Sandblasting Complete

Wow! I just picked up the trailer on Friday from sandblasting. They did a great job getting into every little nook and cranny. Luckily it was a clear dry day and I made it home without getting the trailer wet (which equals instant rust). Now I'm ready fo the next phase; fabrication of the 4x4 trailer design.

Spring Over Lift Done

Here is the trailer after the spring over lift. I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but there is significantly more clearance after the conversion. Until I get a bigger lift on the jeep, this isn't going to sit level.

Hitch - Lunet Swap Done

After a bit of persuasion with a grinder and cutting blade, I was able to take off the civilian style hitch that was welded to the frame. The military style lunet (for a pintle) bolted right on.
Pictures Here

Lug Nuts

I stripped one of the studs on the trailer last night trying to put the wheels back on after the spring over lift. I took one of the stock lugs into the store. Turns out its a 7/16"-20 nut (3/4" wrench). (Advance Auto Parts Scew 080358177111, part # 98900.1)The studs look too long to put on acorn type nuts, so I went with an open nut like the one pictured. To fix the stud, I bought a cheap tap and die set on ebay.

Spring Over Lift

This week I decided to start the suspension spring over lift. The idea is you mount the axel below the leaf springs instead of the way it was originally mounted, which is on top of them. Here is another webpage about doing one. I tried to take the axel out without disconnecting the leaf springs; it doesn't work. When taking the greasable bolt (zerked bolt) off the front leaf spring mount the head snapped off.

I've called around Denver and nobody carries them. Luckily we have the internet! I found these bolts at http://www.currieenterprises.com/ for $8.95 each.







I lifted my TJ a few years ago and I kept the shocks. The Jeep gas charged shocks are much bigger thatn the trailer shocks, but upon initial inspection, it seems the shocks might actually fit on the trailer once the spring over is done. So, I drilled out the bushings so I could install the trailer bushings and slide the hoop over the trailer mount. I just need to pick up some new cotter pins. UPDATE: The trailer came back from sandblasting. The shocks, fully compressed, fit on the shocks studs, but this would leave no further room for compression under load. So, they dont' work and I just reinstalled the stock shocks.