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View Full Version : My Home Made Ally Trailer Build.



Lovey80
04-11-2011, 12:33 AM
With the little cat (Prozac) almost customised to my liking it was time to build it a decent trailer as the old one was rusting out. I decided that I would make the trailer out of Ally and Stainless where ever possible. At this stage the only parts of the trailer that will not be Ally or stainless will be:

* The Treg Hitch
* The Jocky Wheel
* The Hand Winch
* The Lower Independent Swing Arms

Specs

The Trailer frame is made up of a combination of 6mm 100x50mm box and 100x50mm Structural Channel (6.8mm Web, 8mm Flange) bolted and welded back to back to make an I beam. All beam joints have been top and bottom plated with 5mm plate.

Brakes are Titan 12" Stainless Disks with Hydraulic Kodiak Stainless Callipers

Swing arms are made up of 50x50 4mm mild box and plated.

Guards and camping box mounts will be 3mm stainless sheet and 3mm Stainless box.

There will be some strange questions I am sure when you see how she is unfolding but all will be revealed.

Some progress Picks. Trailer Frame is almost finished on the underside to be flipped over and the top side finished. Also some pics of the wheels, brakes and swing arms.

wirlybird
04-11-2011, 07:31 AM
That is one serious bit of kit are you going off road?

shane450
04-11-2011, 09:13 AM
Looks great , I m interestred in where you got the design for the independant suspension ?

I m interested in building IS for a new trailer soon and have been looking for a design with dimensions .

i looked at the alko IRS and thought I d give that a go until I saw the price :)

A few questions I hope you don t mind
- when you had the swingarm gal dipped did you just clean off the gal plating on the bearing surfaces and thread after ?
- are you getting custom made coils for it ?
- how are you restricting the downward travel ?

thanks

Lovey80
05-11-2011, 07:55 PM
That is one serious bit of kit are you going off road?

Yes mate, I am building the trailer to be able to go anywhere that I may want to take the tow vehicle.


Looks great , I m interestred in where you got the design for the independant suspension ?

I m interested in building IS for a new trailer soon and have been looking for a design with dimensions .

i looked at the alko IRS and thought I d give that a go until I saw the price

A few questions I hope you don t mind
- when you had the swingarm gal dipped did you just clean off the gal plating on the bearing surfaces and thread after ?
- are you getting custom made coils for it ?
- how are you restricting the downward travel ?

thanks

I designed the independent suspension myself based off of how I wanted the trailer to ride etc.

For the gal dipping, all you have to do is coat(very thickly) with liquid nails all the surfaces that you don't want gal on. The galvanising process bakes the liquid nails off and you are left with a black charcoaled looking surface that is easily cleaned up with a dremel type tool with a mini wire brush on it.

Tip, once you have finished cleaning the stub axles immediately coat them with some good quality rust converter. They come up shiny as new. But watch not to get any on the gal surfaces. The rust converter eats the gal away.

You can just see the coils and airbags that are going to sit on the swing arms. I went to ARB and got a set of Old Man EMU springs and shocks suitable to the weight and dimensions I was after. I built the swing arms having already purchased them so I knew how it had to be designed. The OME nitro charger shocks will restrict the downward travel.

Update: The winch post is mostly completed today. Have built one swing arm for the first spare wheel and fingers crossed the second swing arm will be finished tomorrow. Will post pics once complete.

Dan5
05-11-2011, 08:12 PM
Looking good mate.....jeez theres alot of work to do when you want something done properly hey!

Just looking at your independant swing arm makes me have shivers,lining everything up square,no gaps for welding so it stays square etc etc,the time that goes into home projects is mind boggling.

Keep plodding along mate it's looking good....

By the way what welder you got over in the corner there......Lincoln?

Dan

Jarrah Jack
05-11-2011, 08:23 PM
This should be a great thread, I don't remember seeing anything like it. Could you give us a costing by the end, a mate will be interested to know all the details I think.

Well done Lovely....

Bros
05-11-2011, 11:24 PM
I thought that welding anything that is structural was a NO NO as it changes the composition of the alloy at the weld site. All the aluminium trailers I have seen are bolted and heat has not been used.

Lovey80
05-11-2011, 11:25 PM
I have lost track of the costing at this point JJ, I estimate the whole thing will set me back around the 15k mark.

Dan5 the welder is a Jasic 250amp DC Inverter. It does stick and Tig as well but it won't Tig Ally. The Swing Arms were a massive pain in the ass. I had the mounting brackets made up by a sheety round the corner from me as I wanted them spot on. I made a rookie error in welding the RHS together. After tacking all the arms in place they were all square and perfect. I didn't let it cool down enough and didn't brace it all properly so when all the welds were finished the RHS warped a bit. I should have cut it all apart and started again. I got lazy and adjusted one of the mounting brackets to suit. I got lucky that the arms remained square to the trailer and the wheels run true.

