# Final stages of planning for my BOT



## NaeKid

This thread will be my progress-report on building a motorcycle BOT (Bug Out Trailer). What I have purchased / collected so far is a pile of steel (2x3x.125HSS, 1x2x.062HSS), a matched set of 3500lb Torsion axles, a couple sets of tires on rims (small tires being 29" tall to the tall tires being 33" tall), a pair of truck-box aluminum tool-boxes and misc. wire / lights / connectors.

What I have available to me is a small collection of metal working tools at home as well as a laser and breaks to cut and form the steel as required.

My small pile of 2x3 HSS is all pre-cut at 7'-6" lengths (off-cuts from a job at work), my 1x2 HSS is left-over from a project that I finished at home (have about 22'-0" left over).

Based on initial AutoCAD drawings, I am looking at an overall length of 15'-0" having a 9'-0" deck and a tongue that will allow me a 90° jack-knife for turning around in small areas. I haven't decided between a 2" ball or running a pintle-hitch for extreme off-road situations. Finally, I need to decide if I want to install a slip-tongue or a fixed tongue (easier for wiring) and need to decide if I will make the trailer a single motorbike hauler or a tri-hauler.

I plan on using the aluminum tool-boxes as both fenders and for storing straps, gear, basic tools, fluids, filters, etc and probably install a mounted fuel-tank on the trailer with 12-volt electric fuel-pump to fill either the BOV or BOM (Jeep or Motorcycle).

So, before I start welding this trailer together are there any other motorbike riders who could give me some ideas on this BOT designed for motorbike usage?


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## Tirediron

I would guess that you are going to make the trailer track at least as wide as a jeep?, have you considered making the cargo area wide enough for a large atv, it would make the resale on the trailer a lot easier if you ever want to get rid of it.


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## Elinor0987

I'm trying to visualize the trailer from the information you provided. How much weight can the motorcycle pull with the trailer and its contents?


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## NaeKid

TI - I have been playing with a Jeep-based track and with a full-size track on the trailer - I have drawn both up in AutoCAD to see which would be the best. Right now, I am aiming towards a maxium width of the trailer at 7'-6" which would give me around a 6' deck width (tires being outside the deck) and then the tool-boxes on either side of the trailer as fenders would remove approx. 12" (six inches per side) leaving me with about a 5' wide area that I would be able to put stuff onto. The axles that I have are from PrincessAuto ( http://www.princessauto.com/trailer/trailer/trailer/axles/8278012-3500-lb-torsion-axle-end ) and should be able to handle any load that I could put on there and haul behind my Jeep (3500lb tow-rating).

I tried to find some image on the 'net of what I am thinking of building, but, nothing close enough. I did find a motorcycle trailer that is decked about right, but, it doesn't have the storage boxes or the fuel-tank ... the rest is kinda close in looks:










Elinor - the trailer would be for me to put the motorcycle onto and then pull the trailer behind my Jeep.


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## Elinor0987

NaeKid said:


> the trailer would be for me to put the motorcycle onto and then pull the trailer behind my Jeep.


OOPS! That makes a lot more sense. I thought you were trying to pull a trailer from a motorcycle.


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## NaeKid

Elinor0987 said:


> OOPS! That makes a lot more sense. I thought you were trying to pull a trailer from a motorcycle.


That is another project in the plans ... a small goose-neck style trailer that I can pull behind my motorbike .. place a small ski-box onto the trailer to keep my stuff covered and protected ...


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## Tirediron

kind of like this only nice? the trailer is not my work, the second pic is, the fresh fab work anyway.


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## ajsmith

NaeKid, can't wait to see what you come up with... subscribed :2thumb:


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## NaeKid

Here is a graphic of my idea drawn in AutoCAD with some parts-n-pieces ready to go to my laser at work for cutting and then forming to give me the basic flat pieces. A couple of pictures of the metal that I have collected as well as the axles that I bought for this project and some of the spare rims and tires that I have waiting to be used on this project (I have 10 sets of rims and tires to choose from already).

The next message will have some more pictures of what I have for the project ...


