BUILDING DOWN UNDER, MY NEW TD

[Kody]

Hi everyone
This is the beginning of building our TD. in the land Down Under. We live six miles inland from the shore of the Coral Sea in Queensland and about fifteen miles north of the Tropic of Capricorn, just far enough north to be away from all the floods in Brisbane and the West. I have been looking thru lots and lots of posts here and we have decided to now start our own build using our own ideas and design. I have spent many a long midnight hour watching straight lines and curved lines appear and disappear across the computer screen. It's such a blessing to have a 20 inch wide screen and a CAD program, I can display two drawings at the same time and work on both.
Our TD will be 11 feet long OAL and 5 feet wide on the inside. The floor will be made from a sheet of 1/2" hardwood ply, 60" x 120". This will be fitted to the chassis/frame that is 120" long and 60" in width. The side walls will be a minimum of 1/2" but I am seriously considering 5/8" as this has greater stiffness and I can also cut rebates into the sheet where needed.
The frame will be built from scratch. I am using 35 x 65 x 2.5mm RHS for the entire frame with a 50 x 75 x 3mm piece for the drawbar (tongue) The total weight of the frame will be just over 100kg. The calculated weight of steel is 82kg for RHS plus 18kg for axle. The weight of springs, hubs, wheels and tires is yet unknown, 100kg equals 220 pounds and I am quite happy with this weight. The frame is being built somewhat stronger than most of the frames I have seen here. I decided to make it stronger as we will be pushing out into the great Australian Outback at a later date. The frame consists of two main rails as per normal but I will be welding a 3mm cover plate in the end of each one. This is to stop any water lodging inside the RHS and creating rust to eat the frame away from the inside. All steel will be standard "Blue Painted" and not the electroplated galvanized type that is also available. Galvanized steel is bad news for welding. The standard units for measuring etc. here in Aust. are all metric. The plywood is sold in both metric and imperial. I have to be extremely vigilant in what I am measuring to be certain I make it correctly.
A little bit about me. I am a toolmaker/machinist by trade. I taught welding at a college out west here in Aust for 12 months and worked as a technician in civil engineering and physics at a college here for 14 years. I ran my own business from home for about 15 years working as a gunsmith and armourer. I moved to the US and stayed for almost seven years before moving back to Aust with a beautiful wife from the US. I worked as an instructor at a college in Toledo OH and was in complete control of the machine shop.
We decided on an eleven foot length for our TD as this gives our beautiful German Shepherd a bit more area to sleep in. The GS and I are as one. Where she is, I am and where I am, she is. If I am away from home and the GS is not able to come with me, she is then extremely protective of my wife. This has been very good as we live on 26 acres of eucalypt forest and nothing escapes the nose, ears or eyes of the shepherd.
So there we are, this is now the official building thread for our new TD. Feel free to ask any questions, I will answer them all.

Kody

[Kody]

I have now completely redesigned the trailer frame. It will be made from 2"x3" x 1/8" RHS, this is an upgrade in size of material. The new design will also be 6 kg lighter than before. I am ordering the steel on Monday and my mate will pick it up and bring it home for me. The picture shown is the beginning of the beginning of the work. It shows some of my welding where I fitted and welded a jocky wheel to my mates trailer. I hadn't welded for quite a few months but I still have a steady hand for it. The rods I used are a good brand but my favorite rods that I will be using are the "Satincraft 13" in a 10 gauge. They burn really well and are very smooth flowing, so much better than the cheap Chinese imported stuff that the handyman stores sell. So here is the photo of the beginning of the beginning. I'm getting quite excited about constructing the frame and then the fit-out.

Kody

I haven't welded for months but I can still weld without shaking.

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[Kody]

The photo started out in sharp focus. I had to resize it and now the focus is all yuck! I need to play around with the photos a lot more to get them right.

[Kody]

The steel for the trailer frame is now all cut to size and laying on the concrete floor of my garage. Photos will come as soon as I begin the assembly and welding. Obtaining the steel was not without trauma. I took a scale drawing of the frame parts, ie, the sides, the cross beams at the ends, the cross beams for the middle to the steel store and the idiot who served me got it all wrong. He never read the drawing correctly (CAD drawing at that!) and nearly cut all RHS from 4mm thick steel instead of 3mm and the inner beams from 2x2x1/8 RHS. The cutting list CLEARLY showed these parts were to be cut from 2x2x1/8 ANGLE, not RHS. I only discovered his blunder when he ran my credit card thru the card reader/processor. He presented me with the slip to sign and I noticed the cost was far more than I had already worked out. I checked his invoice and there was the blunder. No problem, simply run the credit card thru again, cancel or refund the amount. I was then informed that the store can't refund or resind the transaction. The refund has to come from head office (in Brisbane, 450 miles south) and I would have to wait for at least three days for the mistake to be corrected. A very direct email will be sent to the head office explaining how ignorant they are and what a disgraceful way to run a business. Unfortunately, this store is by far, the cheapest in town. I have yet to check the pieces for being the correct length. The cross beams and angle must all be the same length. I stated that the tolerance on the length of these beams must be minus 0/+1mm. The two end beams must be the same size regardless, I can work with the angle if it's a mm too long. Yeah-yeah, I know I am very fussy but I was told the cutting is very precise so I expect proper results.

