new build

[hugh]

After reading hundreds of posts here I have decided to begin my build. I went to the local steel salvage place and bought 48 feet of 2 " 3/16" wall square tubing. I have the frame tacked up and it is 5' wide by 6' long [box size]. I plan on extending the body up and out at the rear to gain another foot inside space and also at the front. The extensions will be angled up at a 45 Degree angle far enough to add 1 ' length. The reason for that is my tow vehicle is a Jeep Cherokee with a 6 1/2 lift and 35 " tires. The rear angle should give whats called a good departure angle when going off road. Anyway the cabin will come in approx 5 x 8 and 5 high. No hatch on the rear since I like cold weather camping and in summer like to cook outside and we already have a nice little folding table. The walls and roof will be 1/4 inside and out with at least 1" of insulation, the floor will be 3/4 also with insulation. I picked up a 2000 lb axle with 1250 lb rated springs and a set of 31 goodyear tires. It has a 48" hub face and with 10.5 tires the width will be right around 5' and I want the tires inside the body [just like that look] The hitch is a pintle unit. For now 2 questions, First, should the roof be a bit thicker or will the ribs strengthen it enough. Second question - prob a bit silly to lots of you but the axle has an arc built into it, should the top of the arc be curved up or down? It has spring perches already added by the factory for both spring over and under and I will be running it spring under for more clearance.. Pictures to follow, here is a picture of the tow vehicle and a picture of a little trailer just to show one of the places we go.


The jeep is a bit muddy in the photo but this is the most current photo.

[dmckruit]

It looks like you went muddin in the Labrea Tar Pits!

[hugh]

it looks worse than it was, I live in Manitoba not to far from the edge of the canadian shield which is all rock with thousands of lakes and more than a few swampy areas, I had just finished pushing a stuck friend out when I got stuck myself so for the photo op I put the throttle down knowing what the result would be. About a mile from that spot is a real nice camping location for a tiny off road travel trailer its fairly secluded and you can find peace and quiet there. Actually I guess this is the wrong spot for this topic, I will put further pic,s etc in the off road section.

[Forrest747]

The arc or bend in the axel, should be up. This is called the camber (Correct me if I am wrong guys). this will slightly put your wheels at an angle away from the body of the trailer.

With Charlie we forgot about this and we got lucky in welding the brackets that mate with the leaf springs. However, and there is always a however; if you want to move the axel the inside of the leaf spring instead of the outside, the camber or bow will be upside down.

To fix this you can cut off the old one or just go get two new brackets and put them on the other side of the axle, much easier and no real chance in weaking your axle. also if for what ever reason you want to move the axle to the outside of the leaf spring again, makes it alot easier.

[hugh]

Thanks for the answer. The axle I bought is made in the USA by a company called Quality trailer products and comes with spring perches factory welded on top and bottom so it is a very easy fix.