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## NaeKid

This shows a piece of 2" reciever tube that I am thinking of mounting at the back of the trailer (just like the hitch on the back of my tent-trailer also shown) to carry my hitch-rack or any alternative gear-carry if required. It also has a picture of the aluminum truck-box containers that I am planning to mount over the wheels as part of the fender-construction.

Finally, I was thinking this morning about making it a bit of a covered-wagon - weld some tubes on the sides of the trailer that would allow me to slip some hoops into place and then tie-down a tarp over the load to keep things dry (when parked mostly) ... snow and rain should slide off.

Not shown so far is the fuel-storage (can't decide if I want basic JerryCans or a tank with a 12-volt pump and nozzle). Also not shown is the spare-tire mount - I'll laser-up some mounting plates, drop-in some wheel-studs and then use some tubing to attach it to the tongue area. I am also considering a tongue-mounted screw-jack similar to what is on my tent-trailer and a couple of support-legs for the back of the trailer so that I can load and unload without the trailer needed to be hooked to a vehicle.


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## NaeKid

Here is my 3D sketch of the rails for the motorcycle tires to track down, included is the final weight of just the rails (pre-welding). I am going to guess that after welding that it would maybe gain one pound. The "floor" zone of the rails will be lined with welded expanded mesh so that I have traction when rain, ice, snow, etc happens. The ramp will be designed very similar to the rails and it will also have welded expanded mesh lining the tread-zone allowing me to drive the bike up (or just use the motor to help) in bad weather.


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## NaeKid

TiredIron - what are you buildin' up on that truck? I see some pretty welds and tubing, but, can't figure out what the final plan is ...


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## Tirediron

NK it is a walking deck , we just put the winch rig up on it, and the deck is so the operator can walk his 1 1/4" cable back to the end of the float relatively easily (dragging that cable is never easy) I will post a couple more when I am done. 
Are you going to make the bike rails quick removeable to extend the usefull ness of the trailer? 
Just out of curiousity how long does it take to generate a drawing like that and how is said info fed into a cnc table and break to make the cuts and bends?
All of my Aincient machinery is ONC (operator numerical control)
(for lots of people we are speaking a different language):sssh:


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## NaeKid

TiredIron,

My computer is directly connected via network cable (and IP-address) to our laser, two plasma tables and our burn-table all for cutting. The flat layout drawing is saved as .dxf (Drawing eXchange Format) and then it is converted to machine code (also known as G-code) that is specific to the machine that is doing the cutting - meaning that the code for plasma #1 will not work for any other machine.

I also have two CNC breaks that I load up the .dxf file into the g-code converter to allow the breaks to form the flat steel directly from the "perfect" information located in the .dxf .... 

Depending on what the project is, I can take a napkin sketch from a customer and turn it into metal reality. I start with AutoCAD or Inventor depending on the type of project, I draw it up, get approval from the customer and then I save the parts-n-pieces as .dxf. From the .dxf file, the g-code is created, the parts are cut on one of the machines, moved to one of the breaks (or CNC saw, or punch-press, or drill-press) for final work. From there, depending on wha the customer wants, we can drop off the parts at our welding shop (seperate building) or deliver the parts to the customer to weld up themselves.

I am working from home today (Saturday) drawing up five buildings (rigs) for three different customers. I just finished two buildings for one of the customers and will start the next building after my little lunch-break.

If you know the oil-rig industry, you may have seen my buildings (skids) on the ground or in transport. I design from scratch or re-engineer or reverse-engineer the buildings, shacks, storage-units, pipe-handlers, pump houses, generator buildings, control centers, etc that you see all over Alberta. I also have been drawing and making alot of the parts-n-pieces for the new west-leg of Calgary's C-Train line as well as stuff for the new weir on the BowRiver and many of the new bridges that have been put-up (including the south overpass from CrossIron Mills).


For your question on how long does it take to draw up something (lets say that you want me to draw-up that deck you are building, including tubing, flat and formed plate, home-made hinges to access cubby-holes under the deck, etc) - I could probably have the shop-drawings for the CNC-machines and for the welders drawn up in 4 to 6 hours. Depending on how busy the shop is that day, I could have the whole project delivered to you in less than 48hrs.

Right now in my shop, small projects are about 3 days out and large projects are upto a month out.


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## Tirediron

NK I will be seeking you out the next time I need steel cut and bent.


