Split-dovetail car hauler trailer

[buggyman1]

Can you post specs (dimensions) for your trailer build;

including your current weight,

material cost (including welding)

and your man hours for the trailer built until this point please.

The trailer is 83 inches wide, the bed length is 20 feet. I'm not sure of the weight yet but I plan on weighing it when finished. Material cost...lots, I bought the metal as I needed it and I used a lot of metal that I already had left over from previous projects, same for man-hours, I just work on it in my spare time and i'm slow but i'm really not in a hurry to finish it.

 

[buggyman1]

I'm thinking of making the fenders myself. I like the looks of the teardrop fenders, but I need drive-over's. I think I can make them out of 10" channel and still make them decent looking. They won't have that classic teardrop look, but I think I can make them strong enough to drive over. Something along the lines of this one.

 

[farm boy00]

Can u get pics of your whole trailer???

 

[franklin2]

I'm thinking of making the fenders myself. I like the looks of the teardrop fenders, but I need drive-over's. I think I can make them out of 10" channel and still make them decent looking. They won't have that classic teardrop look, but I think I can make them strong enough to drive over. Something along the lines of this one.

Educate me on driveover fenders. I am guessing the vehicle runs over them, but how does that work? I can see possibly a wide pickup having enough clearance to drive over them, but I don't see something like a porsche or a corvette driving over the fenders.

The fenders/trailer ride height can become a big deal. A guy I work with borrowed a store bought trailer and could not open the doors on the s10 truck he was hauling and had to crawl through the windows to get in and out when it was on the trailer. I never seem to have this problem with my homemade trailer and when he brought it by I took a look at it. The trailer rode low to the ground. It looked like it would handle well since the center of gravity of the trailer was low, but that made the wheels/fenders very high on each side. My trailer ended up with a higher ride height. Accidentally I might add.

 

[buggyman1]

Can u get pics of your whole trailer???

This is about as close as I can get to getting the whole trailer in the picture with it still in the shop.

 

[buggyman1]

Educate me on driveover fenders. I am guessing the vehicle runs over them, but how does that work? I can see possibly a wide pickup having enough clearance to drive over them, but I don't see something like a porsche or a corvette driving over the fenders.

The fenders/trailer ride height can become a big deal. A guy I work with borrowed a store bought trailer and could not open the doors on the s10 truck he was hauling and had to crawl through the windows to get in and out when it was on the trailer. I never seem to have this problem with my homemade trailer and when he brought it by I took a look at it. The trailer rode low to the ground. It looked like it would handle well since the center of gravity of the trailer was low, but that made the wheels/fenders very high on each side. My trailer ended up with a higher ride height. Accidentally I might add.

Cars will fit in between the fenders, something wide like a buggy or rock crawler can drive over them.

 

[franklin2]

Cars will fit in between the fenders, something wide like a buggy or rock crawler can drive over them.

10-4. I never thought about it also, but I guess you have your deck wrapped around your tires for that to work. My deck doesn't go out and surround the tires. A fullsize 4x4 pickup just barely fits on my trailer, but I can see a off-road buggy needing something wider. I guess that's why you see some of them going down the road on the back of a trailer with dinky little tires on them. Is the width limit before needing a special permit 96 inches? Mine is 96 outside tire to outside tire.

 

[mikehaugen]

10-4. I never thought about it also, but I guess you have your deck wrapped around your tires for that to work. My deck doesn't go out and surround the tires. A fullsize 4x4 pickup just barely fits on my trailer, but I can see a off-road buggy needing something wider. I guess that's why you see some of them going down the road on the back of a trailer with dinky little tires on them. Is the width limit before needing a special permit 96 inches? Mine is 96 outside tire to outside tire.

Many places it's 102"

 

[buggyman1]

Many places it's 102"

I think its 102" here.

 

[ZAR2USA]

Any updates?

 

[buggyman1]

Any updates?

I just got the metal for the fenders before the storm hit. I'm snowed in probably all weekend, hope to get some more done on it.

 

[two_bit_score]

We are waiting.

 

[buggyman1]

I'm making the fenders out of 10" channel, 3/16" thick. Pic of me trying to get the right space between the tires and fenders, I finally settled on 4 inches, that's what my dump trailer has.

 

[buggyman1]

Here's a jig I made to help hold the angles while welding, looks crude but worked really well. My bandsaw won't cut 10" angles so I cut them with a cut-off wheel.

 

[buggyman1]

Temporarily out of the jig to check the fit. I like this look, but i'm adding a short piece to the bottom for strength (more to weld to the side) plus it will shield better also.

 

[buggyman1]

Short pieces welded on. I cleaned up the welds a little with a grinder and sander, it still needs a little more sanding to blend it in a bit better. I'll wait and do that after I weld them to the trailer.

 

[buggyman1]

Gussets cut-out for the fender to help support the middle. These were a pain getting the angles right, I used cardboard for a templet, then plywood, to be sure they would fit right. I then had to trick my bandsaw into cutting 55% angles.

 

[buggyman1]

I used some of my left-over diamond plate for the inner fender wells. They were a little short so I cheated a little and made them longer. I cut the angles with my jigsaw.

 

[buggyman1]

Fenders, gussets, inner fender wells all welded on. Welds are not perfect, but they'll do. It seems really strong.

 

[buggyman1]

Pic with the wheels on, not perfect but i'm happy. One down, one to go. I have everything cut-out for the other side so hopefully it won't take as long. I'm going to add marker lights to the fenders as I don't think i'll be able to see the tail lights (for the fenders being in the way) so I can see my width after dark. I'm still deciding on the steps for the front and back of the fenders, I think i'll mock something up to see what it'll look like.