[shep]

Jezza. Buy it from ball (he sells trailer parts) and I can drop it into pandion haulage for ya.

[Jezza86]

Cheers for that shep. hoping to pull it all together quickly. even got a welder lined up (Monley)

[atari4x4]

you'll have to start a trailer build thread

[Jezza86]

thats what work time is for

[shep]

Haha ball sells welders as well

[shabz]

zukenutter wrote:

Fix it, to replace it with a similarly HD trailer wouldn't be cheap. The uneven tyre wear and off centre tracking is most likely bearings and spring bushes. I'd replace the u bolts too. Get a metal straight edge and check the axle when you replace the u bolts.

Springs came out and the leaves weren't rusted together, even though i had to cut off the eye bolts and U bolts as they were too far gone. Also the axel is pretty much perfect. Decided to strip everything and clean it all up since I'm here.
Cheers mr nutter.

[jdk81]

Even a bit of string would tell you if the axle is bent enough to worry about.
How rusted out is your trailer?
Big holes in floor or chassis etc?
If not, id just clean it and paint it.
If the slipper springs have worn into the chassis, maybe get some friction pads welded on.(some steel the leaves can rub on)

[shabz]

I checked the axel the best i could and it's straight.
Today i attacked the springs and axel with a wire brush on the grinder to clean them up. Rust has gotten in between the spring leaves and started to eat into the steel. Same with the axel. They're tiny little pits in the surface, a fraction of a mm deep. There are no real bad spots it's all pretty even. Overall they look good enough to paint and reuse. Will take some pics and put them up.

The slippers have worn slightly into the chassis, but not very much. Will weld a pad onto it though when i start on the trailer body.

jdk81 - have a look on the previous page for some before pics

[jdk81]

shabz wrote:

jdk81 - have a look on the previous page for some before pics

I did see those, but wasnt any pics of what I was interested in, which was why i asked about it.

[billythunder]

Got this little one off gumtree tows good going to convert to aliminium sides and hopefully find a small camper top or roof top tent for it

[christover1]

Well done, nice find, good and light, perfect for Zooks

[zukenutter]

I see a SPOA conversion in your future

[billythunder]

Yeah got a few mods planed first thing is a 2nd battery after my trip to teewah last week the car alarm killed the battery

[shabz]

jdk81 wrote:

shabz wrote:

jdk81 - have a look on the previous page for some before pics

I did see those, but wasnt any pics of what I was interested in, which was why i asked about it.

Over the next few days i'll get more pics.


Ok so I've separated the spring pack to clean off the rust between the leaves and give them some paint.
They're 5 leaf springs....and always have been way to stiff for what i use. Was thinking of removing one of the leaves. Not sure which one though....was thinking the second from the top, or the short bottom one. Don't know much about leaf springs and have read many different opinions. Here's a pic before i split them apart. Anyone know which leaf to remove to better suit lighter loads?

[christover1]

I think 3 leaf springs have a 750kg per side limit.
So depends on what you carry.
I only run 2 leafs in mine.
I'd take 2nd one out, and see how it goes,
is easy to remove another if needed.

[jdk81]

Bit of google, those leaves are about 900kg a pair.
You absolutely need the 1st and 3rd leaves (1st is obvious and 3rd helps dampen the spring)
You can get 3 leaf packs rated at 300-450kg/pair
Which looks close to 1st, 4th, and 5th, but itll ride terrible unless there is a shock imo.

Some spring theory

Instead of trial and error, try some booty fab testing
Say trailer is 140kg empty and max load will be 350-400kg
which is 308 pounds and 880 pounds respectively.
and is 154 and 440 pounds per side

Say you wanted it to deflect 3/4" when empty, it would be
154 pounds / 0.75inches = spring rate is 205 pounds per inch
440 pounds / 205 pounds per inch = 2.14" static deflection when laden (Probably pretty good imo)
I would guess it will have 2" of up travel before bottoming out (pretty decent really)

Go weigh yourself

Pull the pin out, and seperate all the leaves, and reassemble for a bit of testing.

put your weight on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd leaves (bolted together) and measure how far down it goes.
Put your weight on the 1st and 3rd leaves (bolted together) and measure how far down it goes.
Then try building up a combo using 1st, and 3rd with the other 3 leaves available.

Your weight x 2.2 (convert kg to lbs)
Deflection in mm /25.4 (converts to inches)
Then work out your spring rate in different conditions (lbs/inch) etc

I think close to 200 lbs/" would be snazy for a zook sized trailer.
If you trailer is really lightweight, you may want softer again, but remember it will sag more when loaded etc.

Now you have the tools you need to decide how to rate the springs to your desired load.
Non of this try this, bolt it all up, load the trailer and take it for a drive rinse, repeat until you get it right.

