6x10 Utility Trailer Build

[zmotorsports]

Technically not Jeep related other than I will tow it on occassion behind my Jeep. I have sold several of our trailers this past year and decided to just keep our 26' Haulmark Edge race trailer and build me a nice sized utility trailer for general use. I also buy/sell motorcycles on occassion and need something that I can strap a bike or two down to that is secure.

I thought I would throw up some pictures of this quick little project that I am just building in my spare time between other jobs. Like pretty much everything else I build it is going to be overkill but I want this to be the last utility trailer I build.

I sat up my chassis jig for the build. I know a chassis jig is not necessary and by the time I bolted the chassis jig together, I could have probably had the main deck completed. However, I like squaring up projects on my jig as it is much easier to keep them square and it is really nice to clamp things down and not have them move while I am welding them.

Chassis jig/table set up.

The main deck components laid out. I am using 2"x3"x.125" rectangular tubing for the perimeter of the deck. Overall dimensions will be 6' wide by 10' long. I will also be using a 3500 pound torsion style axle.

One of the corners mitered and the mill scale knocked off ready for squaring and welding.

My longest clamps were not quite 6' long so I had to improvise and use a smaller clamp and hook two together to pull the sides in and ensure there were no gaps in the corners.

Corner weld showing a nice tight 90-degree fitment with no gaps.

Main deck completed and the E-Track laid out.

I snagged a couple of fenders over the weekend. They were much cheaper to buy the open fenders than the ones with a backing. I figured I will just enclose the back of them. They wanted twice the price for the enclosed style.

That is as far as I have gotten on Saturday. My axle is ordered and there is not much more I can do until it shows up.

Mike.

 

[Greg]

Always love the thought, detail and clean fab work that go into your builds Mike, looking forward to seeing this trailer come together... thanks for sharing!

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm excited for this

 

[rholbrook]

I like the idea of the E-Track. Just like your other projects, well thought out

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments.

Mike.

 

[zmotorsports]

The big brown truck stopped by the shop and dropped off some trailer goodies. I bought some accessories for my E-Track that is going on the trailer. These items were made by Erickson and seem to be pretty good quality of what I can tell so far.

I also decided that I am going to go with LED lighting so they were also in the box.

I cut the spreader bars/tubes and they too are ready to be welded in place as soon as I measure and decide on spacing.

Now some random pictures of several of my welds.

That is about it for now. Hopefully I get a call today saying my axle is done and ready to be picked up so I can make some progress over the weekend. I would like to get this done as soon as possible so I can move on to jobs where I actually make money rather than spend it.

Mike.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I hope you don't mind me copying some of your design ideas that are sure to come from this thread.

I'm assuming you're using your mig for these welds? They kind of look like tig welds. Are you laying these welds down one small round bead at a time? Meaning you're puling the trigger and releasing it 10 times for each 1" weld? Or are you leaving the trigger down the entire time for each 1" stitch?

 

[zmotorsports]

I hope you don't mind me copying some of your design ideas that are sure to come from this thread.

I'm assuming you're using your mig for these welds? They kind of look like tig welds. Are you laying these welds down one small round bead at a time? Meaning you're puling the trigger and releasing it 10 times for each 1" weld? Or are you leaving the trigger down the entire time for each 1" stitch?

Don't mind one bit you stealing ideas for your own trailer. I just hope they are the good ones.

As far as welding, yes I am using the MIG (GMAW) process and NO it is not the "tack, tack, tack" method. It is the squeeze the trigger once and run a continuous bead method. There is a bit of torch manipulation to get the rippled or stack of dimes look, plus machine settings are crucial. There is a HUGE controversy over this on several of the welding forums but in the motorsports industry it seems to be one of the things that are sought after. I have carried awsd1.1 4G welding certifications in GMAW, GTAW and SMAW for about 10 years up until a couple of years ago when my company let them lapse so I understand that this is merely one style or technique and in some industries not allowed. If you were constructing a nuclear powerplant or welding boiler or steam piping I am sure would not be allowed. It would also fail any x-ray or ultrasonic welding tests but again, for the motorsports industry it is sought out and people pay big money for this style of welds on their rigs.

It is criticized to some extend for good reason. Many times I see this as the #1 thing people are shooting for rather than first and foremost making a solid, sound weld. A solid weld should ALWAYS be the first priority and then work on the aesthetics aspect of the welding process. The key is to stay in the leading edge to ensure the fusion is properly taking place, too often I see people skipping over the leading edge too fast and coming out of the puddle. This will net the look they are after but compromise the integrity of the weld. Safety should NEVER be compromised, period.

I am fairly good at it but always trying to improve upon. There are some real artists with a MIG gun on many of the welding forums that I am trying to catch.

I have been thinking about putting up a short video of the process and post it to my youtube channel. I have had some inquiries about it so maybe I will.

Mike.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I didn't mean to criticize at all, I'm no welding expert. The only other way I've seen mig welds look like that in person used the tack, tack, tack method, which always seemed weaker to me. That's cool to know they can look like that with a continuous bead. I think the welds look great, no criticism on my end.

I'd love to see the short technique videos, though I'm sure all the armchair cowboys would come out of the woodwork to criticize.

 

[nnnnnate]

Mike could you comment a little bit more about using the 6' clamps to help square things up? Maybe explain the process of doing that? It seems like most people use the 90* magnets to tack then measure and adjust as needed. I'd guess using the clamps allows more precision?