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## NaeKid

So, I am looking at hard-mounting some kind of fuel-storage-system onto the trailer (as listed in the first posting) and I found something that might just work, but, I can't find it locally...

Blitz Professional Fuel Station  15-Gallon Capacity, Model# 11055 | Fuel Caddies | Northern Tool + Equipment

What I found is a 15 gallon fuel-station that gravity-feeds the fuel down to something else. That linked fuel-station would give me about 3/4 tank of gas for my Jeep or it will fill my KLR650 just over two times (it is about 6 gallon tank on my motorbike).

I was considering the basic steel JerryCans and putting four of them on the tail-section of the trailer till I found that fueling station. Anyone have any ideas for me for something like this, I don't want to go over a 50 gallon tank on the trailer - 20 to 25 gallon would be about right - or - maybe a pair of 15-gallon fuel-stations, but, so far, none of my phone-calls have located anything locally.


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## Tirediron

*Re fuel tank*

I have an aluminum fuel tank/ box , I think the tank is about 15 gal , if you are interested I can take some pictures and get measurements,


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## NaeKid

That could be good if you could get some measurements for me - then I could draw it up in AutoCAD and "look" at it to see how it would fit with the bike and everything else ... 

Thanks!


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## Tirediron

I will get pics / measurements tommorrow.


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## Tirediron

Pics w measurements, tank 22 1/2" x 38" x 12"(tall) the attached box 22 1/2 X 19 3/4" x 22 1/4" (tall) there is an approx 2"x 4" indent in the bottom "Back" corner of the box as seem in last pic, 3/8 line at top is draw hose , with fill being on top of box , this could be easily relocated (Clamped hose) If you hurry you could come look at it today , it's not too far.


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## NaeKid

Alright, so I have the fenders designed, I have the light-pods (front and rear) designed, the deck has changed significantly to make sure that those aluminum tool-boxes will fit properly down the sides, I have the spare-tire-mounts planned out, not sure where they will end up (on the front, on the back or maybe on each side outta the way, I have decided that "courtesy lights" will be put into the trailer and I will also throw in a couple of gel-cell batteries to power the courtesy lights if a tow-vehicle isn't attached to the trailer. Finally, I will setup a small solar-panel on the trailer to keep those gel-cell batteries topped-up all the time. The batteries will be housed in the rear light boxes right beside the fuse-panels and toggle-switches to turn the lights on and off as required.

Pictures of some of the parts-n-pieces that will be going onto the trailer (oh, and I have been informed that our laser is backed-up so my parts-n-pieces will not be cut by the end of this week)


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## LincTex

Tirediron said:


> Pics w measurements,QUOTE]
> 
> I'd sure love to have that Gray/White "Short Bus" in the background!!


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## NaeKid

So, I did a couple of measurements of my tool boxes (pictured above) and noticed that the lid would probably bind on the fender, so, I made a quick change to the design of the fender before it gets cut (maybe sometime next week now).


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## Tirediron

LincTex said:


> Tirediron said:
> 
> 
> 
> Pics w measurements,QUOTE]
> 
> I'd sure love to have that Gray/White "Short Bus" in the background!!
> 
> 
> 
> the '53 GMC , that is my wife's pet (the only junk here that my son or I aren;t fully responsible for dragging home), hope to build it into our retirement cruizer if S doesn't HTF
Click to expand...


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## NaeKid

And a quick update - I was just informed that my steel was cut last night and it should be all formed up today so that I can take it home with me. I have a couple other projects that I plan on working on this weekend, so, the steel will probably rest in my garage till the next weekend. Picture of some of the parts-n-pieces before they get shaped on my little 220-ton break ..


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## NaeKid

I was surfin' the 'net and I found a product that I think would be perfect for my trailer ...





OzHitch The Movie - YouTube

Anyone have any thoughts on it, would it be legal for use in North America, anyone see any possible down-sides to it?


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## NaeKid

And my steel is formed, ready for me to take home ...


