Update on "Toybox" trailer project

[barry2952]

Pepsi ask me how I was doing on my "toybox" trailer project. Should be ready for a test drive by Spring.

If there's a level of interest I'll post regular updates.

Full story. Not for dial-up users.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/340096/5

 

[Conti94]

I am interested, Thats gonna be a great trailer when it's finished.

 

[Sergmark]

Bring it on .... I was wondering how it was comming along

 

[pepperman]

I was wondering the same thing, keep posting the updates Barry.

 

[barry2952]

I'll do that. I usually post updates on the weekend. Thanks for your interest.

 

[barry2952]

Large aluminum hinge making with woodworking tools 101

I needed to fabricate two 14" x 3" hinges for the trailer ramps. The pivot for the hinge will be under the ramp so the weight of the car will pinch the hinge closed.

I got quotes from two local fabricators and $75.00 in material turned into $400.00 without welding. I decided to give the trusty old Craftsman radial arm saw a go at fabricating them myself. Aluminum-specific 80-tooth carbide blades cut aluminum like a hot knife through butter.

Since I recently squared up the radial arm saw to cut the ramps I used it to cut the 1/2" x 3" bar stock to length. Then I cut the 1/4" wall tubing to 1 7/8". This length allowed for the installation of a 1/8" thick machine spacer in-between each hinge segment. This spacer will be replaced with a nylon washer after welding.

Test fitting the pieces.

I used a laminate trimmer with a carbide 45° blade to put a 1/4" chamfer on the 1/2" aluminum plate to create a V for the hinge segments to sit in. This creates more surface area for welding the hinge together.

Test fit the assembly and determined areas where clearance was needed.

Used the 45° blade set deeper to cut away clearance areas using the C-clamp as a stop for the trimmer.

Hinge wings with clearance.

Everything seems to fit well.

Off to the welder.

 

[pepperman]

Nice work Barry, I use to be a machinist and that is some nice work

 

[Calabrio]

That was a cool looking trailer, before you did the work.
great work.

 

[Sergmark]

Wow
Looks like you have the touch Barry, thats pretty impresive

 

[mespock]

Great work Barry. In your next life I have new job for you LOL....

 

[barry2952]

Thanks for the positive feedback. This is the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on.

2-24-2006

Actually, the welder came to me. I wanted to see if everything should be welded while attached to the trailer. Apparently I have things jigged well enough to weld on their level welding tables.

I checked all of the clearances to make sure the spare tire would fit in-between the lowered bottom half of the clam shell door and the ramp in its lowest position.

The plan is to have the bottom of the clamshell door pull up into position attached to the powered ramp. The door would be held up in position by cables with spring tensioners pulling the door against its stops.

The spare tire rack will double as a lever for activating the motion of the ramps. I think I'm going to go with a linear actuator to provide movement. I've found one with buit in limit switches that adjust similar to those on garage door openers.

The lever you see sticking out under the ramps is the means of providing movement. The cabled counterbalance springs so equally balance the load that it takes very little effort to fold and unfold the ramps. The lever will be shortened significantly based on tests of the mechanism.

 

[barry2952]

2-27-2006

Spent 6 hours at the welders today. It's a good thing that I stayed and helped/supervised. I had the undivided attention of certified welders. These guys did beautiful work. National Tool and Die Welding in Livonia, MI.

The hinge segments were separated by machine washers and will be replaced by nylon. The hinge assembly was tacked in opposing locations to minimize distortion. The segments were deep welded to the plates to ensure a solid bond. The residual heat didn't allow the hinges to open for close to two hours after welding. The aluminum expanded against the washers and locked the hinge up solid.

We ended up leaving them outside (23°) for about an hour and they unstuck.

During the cooling process the rest of the tire mount tubes and cross-braces were welded in place. The bolts that held everything together were removed after the joints were welded and their holes filled. After the hinges were separated the matched pairs were welded to the appropriate ramp pieces.

The ramps stayed remarkably flat through all that welding. The hinged "flippers were installed and folded back against the longer section. Another cross brace was installed to keep the ramps the proper distance apart. The hinges were put through their range of motion and worked smoothly.

Set the ramps back in place and secured them to hinges.

Installed spare tire and hooked up steel cables to hinge pin.

After 27 turns the counterbalance allow the ramps just hang wherever I set them. There appears to be very little pressure necessary to induce movement.

The cable attachment points need to be extended for maximum width so this was as far as I could fold the ramps in. The idler pully also needs to be extended further from the wall to be effective.

Kind of looks like a Praying Mantis

The hinge in operation.

Works like a champ!!

