Me and a few of my friends are looking at tackling a new project. since none of us have a trailer were gonna try and build our one. After looking around at prices and axle kits and what not we figure we can get it done for 1000 dollars depending on the going rate of steel.

Were looking at using (3) 3500lb 4inch drop axles ( one with electric brakes and the others with idler hubs) The axles and suspension are the only significant costs from what we could tell. then most likely 4 or 5 inch C channel for the frame and 3 inch angle for the floor bracing. If we can swing the money will do a diamond plate top. If not regular Hardwood will have to do.

Any body have any PDF blue Print Files or links to sights that have trailer designs with the blueprints. We have a pretty good idea on what were gonna do we just need to figure out the exact dimensions.

Would Three axles be overkill... Yes. But I like overkill in most circumstances. lol


Thanks guys,
-john

 

musy be a 2 place traier if ur going with a tri axel

 

Northern tools and equipment sells plans for trailers,parts,etc.Prices look kind of high though.I'm not sure about where you are but,where I live we have a steel supplier that sells just about everything needed,axles,fenders,hitches,etc.Better to buy local than paying high shipping costs IMO.

 

if you can get eh alluminum ramps from a box truck you can use them for the car toi sit up on there long enought to do that that might save you some money there

 

This is my trailer:

http://www.bigtextrailers.com/pdf/70dm.pdf

http://www.akmcables.com/trailer.htm

It's got some measurements in the file there. Not quite enough to build one, but a start.

Only thing I don't like is that a 9" floor to wheel well height is too much for an F-body to get your door open. Make it 4"-6" max.

 

Camaroholic,

thanks for the links thats some good info there. I guess we may jus stay with the tandem axle setup. The only reason I wanted to go three axle is to be able to pull my truck if ever need be. ( 01 Ram 2500 w/ cummins) which comes in around 8800lbs gvwr if i remember correctly. But the tandem should be able to get the job done if need be.

I figure on using two 3500lb 4inch drop axles, If i cant swing the cash we may opt for the 7000lb drop axles and maike it real beefy. I figure the drop axles should put the trailer just about on the ground which would make it perfect for a Fbody. It may increase the distance between the floor and wheel well height tho. but we can probably rig up something. Were going to go with 1/4inch expanded steel most likely instead of hardwood.


Keep the info coming guys,


-thanks

-john

 

u ever look on ebay for one there not to pricey used

 

yea but that defeats the purpose and fun of building one exactly how we want it lol



-john

 

my buddy built his own trailer for 2 4wheelers or 2 snowmobiles. IT was a POS but served the purpose. I think he just got a cheap axle kit and then just built the rest out of wood and a little bit of metal.

 

I just bought this trailer this past week and it should be plenty big enough to put the dodge on. its a 20ft floor that is 83" wide and has two 5200lb axles under it. i payed 2800 out the door with all the extras.

20ft trailer
Trailer with my ss on it

 

If you want to build a trailer for fun, then by all means, it can be a very rewarding project.

But don't kid yourself about building it cheaper than you can buy it. A person coming in off the street will get raped on raw materials. Manufacturing houses get material at a significant savings.

 

Yes that is true. Now, if you have alot of materials at your disposal IE an old mobile home chassis or something like then then by all means go for it. My dad and I built a trailer out of an old mobile home chassis and just shortened the axles for our use. Disclaimer: Some states it is illegal to use mobile home wheels for anything but temporary transport. Good news is though that you can usually convert the hubs over easy enough anyways. Also it isn't a bad idea to swap out the brakes if you do use mobile home axles because more times than not they are shot. I know the ones on my dad's trailer were.

 

I have built a number of trailers. One, two and three axle boat trailers for boats up to 30 feet long. Small single axle lawn tractor size utility trailers, to a triple axle multipurpose one. A four horse trailer. One with a 98" inch wide by 15-foot long diamond plate tilt/dump bed, plus eight foot tailgate ramp, ridding on two 10,000 dual wheel axles, which will haul a car or a pick-up truck.

First get some plans, or have someone that knows what he is doing like an engineer look at what you come up with. Find a source of steel. I have a friend in the structural construction business that introduced me to the salesmen at a local steel supply business. They nominally don't like to deal with small orders, but they will sell me what I need. I always try to buy at least $250 whenever I need some steel. Standard lengths for most types of steel you would use, such as angle, channel, I beam etc. is sold in 20' or 40' lengths. Plate, expanded metal is sold by 4' X 8' or larger sheets. Some steel business will give you one free cut per piece but most charge for all cuts. Save some money and get a "porta-band" type saw. I got a cheap one from Harbor Freight just for this purpose and have been surprised, as it really is a good saw.

If I were building another trailer for primarily hauling a vehicle I would basically frame it, put in cross supports, and floor it with treated 2" X 6"s.

