We might as well start right here for this trailer! A 64 inch wide axle to match the width of my 4Runner, equipped with electric brakes and my old wheels and tires off of the 2015 4Runner. I also needed a adapter to go from trailer axle to Toyota bolt pattern. The main goal of using these wheels would be that if I got a flat tire I could share a spare tire with truck and trailer.
A little more info on why I'm building my own trailer. I was never going to build my own trailer because I do not have the experience or know how to tackle a project like this but the price of buying a trailer that I was looking for was ridiculously priced. What I did have though was a little welding experience from working on the Land Cruiser, some fellow co-workers telling me its no big deal to build my own trailer, and lastly............ the internet! haha All you need is the time to read forums, and some motivation and drive.
It's really nice you can just buy a axle and spring kit, you just need to purchase the steel yourself. I followed another trailer build pretty damn closely but I still did this all by myself.( yea I'm proud of myself haha). There are many different ways you can build a trailer but what I am going for is a off-road trailer, possibly strong enough to roll on a trail and withstand a rough and bumpy trail or road hence why I'm using this heavy tube steel. I spent a total of $2200 to build this trailer minus the wheels since I already had them.
Figuring out how tall I want this trailer to sit, so I'm measuring the height of my 4Runner to match it to that.
Got all the steel cut and laid out on the ground! I don't know how professional it is to do it like this but that's how I'm doing it. I will make sure it's square and flat as possible before I actually weld it all up. It's also very nice that I have the opportunity to use a shop full of tools! I'm using a band saw to cut all these pieces.
Got the springs attached to axle and bolted down to the same width as I built the trailer.
Trying to keep it tight as possible while I tack it together.
Just tack welded for now until I know this is how I want it.
Here's my best guess at where I think these springs should be positioned. If I screw this up the trailer could pull down the highway terribly and possibly sway all over the place.
I just the rebar in the tube there to help me move the trailer around by myself, its slowly starting to get heavy.
Next up figure out my tongue length, I know that I want to be able to jack knife without hitting the trailer.
Pretty much done for now! Finished it just enough for me to get a license plate for it. Tail lights are just wired up for now, I will get to the brakes another day also.
Finally got the trailer home and I'm using my own welder to weld the tool box on.
Last minute touches, welding the Rooftop tent onto the trailer. I did not have enough time to find the proper bolts to bolt it down haha.
The same night I welded the tent on top, we loaded it full of all our gear for camping.
That next day we drove the trailer five hours to cypress hills for it's first camp trip! Everything went awesome besides loosing the licence plate because I was in such a rush to put it on properly. If you look closely you can see I tack welded the aluminum plate to the steel trailer haha. Does anyone else do stupid stuff like me?
The next day we headed back over to the Saskatchewan side of Cypress hills and this is how we were set up for a week long. Everything was awesome with trailer but some things I'd like to add would be a door on the side of the trailer for easy access to food, instead of digging through a big tote. Also another door on the trailer for easy access to frying pans and miscellaneous stuff like that. Maybe some day a battery setup for charging phones and powering lights and maybe also a twelve volt fridge!
Well the trailer went through a winter with no paint or anything on it. So of course it's covered in a light layer of surface rust now...... I never painted it because I was never actually done cutting into it.
Up up and away the trailer goes. I ended up having kids and wanted to get a camper trailer to use for the next few years to keep everyone comfortable. I plan to pull the trailer down off the sea can to finish it soon! I swear I will finish it! Any new work that I do to it will be posted here. Thanks everyone for taking the time and reading my build thread!
Some kind of brace to keep that tongue strong and solid.
I will be going with three jacks to keep it stable will up in the rooftop tent.
Ou la la a sheet of steel!
Floor is in and starting to do the four corners! If you guys and gals notice how dark it is outside, this trailer was built in between working twelve to fifteen hours a day at my day job, playing baseball till nine at night, and having some kind of life. I typically worked on this project from 9:30 at night till 1 in the morning. A camping trip was coming up very soon and needed to be done!
Coming along!
You have to do what ever works to get it straight and square as possible.
Got the top frame tacked in.
Ready to start enclosing it!
Time to build a back door.
Weld on greasable hinges.
The whole thing is sheeted! The latches for the door are just from amazon. Some of you may notice how the sheet metal is only tacked on and thats how it's going to stay. Enough people have said you don't need to waste the time, welding wire, and gas to weld full beads. So I guess I'll try it out myself and let you people know how it works out.
Chains welded on and a Max Coupler hitch installed. The hitch is designed for off-road trailers specifically to allow it to swivel properly on a trail.
This is the most simple and easiest way I could of built the fenders, I was in a time crunch so this is what I came up with. Yes I will improve them another day.