The Jeep Dolly

[zmotorsports]

Just saw your trailer/dolly build thread and read through it all.

Fantastic job all the way through.

Mike

 

[N-Smooth]

It's inspirational.

I was measuring my carhauler on Saturday and brainstorming what I want to do with it. I think I may just shorten the deck from 16' to 12'.

 

[Hickey]

Just saw your trailer/dolly build thread and read through it all.

Fantastic job all the way through.

Mike

Thank you sir! If I had to do it over again I would only change a few things. I would add more zip tie brackets before paint to secure wiring.

I started conversing with Brennan Metcalf a few months ago, as he wanted to build something similar. He's an engineer though, so it's a far better planned and executed trailer. He designed it all in CAD and sent it to a laser cutter for most of the cutting. When he received the steel from the laser cutter, he built the whole trailer over two weekends and a few hours each night after work. He can easily modify the plans for different size trailers, so if you're interested in building one, you might contact him. His build can be seen on Instagram.

Brennan's Garage on Instagram: "Two more hours of welding got the back end done on three sides. I still need to box in the front of the tongue and weld on the hitch assembly. And weld the axle tube to the inside frame members.....but then it should b

298 likes, 2 comments - brennanmetcalf on March 15, 2021: "Two more hours of welding got the back end done on three sides. I still need to box in the front of the tongue and weld on the hitch assembly. And weld the axle tube to the inside frame members.....but then it should be ready to flip...

www.instagram.com

 

[BlackSheep]

That trailer really is super slick. I mean it looks really good in the photos but you know how the saying goes: Pictures don't do it justice.

You’re right about that Shane, it’s a work of art. I say that knowing that @Hickey already has a big head. 🤣🤣🤣

 

[glockman]

Thank you sir! If I had to do it over again I would only change a few things. I would add more zip tie brackets before paint to secure wiring.

I started conversing with Brennan Metcalf a few months ago, as he wanted to build something similar. He's an engineer though, so it's a far better planned and executed trailer. He designed it all in CAD and sent it to a laser cutter for most of the cutting. When he received the steel from the laser cutter, he built the whole trailer over two weekends and a few hours each night after work. He can easily modify the plans for different size trailers, so if you're interested in building one, you might contact him. His build can be seen on Instagram.

Brennan's Garage on Instagram: "Two more hours of welding got the back end done on three sides. I still need to box in the front of the tongue and weld on the hitch assembly. And weld the axle tube to the inside frame members.....but then it should b

298 likes, 2 comments - brennanmetcalf on March 15, 2021: "Two more hours of welding got the back end done on three sides. I still need to box in the front of the tongue and weld on the hitch assembly. And weld the axle tube to the inside frame members.....but then it should be ready to flip...

www.instagram.com

View attachment 136120

I drove over and looked at Brennans. I like yours better, even if it's 200lbs heavier 😁.

 

[N-Smooth]

I drove over and looked at Brennans. I like yours better, even if it's 200lbs heavier 😁.

Cough fatty cough

 

[Hickey]

Cough fatty cough

IT'S WATER WEIGHT!!!

 

[Hickey]

Brown Santa brought some upgrades.



I had some lug nuts that kept backing off and ruined a wheel. I decided to change out the hubs and wheels for 8 lug. This will match my dump trailer tires/wheels, so each time I replace a tire it will go on the Jeep Dolly, and the Dolly will give up its tires to the dump trailer. That will keep the freshest tires on the single axle trailer. I've got some trips coming up that will put some miles on this Dolly this year.

 

[Bart]

Nice upgrade. That should bring some piece of mind.

 

[N-Smooth]

 

[Hickey]

So, I ****ed up. The reason my lug nuts backed off is because I put the wrong wheels on the trailer. On the upside I'm glad I did, because then I got the chance to fix some other issues I just found. Issues that were about to cause me trouble.



As you can see, 3 lugs are broken off. I caught this back in August right before a trip. I thought I just hadn't been vigilant enough about checking my lug nuts. Only one lug was missing when I caught it. The other two fell out when I took the wheel off last night.

This is why:



The hub is not supporting any of that wheel. It relies entirely on the lugs. The new hub supports the wheel correctly.

I ordered new 8 lug hubs and was surprised that they came with the backing plates and brakes, but I'm damn happy that they did.

I bought this axle used, and whoever put it together missed some important things. Like weld bb's on the inner seal surface.



Which could lead to a seal failure and contaminate the brakes with grease.




They also smashed the brake wiring under the backing plate nut. That explains why I had an intermittent brake connection issue.



But she's all better now.




Trailer axles are really very simple. I'm super glad I found these mistakes and corrected them, even if I'm embarrassed about the wheel issue that I personally missed.

 

[N-Smooth]

8 lug axles look so cool on trailers. Especially gold trailers 🤣

 

[Hickey]

8 lug axles look so cool on trailers. Especially gold trailers 🤣

They do look way more burly than 6 lug.

Also, interesting tech that I found out in this process. These 6 and 8 lug hubs use the exact same bearings and seals. I expected the inner seal to be a different size for my spindles, so I ordered the smaller seals (2.125" vs 2.250") separately. I'd don't have to use those, so I'm glad they were cheap.

 

[Hickey]

898 miles this week behind the new gas truck. I was hoping to pull down 11 mpg but the wind was pretty bad on both towing days. I averaged 10 mpg going down, 9.8 coming back, and 9.9 for the whole trip. I averaged 10.5 leaving Moab until I hit I-70 and had a stiff headwind all the way home. I think I could get 11 mpg without all of the wind.



Overall I'm quite happy with the new truck. I do want some lighter front springs, but it had zero problem pulling the Jeep and Dolly up all of the hills as fast as I could handle it.

 

[jeeper]

What MPH were you doing?

 

[Hickey]

What MPH were you doing?

70 on little roads, 75 on big roads.

 

[Hickey]

The Jeep Dolly helped me average 11.8 mpg on the most recent trip to Durango, CO and back. This was my first time towing over the Million Dollar highway, and I was quite happy to be pulling a short and narrow trailer. I can't believe they allow semi trucks over that hill.


One criticism I heard several times while building this Dolly was "the Jeep will get sandblasted without fenders". I tested this idea on this trip, as we had to drive over a few flooded roads with 1-2" deep mud covering the road. It's true that the trailer tires spun some mud up onto the Jeep, but the amount from the trailer tires was FAR less than the copious amount of mud that came from the tow vehicle. The front tires, axle, fenders, and doors of the Jeep were covered in mud. The leading edges of the trailer had 1/2" of mud stuck to them. The tow vehicle is completely stock and has generous factory mudflaps. Fenders on the trailer would have made very little difference, so the fenders I built for the trailer will remain in the loft of my garage.

The mud on the Jeep in the first picture is actually from the trail, not from being trailered.

 

[Hickey]

2 years of service for this project, and I still absolutely love it.

 

[mbryson]

2 years of service for this project, and I still absolutely love it.

View attachment 154159

TON of work to make but a great fit. Seems like a winner from the sidelines

 

[N-Smooth]

I need one.