Kody

[Kody]

The chuck on my bench drill has died. My son lost the chuck key when he lent the drill to his mate. I was unable to find another key so I "made do" with whatever key I could find. The end result was that the chuck needs to be replaced. I finally found two chucks. One was in Melbourne and the other in Hong Kong. I opted for the one in Melbourne and expect it to arrive here next week about Tuesday or Wednesday. I have lots of 6.5 mm holes to drill in the RHS and the Angle so I needed a long series drill. The only long series drills available are in England. They are not available where I live or even on the the internet here in Aust. I bought some drills and they will arrive here in two weeks. The next biggest problem is to drill 20 holes thru the RHS (3"x2") with only 1 3/4" movement of the drill spindle. The holes must be in perfect alignment, they are drilled from one side only and go completely thru the RHS. I have figured out how to do it, it will just take a bit more time. I want to start the welding but I can't do that until the holes are drilled. At least I can spend the waiting time checking the CAD drawings over to make sure there are no mistakes.

Kody

[eamarquardt]

The chuck on my bench drill has died. My son lost the chuck key when he lent the drill to his mate. I was unable to find another key so I "made do" with whatever key I could find. The end result was that the chuck needs to be replaced. I finally found two chucks. One was in Melbourne and the other in Hong Kong. I opted for the one in Melbourne and expect it to arrive here next week about Tuesday or Wednesday. I have lots of 6.5 mm holes to drill in the RHS and the Angle so I needed a long series drill. The only long series drills available are in England. They are not available where I live or even on the the internet here in Aust. I bought some drills and they will arrive here in two weeks. The next biggest problem is to drill 20 holes thru the RHS (3"x2") with only 1 3/4" movement of the drill spindle. The holes must be in perfect alignment, they are drilled from one side only and go completely thru the RHS. I have figured out how to do it, it will just take a bit more time. I want to start the welding but I can't do that until the holes are drilled. At least I can spend the waiting time checking the CAD drawings over to make sure there are no mistakes.

Kody

If you wanna get the holes exactly right, take a bit of time and make an accurate jig that will allow you do drill a 1/16" or so pilot hole on each side of your tubing first. Then you can drill out the pilot and have accurately drilled holes.

Good luck,

Gus

[Kody]

It's been a very good week. I have had the drill spinning around and I have finished drilling all the holes in the 3x2 RHS for the main frame. The holes are all drilled in the 2x2x1/8 angle and I am now ready to make with the "blue glue stick". I have laid out the RHS and set the pieces up using a spirit level that is graduated in increments of .002"/foot. The graduations are about 5/32 apart and it's impossible to hold the bubble in the middle of the glass by holding this thing in your hands. (It's an Engineers Level). I need only to check again the heights and levels and the diagonals in the morning and then I start welding. I checked the two diagonals and one measures 3409 mm and the other measures 3409 mm. Let's hope they stay the same as I tack it and then weld it fully all over.
After the main frame is welded, I will fit the "A" frame on and then fit the springs, have yet to get the springs and axle. Next week, I will ask my mate to pick up the wood for the frame and the plywood for the floor and the sides. The wood for the frame is 3x2 DAR that is bolted to the top of the RHS and angle. The 10'x5'x1/2" ply will be screwed to these 3x2 pieces. Now that all the awkward work is finished, the rest will come together very easily. It's all very exciting. The next biggest job to do will be joining the sheets for the sides. It's so good to have a decent router. I want to get as much done before the full bite of summer comes in. It's not good working in the heat, it really does knock me up. I had the the roof of the garage/workshop painted two years ago with heat reflective paint and it has made a wonderful difference. Photos will come tomorrow.

Kody

[droid_ca]

This sounds like a great build I'm going to follow this one for sure

[Kody]

This is now the start of the welding. I have finished drilling all the hole for bolting the 3"x2" DAR Baltic pine to the frame and for the plywood sides. I have leveled it with an engineers spirit level and it's all set to "blue glue". The 2"x2"x1/8" angle is to be welded in place after the main frame is tacked and checked for squareness. Before I can fit the floor panel I also have to weld in the mounts for the shock absorbers. I have had heaps of trouble trying to locate the shocks here in Aust. I can find them easily in the US but they won't ship them overseas. After the frame is welded, I will paint the entire frame with Cold Galvanizing paint. This is fabulous stuff and the best type to use comes in a can that has to be applied with a brush. After painting with the cold gal. paint, I will then paint the top surface with a bituminous paint and also under the ply floor. I'm hoping to get the springs this week as trade for doing some drawings for a a trailer manufacturer. I have to have the springs fitted and all the welding finished so I can turn the frame over. Trying to weld something extra onto the frame when laying on my back and underneath it is for the birds. The frame sections are the pieces with the holes in them. The long RHS at the bottom (there is another one at the other end) is the base that I have leveled to align everything ready for welding. At last, it's all coming together.

