Thread: Trailer build II... the long haul.

This is how the plate will look...
...obviously, hopefully not upside-down.


And from behind, the lamp shouldn't be visible.

Nice welds....you got gas

Thanks Daz.

Very nice work Yonnee & I lke the idea, but is this going to trap water & cause problems? Have you considered blanking off the cutout & creating a pocket for the NP light. Just a thought.

Steve

Originally Posted by Ticky

Very nice work Yonnee & I lke the idea, but is this going to trap water & cause problems? Have you considered blanking off the cutout & creating a pocket for the NP light. Just a thought.

Steve

Yonnee can correct me here if I'm wrong, but I think that the frame is currently upside down, so when its that right way up it won't be a trap for water.

Originally Posted by DJ's Timber

Yonnee can correct me here if I'm wrong, but I think that the frame is currently upside down, so when its that right way up it won't be a trap for water.

yep, like this;


Attachment 68764


or going hard around a corner like this;

Attachment 68765

OK, My Bad.

Should have seen that.

ticky

Originally Posted by Ticky

Should have seen that.

ticky

Particularly as above the pic with the old plate and NP light says, "This is how the plate will look...
...obviously, hopefully not upside-down."

It's OK Tick...

Yep, it's upsidedown. I find this the easiest way to assemble a chassis and attach the drawbar and spring hangers before turning it over and starting the top. Small trailers aren't so bad, but when I do the car trailer, the less I have to lift it and turn it over, the better for my back.

Now that the main frame is assembled and the plate modifications are done, it time for the drawbar. I like having a longer drawbar than normal as it makes for easier reversing. Alot of people don't realise that most 6x4's are made with a drawbar shorter than 4' for a reason. And that being that you don't have to register a trailer that's; privately used, weighs less than 200kg empty, is narrower than the tow vehicle, and is less than 10' long. So, if you're going to register your home-made trailer, there's no reason to have your drawbar too short. I'm making mine 5' from the front of the cross bar.

Firstly, I made careful measurements for the axle placement and this determined where the front spring hangers were to go. These were then tacked in place. Next, a centreline was marked on the front & rear cross rails and a jack stand placed 5' out front in line with these marks. A measurement was then taken from the spring hangers to this jack stand giving me my drawbar cutting length. Once cut, they were placed together in the 'V' and the front tacked together. Alot of trailer places have jigs for setting all of this up, but I have my ways of doing this and constant measuring ensures that everything is all square.

This is not a mistake, or overkill, because the front cross rail is 50mm and the rest of the chassis is 40mm, there is a 10mm gap between the side rails and the drawbar. I could have just welded it flush and the drawbar would have have sat on a slight downward angle from back to front, but I like making work for myself.


Besides, it gives a gap that can be painted to prevent rust between the drawbar and chassis... at least that's what I'm telling myself.

The coupling plate is also welded on at this point, another thing that's easier to weld while the trailer is upsidedown. (Depends on the overhang of the plate to the drawbar. This one is the 4 hole plate for the Electric/Over-ride coupling.)


Where I can (and where practical), I like to tie my drawbars into the spring hangers, particularly on larger trailers as it puts less stress on the chassis.



*** My gas bottle has been fairly low of late, so I've been expecting to have to swap it some time very soon, but I didn't expect to run out of wire halfway through a run!!! ***

So this is where it finished for the night.

Coming along nicely Yonnee , its a bugger when you run out of gas isn't it

Still got gas... it ran out of wire!!

Whoops misread it

So much for a long weekend... Cricket semi-final on Sat & Sun and a BIL wanting work done on his car didn't leave me much time to myself.

But I did mange to finish the last of the welds underneath to allow me to turn the chassis over... (please excuse the mess)


Up...


..and over...

Really nice stuff, I love hands on projects like this. I wish I could weld....