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## Tirediron

I like that hitch design, especially all of the greaseable pivot points. but is it any better than a double pivot pintle (ideal hitch) other than maybe a bit easier to hook up.
After seing the precise fit on those items (in your picture,not the hitch), the stuff that came to my shop did not come you shop, so I guess the guys in cochrane really did buy a table and break, I was fairly impressed with their work 'till I saw the stuff in your pile. EH


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## NaeKid

Thanks for the compliments on my guys work. I was actually a little disappointed when I saw how they bent it up, I got massive radius instead of the super-tight radius that I specified. I'll see if I can make it work, if not, I might have to recut and reform - I will admit, the design that I came up with was not easy to bend, first piece was the "trial" piece and the second piece was so much better. I imagine that if I make more of this style of trailer, they would get it perfectly bent each and every time.


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## ajsmith

Hey NaeKid, hows your project coming along? Any up dates?


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## NaeKid

I was going to do the work on it this weekend after getting my garage cleaned out, but, it looks like I am doin' a lift-kit on the GrandCherokee this weekend instead. The suspension took a crap on the GrandCherokee so I am droppin' in a 2" OldManEmu heavy-duty lift-kit to handle the towing duties. If I am quick on that, I might even have time to get the basic-trailer tack-welded together ...


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## dog42

*BOT system*

make the tongue of the trailer so it can except either a ball hitch or pintle hitch.

I have a 1/4 ton military trailer, I fixed so it will use either hitch. Simply use a reverse Reese type hitch adapter. I made a bracket to hold either hitch so I may hook up to any vehicle.

I made a plate that will hold my generator and fuel in front of the box.
Also I fixed a solar panel on so I can charge my reserve 12 volt batteries while driving.

Try to use the same tires on the trailer as the pulling vehicle, that way you can have extra tires for both the puller and trailer.

Keep the lighting system simple.

Regards;

Dog42


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## md1911

Dog42. I like the idea of using the same size tires. I have read all the posts on this thread and am debating on making a trailer. I have a 4x4 blazer and a GMC that's thee same. The GMC has a blown motor. I'm thinking of making a inclosed trailer out of it. Anybody have any tips or coments.


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## Tirediron

md1911 said:


> Dog42. I like the idea of using the same size tires. I have read all the posts on this thread and am debating on making a trailer. I have a 4x4 blazer and a GMC that's thee same. The GMC has a blown motor. I'm thinking of making a inclosed trailer out of it. Anybody have any tips or coments.


Check out AJ's bov support thread http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f21/bov-support-utility-trailer-3438/ 
LOTS of good ideas and discussion there


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## TimB

So did you finish the Grand, NaeKid? How did it turn out? And did you get started on the trailer? 
"Enquiring" minds want to know. 

Tim


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## NaeKid

The first of the trailer's welds have been laid down. I have "significantly" revised my original plan, even though I brought home all the steel to make the bigger trailer.

Once I had the front-section layed out and having my Suzuki parked right near it, I decided that the trailer was way too big, meaning, I would have trouble with it in the woods / back-roads.

Now, the trailer is going to be a 5' wide deck, 7'-6" length, wheels outside the deck and I am planning on bending some schedule-40 pipe to make "kickers" incase the trailer might get hung-up on trees or other immovable objects.

Pictures attached are of the front-section that was going to be all the way to the final welds on the front-deck. Tonight when I get home, if there is time (we have a snow-warning in effect today, so, I might not be home at a decent time) I will be welding on the trailer tounge, the tounge supports and bolting on the axles ... 


:2thumb:


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## NaeKid

... and tonights update.

Trailer is upside-down (Ya, I have turned it over by hand a dozen times now), axles are mounted and out of alignment by about 1/16" - trailer tongue is in place, I need to cut the safety-chain mounts and weld them into place and I need to turn the deck over (again) for the last time - then the rail for the wheels to ride in can be put into place ... then the lights and wiring - then the paint and it is ready to be plated (I really hope). At the rate things are going, this is almost 1 week's worth of work I hope to be ready to be painting by the end of the weekend


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## BillM

*Duel purpose*



NaeKid said:


