LEDs are up and running

The offending leaky caliper. I'm expecting UPS from Kodiak tomorrow.

P3 mounted.

I'm 6'5" and 240 I sit a fair ways back in the truck so I needed it where I could reach it and see it easily through the wheel tilted down driving.

Rip - nice work! Where's the boat been during all this?

boats' been slipped.

been kind of a win/loose. The weather has absolutely sucked for 3+ weeks
not alot of boating lately, but the time and the fact that the boat has a place to be has made doing all this possible.

and the daily-driver econocar needed some repairs...
and I broke the tractor...

I just want all this mechanical mayhem and PITA over with about now!

caliper replaced
trailer is back on the ground
brakes bled...

Trailer turned out VERY nice! Great job; and this thread will be quite beneficial for members in the future.

had a hard time coming up with an LED side marker that would cover the "footprint" in the paint and the 1.5" hole at the one end that they torched out to run that one 18ga. wire through :rolleyes: for the stock Optronics incandescent teardrop marker...

these 12 LED Maxximas do the job. Stainless bezel. Full coverage of the stock lights accomodations and marks in the paint.

$11.99 each @ AWDirect

turned out nice.

just bought two of these...

Peterbuilt new surplus Mirrex polished alum.
18"W x 23.5"H x 28.5"L

They will be mounted rear opening (lengthwise)

I've come up with a mounting program of Uni-Strut hung with hose covered sq. bend u-bolt over the frame...
the pics will tell the tale when I get them going on
many advantages to this mounting program
super-strong
lots of floor supprt
no holes in the trailer
spaced an inch or so away from the frame

I'll put some 3M clear on the frame from the door opening a foot or so back to protect from accidental paint damage removing stuff from the box

7 cu. ft. per box
14 cu. ft. total storage

I paid $180 per box for them. :D
+ reasonable shipping.

these boxes were a steal.
14 cu ft. for $430 shipped and they are quality.

lap welded, premium alloy, corner bracing, S/S hardware, neoprene door weatherstrip, spring loaded lock cover.

Thanks Brian, I appreciate that. :)

the man's got two of these boxes left if anybody wants to jump!

also has 24" wides, but that is just too wide for outside trailer frame mounting IMHO.

Great job on the trailer. It looks super. I've learned a lot. Thanks for the pics of each step--makes it eaiser to understand.
Jay

thanks to US1 Fountain, well...

let the tongue gutting begin!

:)
If you are going to do it, go all out. ;)

I really like the simple, non converted-over look that mine ended up as now, that it's done. Once I ground the reinforcement tabs off and the tongue top flush with the coupler tube, there was no going back.

the brake lines are maybe just a few inches too long though they are standard issue length...

they will innevitably be in contact with the leaf spring, so I put some flex loom over then and will keep a close eye.

though I'm thinking old fasion storm door spring around them hung from the bottom of the frame will keep them out of trouble. ;)

the uni-strut for suspending the boxes which according to shipping wieght are 34 lbs. each. this is galvanized, so a good wash with TSP and water then sprayed multiple thin coats of a quality semi-gloss.

this material is usually $2-3 ft. my buddy hooked me up with some NOS from a past vendor for .75 ft.

$24.24 with tax for 3/ 10 ft. lengths.

this is the 14ga. he has the 12 over there in the current stuff @ 2.36 ft.
I'm 98% sure this will do fine.

u-bolts for this project are on the way.

I'm really considering going to an adjustable hight set-up.
this will allow for very subtle changes in tongue wieght
I've got to have some welding done anyway/either way
I'm on to a couple stellar deals on 14/15K rated sets.

I'm maybe just a hair heavy on tongue wt. (and there is no moving the boat back) perhaps only imagined/amplified/ by my HD's rather soft rear spring bundle and stock shocks

I get the "bounce" if I hit the right undulation in the road.
one of these would allow me to bring the front of the trailer frame "up" in relation to the hitch centerline...

I think turning my drawbar over would be too much...that would equate to 4 inches...
these holes are 2" on center

air bags are in the future.

right on...:ernaehrung004:

box mounting mock-up

these u-bolts over the frame, with rubber hose over them will suspend the strut.

plates/thick washers? that span the strut beyond the sides will be on the bottom

plywood floor inserts for the obvious reasons... clamping force and no dents out.

SS bolts, nylocks and big fender washers will bolt the plywood and box bottom to the strut.

I don't believe I will need to, but easy enough to back-strap with some aluminum bar stock from the inside box wall back/down to the unistrut if necessary.

again I would put a strip of ply across the side at the level the bolts were if I have to do this.

I expect this whole get-up with leave NO permanent signs on the trailer.

clear tape will also be used over the paint where there is metal to paint or rubber hose to paint contact.

