Speaking of trailers...

Any of you great welders out there interested in building one? I'm in pretty serious need of a kayak trailer, but would prefer to have one that could also handle carrying gear out on the beach (think batteries, water, live well, etc.) and also work fine as an expedition trailer (think a week in the desert).

I have an old utility trailer that's not exactly grand that could either be used as a donor for parts/materials, or could be donated to the builder for their own purposes.

The primary capability is that it needs to haul 1-2 16' kayaks safely behind me, if we could get the trailer built, I could handle mounting the kayak gear... I'd like it if it had enclosed cargo area, that I could use for gear as well. I have some nice 17" wheels off an '06 commander that are 5x5, so they could be used w/ current tires, and I could upgrade them to 35's to match the jeep.

I can pay cash, just not a lot of it - the current models for sale (i.e. adventure trailers) are too expensive and would still need some serious work to keep the nose of the boat away from my spare, and also keep the stern from hanging off 10' off the back. I'm thinking swap-able tongues? One long one for the kayak, and one short one for back country explorations?

Well, if there's anyone with the skill and the interest, let me know =)

TIA!

!c

do you have a 4 door or 2 door? if you have a 4 door, i would say best bet is safari rack and mount the kayaks on top. just an idea

jkx0778 wrote:

do you have a 4 door or 2 door? if you have a 4 door, i would say best bet is safari rack and mount the kayaks on top. just an idea

Yeah, I thought about that - I had a Dave's Rack on my LJ Rubi, but the problem I'm facing is that as my daily driver, I'm within 5" of the max height of my office's parking garage, and there's no over-size parking.

So, anything that goes above 4" over my roof is going to be a major problem. I've seen the removable ones, but none of them looked like they were effectively removable by a single person, and left bars standing up straight, etc.

!c

Just my $.02 For the weight your working with you don't need a heavy duty axle. Go to a junk yard and find a FWD car's rear axle. You can get them pretty cheap. Get you some cheap leaf springs and mount the axles on the BOTTOM of the spring. This will give you another 2-4" of clearance. From here a simple C Channel or angle bolt together trailer would be pretty easy to make in your living room with a drill and a chop saw from harbor Freight. For the price you could start with a HF trailer and mod it accordingly. They come with an axle tires and a bolt together frame. You could simply swap out the axles for some with the bolt pattern you are wanting. Cargo area can be made quickly out of plywood and some fiberglass, or a truck box mounted to the front of the trailer.