So i haven't been on in awhile (life been busy)

Not sure where to post this but, thought most of you know my rig, here was fitting.

As most of you know i purchased this a couple months ago, havent made much progress till just recently





Here is how I am making my bolt pattern match the X


Better shot of body damage that needs repaired


Had to remove whole panel to work it better

Crappy cell pic but a lot straighter than before


The wife picked up the steel for the frame while i was on the road, it's 3x4x.120wall except for the tongue which is 3x3x3/16


Cutting steel




Went to weld it the same day I cut it but, my machine was broken. Ended up being a contactor and some other small parts ($450) lol

3 weeks later got my machine back, couldn't wait to melt some metal together






Welds aren't to bad for not welding seriously in a bunch of years


Almost all done but running out of daylight


The wife even tried her hand at welding for the first time


Not bad for her first weld


Here is my custom superduty trailer axle with matching bolt pattern, brakes and parking brake.




HaHa 16" of ground clearance


No leafs yet, just testing height of frame and clearances




Wow what a work out with only 2 of us getting the frame under the body


After about 2 hrs of wrestling got it on


Had to see what it looked like behind X, It's far from road ready but a huge milestone.






Currently it has 30" of ground clearance at the frame, I think thats enough

 

now that is too frickin' cool

 

Will be subscribing to this. Great progress.

What kind of plans do you have for this?

 

Curious, why not use a pickup frame?

 

The main purpose of the trailer is going to be an adventure/camping trailer, eventually it will be able to be off grid for at least a week or so.
Plans are to include water storage(50+gals), solar charging for 4-6v(wired for 12v) amg batteries, water purification and heater, sink, shower(free standing type), and stove/oven and a couple off RTT(roof top tents,one for the kids and one for the wife and I)

The main reason for not using a pickup frame was weight and also I can customize where i need the cross members for under body storage tank(water and fuel)

 

One word.... AWESOME!!!!!

 

Great idea, and very nice work. I like the project. Please keep the Photos and info flowing.

 

Very cool Ray, looking forward to pics of your progress.

 

Awesome use of the utility bed.

Why such a long tongue on the trailer?

 

My guess is clearance to the tow rig, easy of accessing the rear cargo with the trailer hooked up, and maneuverability - especially while backing up. Short trailers with a long tow vehicle can be a wee bit uncooperative when reversing. Trailer turns on a dime, rig doesn't lol.

 

Makes sense, I was concerned about "high centering" on the tongue since he is using it off-road.

On second thought, WTF Ray is a professional semi driver. He knows what he is doing. Carry on Ray.

 

That is freaking awesome! Looking forward to see the progress.

 

Thx Mark, I needed that humor. Ray any plans for a topper?

 

awesome, i love it!

i still like the idea of taking my old wrecked Ex and making it into a trailer....

 

It will have a spare mounted standing up(on the left side),2-20# propane tanks on the right side and then a box with 4-6v batteries in front of that. After all that is on the tongue, I still wanted to be able to jack knife the trailer if needed. The trailer from tongue to center of axle is only about 3" shorter than the wheelbase of the X.