Jeep Trailer Build

[Toolman]

Looks like fun

[RAT]

Coming along nicely. So are you done yet? How about now?

[NAILER341]

Great looking project!

[HookandLadder]

So I need some feed back. I am trying to determine the location of my axle. I plan on using the 60/40 rule for 60% of the trailer/load toward the tongue. Does this seem right? Where do I measure from, the front of tongue then back 60% or, measure from where the tub will mount on the crossmember then back 60%?

Next question.
I have some leaf springs from a 1997 Chevy Tahoe. They are 53" long. Leaf springs made for trailers seem to max out at 30" and are rated at about 1500lbs. I suspect the Tahoe springs are about that same capacity. What is the benefit of using the longer leaf spring from the Tahoe verse the shorter leafs for a trailer?

What do you think would be a good spring capacity? I was thinking of 2000lbs?

Here are some pictures to help

[aw12345]

Long springs at the same spring rate will give ya more flex. Seems to me the 60/40 ratio you measure from the tongue to the axle

[Tumbleweed13]

THIS IS JUST AN EDUCATED GUESS! Seems like it would work to me. If someone smarter then me can shoot holes thru my theory, feel free.

At the rear crossmember of the trailer frame, place a brick, or 4x4 under each corner. Then put the tongue on a scale. This should give you 100% of the weight on the tongue. Record that number. Now, systematically move the blocks forward on the frame rails, evenly of course. Once you've got a weight that is 40% less then your 1st number, that should give you your 60/40 axle placement. Make sure the blocks are a few inches higher then the scale, so the weight is leaning forward, a bit.

[alittleoff]

Ryan,
When I made my trailer I already had the Toyota truck bed, axle and leaf springs. Although I couldn't make the 60/40 thing happen, I made up for it with the tool box on the tongue. Over the years the soft truck springs have flattened out to where most loads ride on the bump stops. When I redo things I plan on replacing the truck bed with a home built version and using a shorter, 4 or 5 pack spring. Oh and make it a dump bed too.
See you Sunday.

Steve

PS.

And since it's a single axle trailer, axle travel is not really needed. It just needs to hold up the load.
If I did some kind of swing arm set up with coils, shocks would be added.

[6spdYJ]

THIS IS JUST AN EDUCATED GUESS! Seems like it would work to me. If someone smarter then me can shoot holes thru my theory, feel free.

At the rear crossmember of the trailer frame, place a brick, or 4x4 under each corner. Then put the tongue on a scale. This should give you 100% of the weight on the tongue. Record that number. Now, systematically move the blocks forward on the frame rails, evenly of course. Once you've got a weight that is 40% less then your 1st number, that should give you your 60/40 axle placement. Make sure the blocks are a few inches higher then the scale, so the weight is leaning forward, a bit.

It sounds solid, but you should ideally have the tongue at the hitch height of it's intended vehicle. The CG will shift forward or back depending on the hitch height. To be really picky, it should be loaded as intended to give a true reference.
That being said, who's Jeep stays at one height for anything longer than the lifespan of a set of tires? Let alone the probability of loading it exactly the same for every trip...
Most people would use jackstands, but I have to give you extra redneck credit for mentioning bricks and 4x4's instead. That made my day! Seriously, it brought back fond memories
Oh yeah, there is a long list of people who would argue the "smarter than" thing - starting with me.

[Tumbleweed13]

It sounds solid, but you should ideally have the tongue at the hitch height of it's intended vehicle. The CG will shift forward or back depending on the hitch height. To be really picky, it should be loaded as intended to give a true reference.
That being said, who's Jeep stays at one height for anything longer than the lifespan of a set of tires? Let alone the probability of loading it exactly the same for every trip...
Most people would use jackstands, but I have to give you extra redneck credit for mentioning bricks and 4x4's instead. That made my day! Seriously, it brought back fond memories
Oh yeah, there is a long list of people who would argue the "smarter than" thing - starting with me.

LIKE :thumbs_up

[Zoobi]

I just noticed I missed your call the other day. My trailer weighs in at just shy of 1500 lbs fully loaded including 15 gal water tank and 15 gal fuel (mounted on front). My springs are 30 inch long and if I remember are rated at 1000lbs. I prefer the longer spring for smoothing out the bumps. I ended up making the tongue longer to put more weight forward , then I read somewhere about measuring wheel base on your tow vehicle then matching part of it so the trailer tracks the same. Don't remember exactly what it was but, when I tested it the trailer turning radius it matched the jeep perfectly. One mistake that I made was if the fuel and water are empty I have to throw my tool bags in the front of the trailer to give me more tongue weight for the highway. Not a big problem and easy to cure. I moved my RTT forward and it helps some.

Scott

[HookandLadder]

So I spent the last few days coming up with alternative spring ideas to the Tahoe springs, as they seem too wide and not stiff enough. After digging around online and researching the m416 military jeep trailers spces I found they use old 1950 era front CJ3 spring. I found several sites that offer the springs with different leaf spring stacks. The springs are approx. 36" in length. This is longer than a standard trailer spring but shorter than a truck/suv spring. They cost about $125 each but have a width of 1.75" and will fit within my 2" wide frame rail. I could not find a supplier for the hangers, so I will have to custom make those.

While doing an Adopt A Trail project I took some measurements of the m416 trail we use for trail projects which is owned by the USFS. The springs are from on old CJ3.



The other day I managed to finish cutting and fitting of the metal frame together










I welded most of the joints together. I am not sure about the tongue length yet, I will weld that together once I more accurately determine the axle location. I have my measurement set on 60/40 for its location.





Off to shopping for springs on the internet!.

Anyone have experience in using the MAX Coupler from kilby...I am looking into buying it for my coupling connection

[alittleoff]

Ryan, we need a pic of you on your fire truck.

Steve

[Zoobi]

I built my own hitch after reading about some of the failures on the multi axis hitches.
I based my build on this guys plan http://tventuring.com/trailerforum/thread-65.html
I changed the design a little and made it heavier. One of the things I did was add a stop so it wouldn't rotate 360 degrees. As far as I know, no one puts limits into them. So far its saved my trailer twice. One of the problems with the "bought" ones is sliding them together. I built a ramp into it so the cross pin lines up perfectly when they go together.

Scott

[Ol Man]

I assume you already know about this site:

https://www.etrailer.com/

[daniel_buck]

I've seen photos of that 3 axis hitch, but i've not seen the build thread on it, thanks for the link!