The Jeep Dolly

[Hickey]

The Jeep Dolly is something I've been wanting to build for a long time but I'm waffling on the design.
* This is a dedicated trailer to be used only for hauling my Jeep or Anthony's Jeep.
* I want it to be as light as I can make it.
* Single 6k axle
* I have other trailers for all of my other hauling needs
* Not a dually axle
* Yes, I said single axle


There are 3 basic designs I'm considering, but I really only know the weight of one of them. Problem is, I don't know any of the wall thicknesses in that trailer.

Trailer #1 Ken Blume's design.

This is a radical design that's worked for several people and I've been told it weighs in at 960 lbs. The ladder frame design gives great strength while using lighter material.



Trailer #2 The Scorpion trailer

This design has been around 20 years and is also proven. I can't imagine it weighing as little as trailer #1



Trailer #3 Utility trailer style

This one I have no idea what the weight would end up at. Being angle iron would make it lighter than most car haulers, but I'm really not crazy about a wood deck for this build. On the plus side it would be useful for more than just hauling the Jeep, but I absolutely don't need that feature. I would of course build it with a heavier tongue and axle than what is out there on the market these days.

 

[Greg]

I love it, can't wait to see how this comes together.

 

[Hickey]

I love it, can't wait to see how this comes together.

HA! Me too!

 

[Hickey]

Trailer #3 is pretty simple to build, but there is barely enough room for my Jeep to fit on an 82" wide deck. My Jeep is 80" at the tire bulges at street pressure. The axle I have is the widest you can get and would be about 102" wide at the trailer tire bulges. That's max legal width.

 

[Hickey]

Trailers #1 #2 require me to narrow the axle.

 

[mbryson]

My “Jeep” is just narrow enough to fit between my fenders on my older PJ trailer. I think it’s 82” wide

 

[RockChucker]

With trailers 1/2 would you put fenders on it? Not sure I’d want road crap flipping up on the rig. Only other thought for whatever design is making a way to load a dead vehicle on it. My current flat bed has a high deck that makes that very difficult and I’ve contemplated selling it because of that. I miss having a trailer that I can just drive onto without ramps. But that is just me whining and not really applicable to this thread. LOL

 

[Hickey]

With trailers 1/2 would you put fenders on it? Not sure I’d want road crap flipping up on the rig. Only other thought for whatever design is making a way to load a dead vehicle on it. My current flat bed has a high deck that makes that very difficult and I’ve contemplated selling it because of that. I miss having a trailer that I can just drive onto without ramps. But that is just me whining and not really applicable to this thread. LOL

I would definitely have fenders on all of them. One puddle would make a mess with out them. Trailers 1/2 would have them pinned in place so I could remove them.

 

[Pile of parts]

Don't get me wrong, because who doesn't love trailers and building stuff... but is it worth it? My "car hauler" is about 1700 lbs. Sure, almost twice the weight but it's a solid trailer with two axles and 18' deck - 16' flat, 2' dove tail. A smaller deck would weigh less or an aluminum trailer but does the 700-800 lbs make that much difference towing? I guess if you don't already have a trailer, than, why not. Again, not knocking the build, just trying to understand the points I'm missing.

 

[Hickey]

Don't get me wrong, because who doesn't love trailers and building stuff... but is it worth it? My "car hauler" is about 1700 lbs. Sure, almost twice the weight but it's a solid trailer with two axles and 18' deck - 16' flat, 2' dove tail. A smaller deck would weigh less or an aluminum trailer but does the 700-800 lbs make that much difference towing? I guess if you don't already have a trailer, than, why not. Again, not knocking the build, just trying to understand the points I'm missing.

I want it as light as I can build it. The main point is to stop using my dump trailer (4k lbs) to tow my Jeep with and I would like to cut the weight and height of the overall towed vehicle as much as I can.

PJ trailers used to build a single axle 7k trailer model C1 that would have been right up my alley, but they advertised the shipping weight at 2,100 lbs. That's too much combined weight with my Jeep on it. Also, they don't make that trailer anymore.

 

[zgfiredude]

From my perspective, I'd lean to #2. I can appreciate your design criteria and sticking to your wishes........utilizing the single axle approach seems to be a must. #2 allows a safety factor to hauling your precious cargo by virtue of the dually configuration.

But after looking at the pics again, you could build #1 as a dually as well. quick release fenders and you can drive over the duals to load/unload.

 

[I Lean]

No input so far, but watching with interest.

 

[Hickey]

From my perspective, I'd lean to #2. I can appreciate your design criteria and sticking to your wishes........utilizing the single axle approach seems to be a must. #2 allows a safety factor to hauling your precious cargo by virtue of the dually configuration.