> TI - I have been playing with a Jeep-based track and with a full-size track on the trailer - I have drawn both up in AutoCAD to see which would be the best. Right now, I am aiming towards a maxium width of the trailer at 7'-6" which would give me around a 6' deck width (tires being outside the deck) and then the tool-boxes on either side of the trailer as fenders would remove approx. 12" (six inches per side) leaving me with about a 5' wide area that I would be able to put stuff onto. The axles that I have are from PrincessAuto ( http://www.princessauto.com/trailer/trailer/trailer/axles/8278012-3500-lb-torsion-axle-end ) and should be able to handle any load that I could put on there and haul behind my Jeep (3500lb tow-rating).
> 
> I tried to find some image on the 'net of what I am thinking of building, but, nothing close enough. I did find a motorcycle trailer that is decked about right, but, it doesn't have the storage boxes or the fuel-tank ... the rest is kinda close in looks:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Elinor - the trailer would be for me to put the motorcycle onto and then pull the trailer behind my Jeep.


Why not build an aluminium framed trailer that would haul a four wheeler. and put your supplys in the jeep.

If something happened to the jeep, you could take your fourwheeler , hitch the trailer to the fourwheeler and load all your supplys from the jeep , onto the trailer.

As a last ditch effort you could abandon the trailer and reduce your supplys to the essentuals you could load onto the fourwheeler cargo racks and continue on.

:dunno:


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## NaeKid

BillM said:


> Why not build an aluminium framed trailer that would haul a four wheeler. and put your supplys in the jeep.
> 
> If something happened to the jeep, you could take your fourwheeler , hitch the trailer to the fourwheeler and load all your supplys from the jeep , onto the trailer.
> 
> As a last ditch effort you could abandon the trailer and reduce your supplys to the essentuals you could load onto the fourwheeler cargo racks and continue on.
> 
> :dunno:


At this point in the game, I do not have any four-wheelers (quad / side-by-side) and I have no plans for getting either one of those. All of my vehicles need to be "street-legal" with off-road capabilities (hence the reason why there are 5 Jeeps in the collection as well as my KLR650). I have two motorbikes that are not off-road capable, but, in a pinch, I would force them to become capable.

I am looking at building a Triumph as a match to what was ridden in MissionImpossible ( http://www.bikeexif.com/mi3-triumph-scrambler ), but, that is something that may be taken on after all my other projects (ie: money-sucking-pits) are complete ...


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## Tirediron

Good to see some progress Vance, Do you need Some steel wheels for the trailer or your jeeps, I bought a bunch a little while ago I might have somrthing that would interest you.:dunno:


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## NaeKid

I have several sets of steel and aluminum wheels for Jeeps right now in my backyard that I am trying to figure out what to do with them all. If you like, maybe I can come over sometime and peak at what you have ...

I now have two Jeeps that I am looking to sell off - one is my "parts Jeep" which is a 1989 YJ that is missing its transmission and transfercase ($500 will take it as a whole) that I was planning on turning into a "tub-trailer" and the other is another 1989 YJ that received the aformentioned transmission and transfercase and is setup for more difficult off-road excursions (SYE, 1" body-lift, extended shackles) that I am hoping to get around $2500 for with its brand-new soft-top (Bestop). I'll be putting the running Jeep into the local classifieds shortly ... the non-running will go to the most interested person if I don't turn it into something better before then ...


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## Tirediron

What engine is in the "parts" YJ and how bad is the rust ?


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## NaeKid

Tirediron said:


> What engine is in the "parts" YJ and how bad is the rust ?


The parts YJ has the 4.2L (258 ci I6). The front fenders are pretty bad, but, could be used as a template for making tube-fenders. The floor of the tub is ok at the back, but, the front section under the driver's feet is pretty bad. The windshield has already gone missing, but the seats are still in it. Soft-top is in rough shape on it, but, the hardware is still decent enough. The frame has good sections and bad sections .... it really is a parts Jeep.

I wouldn't recommend doing anything with it "road-worthy" or "trail-worthy", but, as a parts unit, there is still some good stuff on it. I drove it the day before I stripped it down for misc parts and pieces so the axles are still good, the radiator is still fine, brakes still function .... as well as could function after being parked for about a year ...


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## NaeKid

And a couple of pics from today's welding and fitting. I thought that I took a few more pictures, but, oh well. 

The rail-support was capped and the welds polished smooth, then welded to the tongue and deck-tubing. When I went to put the rail on, I realized that it wasn't exactly 90° between the bottom and vertical sections so I used my 2-ton come-along (hand cable-winch) to pull it into place. I warped the tray a little bit, so, some heat and a hammer moved the metal back to close-to-square again.

