Rolled the Trailer

We were camping near Vail, CO this past summer. I had just unloaded the trailer so it was completely empty. I was driving through a field that had been logged 20 years ago and there were stumps everywhere. The jeep goes over them like they weren't there, but my friends watched the whole thing and said that the trailer was just about to go over a stump when I gave it a little gas. It "popped" the trailer up and it went up on one wheel.. as I kept going forward since I didn't see what was happening, it just tipped and dragged the trailer right over. We just flipped the trailer back over and no harm was done. Very stout!

Lifted Tow Rig

My jeep has been built up since the completion of my trailer.  So, my final planned ride height of both rigs matches perfectly.  I have 6" lift and 37" tires on the jeep and the spring over and 33's on the trailer match perfectly.   I have an aftermarket Expedition One Bumper with a custom hitch welded into the bumper, which raises it about 4-6 inches from the stock location (which was a dropped hitch under the bumper).

Update on Paint

Last winter I took the trailer on its maiden voyage to Moab, UT.  On the way we drove through a massive blizzard.  Highway crews were laying down tons of magnesium chloride chemicals on the highway to keep lower the freezing point of water and keep ice off the road.  The chemicals did a number on the paint job.  By the end fo the trip, you could see rust on just about every surface area of the trailer!

Another thing that happend after a couple summers of camping, was I was consistently loading gear on top of the trailer in the rack.  The bouncing offroad of the gear (like plastic tubs of firewood) wore through the paint on the lid.  I realized that because I painted the bare metal I built the lid from without sand blasting it first, the paint peeled off easily.  When I would go through high pressure washes, the paint would just fly off. 

So, reluctantly, I sanded down most of the areas I could get to with a flap disk on a grider. 

I decided to try this product from Rust Bullet.  Its EXPENSIVE.. $167.00 a gallon.  Standard Rust Bullet is gray in color.  But "Black Shell" is black, so I decided to use that so I would not have to paint over the rust bullet.

Here is the finished trailer.  I'll report back in a few seasons of use to let you know if I see any rust.  This product is supposed to stop any existing rust and prevent any future rust.

Lastly, I put two coats of Duplicolor bedliner on the top of the lid.  I am hopiing that this will prevent the gear from wearing through the paint.