coming. Like I said, I never really had a "plan" so I'm still taking this day by day.
I intend to start loading this thing up with the stuff I would use it to transport so that I can find more things that it needs.

[wolfcri]

I got tied up with a bunch of other stuff today so I really only got to do a little brainstorming and build some front pannels.




I therw a bunch of water containers in to get an idea of the capacity. Not too bad.

[FinsUp]

Looks great so far.