 

i have to agree on the cheaper buying than building..could it be done..yes if you search and search but ive been down the road myself..i have all the means necesssary to make a trailer, (friends with portable gas welders, chop saws etc..., plus access to any kind of metal working tools i need at work) we looked into building some and it wasnt cheap..the main things were the axles..we could never find a good price on them, by the time we bought the metal, lumber(if using that for the floor) hitch etc...it never worked out to be cheaper than we could just go buy one already done, painted, wired, with brakes..i actually myself just broke down and bought an 18ft utility medium duty trailer, bulldog hitch, one brake, treated deck etc..for 1500 out the door..i couldnt have built it for that with the price of steel and wood around here..plus getting the axles...if you can find some cheap axles..this is where youll save the money.

 

One idea to help you with door clearance that I saw at the drags this year. The trailer fenders were on a hinge so they could be opened. This created more clearance to allow the door to open to get in and out of the car easier. The fenders opened forward (aka tilted forward once the clasps were released). Pretty neat idea and worked well.

And try to use lighter materials where possible as the heavier the trailer is, the harder it will be to stop, etc. Lighter trailers will allow the tow vehicle brakes to last longer. My dad's friend built a steel trailer years ago as a project, but it was a tank and weighed a ton. He had a hard time selling it when the time came.

 

Well we jus finished up a CAD Design of the trailer were gonna build. so ill post up images of the CAD version shortly. The trailer ended up being approximately 8.5 ft wide, the deck is approximately 18ft long plus a 3foot dove tail in the rear so 21 ft total of deck length. The trailer itself is approx 25ft long end to end. We decided to go with a full deck width and drive over fenders for the times were hauling our mine or my buddies mud trucks plus i figure you can never have to much trailer space. we got the deck height from the ground to roughly 14 inches and down to 10inches at the rear of the dovetail. so ramp length is minimal. All of these dimensions are with the standard 3500lb straight axles. Were still considering using the 4inch drop axles which would really put the trailer on the ground at 10 inches for the deck and 6inches for the dovetail, but that may be to extreme.

We designed it primarily out of 2x3 boxed steel with .188" wall thickness and 3x3inch angle for the cross deck supports. We havnt decide what to run for the top deck material yet, were between 2x6 hardwood, aluminum diamond plate which is mad expensive, or 1/4" thick expanded steel.


What do ya guys think??


-john

 

Is a 4' tongue a standard length? I know that when I'm backing my enclosed trailer into my driveway, I have to almost jack knife the rig and the trailer edge gets awefully close to my truck's bumper.

Doing the drop axles will lower the deck, but remember you have to use a drop hitch for the tongue to keep it level. Class 4 and 5 drop recievers are pricey getting over a 4 or 6" drop.

Also, when you go that low, you have a long tail sticking out back there. Crossing over gutters leaving gas stations and such can cause the rear to drag the ground or the tongue to dig in.

If you decide to go that low, maybe consider a stepped hitch to get the hitch up off the ground.

BEFORE you deck it, install metal conduit to run the wires in. Over the long run, this will be a life saver.

Go ahead and run a 10 gauge hot wire in the loom so that if you put a battery on the trailer to run a winch, you'll already have the infrascture in place to keep it charged.

Driver's side fender ... Texas Rollback has a nifty design to remove the driver's side fender. The fender has two 6" metal stabs made from 3/8" steel rod. On the trailer frame, there are two 1/2" ID tubes that align with the stabs. The fender slides down into these tubes. Easy on and easy off. And gravity keeps them in place.

Just some random thoughts ....

 

Yeah, my deck is 18" high (according to that drawing), and I've dragged tail exiting gas stations. My license plate looks like a Z. Though with an 18" deck height, and 5' ramps, I still have to jack up the nose of the trailer to tilt the rear down so that the nose of my F-body doesn't hit. I've also taken out a turn light (and a buddy took out a turn light when he borrowed my trailer as well). I've since moved them 'in' to where they're completely under the angle iron bracket that they bolt to (they were sticking out past the angle iron just a bit).

I talked to the guy at the place where I bought my trailer about a removable fender. He didn't think of them very highly, and that's why he doesn't sell (from stock) any trailers with them. He said that they rattle a lot and sometimes fall off. I dunno... I got around it by stacking a couple 2x10's and bolting them to the floor. Put the front wheels on those, and I can open/close my doors just fine.

25 ft is a long trailer. My deck is 1/8" diamondplate steel and has no problem holding my car, though it 'oilcans' when you walk on it sometimes.

 

Im not 100% sure on the length of the tongue 4ft sounded good at the time if not well change it, we may make it a lil longer just to aid in the turning radius.

As for the hitch my ram already sits up high enough as it is so ive to run a drop hitch anyway, once the lift and new tires goes on it will be in the air another 10 plus inches so ive got to get a longer drop hitch anyway.



-john

 

This one looks good