Hand me down 6x4 trailer to 4x4 offroad camping trailer!!

Stage 1 of modifications was done a few months back which included extending the A frame a little as i couldn't reverse the trailer to save my life.

Before the cut and shut haha



The morning after getting the thing outta work before the owner turned up and seen my handy work from last night!!



Stage 2 was started with the purchase of 4 rims and tyres from ridgie for my nav.

so now i had 8 nav mags and tyres so my flogged out kumho's were now going to reside on my trailer.

The first that i needed to do was to put new hubs on. going from 4 stud to 6 stud. Didn't have a clue now did my grandfather on what bearings i needed so i took a gamble and got it spot on.

Now going from a 175/65R14 to a 265/70R16 should have let me know it wasn't going to be as simple as i first thought haha.

Hubs go on, perform an axel flip then throw the tyres on and the tyre is so flush with the inside of the trailer that i can't spin the tyre.

I did think about spaces but i picked up a longer axel which was easier and only $72

So then i put then new axel in, made up some 5mm alloy spacers to help with more clearance and put it all back together again. This being an old trailer the spring were only 3 leaf and pretty flogged out. A little bit of weight and the guards are scraping.

So i head off to supercheap were i saw they had springs on special and i picked myself up a new set of 5 leaf springs. Get home to install such springs and find out that the bloke who put this trailer together welded the bolt & nut that holds the eye end of the spring.

Chop them off and head to bunnings for some bolts with nylock nuts.

Get home and so if it did ever rub i cut the lip off the guards (half way through i ran out of cutting disks so it was back to supercheap for the 4th time in one day haha)

Anyway I'm pretty stoked how it's turned out so far.

here are some pics i will update some when i'm using it over xmas.

Also 2 quick questions does it matter if the tyres stick out past the guards on a trailer?? Mine are now out 4 inch's haha but i could use some rubber i have here to line the sides. When i did the a frame i cut and threw out like a spaz the compliance plate does it need a new one???








Things still need to do.

Get a jockey wheel haha
Rewire completely
Make up a fixed spare tyre mount
Make up a custom/removable 4 post kinda cage with roof rack for camping
Sand back, kill rust it and spray in grey hammertone

Also been thinking about raiding a wreckers for some old springs off a car with the mounts and install them on the axel?? not sure how this would go??

Also pic of new springs.

keep us updated mate

You don't want it throwing stones at everybody including your Nav... Broken back window not fun. I'd use some conveyor belt rubber to make up a soft guard for it. Fit it under the metal guard following the same profile, cut a nice rounded corner on each end and bolt it on with mudguard washers.

yep, Cop bait with those tyres hanging out so far.

cheers guys, i took it for a spin first and spoke with a mate of mine who's doing the respray. He used to be a spray painter.

I have some thick rubber i will sort out tomorrow, will post pics once i'm done

Of course it will need the compliance plate. What is it's current rego state (ie is it still registered or not?).

If yes - it shouldn't need inspections so you could just go on renewing the rego and hope there is never any need for anyone "Official" to see the plate. But it won't technically be legal. Great while it lasts, not so great if it goes pear-shaped.

If No - to register it now, you may as well start again as a new homemade trailer and follow your local RTA equivalent regs (which are national anyhow btw), which will involve giving it a new VIN number and plate and possibly other hurdles like weighbridge docket; blue slip etc (in NSW at least).

re the guards - the other option is to go to a specialist trailer place and buy a new set of guards and either weld (metal) or bolt (plastic) on. I replaced the metal ones on my car trailer with those plastic ones recently and they look OK. You see them a lot on boat trailers for example.

See pic



KB

Looks good, hows it go with extended draw bar?

got to sort out pics but i have made a few adjustments so i can fit two 250cc bikes on there as well as my camping gear.

Pix the extended draw bar goes a treat, couldn't back it in anywhere beforehand now it a piece of piss

If this is something you are going to have for a while do it properly! Get some sheet and cut out the size you need take to a engineering place and get it folded. It won't be too expensive and you will be much happier with the end result!

tommyhodgkin said:

If this is something you are going to have for a while do it properly! Get some sheet and cut out the size you need take to a engineering place and get it folded. It won't be too expensive and you will be much happier with the end result!

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Nah this was just to make it work for now, i'm looking at getting a custom built trailer in the not too distant future.

Then this trailer will be put back to original and handed off to another family member

new guard to suit 4x4 tyres will set you back about $50-$60 pair from most trailer manufacturers

JASON-D40 said:

new guard to suit 4x4 tyres will set you back about $50-$60 pair from most trailer manufacturers

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i have rubber bolted down covering the tyres now, been passed and followed by many a police car and seems ok cause i haven't been pulled over.