I saw a few of your projects on GJ a little bit ago and thought I recognized your username from somewhere. It took me a while but I realized it was from here. Thanks for sharing you skills with us that are trying to learn.

 

[zmotorsports]

I didn't mean to criticize at all, I'm no welding expert. The only other way I've seen mig welds look like that in person used the tack, tack, tack method, which always seemed weaker to me. That's cool to know they can look like that with a continuous bead. I think the welds look great, no criticism on my end.

I'd love to see the short technique videos, though I'm sure all the armchair cowboys would come out of the woodwork to criticize.

Sorry if I sounded/typed like I was offended, I really wasn't and you didn't offend me. I just wanted to ensure what method I was using because it is such a huge and quite heated debate. Again, no offense and I didn't take it that way. I had to learn along the way and I just always want to make sure I pass along as accurate and informative information as possible is the only reason for the long answer.

All is good. Sorry if I sounded offended.

Mike.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike could you comment a little bit more about using the 6' clamps to help square things up? Maybe explain the process of doing that? It seems like most people use the 90* magnets to tack then measure and adjust as needed. I'd guess using the clamps allows more precision?

I saw a few of your projects on GJ a little bit ago and thought I recognized your username from somewhere. It took me a while but I realized it was from here. Thanks for sharing you skills with us that are trying to learn.

No problem, let me see if I can create a visual. With the 2"x3" rectangular tubing clamped to the jig/table, I welded the top edge. In typical welding fashion, the metal moves where it is not 100% held in place. The tubing in the vertical plane pulled in at the weld which resulted in a slight gap on the opposite side, meaning the rectangular tubing standing on end leaned out of plane. Once I flipped the deck over to weld the other side I had a gap at the corners so I used clamps to pull the corners back together and take the lean out of the tubing. I hope that made sense anyways, it did in my head. Which isn't saying much.

Ya, I am on garagejournal as well and have a build thread or blog if you will of some of my projects over there. I have been fairly active on that forum and a few others but haven't been as active on here as I would like to. I am trying to be more active here as this is more of a local community of off-roaders vs. other forums that are scattered all over the world. My son also talked me into setting up a youtube channel a few months ago so I have been trying my hand at making videos to now only showcase my work but also assist others and continue learning myself. Unfortunately, I suck at talking to a video camera.

If anyone has any questions, I would be willing to explain so please don't hessitate. Keep in mind that the way I do things is merely my experience and what has worked for me, there are many ways to do this or any fabricating for that matter.

Mike.

 

[nnnnnate]

That explanation makes sense. Basically when you welded one side the opposite shifted out or square. The clamps were to get that other side back in so it could then be welded. I was picturing the clamps were there before doing any welding.

Thanks.

 

[zmotorsports]

That explanation makes sense. Basically when you welded one side the opposite shifted out or square. The clamps were to get that other side back in so it could then be welded. I was picturing the clamps were there before doing any welding.

Thanks.

Sorry, I should have been more clear on that. I knew the tube would pull and put the clamps on after the top weld to pull the tubing back on the other side before welding it. There are two schools of thought here, you can either clamp it down solid and weld it to eliminate the movement, but be careful here or you can design in tension or stress without realizing it, or plan ahead on where the metal or how the metal will move and then compensate. If I had clamped it solid before welding, I would have had to weld the bottom by lying on my back and doing it overhead. That is not the end of the world, I just don't want to make it any more difficult than needs be. So I figured it would move, welded the top side, flipped the deck over pulled it back into plum and welded the bottom but from the top.

The main thing is to plan in advance and remember there is no such thing as a free lunch. The metal will move, you just have to plan for it or better yet, get it to move where you want it to for the next operation. A little hint there though, don't be too vocal about it because sometimes the metal has a mind of its own and Murphy shows up to let you know that you may not now everything. It will do what it wants, when it wants. Then you have to regroup and go to plan "B".

Mike.

 

[zmotorsports]

While we are somewhat on the topic of welding there is one more thing worth mentioning, while working on getting a good solid, sound weld with your dominant hand, don't forget to practice with your non-dominant hand while your at it. It is very good to be ambidextrous and become proficient with both hands when welding. You can't always get your dominant hand into an area that you need to weld, there are times when you need to get your ass behind you to weld something and simply can't. If you are proficient in both, you simply grab the gun in your other hand and continue on. Otherwise, you are standing on your head trying to weld, or that one weld on your entire project looks like you left the shop door open and pigeons flew in and shit all over that one weld. Practice using both hands.

Mike.

 

[zmotorsports]

I made a short video of what we were discussing above if anyone would like to watch it.

This is just my take on the technique.
[video=youtube;O8MFjNHw8Ac]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8MFjNHw8Ac[/video]

Hope this is able to help someone.

Mike.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Good stuff Mike, thanks for taking the time to do that!

 

[zmotorsports]

No problem. I hope I did a good enough job explaining. This video stuff is new to me and it is taking me a bit to get the hang of it.

Mike.

 

[sixstringsteve]

video looked great. Good job capturing the actual welding, I don't imagine that's easy.

 

[CobraNutt]

Nice! I really want to learn to weld...I have a ton of little projects rolling around in my head! Lol!

Sent from my mystical handheld gizmo.