[zukenutter]

jdk81 wrote:

Non of this try this, bolt it all up, load the trailer and take it for a drive rinse, repeat until you get it right.

I like this method, doesn't make my brain hurt

[shabz]

wow! thats awesome info!

Thing is though....its a garden/general purpose trailer, it moves everything from top soil to furniture. So I don't carry the same weight each time. Having said that, I don't think i've ever carried anything close to 900kgs, so im pretty comfortable to remove the second leaf.
Here's a photo of where the slipper spring rubs on the chassis. The brown bit on the left side is where the spring rubs, and it's just the tip of the spring judging by the wear on the spring. I don't think the flat bit of the spring has come fully in contact with the chassis. Besides for feeling a little smooth it's no where near wearing through I'll add a steel pad when i flip it over.


The floor looks to be 2mm think, and pretty rusted, warped, and a few of the welds underneath had broken off. I decided it's better to just replace the floor.
Here's some pics of the rust

This is one of the cross bars once i removed the floor


Front corner left side


front corner right side


front hinge, the holes are in the door


hinge on rear door, i broke it off with my hand its completely rusted through.


Thats the worst of the rust. Will need a lot of time with the grinder and wire brush.

[christover1]

I personaly wouldn't bother, its beyond my tools and patience.
But go for it.
I'd consider making a new body for it, just re use the more solid chassis.
You can buy body kits easily enough, they deliver in a flat pack.

[jdk81]

How bad are the sides and mudguards realistically?
It appears most of the rust has occurred around the welds, so could be fairly easy to repair, but id consider a few more inspection holes near the rust holes to get an idea how bad it is.

You will spend ages cleaning the rust off, and a wire wheel probably wont be enough to get down to bright metal (itll polish the rust to a blackish colour).
Itd be fairly quick and easy to fab up a whole new chassis instead of cleaning it and hoping it will be fine.
If you spend ages cleaning and decide its too far gone, i'd expect a lot of swear words and regret.

If it was mine, and I was doing it super cheap, id probably clean it all back and replace only what needed to be replaced, but id whinge and complain and hate doing it the entire time.
I would highly consider a new chassis and other bits if required.
Steel for new chassis and floor would be $200ish
Price up body kit (sides and back etc)

[zukenutter]

Went to the Garterbelts and Gasoline hot rod show today and spotted some cool teardrop campers, including this one hitched to a Jimny.

[shep]

Far out, that jimny is only $4k less then mine cost new

[jdk81]

That woody camper is pretty nice

[zukenutter]

^^ yeah but needs some ground clearance

[zukenutter]

shep wrote:

Far out, that jimny is only $4k less then mine cost new

You got a bit of a bargain then

[shep]

They are $18990 new less $1000 for a ARB voucher so really cost $17990 on road Aust wide.

[zukenutter]

Bargain, list price used to be $21500 + on roads once upon a time.
I haggled heaps for both my Jimnys. First was $19000, second was $19300 - both on road.

[shabz]

jdk81 wrote:

How bad are the sides and mudguards realistically?
It appears most of the rust has occurred around the welds, so could be fairly easy to repair, but id consider a few more inspection holes near the rust holes to get an idea how bad it is.

You will spend ages cleaning the rust off, and a wire wheel probably wont be enough to get down to bright metal (itll polish the rust to a blackish colour).
Itd be fairly quick and easy to fab up a whole new chassis instead of cleaning it and hoping it will be fine.
If you spend ages cleaning and decide its too far gone, i'd expect a lot of swear words and regret.

If it was mine, and I was doing it super cheap, id probably clean it all back and replace only what needed to be replaced, but id whinge and complain and hate doing it the entire time.
I would highly consider a new chassis and other bits if required.
Steel for new chassis and floor would be $200ish
Price up body kit (sides and back etc)

The sides and mudguards are definitely useable, they don't even need much repair work.
I almost did get to the point where i was going to give up on it, and then i started finding lots of the original paint under all the surface rust!
Will update my build with more pics as not to clog up this thread with my junk

[Mike57]

shep wrote:

They are $18990 new less $1000 for a ARB voucher so really cost $17990 on road Aust wide.

Not Australia wide. Not permitted to be sold in Victoria for a few years now. No traction control. Soon to be unavailable Australia wide.

[Jones]

Mike57 wrote:

shep wrote:

They are $18990 new less $1000 for a ARB voucher so really cost $17990 on road Aust wide.

Not Australia wide. Not permitted to be sold in Victoria for a few years now. No traction control. Soon to be unavailable Australia wide.

Which is when the new, softer, IFS, crossover style one will come out and we mourn the passing of yet another old school dinki di off-roader