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this truck started out as being a project, had 180k miles on it, found out it needed a transmission (no 1gear 4r44e auto) needed a windshield and a few other minor things. body was decent so i thought id pull the bed to make a trailer from it later, put a simple wood flatbed on it, sell it and look for something diffrent. got a few offers, mostly people wanting to trade. one day i took it out for a spin, came home and was thinking about playing out in a field with it. so i go out, start drifting and somehow, someway when i went to turn left and do a powerslide it got a grip and i rolled it onto its roof. motor was still running with it upside down. i went and got a tractor to get it back on its wheels. top of cab was crushed in and had body damage to the right side. it sat for about a month, during which my (very nice) 92 was stolen and i needed another running truck. picked up a rough 94 2.3 longbed, it needed a few things but it was stuff i could take from the rolled 97, cab mounts, fuel tank , rear bumper, ect. after i took off what i needed, i thought id remove the frame from the trans crossmember back and make a trailer. the bed on the 94 wasnt as good as the bed on the 97 so i had already transfered the bed over, but the 94 bed is still good enough to be a trailer. following is a list of picture links. its almost done now, just want to put a toolbox on the front for a saw and gear, give it a little more tounge weight.
the beginning: 1997 3.0 automatic 2wd longbed xlt: ($500)
notched and bent in front frame rails, slid in a 3x3 square steel tube for a tounge, a heavy peice of angle iron as a crossmember and welded together, lincoln electrode arc welder used:
oddly enough i needed a trailer and this wasnt done yet, so still in primer and not really ready but useable, i bolted down a 3/4 sheet of plywood with eyebolts and did what i needed to do. some magnetic lights on the frame and away it went to pick up a new stove and fridge:
painted frame black, added coil helpers to axle just like i have my other rangers. theres room betweed top of coil and frame so it rides the same, only comes into play when enough weight has compressed stock susupention.:
and bed back on, debating on paint, im going to make my 94 ranger a blue/silver two-tone, not sure if i want to do this trailer to match or make it allis-chalmers orange to my 1942 "C". still going to add a truck box on front of frame for a saw or other gear:
i'll add more pictures later, right now this is where the project is, think its turned out pretty good. i thought about having a surge brake coupler on it hooked ut to the drum brakes on rear axle but but im not sure it would really work all that well with such a light trailer, laoded with wood the tractor would pull it and wouldnt be going very fast.
rear axle is still stock and could be used if needed in another truck, all i did to it was back the brake adjusters all the way off, sometimes when drum brakes sit they end up rusting fast to the drums, trailer may set for a month or more at times between being used and i didnt want to need it and the rear wheels be locked. its actually the axle from my 94 truck, i swapped out the factory axle for one with 4.10's, it originally had 3.45's the silver ranger axle was the same ratio but had a leaking axle seal, it was quicker (and cheaper) to swap out axles than to run to town for a axle seal. i had already changed gear oil in the rear end before i took axle off the running truck. if i had to do it over again, id probly pull off the backing plates and if i needed to run tiny tires (like from a pontoon boat trailer) to have trailer closer to the ground when using it with the tractor. yes the rim design is the same between truck and trailer, but truck is running 15's and the trailer has 14's.
almost finished, have side racks and a tool box on now, great to have a lockable dry-storage for saw, oil/gas and other gear. working on a tailgate right now and i going to put a back bumper on, miss having a step on the back when i want to get in the bed. havbe used it a few times getting wood, works really well.
back bumper on and a matching 2-tone tailgate. bumper is a little bent up but will work as a step and to hold a licence plate. used the back 2 bed mounting bolt location for back bumper mount, about a 10" bolt all the way through bed through both ears of the frame and to the bumper. cut 2 4" peices of pipe to go between upper and lower frame rails, also have a peice of heavy angle on bottom side of frame for support. might someday drag a small spliiter behind trailer when going to the woods for firewood. overkill? yes, but i wont have to worry at all about losing the splitter, and if whole rig were to get stuck, id be more confident in useing back bumper as a spot to hook a chain to.
yes, it seems very stable. ive thought about putting a boat trailer surge brake coupler on and hooking it up to the stock drum brakes still on the trailer. would be very easy to do, rear brakes worked fine when the axle was in use on the truck.
Haha... I'm not the only one with a truck-trailer.
I picked it up already mostly done and towable for $125.00. I did have to go over some of the welds, as they were pi$$ poor. It needed some things, and a friend of mine was scraping his old farm truck at about the same time, so I got the rear bumper, both tail lights, bed liner, tailgate cables and topper before it went to the junk yard. I had a pair of 10" wide aluminum wheels with 31x10.5 tires mounted on them sitting in the barn, so I replaced the mis-matched and weather checked tires with them, and bought an un-used aluminum box off Craigslist for $80.00 for the front. Some wouldn't pull these type of trailers, but for about $200 bucks out of pocket, I have a pretty (in my opinion) decent hillbilly enclosed trailer.
nice looking 3/4 ton in the background, hope its still a useable truck. like my truck bed trailer, have a regular box trailer but sometimes its just more than i need and the ranger will handle the ranger trailer better than my 6x10 haulmark.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/154582078@N03/, on Flickr
just weighed mine today, since trailer licence fees for non-commercial trailers are based on weight of trailer, i took off everything i could to make it weigh as little as possible. no side racks or cap, no tailgate, no toolbox or rear bumper, and i took off my 235/15 tires on the 15x8 steel rims and put on some skinny 13" rims/tires. i even tiik the brake drums off of the ranger axle when i changed tires. i considered buying a "trailer axle" to save even more weight but thats $100 that i dont think would be worth the licence fee reduction. plus id be replacing a 3,000 pound rated axle for a 2,000 pound axle. even if i really would be ok with a 2,000 pound axle, its nice to know i have plenty of "overloading" reserve with the stock 7.5 ranger rear end. weight as i "stripped" it down to was 748 pounds. no doubt id be over 800 with bumper, brake drums, bigger tires, tailgate & toolbox. sure, i only saved a few bucks to be in the 700-800 pound range, but every bit helps. and i can fix a few things while its all apart. (like how the toolbox wasnt quite level when the trailer bed was)