I will be putting dual cables on the doors as well

they are a very nice quality box that's for sure...really sweet.

sorry about the poor pic quality. my 2 meg "garage camera"
isn't like my 8 meg, but I don't have to resize to post directly.

progress
clear vinyl hose over the u-bolts
cleaned and painted the unistrut semi-gloss
1st box bolted down
the other polished door box came

this came out the way I wanted it.
the boxes look free-standing
are straight and level.
when you shake them you shake the trailer.
they move no more than the fenders going around town on some rough streets.
and that's with no wieght in them.
I am going to bend up a "skirt" to hide the butt ends of the struts, and mount an LED amber marker in. :cool:

don't really have a good pic but this one shows where I mean for the skirts.
some 1.5" aluminum bar stock bend it up and attach it to the stut. It's worth a try anyway...trim this deal out. :cool:
I want a better appearance, and a marker light about mid box, but won't drill holes in the box for it.

I cleaned the weatherstrip of aluminum chips and then wiped them down good with dielectric grease. ;)

On to the coupler...

You are doing a great job, and giving me good ideas for my trailers.

Have you thought of using the space between the boxes, on the unitrack, to build a low storage area that is free-draining for items you don't want or need to put in the boxes. Items like wood blocks, wheel chocks, wet towels, etc?

That is a great idea. Another idea is to put the spare tires there. That is where I have always mounted them. They are still easy to get to when needed and it provides a nice clean look with them tucked in there out of sight. Here is a pic of our old Gladiator on the trailer as an example. No spare tires in sight.

yes, I have thought all along that will be used for something
if nothing else a couple of pieces of steel plate for jacking pinned through the holes...

or a steel wire "basket" for both a couple plates in the bottom and some blocks on top

or maybe even a low profile alum. box- maybe open with no lid, just bent up out of sheet? In terms of asthetics and keeping some bulky/heavy items captured in there...that's probably the direction I'll go.

I want to load the boat/get the boat on and examine the clearance before I brainstorm that one any further.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

power jacks...

Attwood and Barker always come to mind...

but I see refurbished Ultra-Fab 3500# on ebay for about $150 shipped.
with lights, hieght adjustable foot, and 18" stroke, full features...

Any thoughts?

door cables.

I was limited in location as I wanted to attach onto the latch studs to avoid drilling holes in the side of the doors
and I wanted then to go inside the box closed, and not cross the weatherstrip.

they would be hanging out the side all the time if I had them ouside.

they are primarily to keep the doors off the ground, though it feels pretty strong.

painted the tongue

looks OK I can live with it.
sure as hell isn't going to rust
red-oxide primer, 3 coats of rustoleum, sanded in-between.

back to the top for an update...

towed the boat about 25 miles today,

holy crap!
I got alot of brake back there!
It's a good thing!

I kinda figured I had plenty of braking surface when I had to pretty much set the gain to .01 or 0.0 (off) with the trailer empty when I came back from the welder, or full lock-up...

I've got the gain down to 1.7 loaded and the trailer is still leading the truck by a bit!
Don't know what the h ell I'd ever use the "boost" feature for?

all seems well. It's nice to have all that stopping power and no more surge coupler clunk or drum brake problems...

well worth the time and $

trimmed out the bottom of the boxes with some angle stock simply set in-between the box and the uni-strut.

hides the butt ends of the struts and made for a surface for a marker light, the same 3 diode amber as the fenders.

everything minted out, boat/trailer.

TTT for some of those posting questions about disc/EOH disc conversions.

Awesome trailer info! Hey rippem, what is a good trailer website that you found with the best prices?

Nice work and great thread. One question, what exactly are the boxes on trailer used for?? Trailer jack, spare props..??

iboats
trailerpartsdepot
southwestwheel

boxes are getting filled with
roadside repair & emergency parts and supplies
cleaning stuff of course
other odds & ends

an absolutely horrible boating season weather-wise has left me hanging out in the shop too long looking for further ways to bling and feature out my tow.

added these additional LED fender side marker lights and long overdue new diamond plate step pads.

I looked hard to find a small light that had the right near flush appearance and shape style for this location.

The original step plates were practically beyond restoration polish wise. Thinking about sending them to my buddy and having then PC'd "wet black" or bright silver for spares.
The originals were attached with aluminum rivets...
I went with allen drive/"button head" 1/4-20 capscrews. All SS of course!
Neoprene washers under the heads to keep from SS/aluminum contact.
I can remove the plates in 5 minutes to polish them instead of in-place, and risking adjacent paint damage.

finally swapped out to the "elephant ear" towing mirrors. I had ordered the truck with the DL8 pwr, pwr fold, heated, signal sporty mirrors, but there's no denying I need big telescoping dual glass towing mirrors! I'll dig them pulling the sled trailer also...couldn't see sheet around that with the other mirrors even with CIPA slide-ons added!