bigbens trailer build

This has been something that I have wanted to do since back in the winter time. Whenever I ride close by it is a pain to load up the enclosed trailer and I do not like to take off my tonno cover on my pickup. I wanted to have it done by harlan last year but did not really get on it too much. just kept hauling it like usual. I asked my father if he wanted an old popup frame he had sitting in the weeds back beside my house. He naturally wanted to know what I was going to do with it. So I told him that I wanted to make a small flat bed trailer out of it to haul my quad around. I measured it and there were a two possible configruations that I could do. First off though a pic of the trailer.



At first i was planning on unbolting the axle flipping it upside down that way it would put the deck above the tires and I could make a 2 place atv trailer. after measuring though the frame was just too small for a machine as big as the rincon. it would have been a tight squeeze. So I scratched that idea. So it was settled I was going to do a single place atv trailer that I could also use to haul whatever around the house with using the rincon. So it would be dual purpose. I then started thinking about flooring options. FIrst I was thinking about getting diamond plate that was 1/8" thick to weld to the floor for a solid floor. it would also add a bit of weight to preload the springs just a bit. I found out though that was pretty expensive. I quickly realize I would have been better off buying a new trailer instead of putting a bunch of money into this one, but I had just been given a bunch of 2X6 pressure treated boards. Idea I was going to use the 2X6's for the floor. So far total cost $0.00

I looked around and found a decent set of 20.5" tires that were laying around from the multitude of campers that we had torn apart. I picked two good ones out and mounted em up. the small wheel barrel tires that were on it I figured would blow the bearings apart on those long road trips. After getting them on I needed to start figuring how the ramps would attach. Along with how I was going to do the lighting and fenders. At the time I did not want ramps that stayed attached. I was plannin on making something that they would clip into on the rear to unload and load the quad then they would be stored up front for transport. For the fenders I wanted something that if someone stood on they wouldn't buckle. Namely me. When the quad is on this trailer it is just as wide as the frame rails less a few inchs. Whenever I would get off I would be stepping right on the fender to get off the trailer. So I am plannin on using two pieces of 12" wide by 36" long diamond plate that is 1/8" thick. I will bend them at work to the shape I need then weld them on tight. These should be able to withstand my weight. For the lighting I was planning on getting a regular trailer lighting kit from tsc or a trailer supply store. I am also plannin on adding a few white led lights somewhere on the trailer for lighting at night. I am not sure how I am going to rig them up but I think it would be a nice addition to the trailer so when I am loading the quad up at night I will have light to do so. They will run off the trucks battery. I am thinking about putting the turn signals on the fender to keep them from getting ripped off. once I get the fenders welded on that will determine where I place them.

So I had a basic idea drawn out of paper with what I wanted to do. I needed to cut off the extra supports on the sides and since the levelers in the middle were welded tight I cut them out too. I plan on adding some addition support in the four corners where I cut the jacks out so that the trailer has some stregth if I am rear ended or I back into something. So that brings us up to now. Last night I pulled out the cutting torch. I cut off the unneeded pieces that were welded on and started grinding down the frame to smooth it out. got about a 1/4 of it ground last night. I plan on grinding the rest tonight and hopefully I will have the trailer cleaned up welded and ready for pain by the end of labor day weekend. my goal is to have this done by september 19th for a ride upstate.

here is a pic of what I did last night.