Custom Soft Road Trailer
Why Build It ? New 03/12/07 An explanation of why I chose the features and design of this trailer.
Trailer: Express Trailers (Parksville, BC) custom aluminum utility trailer. 4ft x 6ft x 18 inch enclosed bed, hinged diamond plate top with gas struts, 30x9.50-15 BFG All Terrain T/As on steel trailer wheels, 3000 pound GVWR axle, 10 inch electric brakes, 2000 pound capacity springs, 2 inch Bulldog forged ball coupler, LED lights, two 5 gallon Wedco gerry cans. Weight unladen (with 10 gallons gas and spare tire) 450 pounds. Future upgrade: clear LED back-up light, and turn those white-letter tires around!.
Here's a close-up of the trailer. The lid has a stout tie-down rail around the entire perimeter, and Yakima crossbars that carry my family's 4 mountain bikes. Additional light-weight cargo will fit on top of the lid between or to the rear of the bars. Internal tie-downs and 2x4 wood floor partitions help keep gear in place on rough terrain. The Wedco gas cans are strapped down tight and secured with plastic-coated steel cables going to clips inside the box.
I needed a versatile lightweight utility trailer for hauling bikes and camping gear and the occasional yard of dirt. I did not need a heavy rugged steel off-road trailer - I never intend to hammer mine, but I do need to be able to navigate rutted gravel roads and washouts to reach a campground, and it needs to tow without a care. This one works GREAT, is low maintenance due to the marine grade aluminum welded construction, and it turns heads wherever it goes. One excited fellow actually leaped out of his pickup at a red light and ran across the intersection to ask me where got the trailer.
Here's how I carry my family's 4 mountain bikes. I am now using Yakima crossbars with Boa mounts - since they are two piece mounts I can rotate the rear trays to compensate for different wheelbases. My daughter's little bike fits the same mounts as my long wheel base Raven. When the bikes are off, there is very little obstruction of the lid loading area that would occur with full length trays. The crossbars are clamped to the rails with 8 stainless u-bolts. I used off-the-shelf bolts and reshaped the curvature to fit the Yakima bars. The bikes are loaded facing to the rear, and the removed front wheels hang forward on Yakima wheel mounts. The result of this positioning is that when raising the lid, the weight shift forward past the hinge line helps the gas struts to hold the lid fully open. Even with 125-odd pounds of bikes and mounts the lid stays up easily. I do install a prop bar as a safety measure The trailer pulls beautifully loaded with bikes and camping gear, and the height is ideal for easy bike loading. I am extremely pleased with the entire setup!
At the campground in Riverside State park, Spokane Washington.... the bikes counterbalancing nicely. Normally I have a safety prop rod installed....my brain faded when I was setting up this shot. The fuel can racks will accept either the Wedco 5 gallon fuel cans or the 6 gallon plastic water containers. If I need to carry all 4, the water jugs can go in the trailer. The tailgate works nicely as a pantry/ cook surface.
For anyone interested....John's bike: 2002 Cannondale Raven 700 carbon fiber full suspension frame, fork and swing arm (I paid $500!), built up with components from my older hardtail F900. 26 pounds as you see it with tools and spares - when I get some decent lightweight X/C wheels and a new crank and seatpost it should be about 24 lbs.
Update 12/20/08: added a few pics.
This shows the Yakima Space Booster and shovel
mounted on the Yakima crossbars, as well as the 5 gallon Wedco gas can. There is
room for one mountain bike with this configuration.
Close-up of the gas can. The coated steel cable runs
around the can, and down through the floor of the running board to a padlock. A
second "keyed alike" padlock secures the gas can filler. The blue bungee keeps
tension on the steel cable to prevent rattles, and also helps to secure the
ratchet strap handle. Normally when I refill the can, I just leave it mounted on
the trailer.
This pic shows the 5 gallon plastic water container,
mounted in the same way as the gas can, but without a lock at the filler. I
doubt that many people will steal water ;) You can also see the safety support
rod braced under the lid.