Kody

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[Kody]

I finally got all the parts for the suspension. I checked the drawings over again and found that the leaf springs I had drawn were not the same as the ones I now have. I also found that I hadn't allowed for the extended front of the van over the front end of the frame. The drawings are all fixed now and this week will be a busy week of construction. It will be so good to get my mind back onto the build.

Kody

[225]

Have fun welding it all. It takes a little time. I have a solid 3 - 8 hour days in mine, and I'm not done yet.

[Kody]

The welding has been going very well indeed. I have now almost finished the entire frame and will be ready to start the woodwork next week. I have welded all the spring shackles to their base plates and I am ready to complete the spring assembly. The hardest part has been to work when being attacked by ravenous hyenas that are fitted with wings. There are some earlier photos of these monsters. Trying to weld while you are being eaten alive has proved to be impossible. The weather has changed bringing in the beautiful South Easters and they have blown away almost all the disgusting march flies.



This is the spring shackle that has been tack welded to the base plate. I decided to to use a base plate under all the shackle components as it is so much easier to weld to form a solid unit.
The base is then very easy to clamp in position for final welding. This method alleviates all the hassles of getting everything aligned on the frame with hard to manage pieces. When welding the shackles either to the trailer frame directly or on a base plate, make sure you remove the plastic bush if there is one before you start to weld. Using a base plate also spreads out the stresses on the parts and joins.



The shackles have been welded and the spring assembled. There is no bush in the welded shackle/base plate as the steel is still too hot. A white bush can be seen in the spring on the floor. The offset base plate was made to allow an existing bolt hole to be still used in the frame. Using the shackle links drops the axle down which will give me more room to fit shocks to the axle later. The open ends of the all the RHS have been sealed with a 3 mm cover plate welded all round the edges and then ground smooth. This will keep out all the water, mud and bugs within the RHS. I chose the shackle assembly instead of a Slipper Spring as I can get more clearance and a lot less noise and vibration. I have Slipper Springs on my boat trailer and they are a pain.


The spring assembly is tacked into position and now the spring and bushes will be removed for final welding. The spring assembly on the opposite side will be assembled and tacked to the frame. After the alignment is checked for integrity, everything will be finished welded. The last part to be welded is the "A" frame draw bar. When this finished, the frame will be painted with Cold Gal. paint.



The complete frame is shown here. The width to the outside of the frames (RHS) is 5'-0". End to end is 10'- 0" plus the "A" frame and the cabin is 11'- 4". The spring on the right has been tacked into position. The 50x50x3 mm angle cross pieces are welded in place and Kody is checking the alignment. She is very good at doing this. When I am welding or running the angle grinder or any noisy tool, she disappears and lays under the Kia where she can see me and be out of the hot sun. The background shows the Kia workhorse, the boat and some of the bush that fills our property.

I have almost got the photo posting under control, things are looking good at last. Tomorrow should be even better than today, the South Easterlies are coming in good and strong and COOL!
The wind will hopefully clear away all the vicious starving hyenas at last. Thank God for that!

Joe and Kody.

[Roo Dog]

Joe,

Looking good !

RD

[Kody]

Things are going really well indeed, I now have the A frame welded onto the main frame, The spring mounts are all welded and now the underside can be painted. After the frame is turned over, I can finish the last of the welds that are best done right way up. These welds will only take about 15 minutes to complete. The axle can now be bolted to the springs and then the fitting of the hubs and bearings. I have still to buy the wheels and tires. I have changed the profile somewhat, I will post this for you all to see soon. The new profile is about 10" lower and looks great. The new profile means that the sides can be built from a total of three sheets instead of six. A considerable saving in dollars. There is a plywood retailer in Brisbane that sells plywood in 5' wide sheets and I think they can be as long as 3.6 m. (11'-10" aprox) as a standard length. Whether I can use them will depend on the cost of the sheets and the cost of transport to home, but it seems that they are available. I will check this out further on Monday. I will also see if the local plywood supplier can get them in for me. I will try and get some good photos of the frame tomorrow.

Kody

[Roo Dog]

Joe,

What do you estimate the finished build will weigh in at ?
Ours went over the scales at 400KG exactly. The weighbridge used was one for heavy trucks and I feel the 400KG is a bit on the high side. The little Getz we are using as the tug has a tow rating of 700KG so it is well within the limit even at that. Certainly tows the TD easily.

Enjoy the build, sounds as though your beasties are moving on, that will make the work more enjoyable. It is bush fly time here. They do not bite but like to take a good look into your ears, nose, eyes and mouth. Nuisance value and the reason for the noted Aussie salute.

Take it easy.

RD