Ricks Bronco: 1and 1/2

[rookieshooter]

Now that inner extension will be cut off once the 33s are on.

There, finally done except for some small welding and painting.
When I first started working on the rear support I had one mocked up for a rear center support. But when I climbed in....it rocked from side to side. Felt like I was in a box bobbing in the ocean, not good.
Might not bother others but not for me. LOL These two really make for a steady camper.

In this pic it's a little clearer to see the whole contraption. Bad lighting today.

Next I would really like to make a custom rear tube bumper with a receiver hitch. All kinds of neat things could be added then.

 

[rookieshooter]

Now to get rid of that damn pvc hatch support without buying those overpriced struts.

Talk about a $2 fix.

I would loose this the fist day out if it was not tied down LOL
Hardest part of this fix was picking out color of zip tie

Takes me back to High School when the teacher said. . .Spartans simplicity is conducive to good study
Those two words Spartans simplicity has worked well for me over those years. Especially when the $$$ tree is not dropping those bucks LOL

 

[seafarer76]

Instead of the holes and the receiver hitch pin, could you use some sort of friction fastener or a clamp to allow for the height to be adjusted to any ground contour?

I love the idea of having the rear supports inside the cab rather than outside the trailer.

 

[rookieshooter]

Instead of the holes and the receiver hitch pin, could you use some sort of friction fastener or a clamp to allow for the height to be adjusted to any ground contour?

I love the idea of having the rear supports inside the cab rather than outside the trailer.

Like your way of thinking. This would give me a infinite amount of settings. Going to weld a large nut on side of the 2x2 tubing that is in the inside of trailer/camper. Of course there would be a large hole drilled in the tubing first. Then a large thumb screw gizmo with handles or use wrench for tightening.
This would push up against the 1.5 x 1.5 tubing inside and force it against the 2 x 2 tubing. This would create the friction needed.
But I'm still going to use the pin device when the extensions are pulled up for traveling. More of a fail safe. It would be catastrophic if one of the extensions vibrated down during towing.

Thanks for taking the time to respond with that idea.

 

[mechanix]

The holes in the tail gate lift rods look good, but there do not seem to be much material around the holes. I did a little looking for you. Take a peak, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TAILGATE-LIFT-SUPPORTS-STRUTS-1984-1990-FORD-BRONCO-II_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2em20Q2el1116QQitemZ160308934351QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Erc

 

[rookieshooter]

I'll check into those. That's a good price, thanks.

 

[410Fortune]

I want to see pics of both vehicles hooked together! AWesome trailer!

 

[rookieshooter]

Here's some older pics. I'll have some new ones once the tool box is done and painted on the trailer/camper. Going to also put on the spare 33 that's in back of Chopped top onto the trailer to see how it will eventually look. This will let me check out the final ride height of it also.
410, notice of this 84 trailer that it has the lift up rear glass. This really comes in handy when hauling some longer stuff. Both trailer and truck are identical years.

 

[rookieshooter]

Trimming the corners with 1x1x1/8" steel angle. Also went and got some Ford blue to paint it.
I can also use it as a step to get to roof rack if need to. I'll glue some kind of matte on top for a step.
Need to get ready for the spring fishing trips and truck shows

 

[rookieshooter]

Shot some paint on the cargo/tool box today while the weather is coporating.
Rest of the week, just plain too cold and windy. My little heater has enough of a hard time trying to keep the garage warm when it's in the 40s let alone single and teen digits like the rest of the week.

I think some white pinstripping is in order next.
Then somekind of locking lid.

 

[rookieshooter]

Trying to custom tune the tongue weight on the trailer, so I
scratched the idea of using the existing gas tank for an auxiliary tank. I had put 15 gallons in it for emergency use. But coupled with the weight of the heavy steel shield that protects the tank. It was just too much weight on the backside of the axle. But that's not all that the gas was causing. When one tire hit a bump the gas would start sloshing from side to side and made a noticeable rocking action in the trailer. Now this is not noticeable when you have 4 wheels on the ground. But you sure do notice it when only two wheels are on the ground. And if I do need to carry extra gas I'll just use approved gas cans and place in trailer towards tongue. It was a remarkable difference in tongue weight when I diced the tank and gas that was on opposite side of axle then then the tongue side.

Nice and rust free above the area where the tank used to be.

 

[rookieshooter]

The floor of trailer has to be flat for camping. With that said I need to make the floor level all the way back to the bulkhead. But here is where it gets neat. Where you see the first silver can, that part of the floor is about 5" lower then where the tape is coming out of the tape measure. Then as you go back to the bulkhead you see another silver can. That is about another 6" lower. My plan is to make one or possibly two hinged covers level with the floor at the tailgate. Not only will this give me a level floor but much needed storage space. I most likely will have two separate storage places. One on the 5" step down and another on the 6" step down. Plus the divider between the two areas will also act as an intermediate brace for the cover/floor.
Never have enough when camping, although I always pack too much anyway LOL.

Next will be the slid or flip out bed extension.

Now for the area of the floor above where the old gas tank used to be. Going to cut a hole as large as I can in that part of the floor near tailgate. In the post before this one you can see the area I'm talking about. Then drop an appropriate size metal box down into it that will be flush with floor This could be about 12" deep with lid flush with floor I just cut out. I'm really thinking of lining this with foam insulation and then another metal liner along with drain valve. Can be used as an on-board ice chest or more storage area.