 

[pepperman]

Excellent work Barry, see if a magazine will do a photo lay out of it that would be cool

 

[barry2952]

Here's a link to the first ramp test.

http://www.michiganlcoc.org/movies/ramptest/Ramp Test.html

 

[Sergmark]

Hi Barry,
Couldn't get the video to work. It loaded up and would not start

 

[barry2952]

You need Quicktime 7. It's available at the Apple.com web site. It's a free download.

 

[barry2952]

Update 3-6-06

A week of inelegant fixes. Installed the new 500 lb actuator. It seemed like it was struggling to lift the ramps so I adjusted the counterbalance springs to assist the lift. Added so much lift assist that the lever broke trying to get the assembly to move.

The arm was to be reinforced as it was made of aluminum rigid conduit. I wanted to make final adjustments before finalizing its position. The more powerful actuator did it for me.

I fabricated a replacement out of 3/4" rigid conduit which fit perfectly inside the aluminum conduit. It functioned properly but didn't look vey good compared to the rest of the ramp so I made another arm.

This time I inserted a piece of rigid steel conduit inside the aluminum conduit and bent them together. The third picture below show inelegant but effective adjustment tools.

The next step was to attach the lower clam-shell door. The shape is determined by the external butresses stamped out of aluminum. They were too long for the application so they needed to be trimmed to fit.

I disassembled the rear panel and it laid down flat. I determined the exact length needed to make the horizontal seam line up correctly and installed another aluminum-specific saw blade into my 7 1/4" circular saw, clamped down my 8-foot level as a straight edge a zipped right through the metal. The edge was razor sharp and straight as an arrow.

Not recommended use of a radial arm saw.

All parts cut to size.

When I reassembled everything I realized the wood strips on the inside of the lower clam-shell door were interferring with the placement of the spare tire. The 2" wood spacers were no longer necessary as this was an insulated area in its former life. I removed the two-inch pieces of wood and replaced them with 1/2" aluminum struts. This will be covered in the same fiberglass reinforced panel material as the rest of the garage area.

The lower door is pulled into position by wires attached to the hinge axle. As the ramps start to extend and drop, the lower door simply drops to the ground on cables that go slack until the door is pulled back up. I'll probably use some type of spring tensioner like that on a screen door. That should provide firm mounting with some give for flexibility.

The wires are holding the door in position

There's about 3" clearance between the lower ramp section as it swings by the lowering lower gate. I believe that that was just dumb luck.

Lower panel snuggly in place.

 

[pepperman]

The progress is great barry, can't wait to see the pics of the finished product

 

[barry2952]

Considering that the lower rear of the trailer had the worst corrosion it turned out pretty good. The first picture shows the original condition on the right, steel wool cleaning in the second and buffed out on the left.

Second picture is the finished assembly.

Back in place. Check out the reflection of the spool of wire.

Started on the upper half of the clam shell by making a template of the curvature. Used dividers to strike a parallel set of lines and rough cut with a jig saw. Used a sanding disc to smooth the outside of the arc.

Once the outside curvature was smooth and accurate I used the sanding drum to make the rib a uniform width along its length. I'll use this pattern to make two out of poplar. These will be attached to the horizontal ribs already in place on he upper shell.

The template is in place followed by pictures of the arc that the door will take.

 

[pepperman]

Very cool. Is the poplar going to be strong enough for the upper shell?

 

[barry2952]

Very cool. Is the poplar going to be strong enough for the upper shell?

The wood is just to form the aluminum to the correct shape. The real stength is in the aluminum.

 

[Frat-man-du]

Very cool. This will be unique!
I am sure you will enjoy it for years to come. I loved having my car trailer over the years - I built ramps on the floor so I could get under the chassis to work on the car or clean - also makes it much easier to tie down.

Keep the pics comin!

 

[barry2952]

3-7-2006

Fabricated two door bows from the template.

Checked fit and installed with spacers to simulate 1/2" door gap. Door gap will be covered by an aluminum strip and seal.

Removed wood lateral struts and trimmed aluminum tabs so that material will lay flat on new forms.

Installed door panel and scribed for trimming door gap.

Trimmed eges and secured panel to new arches.

Propped door open to determine length of lift pistons

Checked for clearance.

This is what it looks like unloading the car.

Concept drawing.

 

[Sergmark]

Thats what you would call a true sleeer, who would think the car was inside

 

[barry2952]

3-10-2006

Reassembly of upper door after installing reinforcements. Metal was heavily corroded but yielded to massive amounts of elbow grease.

The "eyebrows" over the rear windows are no longer necessary as the new window will not open and are sealed with a rubber gasket. The holes were filled with rivets and polished to blend in with the surrounding metal.

Outside for the first time since fall. It was 65° here today. I actually opened the bay doors to warm up the interior.

Trying to find the right tail lights. The rear windows will be blacked out.

Still have lots of polishing to do.