Next on the agenda is to put the wheels back on, find some 1 1/2" schd-pipe and bend the pipe as "kickers" for the wheels so that the wheels will not get hung-up on any wayward trees. The fenders and kickers will be worked on together - after that, the mounts for the spare-tires get designed and placed with the lighting system.

Tomorrow I am picking up the 1000# tongue-jack (on sale this week at PrincessAuto for $20) and a spool of .035 solid-core wire ... this .024 wire I am using is drivin' me crazy!


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## NaeKid

... and tonights update.

I stripped out the .024 wire and replaced it with the .035 wire and gave it a quick test on some scrap tubing. Dayum it was very nice to weld with - fills quickly and burns in clean even upsidedown!! I picked up the wire from PrincessAuto - Lincoln SuperArc L-56 wire - a nice all-around choice.

Anyway, PrincessAuto didn't have any of the 1000# tongue-jacks left, so, I had to settle for a 5000# tongue jack :sssh:

Got the jack and the coupler welded on, got my axles and tires back on again and shot a few more pictures for you folks following this. I placed my front light-pod in place to see how my tool-box will look on the side of the trailer - it is just for visual reference till I figure out out what will happen there.


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## ajsmith

Lookin good NaeKid. Yeah that L-56 wire is what we use at work and we like it a lot. If I had a bottle with my welder I'd use it at home to....


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## NaeKid

I got my beast-of-a-bike on the trailer tonight (the one showing in the background) and I can still lift the tongue of the trailer by hand - fairly easily, so, I picked up the tongue and put it on my bathroom scale and it only reads at 175lbs. I am worried that I might not have sufficient tongue-weight to keep the trailer from "tail-waggin' the dog" situation when it is finished.

I might have to either cut the axles off and move them back a few inches or toss some significant-weight at the front-edge of the deck to give it a little more stability. The spare-tires that I want to put on the trailer might add an extra 50lbs .. with my project complete-date coming up quickly, I don't know which route would be best to take - yet.


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## TimB

Is there enough room to move the tool box to the front of the trailer (in front of the upright and behind the jack)? Maybe weld a 1" L-frame that the box will sit down in with a couple of tabs to bolt it to? Or is the box too long to fit crossways?

Tim


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## BillM

*In my experiance*



NaeKid said:


> I got my beast-of-a-bike on the trailer tonight (the one showing in the background) and I can still lift the tongue of the trailer by hand - fairly easily, so, I picked up the tongue and put it on my bathroom scale and it only reads at 175lbs. I am worried that I might not have sufficient tongue-weight to keep the trailer from "tail-waggin' the dog" situation when it is finished.
> 
> I might have to either cut the axles off and move them back a few inches or toss some significant-weight at the front-edge of the deck to give it a little more stability. The spare-tires that I want to put on the trailer might add an extra 50lbs .. with my project complete-date coming up quickly, I don't know which route would be best to take - yet.


In my experiance any thing over a 75 lbs tongue weight is acceptable.


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## NaeKid

TimB said:


> Is there enough room to move the tool box to the front of the trailer (in front of the upright and behind the jack)? Maybe weld a 1" L-frame that the box will sit down in with a couple of tabs to bolt it to? Or is the box too long to fit crossways?
> 
> Tim


That portion of the deck was originally planned and designed around the aluminum tool-boxes shown in the pictures. The problem with putting stuff forward of the deck-zone of the trailer is that it will encroach on my ability to jack-knife the trailer - turn it 90° to the tow-vehicle.



BillM said:


> In my experiance any thing over a 75 lbs tongue weight is acceptable.


If that is the case, then I will leave things as-is for now. Last night I was thinking about ways to move the axles back and I think that I came up with a slick way to do it by following the "walking axle" design used by 18-wheelers that allow the trailer-axle to move forward and backward depending on weight distribution ...


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## NaeKid

... and last night I got some more steel ready to weld into place, so, today I'll be getting the next round done up. I also decided to change my lighting-plans as the light-pods that I made up will be taking up too much space on the deck of the trailer, so, I snagged a set of water-proof lights to put into place. I'll mount them "high" so that they would be less likely to snag on rough ground ..