This whole thing is a massive learning curve for me. Before starting this I had not welded a single tack in my life. Some of the welds look awful but they are all nice and deep and strong which really is all that matters to me.

trymyluck
06-11-2011, 06:41 AM
This whole thing is a massive learning curve for me. Before starting this I had not welded a single tack in my life. Some of the welds look awful but they are all nice and deep and strong which really is all that matters to me.

Lovey, not trying to be a wet blanket here but tell me you had an experianced welder give you some advice before welding these swing arms up...........please.

Mark

Lovey80
06-11-2011, 12:03 PM
Lovey, not trying to be a wet blanket here but tell me you had an experianced welder give you some advice before welding these swing arms up...........please.

Mark

The swing arms were finished off by a boiler maker. I gave him the frame before the top plate was welded on and he finished it off so I had some certainty. The swing arms are rock solid and weigh about 23kg each before you add wheels and brakes.

trymyluck
06-11-2011, 09:39 PM
The swing arms were finished off by a boiler maker. I gave him the frame before the top plate was welded on and he finished it off so I had some certainty. The swing arms are rock solid and weigh about 23kg each before you add wheels and brakes.


That sits more in line with my impression of you Lovey, been on the receiving end of someone who could weld, wasn't funny having the trailer pass me.......

Lovey80
07-11-2011, 12:01 AM
Yeh mate, I am building this trailer because the one have now is rusting apart and I plan to have this set up for a very long time and being custom means that I wont be able to find replaceable bits out in the sticks. That means it has to get me there and back without assistance.

Lovey80
07-11-2011, 10:22 PM
Sorry no pics today. I didn't get the winch post finished, just two beams to weld on and then a tidy up and I will post picks, fingers crossed tomorrow night. Then it is onto the stainless steel 3mm guards. Will need some help with them as I don't have a bender.

Lovey80
08-11-2011, 08:10 PM
Update:

Got the monster winch post almost complete today. Just have to finish off a couple of plates to close in some of the short box sections and weld a mount for the stop rubbers and a couple of gussets on the base of the legs. Then I just have to bolt fit it out with pins for the swing arms, bolt the winch on and clean it all up.

Some pics almost finished:

finga
09-11-2011, 10:33 AM
Like those swing arms eh. The only way to go I reckon for off road stuff :)
Did you make a jig up for the arms or just measured stuff 382 times?
Are you putting an onboard compressor or working from the car for the bags?

Looking really nice matey

Lovey80
09-11-2011, 10:48 AM
Thanks Finga, I measured 385 times actually and there is still some minor differences of a mill here and there. The compressor will be wired into the car for the bags and the airlines run right to the front for filling.

John Buoy
10-11-2011, 03:44 PM
Gr8 thread and luv ya work!!

Steeler
10-11-2011, 03:59 PM
When ya done can you knock me one up on about 1% of that budget.Please.

finga
10-11-2011, 06:37 PM
Hey matey...do you envisage any problems with registering it with the home made independent suspension?
Would it has to be certified or something?

Also some good information here for legalities (including links to ADR's) as well
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/vsb1/index.aspx

nigelr
10-11-2011, 06:52 PM
Lovey, that is a piece of art, mate! Awesome!

Lovey80
10-11-2011, 09:03 PM
Hey matey...do you envisage any problems with registering it with the home made independent suspension?
Would it has to be certified or something?

Also some good information here for legalities (including links to ADR's) as well
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/vsb1/index.aspx

I dont think I'll have too much trouble registering it. The trailer I am replacing was home made (although not independent suspension) and I believe it was self certified from memory. Maybe Bayfisher will see this and comment. He is more in the know. Thanks for the link.

Steeler mate I wish I could help you out there, when I figure out how to build one for that price I will let you know.

Thanks for the kind words every one. She certainly isn't a pretty looking trailer and welds aren't beautiful like you would find on and Origin trailer but she is strong and will get the job done.

hellfish
10-11-2011, 10:08 PM
Looks like a true beast of trailer mate. You wont regret doing it either. A mate and I have built 2 independent boat trailers now and it is deffinetly worth the long hours you put in to it. What bushes did you use in your trailing arms?

Lovey80
11-11-2011, 01:40 AM
Looks like a true beast of trailer mate. You wont regret doing it either. A mate and I have built 2 independent boat trailers now and it is deffinetly worth the long hours you put in to it. What bushes did you use in your trailing arms?

I initially was going to use a nachi bearing set up but decided against it because of the lack of shock absorbtion. I got a length of 50mm nylon bush and had a friend of a friend lathe them down to the exact diameter. There is 12 x half bushes all up (2 halves in each mounting point). They ended up a perfect fit and I am really happy with how they ended up. I have 6 spares to take with me should something go wrong off the beaten track.

