Rath's Trailer Build - First Test Pull Done!

[Rath]

some progress, welded on some hinges last night, and pulled it up to a customers paint shop to throw some paint on it.

 

[Rath]

Ran back up to the shop to slap some paint on the other side of the sheet, and the lid, and now we let it all dry till tomorrow afternoon and bring it home!

 

[Rath]

pulled the trailer home today, and got the wood all bolted in! We're in the home stretch!

 

[smritte]

Lookin good. I wish I had access to a paint booth. Hanging tarps in the garage sucks.

 

[Rath]

Lookin good. I wish I had access to a paint booth. Hanging tarps in the garage sucks.

I definitely got lucky! Knowing the right people pays off haha. paint came out much better than it would have if I did it at home.

 

[morganwest95]

That trailer is looking awesome. And I am also a big fan of your Ranger ;)

 

[Rath]

That trailer is looking awesome. And I am also a big fan of your Ranger ;)

Thanks!!

 

[Rath]

we're in the home stretch! Lid is riveted together, and back on the trailer. also riveted on the latches, and the foam between to seal.

If the weather is nice tomorrow, I'll be working on lights.

 

[Rath]

side markers on, lights are all wired together now, and the plug is installed in the truck.... not very pretty but it's functional (hopefully) also have the fenders and some 1" square tube to mount them up. I have everything I need, just need time to finish the small things.

I wanted to have the plug over left a teeny bit more, but due to bumper brackets I couldn't. so, hacking into the plastic is what I did lol.

 

[Rath]

buttoning up a bunch of small things the last few days. trimmed the fenders up, and bent them outwards a tiny bit. trimmed 7" off the front and 5" off the back. and made mounts. I made them to bolt into existing holes that hold the wood on, as to not leave any extra holes if I choose to change tire setup and require different fenders in the future.

and painted

also did a bunch of time consuming brace isntalling. this was done to keep the corners tight into the corners, and the boards solid at the ends. since I only have bolts in the middles. Not the best looking thing in the world, but this one is function over form

Oh yeah, and I also finally got a grade 8 bolt to hold the pintle ring, and used a couple washers to attach my safety cables.

 

[Rath]

*note I will be drilling a hole in the hitch bolt, for a pin. and also using loctite on the nut.

 

[Rath]

few more odds and ends coming together, first trip in 2 weeks!

Tongue jack is now on

also got the gas shocks mounted to the lid/trailer. They are luckily the perfect strength and moutning position! only a little bit of math was involved in choosing where they mounted, and it worked out!

lid stays open, safely open, on it's own! very easy to open and close as well.

I did get some rigid insulation to install in the lid, and some I may install in the sides as well, as I will have a cooler in the trailer, so I figured a little extra help wouldnt hurt

 

[Rath]

cut and tossed in some insulation in the lid and the sides today. I will be covering the sides with thin sanded plywood, for looks and to prevent the insulation from getting wrecked.

This should help at least a little bit to keep some of the heat out and let the cooler stay cool.

 

[Dilldog]

buttoning up a bunch of small things the last few days. trimmed the fenders up, and bent them outwards a tiny bit. trimmed 7" off the front and 5" off the back. and made mounts. I made them to bolt into existing holes that hold the wood on, as to not leave any extra holes if I choose to change tire setup and require different fenders in the future.

and painted

also did a bunch of time consuming brace isntalling. this was done to keep the corners tight into the corners, and the boards solid at the ends. since I only have bolts in the middles. Not the best looking thing in the world, but this one is function over form

Oh yeah, and I also finally got a grade 8 bolt to hold the pintle ring, and used a couple washers to attach my safety cables.

Just a heads up, using the same bolt for retaining your coupler and safety devices is not USDOT legal. Might want to look into Canadian legality too. Otherwise that is an awesome build, super clean professional work.

 

[Rath]

Just a heads up, using the same bolt for retaining your coupler and safety devices is not USDOT legal. Might want to look into Canadian legality too. Otherwise that is an awesome build, super clean professional work.

good looking out! I did indeed check into this before going this route, different provinces have different regulations, everything I could find for my location doesnt mention anything against this. Also the pictures shown when registering (they didnt even need any, but I offered) included a photo of that and nothing was mentioned so I *should* be good to go! from a safety standpoint, it's far stronger than most trailers tiny little welded chains are anyways :P

 

[Dilldog]

good looking out! I did indeed check into this before going this route, different provinces have different regulations, everything I could find for my location doesnt mention anything against this. Also the pictures shown when registering (they didnt even need any, but I offered) included a photo of that and nothing was mentioned so I *should* be good to go! from a safety standpoint, it's far stronger than most trailers tiny little welded chains are anyways :P

Cool deal and I get what you're saying. Just be aware if you head down south you might get hassled.

 

[Rath]

no plans of that anytime soon lmao. but thanks for the heads up.

 

[Roam Wild Overland]

good looking out! I did indeed check into this before going this route, different provinces have different regulations, everything I could find for my location doesnt mention anything against this. Also the pictures shown when registering (they didnt even need any, but I offered) included a photo of that and nothing was mentioned so I *should* be good to go! from a safety standpoint, it's far stronger than most trailers tiny little welded chains are anyways :P

Smart to look into it in advance.

This is a great link to the various safety regulations for trailers within Canada, if you're ever interested. It's a bit dated, but most relevant information has not changed recently.

http://nmma.net/assets/cabinets/Cabinet486/Safety%20Chains%20for%20Trailers.pdf

I do not know standards in your specific Province, but I can say that would not be passed here in Nova Scotia. The two retention systems (hitch and safety chains) have to be completely separate and distinct from one another (ie. no common components). Obviously not a concern if you only intend to stay in your Province, but maybe something to consider if you plan any cross country travel in the event that something unexpected were to take place resulting in serious damage or an injury.

Build looks awesome, you've done a great job.

 

[Rath]

yep. that was one of the resources I used. Looked into as much as I could as I didnt want to have to re-do things when I went to register it.

and in all honesty, I could simply just throw a weld around the pintle ring, into the tongue itself, and that would be two seperate points of attachment at that point :P loopholes.

 

[smritte]

Personally, I wouldn't weld the pintle. Down the road you may want to change to a multi axis hitch or even a ball mount. I ran a pintle on my M-100 for a short while and got tired of the noise it made off-road. The street was fine though. Its nice to be able to switch around if necessary.
When I got my M-100, the previous owner had welded a ball mount on. I cut that off and welded in a piece of hitch tube and ran the pintle. Then I built a multi axis and stayed with that.
Their also easy to build. If you can build that trailer, you have the skill to build the hitch. Inspection wise, out here their concerned with brakes, safety chains, breakaway devices, getting their money and have never looked at what the hitch was ( have made a few for friends). If it was an issue, its an easy swap.