I just wanted to share the progress on a little project I've been picking away at. It all started when I bought a little 4x8 flatbed trailer from a Craigslist ad for $140. I wish I had pictures of it when I brought this trailer home: It was pretty pathetic looking. It had tiny 8" rims on it, and the unpainted aluminum bed was absolutely ugly. The lights didn't work at all, either. The first thing I did was buy larger 12" 4-lug wheels for it. I then installed LED lights and sprayed black rubberized foam onto the bed. It started looking a lot better. I used it like this for the summer and fall of 2010 to tow my kayaks around. I even tried it out on some trails and it did okay, but I wanted more ground clearance. I also wanted it to sit up higher to match the lift on the XJ and almost come close to the 6" lift on my Suburban.

Here is what it looked like after putting the 12" wheels on it:




To get more ground clearance without having to lift it, I decided to convert to 5-lug hubs (5x4.5" to match the XJ) and put 31" tires on it so that I can have matching wheels and tires with the XJ. However, it turned out that the 31x10.50R15 tires were too wide to fit onto the hubs without rubbing the frame of the trailer. I went and bought a wider axle only to find out that the track width of the trailer would end up being wider than that of the XJ, so I returned the axle and abandoned that idea. The axle already on the trailer is more heavy-duty than the new one was, anyway.

My next-best option was to simply install larger trailer wheels, which I did. I found some nice rugged-looking 205/75/R15 trailer tires with beefy-looking treads and installed them onto the trailer after painting the rims black. The new wheels cost me $130 each. With the bigger tires, I had to replace the fenders with bigger ones. They came in bare metal, so I primed and painted them before installing them. The fenders were $50 each. I also put reflectors on the front and back of each fender because they stick out quite a bit. So this is where the trailer sits at the current stage. I plan on adding shocks to the axle, adding a rear 2" hitch receiver, and cutting off the 1-7/8 coupler and adapting some sort of swappable couple system so that I can go with a 2" ball for street use or a pintle/lunette for trail use.

Before installing the larger wheels, I had to use a 6" drop hitch, and it still wasn't low enough. Now it sits almost even with a regular no-drop hitch. There is 2 feet of clearance from the ground to the bottom of the trailer's frame. This little trailer won't be able to navigate Moab like the $15,000 off-road trailers, but it will work perfectly around my neck of the woods for the trails I take to get to camping spots and lakes/rivers. Not bad for a total investment of a little over $600! I will post updates as needed.

 

might sound dumb, but could you make a adjustable shackle so that you can lift it to fit the suburban, then lower it back for the xj?

 

Big update:

The past couple of days I did some minor work on upgrading the trailer. First of all, after taking it down a rough road, I noticed that the welds on the large fenders started to break from the vibration and wobbling around. Since I lack a welder, I put five bolts along the the arch of each fender.





Now, to prevent fender wobble while traveling down rough roads and trails, I had to think of way to secure the outer edges of the fenders. I found these bendable metal brackets for 50 cents each.



I bent them at the necessary angle and drilled through them and into the frame and fender. I used 1/4" bolts with nuts and lock washers to secure them. Of course, I also primed and painted them to match the trailer when I was finished.



This trailer had no way of securing any form of safety chain to it to stay road-legal, so I decided to use some heavy-duty eye bolts. Again, lacking a welder, I had to spend quite a bit of time drilling two large holes all the way through both sides of the tongue. I used heavy duty washers, lock washers, and nuts to secure them.





Finally, I was sick of having to use a jack stand to prop the trailer up when it wasn't attached to a vehicle. I went out and obtained a wheeled universal trailer jack. The reason I picked this one is the fact that it folds up when not in use. This ensures that it won't get caught up on anything while off-road.



After completing all this today, I decided I'd go a little kayak trip and test out the trailer off-road at the same time. Unfortunately, being alone, I could not get any action shots or any pictures of the XJ/trailer going through mud, ruts, up/down hills, and over obstacles. However, I can tell you that the trailer excelled through everything it was drug through. Even while going through deep mud, the XJ wasn't bogged down at all. It performed as if the trailer wasn't even behind it. The trailer didn't have any trouble at all navigating whatever the XJ drove over.

 

Looking good..

If you off road it too much I would be worried that the license plate is going to get bent up pretty bad. Have you thought about maybe moving it to the fender? Would have to rotate it, but as long as it has a light I don't imagine you would have too much problems after all I see motor cycles with the license plate turned on its side.

 

I'm actually thinking about getting one of those adjustable trailer hitches for now. That should do the trick.

Thanks. I've been thinking about a good place for the plate, but where it's currently at is the only easy spot to mount it without having to wire a separate light for it (the tail-light has a built-in license plate light). I was thinking maybe of putting together some type of easily-removable mount for it, so that I could take it off if I need to.

 

on my off road trailer i used a hinge to mount my plate to so when it drags it moves and dont bend maby you could try that

 

That is a great idea. I might just have to use it too.

And nice work on the trailer mods. It's looking quite worthy.

 

Nice, I like it. Good work.

 

nah he should just lift the XJ so it sits as high as the burban