The 4x4 Podcast Expedition Trailer Build Journal

Mitch said:
Sears Die Hard Platinum Group 31. It will be a 100 Amp Hour battery. If it were me, I'd do two of them.

I had one of those torches. Pretty nice. Replaced it with a Weller PSI100K after my second one broke.
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I have the Platinum Group in my Jeep and Bronco. Really have not tested it to see how long I can run my ham radios, bu they seem to be holding up. The on in the Bronco was tested being carb'd on a steep hill and manual I stalled and trying to start on the angle was a challenge not just for the battery, but the battery felt it after a handful of cranks before I got out started. Overall if this battery is better than I am glad or I would have been not cranking as hard over and over the handful of times in a row.
 
Apparently the internet ate my last post so this one will be shorter.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a giant pile of trailer pieces. It took a while to scour the city for some wheels that will match the bolt pattern on the Yukon but I found a pair. I'll also be bringing home the 2x2 square tube to run from the tongue to the tail.

I ordered the marine grade plywood from Lowe's...who apparently orders it from a real lumber yard. Since they don't know when the delivery will come in, I can just drive across town myself and pick it up.

This Friday its game time! Time to start seeing this trailer go together. Armed with a good visualization and the know-how from Scott's awesome ABCs book, this part should come together fairly quick.

[video]https://youtu.be/BVV7YpglGhk[/video]
 
jeepin_idaho said:
[video]https://youtu.be/BVV7YpglGhk[/video]
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When sharing YouTube links, don't click the share, or use their youtu.be url, the forum can't parse it. Just copy the url

[video=youtube;BVV7YpglGhk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVV7YpglGhk[/video]
 
Today was a really big day in the trailer build. I didn't actually do any building, but I picked up a whole bunch of important pieces. I picked up the marine grade plywood from a real lumber yard, not a big box store. Marine grade plywood is usually not stocked at your average store. it's constructed with much better materials and a stronger more durable adhesive between the plies. I also picked up a piece of square tubing to run the length of the trailer to stiffen it up. I also picked up a set of used wheels that match the bolt pattern and size on the Yukon. The last stop before heading home was to the trailer shop. There I had one of the guys help me measure for the right width for the new axle. The new axle with the correct hubs and bearings should arrive in about 2 weeks. Tomorrow I'll make a trip to the regular big box store to pick up a couple boxes of screws a bucket of glue, and some less important pieces of wood for the assembly.

I expect to receive a replacement set of springs and a spring hanger bracket this weekend. And it's a good thing too! Because these this slipper springs are complete garbage! The maiden voyage with the trailer went well but I still avoided the highway because it was bouncing like crazy.

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This weekend I expect to see some pretty serious progress on this trailer project.

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Dan
http://the4x4podcast.com
 
Mitch is right about solar being better to charge than an umbilical. I found out during my trip the the Appalachian Rendezvous that the solar panel on top did a better job of charging the batteries while on the road than my umbilical to the truck did (and it will be less stress on your alternator).
 
Matthewp said:
I found out during my trip the the Appalachian Rendezvous that the solar panel on top did a better job of charging the batteries while on the road than my umbilical to the truck did (and it will be less stress on your alternator).
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Really?! My concern with that right now is that I'm going to have 4 bicycles on the roof of the trailer so I don't know that there is enough room for a solar panel too. Also, I forsee a lot of rocks getting kicked up on the drive to Fairbanks which could easily mess up a panel. Besides, once the battery is fully charged, the dual battery setup should not put that big of a strain on the alternator. That being said, maybe I should carry a spare just to be safe.
 
An unsolicited warning, because it bit me in the ass...weight is not your friend and it will sneak up on you.
Your Yukon will probably pull anything you put behind it. But the trailer bearings/springs/axle/tires/frame/hitch/lack of brakes etc. will be affected every mile by every Lbs.
Every bikeX4/solar panel/Battery/gal. of water/extra fuel/ice chest/sheet of marine grade plywood/nuts/bolts/screws/glue adds up to MORE than you/I figure? I over shot the runway by 800+Lbs. and I thought I was careful. So be VERY CAREFUL how much you put on the trailer and good luck, drive careful, HAVE FUN!!

Cheers,
Woodienut
 
Yeah, Marine grade plywood is freaking heavy compared to everything else out there. Take that from someone who free-hands sheets of it through a table saw at work. I'd rather use a lighter wood and then Line-X it for strength and waterproofing.
 
