Off road trailer build

[thefirstzukman]

Being a very faithful Samurai driver and having a desire for some long weekend trips exploring places most never see, I have a need to build a trailer to haul all those must haves (water, gas, food, ect...). The samurai doesn't lend itself to much extra space to say the least. A while back I came across this trailer build taking a samurai and building a trailer out of it

http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/buil...version-project-samurai-to-adventure-trailer/

I am not really sold on his tounge set up and am presently trying to decide on why to do for an axle. I had originally though to buy a new axle equipt with brakes and use a brake controller to run it, but to get 5-5.5 wheels you end up with a heavy duty axle and I would be looking at $400 ish for the axle. I thought about a hydraulic hitch to run factory brakes, but I want to run a pintle hitch so I would have to design and build it all custom. I also was thinking I could run an alternator off of the stock samurai pinion and power a fridge and anything else I would want off of a pair of batteries independently.

So the big question is does any one have any thoughts on how to handle braking?

 

[spaggyroe]

Will you need brakes on the trailer? Most (if not all) of the small adventure trailers I've seen didn't run trailer brakes. If you do end up needing brakes, I'd go electric.

As for electrical, I personally would upgrade the sami's alternator and run a charge wire back to the trailer to charge an on board battery. This is how camping trailers, etc are set up.


Check out the thread that Kurt from Cruiser Outfitters put together regarding off-road trailers. There's a lot of great info in there.
http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?t=72960&highlight=trailer

Good luck with the build. Post up pics as you go along.

 

[Caleb]

Do you plan on towing this with your Sami?

 

[spencurai]

Do you plan on towing this with your Sami?

Yeah that's my question too...My samurais always had trouble towing the driver...

 

[thefirstzukman]

Do you plan on towing this with your Sami?

Yes, my samurai isn't your standard "33" tires sprung over on yjs under powered rig" my only worry at all is that I don't have a ton of weight. This is the reason I really want to have brakes on the trailer.

Rig info...

87 Samurai
1.6 injected engine
6.5 to 1 t case
Lockers front and rear
3" springs sprung under with rears up front 82" wb
30" maxxis big horn tires
Duel redtop batts and gm alt.
Rear driveline disconnect


The gearing of the t case in high range corrects for the 30" tires (speedo is right on). The motor is strong, it will cruise at 80 and hold speed up hills. It is very stable an I have towed more weight with it than I plan on with the trailer.


I am not new to towing, I pull big trailers all the time including doubles. I know how important vehicle weight is, this is why I need to figure out the braking on this.

I was thinking about activating a master cylinder via a solenoid controlled by a brake controller.

Anyone seen that done before?

 

[Caleb]

Yes, my samurai isn't your standard "33" tires sprung over on yjs under powered rig" my only worry at all is that I don't have a ton of weight. This is the reason I really want to have brakes on the trailer.

Rig info...

87 Samurai
1.6 injected engine
6.5 to 1 t case
Lockers front and rear
3" springs sprung under with rears up front 82" wb
30" maxxis big horn tires
Duel redtop batts and gm alt.
Rear driveline disconnect


The gearing of the t case in high range corrects for the 30" tires (speedo is right on). The motor is strong, it will cruise at 80 and hold speed up hills. It is very stable an I have towed more weight with it than I plan on with the trailer.


I am not new to towing, I pull big trailers all the time including doubles. I know how important vehicle weight is, this is why I need to figure out the braking on this.

I was thinking about activating a master cylinder via a solenoid controlled by a brake controller.

Anyone seen that done before?

Best of luck! (still sounds like a very typical sami) As for brakes, I'd only consider electric.

 

[spencurai]

Electric brakes are super simple...much more simple than designing your own setup. Also don't bother with the pinion alternator just run a 7-pin plug and charge the trailer from the vehicle alternator as it appears your upgraded alternator is up to the task. Chuck the sammy axle and get a used one with electric brakes, there are plenty out there.

Since I sold my house and no longer have fabrication space I just bought a teardrop trailer that is going to get an offroad makeover. The trailer is 970lbs as it sits and I opted out of the trailer brakes as my FJ has ample stopping power, it also has 260hp/270lbft torque so it tows the trailer with ease. If I were you I would do your rough estimates and then find a trailer that weighs in the ballpark and borrow it for an afternoon. Go tow it around with the zuk before you get all invested. I have been on the "Defend the honor of the samurai" team for a lot of years but towing with one just isn't going to be fun especially offroad.

 

[thefirstzukman]

I pull 2 king quad 700 four wheelers with mine and have no problems. With the trailer that's about 1600#. I'm not going to be anywhere near that, and the only place I feel bothered on the weight is having it push me down hills on the off road stuff.

I have been thinking about this constantly and I think I have my fix. I'm going to convert the existing brakes to electric using a mix of electric trailer brake parts and samurai brakes. I have looked it over and I will need to build a few custom parts but that's not a problem.

 

[airmanwilliams]

if you know tai weaver you should talk with him he is going to be taking his rig he just rolled and turning it into a trailer similar to the one on zukiworld. Not sure on the brake situation but he plans on getting another toyota axle and throwing that under the samurai trailer with some yj springs.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Skip the Samurai axle and just get a dedicated trailer axle with electric brakes. An alternator bolted to the pinion isn't going to last long in the elements and a simple charge wire from the tow rig to the trailer will keep the battery charged imo. A battery can only absorb so much charge and a charge wire will provide enough. I'd build as lightweight as you can, not just for trail performance but to keep you moving behind a Samurai.

The 'Will an off-road trailer work for me' article was posted above but I documented my builder here:
http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/tech_trailer.html

 

[StormRider]

I am not new to towing, I pull big trailers all the time including doubles. I know how important vehicle weight is, this is why I need to figure out the braking on this.

I was thinking about activating a master cylinder via a solenoid controlled by a brake controller.

Anyone seen that done before?

Your talking about an electric over hydro setup: http://www.trailerpart.com/brakerite.htm

Sticker shock is not going to be pretty though

The cheapest, most reliable setup is going to be a 2000 lbs trailer axle w/ electric brakes. You'll most likely want to run the cheaper "more power over time" controller, vs the inertia controllers, as you'll want power on the brakes even when your not moving (i.e. staring down a hill)

 

[thefirstzukman]

Can't make myself cut up the samurai, I'll just have to build from scratch.
I have been pulling my small trailer that just fits my king quad 700 in it and it is fine all over the place. The 4 wheeler is not light in the least bit. I think Ill be ok without brakes.