Update 07/30/07: Second drawbar with 2 inch ball coupler: I needed to be able to tow the trailer with my 2007 RAV4 V6 Ltd, so I fabricated another 2 inch drawbar with a small drop instead of a rise like on the Treg coupler. I used a cheap Fulton stamped steel 2 inch coupler - it acts as a fuse and will pop if the rig gets too far out of shape. The RAV4 has a factory receiver but it's a unibody trucklet and not real strong....
It takes about 2 minutes and a couple of wrenches to swap the drawbars - each has it's own safety chains attached behind the coupler.
The bars extends pretty far out to allow for
clearance for the rear swing door. The trailer sits a few degrees nose down
unladen, but should be pretty level when carrying a typical camping load.
The trailer in Motorcycle Mode hooked up to the RAV4.
Update 05/23/06: Motorcycle Mode: With the tailgate and lid removed I was able to mount an aluminum rail to carry my KTM. Unfortunately the trailer is a little too short to be able to retain the tailgate.
The license plate is remounted onto a steel angle
bracket bolted under the rear fender/ skidplate. The bike rail is bolted to the
bed/ frame in three places. Adjustable aircraft type rail-mounted tie downs
along the sides and front provide ample tie down options. The ramp is a bi-fold
ATV ramp from Home Depot. I can still fit a couple of the RubberMaid bins on the
left side of the bed, which is the reason for the slight offset from the
centerline. The offset also allows for extra room for me to walk the bike
forward into final position.
Treg off-road coupling: A conventional ball coupling typically has a left/right rotation range of perhaps 40 degrees and a similar up/down range. When the limit is reached, either the coupling or the ball will be damaged. The Australian Treg coupling has an unlimited lateral range of motion and a 140 degree up/down range. As you can see from the above pic, the limiting factor in this particular situation is the tongue jack - the coupling is well out of the way of the ground. I don't anticipate using the trailer in this sort of terrain - the picture above was taken at an OHV park near Spokane WA in the middle of a long section of deep motorcycle-generated whoop-de-dos.
The tongue adapter is a standard 2 inch
square steel receiver bolted into the aluminum trailer tongue. The hitch bar
itself is 48 inches long and telescopes into the receiver. The Treg coupling is
welded to fabricated brackets and gussets at the front. This pic shows the
standard extension with the excess wiring coiled on top and secured with a
bungee cord By removing the hitch lock and the rear 5/8 inch bolt, I can extend
the hitch 30 inches for times when I want to carry a long load such as 2x12s or
perhaps a kayak. The blue tape marks the correct position of the wire harness
when it is coiled.
Detail of the tongue receiver. The upper and
lower row of 3/8 inch grade 8 bolts go through welded-on lugs on the square
receiver tube. The rear 5/8 inch grade 5 bolt is really there to prevent rattles
- the hitch lock is adequate for retaining the hitch bar.
The C coupling mounted on the bolt-on
receiver. The threaded shank is metric and a little undersized for a 1 inch
hole. The coupling comes from the US supplier with a stainless bushing to ensure
a tight fit in a standard 1 inch USA-spec ball mount. The Slee tire carrier just clears the top of the coupling pin
when the trailer is hooked up.
The nylon block and retaining pin. It is
possible to lock the pin using a conventional padlock, but Treg recommends
against trailering in this manner. There is an Australian aftermarket pin lock
available here (I am unaware of a US distributor):
http://www.marinews.com/permatrim/stop_theft.htm. For now I am using the
supplied locking pin.
The vertical range of motion available from
the Treg.
Treg Polyblock Trailer Coupling (AU) Great pics of the up/ down range of motion.
Adventure Trailers Sole USA source for Treg couplings. Current price is US$285 (MSRP in Australia is US$178).