I thought about that too. I consider Scott Chaney at Compact Camping Concepts to be the subject matter expert on building trailers like this one and he recommend the marine grade plywood. The "corner block" construction allows me to use thinner plywood and still get a lot of strength. I do plan on using a really durable finish like Line-X though. Durabak comes highly recommended. And in talking to the guys at Monster Liner to see about trying out their product as well.

Dan
http://the4x4podcast.com
 
Indeed, if you can use 1/2 versus 3/4, this will save a lot of weight.

Goose Gear would be the best way to go, strength, durability, and so light weight you can't even imagine. Dave's daughter can remove the entire setup he has in the flippac cube by cube by herself.
 
Mitch said:
Indeed, if you can use 1/2 versus 3/4, this will save a lot of weight.

Goose Gear would be the best way to go, strength, durability, and so light weight you can't even imagine. Dave's daughter can remove the entire setup he has in the flippac cube by cube by herself.
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I can attest to that :lol
 
I'm using u-pol raptor liner. So far the stuff is easy to use and looks great. 120$ gets you the gun and a gallon worth .
 
This weekend I spent quite a bit of time working the trailer but I also had more interruptions than I had expected. The first job was to attach the base board. I want to be able to remove the box on occasion and be left with basically a flat bed trailer.*

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First thing was to clearance the wood around the trailer frame bolts do that the board sits completely flat against the frame. I simply marked or the areas and ran a router around those sections. Then I lined up the board and marked and drilled holes in the 3/4" board that lined up with existing holes in the trailer frame. I then used T-Nuts on the top of the board and ran 3/8" bolts up from the bottom. The result was a board mounted to the trailer and the surface is completely devoid of bolt heads or nuts. I love using t-nuts for that reason.


With the trailer bed taken care of it was time start tackling the box. I laid out my gear on the trailer and built in some extra room in each compartment to leave some room for possible gear upgrades in the future. After I had my wife look at it and try to sharp shoot my design (I asked her to do that to help force me to think through the whole thing) I was ready to start cutting. The plans look like they call for 2x2s as corner blocks.* All the 2x2s at the big box lumber yard were complete crap. So instead I decided to pick up a bunch of 2x4s and rip them in half on the table saw. The results were 10x better than buying them pre cut and cheaper in the end. The next step was to glue and screw the 2x2 corner blocks to the box base.

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I ran enough glue to create just a bit of how squeeze out when screwed down tight. I put a couple screws in from the top to hold the corner blocks in place while I flip over the plywood. By screwing the plywood to the corner blocks from the plywood side, the screw catches each layer of the plywood creating a much better bond. I also buried each screw head about 1/8" below the surface so that I can go back later and use wood filler and completely hide the screws. I used more screws than I had expected but I trust the experience of others who have built similar projects. There are screws every 3-4 inches. I also used Tite Bond III glue which is great stuff. With all those screws, there was no need to use clamps.


I then flipped the bottom back over and started laying out the compartment dividers and the front panel. I decided to use full width 2x4s for the side pieces so that there would be some substantial material connecting the come blocks. This should also add a lot of rigidity to the box, but may be overkill for someone that doesn't plan on carrying a load on top of their box. I related the process of glue and screw for 2 panels but tab of of time for this weekend.

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I'm out of town this week so I'm not getting any work done on the trailer unfortunately. But I think the progress will be steady once I get back to it. I'll need to buy a lot more glue and a couple more boxes of screws.

Dan
http://the4x4podcast.com
 
It's been a bit since the last update and no work has been completed. But some more stuff has arrived.

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Here we have the replacement springs and hanger brackets. This replaces the crappy slipper springs that came with the harbor freight frame. These are softer but heavier duty and uses a proper shackle setup. I need to get them primed and painted before I install them.

While I'm at the painting I need to shoot the wheels with a fresh coat of paint. And if better do that soon because the axle and tires will be ready for install soon too.

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Also last week I paid a visit to Lodge Manufacturing headquarters at South Pittsburgh, TN. Lodge hooked me up with one of their new seasoned steel skillets and a slotted steel griddle. These pieces will be perfect for the camp cook set. The seasoned steel is lighter weight than cast iron but is cared for the same way.

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I also added another dutch oven to my kit because it's nice to be able to have dessert cooking at the same time as dinner so they are both ready to be enjoyed.

Dan
Typos courtesy of Tapatalk
http://the4x4podcast.com
 
Is that the kit from Dinoot trailer? I have been looking at it for mine, love to see how the install goes and here what you think of the ride
 
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