Thread: Slunnie's enclosed trailer build

A little more time on the trailer this afternoon.

The top rear Xmember is removable. The original carcass Xmember there was removed and replaced. This is just made from 50x5 flat and 50x50x3 EA. The ends are made from 12mm round with the ends machined into a taper to make fitment easy. The design allows a few things:
1. It is removable to make loading possible using hoists.
2. Prevents water coming in through the top of the doors.
3. It allows upper door sliding bolts to lock into it.
4. Locks into place when the lid is closed.

I was going to insert a crush tube into the trailer frame for the Xmember to locate in, but it will drain into the corner post and so it wont work. The Xmember now will just locate into a hole, and I will just use a 50x50 plastic plug to seal the top which will allow access if anything falls in the hole.and drainage if needed. The holes for the bottom sliding bolts are drilled and the locks are operational. The tops ones... well, I broke the new drill bit in the bottom holes - very annoying!

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Guards are now on also. Levelled the trailer with a digital spirit level and then levelled the guards. Done using centres from the axle line. The guards sit 150mm over the tyres which is a fraction more than the chassis clearance of the fishplates (it is sprung over, so the fishplates are on top of the springs). Hopefully the tyres don't hit the guards! I managed to catch fire welding the guards on, I haven't done that for a while! I just caught a spark in the cuff and it lit up. No burns due to an old shirt underneath.

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Bit more this afternoon.

Top rear Xmember drilled out for the upper locks. Its actually a pretty cool setup how the doors lock in top and bottom. That top cross member is as solid as a rock when the lid is locked down, no movement at all. Hmmm, I'd better put the other bolts in those latches.

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The flip lid has had a cable put on it. Just some chain link welded top and bottom, 3mm plastic coated cable (so it is quiet and not abrasive) and a couple of D shackles. Its also really good because to close the lid you can just grab the cable and it pulls the lid across. Its close with the front latch on the lid, but it all works well.

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Spare tyre has been mounted underneath. It is mounted using 50x50x6 EA and 1/2" threaded rod. Because I made an error and placed the axle 1"/ft rear of centreline instead of 1/2"/ft rear of C/L the spare is in a good spot behind the axle to take some weight of the nose. It sits just behind the axle, so I don't think it will promote trailer wagging. I think that location will also settle the trailer down over bumps when empty. That said, it is really really hard to get the spare tyre onto the bolts. It may be better with a lighter tyre like the normal Ford pattern etc, but with the steel 4WD tyre it was a massive PITA and very heavy! It needs a winch. That said, it is in a good spot. Valve faces down so pressures can be checked. If it falls out, It'll probably take me a year to notice.

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You must like a challenge, not using a winch and using 4 bolts instead of 3!

Let's hope you never need to use it!

Originally Posted by Graeme

You must like a challenge, not using a winch and using 4 bolts instead of 3!

You’re not wrong! Actually, not only just getting the wheel on, the other thing I found is that it is difficult to get all 4 wing nuts tight, because as one gets tightened, another one will loosen off. It may potentially be better to drop a bolt out again. Well if not, it may very well just do it by itself.

Originally Posted by jh972

Let's hope you never need to use it!

I hope so too! I think out on the road there would be no chance of getting the flat back into the holder!

Just some fluffy bits done yesterday. Tied the leading suspension points into the drawbar with 50x5 flat to increase rigidity. I build with heavy wall in the lower chassis rails and drawbar so there isn't cracking issues ever, even at the expense of weight, however these additional plates on the inside and outside of the chassis between the suspension mount and the drawbar are there to provide additional reinforcement by removing any flex which may lead to a failure. The way we do this normally has never resulted in a failure that I'm aware of, but this will make sure. On the inside there is a cutout in the DS plate to allow the wiring harness to pass through. Those new plates also gave the guards a bit more weld area for increased rigidity.

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Tail lights have gone in. I'm using a plug and play system because it is easy. The students gave me crap about having blinkers at the top and not the outer sides, its just like that to make sure that the blinkers can be viewed from the necessary side angles, but I think even if they were mounted the way the students like it would have been absolutely fine.

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The top and bottom plates that the doors lock in to have been trimmed back and rounded off a touch. I've done this as a bevel rather than rounding just so it fits in with the trailers square design aesthetics. Just dresses it a bit better than what it was and hopefully no injuries come from it.

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The missing bolts have gone into the door sliding bolts. This one was an interesting one as a nut wouldn't fit behind the door because it closes onto the floors rear Xmember. In the end I drilled it out 5mm and tapped an M6x1 thread and used the door as a nut instead. Then just trimmed the excess bolt thread off. I might loctite those bolts after it gets painted so they don't eventually fall out.

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As the tail-lights aren't likely to be visible from the side, a small yellow strip reflector on the outside of the tail-light surrounds might help ensure that the back edge is visible side-on if side clearance lights aren't to be fitted.

I am very pleased to see, Simon, that you are copying the taillights of my Hay R trailer! Well done.