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## Vertigo

Naekid, your project is starting to look mighty fine! Once you get the wheels underneath you really can start to see the form of the build 

great work!

V.


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## NaeKid

And as of last night, my tail-light stalks were welded on and the holes drilled for the lights to be mounted, the safety-chain mounts were welded on and the safety chain put into place with hooks, all my tie-down points are fully welded and tested (I strapped the bike to them and shook the livin' crap outta it) and I had to tack-weld my fender to my work-bench in order to square it up before I fully weld it and polish the welds smooth .. pictures below


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## hotrod

Cool idea, my BOT is a teardrop that I built with suspension mods to track behind my truck. Both the trailer and the truck currently run 36" tires. It has a carrier in the roof for my self made Wherry wooden rowboat. My drift boat will fit too. Used a pintle hitch instead of a ball hitch for better movement offroad. It's not going to be a long term solution. But will get us out for 2 to 3 weeks.


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## NaeKid

... and my trailer is "done" as far as welding goes. Now I need to do the wiring for the lights and soak the whole beast in paint. I have test-fit two motorbikes on the trailer (my Zuki and my KLR650) and I took the trailer for a test-drive yesterday with the Zuki on it - just around the block, but enough to get a feel for the trailer.

What I found during the test-drive was the going forward and hitting bumps, the trailer tracked very well and the motorbike on the trailer held on just fine. Backing up the trailer sucks because it is so short of a distance between the coupler and the wheels. The tongue-weight seems to be fairly good with the motorbike on the trailer, not too heavy and not too light either. The trailer is wider than my Jeep towing it, so, I can easily see the fenders in my side-mirrors and when I go around corners, I can see the tires too.

I am thinking of making some "hub-caps" for the trailer that can be used as a "centering-post" for when I am putting the tires on .. 

Other than that, next set of pictures will be after I get the primer on the trailer and such, but, I still have to buy the primer and paint. I have some truck-bed liner that I will put on the deck under the "walking path" for when I am walking the bike onto the trailer.


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## Tirediron

Looking good,:2thumb: have you considered a few stake pockets before you paint? I know you plan on adding tool boxes to the sides, but a little versatility never hurts


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## ajsmith

Looks great NaeKid :congrat:


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## NaeKid

... and today's pictures. The primer is currently drying, I soaked everything that I could reach with my paint-gun ( http://www.princessauto.com/pal/sku/8155582 ) that I got for $12 and once that is dry, then the light-grey paint will be sprayed on (most likely tomorrow morning and then the lights will be wired into place (maybe Sunday night or Monday after work) and I will soak the track with truck-bed liner, the tops of the fenders (where I will probably step on it) will also get the bed-liner, the insides of the fenders will be soaked with rocker-guard (softer rubber in the spray) ... as well as the front of the trailer where stones can be kicked up my my Jeep and the closest-side of the light-stalks will get the final spray of rocker-guard.

I can finally see the end of this project - I am still considering TiredIron's idea of stake-pockets, I can wire-wheel the paint off in those areas to weld them on. I still have to figure out where the fuel-cans and air-tank "pig" and tools boxes will go, if they will be permanently mounted or just strapped on.


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## res2cue

SWEET job!


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## NaeKid

The trailer worked well on its first journey - approx. 1600km (1000miles) was travelled over two passes. My bike stayed in place, the trailer held together and I had a great weekend with my daddy. The paint on the other hand didn't survive, it was still too soft and chipped away when the stones were kicked up. I will be changing the way that I strap the ramp to the trailer as I don't really like what I came up with for my first round. I will also be hard-mounting storage to the trailer, but, it will have to be in such a way that it will not interfere with the tie-down points. I am also thinking of adding in more tie-down points so that I could use a wheel-strap to hold the wheels in place, not just holding the bike in place via the handle-bars.

Overall, I am happy, just some small issues to take care of before the next trip.


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## ajsmith

Nice !!! :2thumb:


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## Vertigo

Looks awesome Naekid!

V.


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## NaeKid

I was going through some old pictures today and decided to put them together into a slide-show video and post it up on YouTube ... Sharing here.


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