Lovey80
15-11-2011, 10:05 PM
Update:

Got a few more things done over the last couple of days. I decided that I would change the stop roller as I didn't like the strength of the old set up and now that I am running with ally it would be even worse. So Instead of using a small 100mm roller to winch/drive the boat onto the winch post I went to the V rubber style bump stop. Of course I had to do the angles etc to accommodate it which was really fiddly and took far too much time to complete. But the Winch post is all but completed ready to weld on, just have to mount the studs to keep the spare wheels on.

Today I set up the wheels in a mock position so I could measure up the top of the spring housing plate and the shocks. Have taken a few photos of the suspension set up in place and an under shot showing the amount of clearance this bad boy will have. The lowest point of the trailer is obviously the stub axles of the trailing arms that sit approximately 380mm from the ground.

Lucky_Phill
16-11-2011, 06:55 AM
Holy crap Chris,

The Yanks will be all over this for more " insurgency " work... :) You know how they love their toys.

Looks pretty indestructible.

Cheers Phill

Lovey80
20-11-2011, 08:04 AM
Update:

The stainless work is now about to start. Because I can't bend 3mm Steel in the back yard shed I am outsourcing it to a local engineering place in Kawana. Have decided to change the design of the support posts for the over top camper as the original design was not going be strong enough (possibly) to last those long corrugated roads with stainless' notorious reputation for cracking under fatigue. So the posts will now be stand alone and made out of a 5mm plate bracket and 3mmx50mm RHS. The guards will be bent up in 2 pieces and attach independently to the structural I beams on the sides and to the bases of the post mounts with bolts. So no welds between the posts and the guards to crack. I did a quick mock up in ally of what the bases will look like so I was sure it will work how it was in my head. Also got the old man to bend up some mock guards out of sheet tin so we could check the clearance over the tyres and see if everything was going to be hunky dory in real life and the design on paper was going to work. Luckily for me it turned out just fine. Fingers crossed I have them back by thursday so I can sit it all in place and drill the 10mm holes in the I beams for it to all bolt onto.

Lovey80
24-11-2011, 10:35 PM
Update: The stainless guards and camping box posts wont be finished until next week. In the mean time I will have my hands full getting the wiring and roller mounts ready for mounting and the brake lines ready to fit. The old trailer was picked up by a scrap metal place today and the Webster is sitting on Tyres in the yard. Fingers crossed she is done by next weekend.

cormorant
28-11-2011, 12:02 PM
Great project

Will the shocks mounted on such a angle perform? Take some spare bushes as originals aren't designed in general for non vertical and one directon loading they may airate and lose performance.
Gets to a point when you are gound to need a 2nd axel with weight and height going on?

Going durhubs?

Lovey80
28-11-2011, 01:38 PM
Durhubs? Never heard of em.

I'm not too worried about the angle on the shocks. It is less of an angle than the old set up and the coils will provide a much better ride than the old leaf springs and it went all over The top end without any dramas. They are a much higher quality shock also. Even though ARB claim they won't fade at all I highly doubt that will happen. There will be spares of almost everything that is perishable like bushes. Even considering getting spare airbags and shocks. For the Long trips.

Lovey80
28-11-2011, 02:01 PM
Googled Dura hubs. They look good. I like the idea of gear oil in there instead of grease. Do you have a photo of the type of rear seal needed to keep the oil in?

lethal098
28-11-2011, 03:35 PM
Chris the Rear seal is Provided in the Durahub kit, No real difference to normal bearing seal, AS long as the Stub axles are in good condition, YOurs will be cause they are new.

They certainly work a lot better, but be aware if you blow a seal, at least with grease the Residual is left behind for a while before failure, the Durahubs let go all the oil pretty quickly if the seal fails.

Looking good,

Cheers Lee

Lovey80
28-11-2011, 10:47 PM
Thanks Lee, I just ordered a set from their online shop. I will run a combination of grease and oil in the hubs so that if I have a failure at least there is some grease protecting the bearings until I pick it up and fix it.

cormorant
29-11-2011, 08:01 PM
Durahubs just use a double lip oil seal and run them on a stainless seal on the stub axel and run em with grease / oil. Just have to ensure that your hubs are a well machined aussie set not crap chinese ones and the duras will fit tightly and with sealant won't come off.

For long distance off road and high speed tarmac I would consider the remote tyre pressure and bearing temp senders since you are running a single axle. Will quickly alert you early to a bearing or tyre issue well before a hub loss or worse.

What brakes are you going to run?

