Project: "Frankentrailer"

[bobthetj03]

As many jeepers know, room can be scarce, especially if you want to explore longer distances. I also like to take my 2 large dogs on outings, so that didn't leave much room for gear. I had to get creative if I wanted to camp and take the dogs.
This got my mind turning, so before I knew it, I was mentioning my thoughts with a fellow jeep friend. Next thing you know, he rolls up to my shop with these on his trailer.

What the heck am I going to do with 2 YJ tubs? Stay tuned for the shenanigans to follow!

 

[trfkcop]

Can't wait! Necessity is the Mother of invention...

 

[bobthetj03]

Can't wait! Necessity is the Mother of invention...

Necessity and a tight budget lend to some interesting creativity.

 

[bobthetj03]

First thing in order was to get these 2 hulks of jeep glory unloaded and cleaned up, so my buddy took them to his place for this task.

Contemplation and a adult beverage helps get the creative juices flowing.

 

[bobthetj03]

Measure 3 times, cut once, right?

No going back now!


I hate puzzles!

 

[bobthetj03]

After a bunch of sawzall surgery, we ended up with something we could possibly work with.

 

[bobthetj03]

With most of the demo work done, it was time to haul what was left back to my work where I had access to some metal melting devices.

Remember the part where I said "tight budget"? Well, in actuality there was "No" budget, so some scrounging and scraping were in order. Fellow co-worker had some TJ flares I could have. I also ended up selling the family roll bar that was on the blue tub to help offset the cost of purchasing the tubs.


Now to figure out how to make TJ flares fit on a YJ tub....??

 

[bobthetj03]

Welding thin sheet metal is no task for the inexperienced, but yet here I was, trying to make a go of it.



On the flip side.


These tubs were in pretty rough shape for good reason since they were found in a wrecking yard waiting to be crushed, so some metal work needed to be done to a few areas.

 

[bobthetj03]

This was going to be no "trailer queen", but I wanted it to look halfway decent and not too ghetto, so I did the best I could with what I had.




My jeep buddy did some CL shopping and found me a tail gate I could make work for one end. The other opening was still a mystery.

 

[bobthetj03]

More CL shopping netted a solution for the other opening in the form of a CJ7 tailgate. So, I had a swing out at one end, and a drop down at the other. Beat building a bulkhead from scratch me thinks.

 

[Craig M]

Like the Dinoot Trailers but great fabrication work.. Cool!

 

[HEYElliott]

The last three photo posts arent showing up for me! I like the way the build is going

 

[bobthetj03]

The tub was starting to take shape, so I put the word out to my jeep buddies with a list of stuff I still needed on the cheap. With their help, goodies started trickling in.
Pair of Canyon wheels,

TJ taillights from a jeep owner forum member,

Another jeep buddy found an abandoned jetski trailer. axle and leaf springs please!

 

[bobthetj03]

I'm hammering the site with a lot of pics, so the server may need time to cool down, lol!

 

[bobthetj03]

Next obstacle to overcome with the cosmetics of the tub was to figure out how to cover up the YJ tubs gas door holes. Along came my jeep buddy with a no cost solution in the form of a donated piece of diamond plate aluminum from an old cargo box. some massaging and riveting made for an interesting but functional solution.

 

[bobthetj03]

With most of the rough body work done we paid some attention to the inside of the tub.

Pretty nifty how I was able to use the roll bar mount plates to thread in some cargo eyes.

Primed up.

Made use of a used aluminum sign for some floor protection.

After bed lining the inside, I riveted the aluminum home.

Do the ole flip job again to undercoat the bottom.

 

[bobthetj03]

Next up I needed to think about building a frame. Best option I could think of was to just start from scratch and build the frame to fit the tub's mount points, so some cash needed to be exchanged for some steel. Out of time for today, so stay tuned for the frame building shenanigans to unfold.

 

[trfkcop]

Looking good! Great progress..

 

[bobthetj03]

The frame was taking shape, and my welds were improving with practice. I purchased some new wheel hubs and bearings, cleaned up the beggared up stub shaft on the one side and got the leaf springs set up.



All welded up and painted.

Yes, the tongue looks a little long, and it was. I ended up cutting it a bit shorter.

 

[bobthetj03]

I cleaned up the CL Canyon wheels and put a unique look to them. Was shooting to get them to look similar to the wheels on my Jeep.


A co-worker had a buddy that was getting rid of some 32" KM2's super cheap, so I scooped them up for the trailer.


A jeep buddy who also happens to be a welder/fabricator by trade designed and built a custom 3 axis hitch for the cause for the cost of materials ,$75.