trying to get the ball rolling on a truckbed trailer...

[86 slo-vo]

ive been dreaming this thing up since i sold my old 1964 15ft camper, that thing way way too heavy to tow behind the ranger which pretty much did me no good having since thats what i wanted it for.

and i got to thinking about it, since i have the bed off my ranger laying out back i might as well do something with it.

im thinking something along the lines of this except a little longer tongue so i have enough room to put a FS toolbox and a generator on the tongue

but obviously i want a camper shell on it to sleep under, most of my trips will only be a night or 2 so i just want something light that tows behind the ranger easily and holds all my junk for the trip

sorta looking like this, except lifted up to match the truck

i started on the tongue the other night with some extra tube i had laying around and i have more coming this week, its 2x2 3/16 wall should be good since im wanting to keep it light

the 3/8's plate is for mounting the jack off of, its 3/8's still have to run a hole saw through it and drill some holes to mount the jack

that all i have for now until the rest of the steel comes in

 

[02RangerXLT]

Cool little build, subscribed!

 

[disciplerocks]

How are you planning on making the frame? You gonna stick a locker in the axle to lol. I seen those toolboxes at Rural King, but they were plastic and not very expensive.

 

[86 slo-vo]

How are you planning on making the frame? You gonna stick a locker in the axle to lol. I seen those toolboxes at Rural King, but they were plastic and not very expensive.

its going to all be 2x2, just going to use a 7.5 axle and some stock ranger leaves and make my own brackets to lift it so some 35's will fit under it

 

[schmoo]

i made a trailer like that.
i used 2x4 tubing with 2x2 cross members, and a
heavy square tube axle with old ford front spindles.
i made the frame an "A" going all the way to the rear bumper.
i cut the spindles square with a cut-off saw to fit a 2x2 1/4"
wall tube from a cultivator.
the trick to making the axle is to get it as straight as you can
with tack welds, then weld, and measure the brake disks to
see where they are the closest and make that the front,
or front and down if it's a corner.

 

[86 slo-vo]

im hopeing the 2x2 will do the job, the whole thing unloaded should only weigh about 500LB so hopefully fully loaded under 1KLB which should be too bad to pull behind the ranger.

ill be using my weight distributing hitch so it should be ok

im also going to put some kind of rack above the camper shell to strap my kayaks on to it

 

[GMillion$]

gonna be kickass!

this is the reason why i'm gonna be keepin my long bed mostly intact... dig the tube bed, but i wanna be able to sleep back there if/when i gotta

 

[AllanD]

Resist to your dying breath using a Ranger axle underneath it, unless you are prepared to use a hydraulic "surge brake" coupler.

In most states any trailer heavier than 1000lb MUST have brakes

and even if your state laws don't require brakes it's still a damned good idea... (uless you like crashing and dying...
or getting sued...

You CAN use a factory axle sucessfully if you are willing to think ahead a bit...... doing things like REMOVING
the Ring and pinion gear along with the axle spider gear pinions from the diff (and sealing the front pinion
bearing bore with a big welch plug)

Frankly I'd rather use an electric brake trailer axle cut to the correct width, which incidentally how I'm building my 7' Ranger box trailer...

There is only one advantage to using a Ranger axle... IF you take advantage of it...
And that is IF you take the extra effort to hook up the parking brake with a brake actuator
handle so your trialer has a "parking brake"

You'll see this done with seperate handles for each side on military trailers because it makes them easier to move in a controlled way (particularly by man-power)

But remember that the factory ranger axles are only 2800# rated...
I have a 3550lb Electric brake trailer axle from a twin-axle boat trailer
with 11" drum brakes that uses the familiar 5-on-4.5" bolt pattern


BTW I'm mounting a receiver hitch on the back... Not for towing anything
but for attaching an "anti flip" leg so the trailer is STABLE if you try to load
or unload anything heavy without it being connected to a tow vehicle.

AD

 

[86 slo-vo]

yea i was actually debating on the trailer axle, just not sure if i can find one around...ill probably just set it up for a ford axle for now and see if i cant find an electric brake axle for when its going to actually start getting pulled some distance.

do you think ill have any problems with 6' of tongue sticking out from in front of the bed? its going to be pretty heavy on the ball

 

[disciplerocks]

Trailer axles can be had for not much more than you would pay for a 7.5 at the u-pull I think (without brakes). Go check out Tractor Supply.

 

[86 slo-vo]

yea ill have to do some searching around, hadnt got that far yet

 

[97fordrunner]

You should set it up with a pintle set up so it works awesome off road. Gets way more angle than a standard ball

 

[strvger]

^^ x2!

 

[86 slo-vo]

You should set it up with a pintle set up so it works awesome off road. Gets way more angle than a standard ball

this project has been put on hold...most likely forever.

i picked up a small enclosed trailer, when i say small i mean it but its just big enough for me to sleep in and carry my junk and it was cheep...and super light

still working on the inside but its coming togather.

 

[4.0B2]

i think i've seen that style rims before!