Lovey80
29-11-2011, 11:13 PM
The hubs were machined the day I picked them up in Brisi. Thanks for all the info. Hopefully the Durahubs turn up tomorrow.You can see a shot in the picks of the brakes on the first page. They are a 12" Stainless steel disk I got from Titan with stainless Kodiak callipers. Should do me just nicely. Will just make sure that I give the brakes a good rest before a launch each time.

andoland
30-11-2011, 10:48 AM
Mate the trailer looks great but I am worried about the strength of your spare tyre mounts. While the swing arms look strong enough the method of attaching the RHS that the tyre bolts to isnt adequate. The forces will be predominently on the vertical direction and the horizontal welds you have will not resist the vertical shear forces very well. I fear that after only a short time on corrugated roads your spars will simply fall off. You way want to consider some vertical bracing from out near the plate that the tyres bolt to back to the swing arm.
74127

Lovey80
02-12-2011, 09:00 PM
Update:

I picked up my 304 Stainless camper support posts and 316 Stainless Guards today. They have just been tacked together so I can mock mount them to make sure everything is going to line up where it needs to. I did all the marking out on the sheet so that I knew it was what I wanted. Lucky enough everything has come together how I wanted. One minor change is that the whole lot is going to come forward 20mm so that I don't have to trim anything so it fits flush on the underside without running into the ally bracket where the swing arms fit into.... No big deal. This process sure has blown the budget though. Some picks below of it sitting in place. Monday I send it back to have it tig welded up completely before fit out.

742027420174200741997420374204

Smithy
03-12-2011, 09:42 AM
With the Durahub Extreme you can still pack the bearing in grease then you run the whole lot in the engine honey stuff. I buy all my trailer bearings, reel bearings, oil seals, belts etc. from Sunstate Bearings in Kunda Park. Top people! Repco wanted something ridiculous for the oil seals but Sunstate were only a couple of bucks. Once my initial batch of oil ran out from the Durahub kit I bought the engine honey stuff from Supacheap. While out at Kunda Park I get all my filters from Suncoast Truck Spares. They are great to deal with too.

Lovey80
03-12-2011, 10:03 AM
Thanks Smithy I use those guys also. My massive 2.5 inch durhubs just turned up. Will see them on Monday to get the oil seal and the speedy sleeve. Will post pics of the process for those that have never used them or seen the speedy sleeves.

Lovey80
18-01-2012, 07:41 PM
Update: have the trailer as a rolling chassis now. Been low on motivation and cash. Guards just need painting before fitting them.

Have run accross a problem with the suspension. When I did the geometry for the swing arms, shocks and airbags I went to ARB and asked for a spring that sits at a certain height with the boat on it and gave them the weight. With the thought that the airbags will stop further sagging when I load it up with camper and camping gear. Well that's all worked out fine, but what I didn't account for is how high the trailer frame will sit without the boat on it at all. As it turns out it sits far too high off the ground. Looks like I'll have to dish out for a shorter and harder rate spring, don't like the thought of cutting a perfectly good brand new SWB Pajero-old man Emu spring.

I'll post a pick later.

Lovey80
20-01-2012, 12:51 AM
Updated with a pick. It seems just the simple act of turning the tow bar and ball upside down made a significant change to the height of the rear of the trailer. It's still not where I want it to be but from here I will finish off the trailer so I know its unladen weight finished off then recalculate with a new shorter but stronger spring.

Lovey80
27-02-2012, 11:05 PM
Update:

The progress has been slow but steady. Before painting the stainless guards and camper posts I thought it may be a good idea to double check that the legs on the camper box would line up. There is going to need to be an adjustment on the rear legs that involves cutting and shortening the horizontal beam as the rear camper posts got a bow in them when the diagonal bracing was welded on.. Pic Below.

77407

Once that was completed it was off with the posts and into them with a flap disk to get all of the little bits of Mig splatter off them before painting. I then painted the guards, posts, the 180l stainless fuel tank in Massey Ferguson grey equipment enamel.

While that was drying I took a saw to the centre beam of the trailer. The fuel tank has quite a large drain plug that sits in the centre and proud about 40mm. So that left me with two choices. One was to take the fuel tank (which has previously had ULP in it) to a pro and have him move the drain plug to one corner and weld up the hole in the centre. Second was to cut the main beam running down the centre and add some RHS to keep it strong but give acces to the drain plug. Then added the bracing that the fuel tank to sit in.

77408

Today I did a big run around picking up lots of bits and pieces that I need to finish it all off. The bearing place didn't have the inner double lip seal I wanted but did have the right speedi sleeve. I could't help it so I got a bit of 50mm PVC pipe and cut it so I could put it on.

Before:
77409

and After: (Big thanks to WRXhoon that took the time to advise me on the best set up for running oil in the bearings. It was his advice that I took that precaution of putting the speedi Sleeve on first.)

Lovey80
27-02-2012, 11:07 PM
Fingers crossed she is registered on Friday. More pics to come tomorrow and throughout the week.

Lovey80
29-03-2012, 06:43 PM
Ok so appologies for the late updates. She is now finished and registered. Just have to get some new longer airbags and refit them tomorrow. I stopped taking most of the progress updates and the rest are below.

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