Cart before the horse build thread

[Will Cabell]

I cant remember how long ago it was, maybe 8 years or so, I was tuned into Jeepforum watching a guy build a custom trailer using 2 Jeep tubs –I was glued.

[Will Cabell]

Later on I took the inspiration and proceeded to buy 2 YJ tub back ends and took a stab at it myself. I got the two tubs welded and square –then took a look at it and was like dang there really isn’t much room here. So I sold my progress and was back to square one.

Here a partial photo of my attempt and my Jeep dog...

[Will Cabell]

Fast forward a little bit and I see Jsherb making his own trailer with Jeep tubs but much longer –It was very oh la la.



I had now convinced myself that I needed a trailer like this. Then out of the blue one day I see an ad posted on Facebook for what I feel is the ultimate Jeep tub trailer. It was listed by the owner of GR8Tops and holy cow it was sexy. At the time he was selling it was just an Aqualu Jeep box on a frame. I had my eye on it but the timing just wasn’t right to buy it. It must have been close to a year later it surfaced for sale again by Gr8Tops only this time it had matching tailgates and a RTT –had to have it. The timing was better and we made a deal and he hooked me up with a tonneau cover for it –I loved it and more importantly my wife loved it. The days of sleeping in the back of the LJ were over!

Trailer hooked up to the first production LJ safari top:

[Will Cabell]

The Day I got it home:

Its our go to caming trailer –holds everything we need and has a queen size matress. Ive been wanting to finish it out for sometime and I think that time is now. My plans are to put a wrap on it –I really don’t have the patience to polish the entire tub, Have the inside sprayed with Line-X, Install a TJ swing out tailgate on the back, have a better trailer axle made and throw some AEV wheels on it. Somewhere along the way Ill add the jewelry to it; like a cooler, grill, lights ect….
Its first trip to Uwharrie:

[lucky73]

request - matching AEV wheels on trailer

[Will Cabell]

Lucky, I sold the LJ a few months back so theres nothing to match it to just yet, but I do have some different AEV wheels to put on it

[Will Cabell]

Picked up this little gem today, super excited to have a Jeep again!

[MPeckham]

Picked up this little gem today, super excited to have a Jeep again!

Congrats Will! Looks awesome hope to see some Nth parts going into the build!! Did you keep the Kaiser pickup as well?

[Will Cabell]

I wasnt able to close the deal on the Kaiser. I had trouble getting quotes shipping it from Dallas TX to Charleston SC. I guess its size and width makes its an odd and expensive haul.

[lucky73]

do you have highlines for it?

[Will Cabell]

I would like highline flares on the trailer!

The parts are starting to come together. Found 1 Salta wheel on eBay and decided to buy it, sure enough a week later on a business trip a Salta wheel pops up on Craigslist -so now I have a pair for the trailer.

Since one of my goals is to have this trailer lockable Ill be using a TJ gate on the back and most likely a Poison Spyder CJ gate on the front. The factory tailgate I have just looks so hideous with the vent. So, I got to brainstorming a solution and since I couldnt find another postal Jeep stamped door I decided to make my own from scratch -with help. I bought some Jeep tailgate decals off of ebay and had them scanned into CAD software. From there measurements were made and bingo the most baller set of Jeep tailgate bling has been born. Now the biggest challenge I have in front on me is trying to figure out the best way to mount these aluminum letters. Im trying to avoid using 3M tape or glue -suggestions?

Savvy Tailgate skin:


Aluminum letter 3/8 thick


Font comparison


Something like this:


Throwback to the old LJ tailgate made from a postal gate:

[Will Cabell]

Id really like to find a shop that has one of these welders so I can get some of the aluminum threads welded on, I think this would make the letters easy to take on and off...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLBOuS9qW_w

[Will Cabell]

Not much of any update but slowly making progress on the trailer. I responded to a craigslist posting of someone selling 1 brand new Jeep rubicon wheel and BFG Km tire. We agreed on a price and time/location to meet -Which wasnt in the best part of town. Well the guy showed up in a Mustang without the wheel/tire, proceeded to eye me down pretty good (maybe checking to see if I was a cop or not idk) and told me I needed to follow him to his house to get it which was in a very bad part of town. I took a leap of faith and followed him after sending a photo of his license plate and my last known location to my wife. At this guys house he goes inside and brings out a brand new wheel and tire. Almost without a doubt this thing is stolen lol. What a day.... should start making good progress on this next week!

[Will Cabell]

Went out to a friends house today to get this axle swap wrapped up -its been on my to do list for a long time. Pulled out the junk <2000lb axle and burned the perches onto the new 3500lb axle. Swapped it under the Jeep and thought everything was gravy. Well the adapters I bought to clear the hubs werent thick enough -so the AEV wheels couldnt go on -Dang it! A few photos from the day...

For reference in case anyone is interested the axle Im using is 61" hub face to hub face. The previous axle was 65" hub face to hub face. Im going to need 2" wheel adapters for the AEV wheels to fit/clear the hubs. Im using adapters so I can have 5x4.5 lug pattern for TJ wheels, in the event someone would ever want to run TJ wheels down the road. My axle came from Southwest Wheel Company and it was $163 shipped to my door.

Wish I had taken a photo of the axle I pulled out -I think the photo of it behind the old LJ shows how small it was and that it had been cut and lengthened at one time.

[Will Cabell]

Excited to have gotten the wheels on today, tailgate and wrap/paint is next. Any recommendation on paint/wrap color? Is there a big cost jump in having a custom wrap made? Thinking about olive green....