But after looking at the pics again, you could build #1 as a dually as well. quick release fenders and you can drive over the duals to load/unload.

A dual wheel adds weight and doubles the rolling resistance. I've already bought G-rated tires that are good for 4k lbs each.

 

[N-Smooth]

I’m excited to watch you pursue your dreams lol

Kenny’s trailer is sweet and that’s likely the route I’d go. The scorpion trailer has to be several hundred lbs heavier IMO. My Big Tex CH60 is supposed to tip the scales at like 1500# and I bet it has less metal than that scorpion trailer. It’s unfortunate that the new owners of Kenny’s trailer will be in Southern Utah for a month but I’m sure they left the little trailer at home since they brought out 2 rigs from GA. Otherwise you could just go check it out.

 

[Hickey]

I’m excited to watch you pursue your dreams lol

Kenny’s trailer is sweet and that’s likely the route I’d go. The scorpion trailer has to be several hundred lbs heavier IMO. My Big Tex CH60 is supposed to tip the scales at like 1500# and I bet it has less metal than that scorpion trailer. It’s unfortunate that the new owners of Kenny’s trailer will be in Southern Utah for a month but I’m sure they left the little trailer at home since they brought out 2 rigs from GA. Otherwise you could just go check it out.

I finally had some contact with the owners of the copy of Ken Blume's design above and they built the entire thing out of 1/4". Even the decking is 1/4". That defeats the purpose of building that type of trailer, as he says it tips the scales at 1800 lbs. 😬

At this point, I'm leaning towards copying your trailer and using minimal 14 gauge tread plate decking because I hate wood.

 

[N-Smooth]

I finally had some contact with the owners of the copy of Ken Blume's design above and they built the entire thing out of 1/4". Even the decking is 1/4". That defeats the purpose of building that type of trailer, as he says it tips the scales at 1800 lbs. 😬

At this point, I'm leaning towards copying your trailer and using minimal 14 gauge tread plate decking because I hate wood.

1800 lbs? that's ridiculous! let me know if you need any details you can't find online. you can even borrow it FWIW- I care not

 

[I Lean]

Just make that ladder-frame style out of 1/8". Then it's only 900 lbs. Solved.

 

[N-Smooth]

Just make that ladder-frame style out of 1/8". Then it's only 900 lbs. Solved.

Carlos does the maths

 

[Hickey]

Just make that ladder-frame style out of 1/8". Then it's only 900 lbs. Solved.

The entire trailer structure must have been built out of 1/8" to get the weight down to where Ken Blume's design was.

I've been studying Nate's trailer design and it's got me thinking of a 4th design.

The 60CH trailer has been around for at least 35 years. The materials it's made from and it's weight can be found in this link below.

Big Tex 60CH 83" x 16 Economy Tandem Axle Car Hauler | Mueller's Sales & Service in Random Lake, WI

The 60CH Tandem Axle Car Hauler Special Trailer from Big Tex is a durable economy-style car hauler thats great for autos, small tractors, ATVs and side-by-sides. Tie-down pockets on each side allow for multiple places to secure cargo.

muellers-sales-service.dealers.bigtextrailers.com

The main rails are 3x5" angle iron and 1/4" thick. These angle iron trailers are known to be light, but kind of floppy. Using rectangle tube instead of the angle iron should help keep the floppy to a minimum, so I've been studying the weight per foot of each material.

3x5" angle at 1/4" thick is 6.6 lbs
2x5" rectangle tube at 1/8" wall is 5.68 lbs
2x4" rectangle tube at 3/16" wall is 6.87 lbs

So if I build a flat deck trailer with the main rails from 2x5" rectangle 1/8" it should have at least the same weight carrying capacity as the 3x5" angle iron, but it would be more resistant to twisting or racking and be almost 1 lbs per foot lighter.

The other issue with the 60CH is the tongue support does not reach all the way back to the spring hangers like a heavier built car hauler. I would definitely do that, as it doubles up the strength over the area of the trailer that sees the most stress.

 

[The_Lobbster]

I'm building a combination of #1 and #3 for my Samurai right now. I have built the main frame out of 2x2 tube, with one rail being 3/16, and the other 1/4, because I got it for free. But I will be adding upper rails similar to the ladder style or utility trailer. All the Facebook warriors attacked me saying the square tube would crumble under any weight, yet fail to realize all those dinky utility trailers that people haul SXS's on, are made out of not much more than just 1/8" angle iron.

Overall, my vote is for #3, just because you can also use it for other stuff, small car, side by side, etc, if you really needed to in a pinch.