What a difference in towing when I added the extra tongue weight and removed the gas tank with all that sloshing gas.

Got a new toy.

 

[NORDFORD]

Little late now

I just had a thought. What if you removed the tool box on the trailer and extended the front wall of the trailer, just below the window, to the end of the floor you left on. This way you could get the air mattress all the way in and shut the gate further to keep out bugs, rain, etc. Then you could use the sliding rear window with a screen for ventilation. Better have another latch to get out though lol!

Please don't take this as criticism, just an idea I had. This is an awesome build and I am jealous.

 

[rookieshooter]

I just had a thought. What if you removed the tool box on the trailer and extended the front wall of the trailer, just below the window, to the end of the floor you left on. This way you could get the air mattress all the way in and shut the gate further to keep out bugs, rain, etc. Then you could use the sliding rear window with a screen for ventilation. Better have another latch to get out though lol!

Please don't take this as criticism, just an idea I had. This is an awesome build and I am jealous.

That is one good idea, and I was even at one time going to do that. But when I measured the amount I needed to stick out it conflicted with the rear bumper when making extremely sharp trail rides.
Plus the fact that I really need an outside box to keep some hardcore tools like axes, chain saw, 20' of steel chain and a small gas can among other things.

 

[rookieshooter]

Instead of the holes and the receiver hitch pin, could you use some sort of friction fastener or a clamp to allow for the height to be adjusted to any ground contour?

I love the idea of having the rear supports inside the cab rather than outside the trailer.

I liked your idea

Now in addition to the pin I have this 1 and 1/8" bolt that can be screwed into that welded nut that will tighten up against the inner tubing. This will give me an infinite amount of settings for different ground contours. The pin I'll use when traveling in the up position. And I'll have a hole when it's on a perfect flat surface.
Then I painted the two inner square tubing and foot pads.

Had some of these 10,000# hooks laying around so I welded one to the rear receiver. And besides, wanted to play with my new Hobart
Makes it a little more versatile with the ball and hook.

 

[rookieshooter]

I'm finally making something for the trailer that should have been made first. It's the parking brake. This trailer will roll on you in a heart beat.
Was going to the local salvage yard and pull some kind of lever parking brake assembly. But way too cold. So I looked in my pile of metal and found some of these shackles. There not as long as the pic shows. Thought I could make the lever out of them.

Next was to cut to length and angle, and then weld up. Then find the right fulcrum point on the frame and drill for bolt which the lever will rotate. Attached parking cable via cable clamp to lever on bottom end.

Of course I had to add this cool looking Bronco 2 rubber boot that needed some slight tweaking to fit.

And here it is in the lock down mode Next I'll add some kind of gizmo that will hold it in this position. Probably just have a little locking thing on the side of the tool box. It could just slip through one of the holes in the handle.
Only thing after that will be a coat of paint.

Need to get back on the chopped top and run 12 volt wires to the rear bumper for the disconnect fittings for the receiver mounted winch.

 

[rookieshooter]

Next was to come up with some inexpensive locking mechanism. Again went to pile of scrap and found an old hatch support strut. Drilled hole in lever and tapped it for a 10x24 cap screw. The cap screw is the perfect size for the strut to snap onto and be able to rotate freely.

Then all I did was to attach a 1x1 angle to tool box. Next just cut strut to size, heat and bend. Then all was left was to drill appropriate size hole in angle.
It holds the trailer with a vengeance. Won't budge at all.

 

[rookieshooter]

Now more jack stands. Had to use up my gift card at Family Farm. So I decided on this frame mounted stand. Once I'm sure it is in the right position, I'll cut off those tacky looking bolts that stick way out. Might just get rid of all of them and drill through jack mounting plates and then into frame without using those backup plates. Bolt directly to frame.
This style jack with wheel makes it a sanp to move in garage. When camping I'll just put a flat board under it.

I like the way it folds out of the way, plus I don't hardly have to turn the handle. I just fold it up as close to length that reaches ground.

May start on the inside storage area tomorrow or possibly a locking handle for the tool box. No outside hasp with padlock thing. The handle will be on outside with internal locking hardware.

 

[rookieshooter]

Today I leveled the floor.
I hinged the plywood floor to the bulkhead. Just lift up and I got two separate compartments. The closest compartment is about 5" deep and then the one on the other side is about 6"deep. The divider not only acts as a divider but is an intermediate support for the floor when it's laying down.

Going to look at some roller hardware to see if I can come up with a roll out table that has been suggested on this site.

Also need to cut for the recessed on-board cooler that will set flush with floor where the drill is laying.

 

[rookieshooter]

I completely ditched the idea of putting the table on rollers. Just too many things that I did not like about it after mocking it up. Just too much hardware in there that could get damaged or damage other things like my air mattress. I went back to my original idea of just hinges and flipping the table over and out. This also puts the table side that you would eat off of on the underside when stowed so as not to get gear oil or what ever else my drip on it. Also the way that I supported the table requires not legs.

Putting hinges on table. These will bolt to extreme rear of trailer.

So simple and so cheap to do. The table is on same plane as truck. Just level the truck with the rear and front jacks and bingo your table is level.

And here is my legless way of supporting it. Sky hooks LOL

Here is the door straight up before folding back. The hole in the angle bracing is for the eye bolt to attach.

And here is the old fart sitting on it with that deer in the headlights look wondering if the cable clamps are going to hold

And here it is folded back into the truck. Just seconds to flip out.