Details:
The can (gas or water) is held in place by a ratchet strap. The black cable is 3/16 inch plastic-coated steel cable inside a piece of 1/4 inch fuel hose. It is crimped around the lower and upper stainless eyebolts and secured inside the box as shown in the following picture. The cable is a minor deterrent - anyone with a set of hand tools could get it off, but I mainly wanted to stop casual walk-away theft and a safety device in case the strap loosened.
The upper eyebolt was shortened and drilled for a safety pin to secure the wing nut - quick and easy to remove without tools. The locked lid keeps thieves away. The black rod end is the lower part of a lid strut.
One of the (60 pound rated) gas strut upper mounts, fabricated from 2"x2"x1/8" aluminum angle, bolted through the aluminum lid. I drilled three holes to allow some tuning in regards to angle of the open lid and to obtain full stroke of the struts. The lower mount is simply three holes drilled in the box side rails (again, for tuning purposes - see previous pic). To remove the strut, support the lid, pry out the retaining clip in the rod-end, and pop off the rod from the ball. Repeat on the other strut and the lid can be lifted to a 90 degree vertical position and slid sideways off the front hinge pins. It's fairly heavy - two people are required. Sorry, no pics ;(
The tailgate cables unclip at the top and then the gate removes like the lid - slide it to one side off the hinge pins. The gate is light duty and must be removed when carrying an extended load. The lower inside box tie-down (1 of 4) is an aircraft quick-disconnect mount, apparently Boeing Surplus. The trailer dealer who sold them to me for $10 each threw in a handful of titanium screws. They were too long and I went through 3 hacksaw blades to cut about 1/8 inch into one of them before I gave up and tossed them in the trash and used some high-strength cad-plated steel aircraft screws instead. The ring is rated for 2000 pounds, but I seriously doubt if it will actually take that sort of load. It works fine for light gear - a dirt bike would require a seriously heavy tie-down.
The tailgate removed. The 2 hinge pins are visible at the bottom of the box opening. The scarring is due to gear chafing the inside of the gate - hard to avoid on rough roads. Maybe it's time for Rhyno Lining? The rubber seals are an attempt to minimize dust intrusion - the lid has similar seals. The license plate is screwed to the tailgate to eliminate trail damage. When I carry an extended load I tie-wrap the plate to a cable extending between the two upper tailgate cable eyebolts. The 2x4s keep my Rubber Maid bins from shifting. The are notched for easy removal without tools. The ugly black thing on the left is the spare tire cover - I should have put it somewhere else for the shot.... The black skidplate/ bumper is fabricated from 1/8 inch mild steel angle and plate. It serves to protect the bottom trailing edge of the box, and also protects the tailgate from impact damage when backing up.
One of the two locks for the lid, and one of the tailgate pins. The locks provide security and also stabilize the back of the lid to spread the stresses from the bikes loaded on the crossbars. When the bikes are loaded I also use a tie down strap across the middle of the lid to keep it pulled down tightly onto the top of box. Note the quality welds - the fabricators at Express Custom Trailers know how to melt aluminum! I was a little disappointed in the quality of the wiring and finish work (and re-did most of it myself) but I can't fault in any way the quality of the metalwork.
The trailer wiring connects to the tongue
harness at this marine terminal strip. The connections are coated with liquid
electrical tape rubber compound for moisture resistance.
An extra pair of springs ride under the rear
bumper.
MORE trailer pics:
Express Custom Trailers Mfg Manufacturer of my trailer.
Jordan 2020 Ultima brake controller 03/12/07 NEW LINK.
Treg Trailers Australia Bulletproof off-road couplers. (03/12/07 NEW LINK - the old one got changed)
O'Briens Off Road Trailer Coupler Australia A highly regarded alternative to the Treg.
Adventure Trailers - Lock 'N Roll Offroad Coupler USA Another option for a USA made coupler.
4x4trailers.com Nifty rock crawling trailers
Track Outback's Tvan - AustraliaThe Tvan is amazing, and I hope they finally send some to the USA.
Page updated December 20, 2008
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