Moose tail build?

[LCAM-01XA]

We all know Mel's custom trailer that matches his truck, and now Darrin found a Centurion that has a moose tail too... I've been thinking about that for a while now, it would be real nice if my truck has one too So, what's involved in building a moose tail? Do you start with a truck and cut the front part off and bend the frame rails in and build a box for the draw bar setup? Or something else? Also what to do with the brakes, it would be great if I could utilize the factory ones in the donor truck... I have a dually so trailer will be a dually too, if that matters.

 

[Diesel_brad]

Do exactly as you stated. Just lop off the back half of a truck. I cut right in front of the front cab mounts. Bed the frame to a point and get a surge brake hitch. Then you will have the factory hydraulic brakes

 

[towcat]

We all know Mel's custom trailer that matches his truck, and now Darrin found a Centurion that has a moose tail too... I've been thinking about that for a while now, it would be real nice if my truck has one too So, what's involved in building a moose tail? Do you start with a truck and cut the front part off and bend the frame rails in and build a box for the draw bar setup? Or something else? Also what to do with the brakes, it would be great if I could utilize the factory ones in the donor truck... I have a dually so trailer will be a dually too, if that matters.

my dually doghouses are bulls-eyes for collisions to begin with, so imho, trailer is a really bad idea. My buddy Tanker Tom built a trailer from a reg cab frame and he really went long on the tongue length. here's a couple of pics of it....

 

[MUDKICKR]

pic is where?

 

[Clydesdale]

tghe ****** hick that built mine out of a 1960 ish Ferd box, gave me 7' or so of tongue...

It is so well balanced, that right now squatted fully, I can lift and drag it around the yard, I have not weighed this load yet, but the last load was right at a 1000# and it handled the same.

Which is kinda cool, but on the other hand, I load tongue heavy, and if at full load there is no weight on the tongue, well, its a whipper for sure.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Brad, didn't think of surge brakes, thanks for the suggestion!

Calvin, I can't see the pic, did you forget the link? And I don't quite understand why you think a dually trailer is a bad idea, it will be no wider than a regular car-hauler...

Clydesdale, yes, tongue weight could be a problem. On the other hand if I start with something like an ext- or even a crew-cab truck, then I can cut the front wall off the dually bed and add an entire front half of a SRW bed in its place, thus ending up with a 12ft or so bed - lots more space, and easier to load tongue-heavy.

 

[towcat]

pic is where?

i had to bail.
got customers to deal with.

 

[timothyr1014]

lcam, I was thinking of something similar (as far as 12ft bed trailer), but I am also in the process of fabbing up custom tool boxes to replace the dually fender that got destroyed by a tire decideing to gator-skin itself.

I hate the idea of a service bed for my DD, so I am building steel framed and fiberglass faced with identical lines to the factory dually fenders, only they extend about 18" more forward (so the distance from where the fender meets the bed is the same both front and back). Doing the same on a 12' dually trailer would be awesome.

I think the big issue with a dually trailer is would be getting used to the swing width...and calvin raises a valid concern. Lots of guys bang up there fenders because of how much wider the **** end is...the same would hold true when pulling a dually trailer. Personally I would not hesitate, but then again, my DD is a crew cab dually and I have more than once visited a drive up window with a trailer in tow....makes everyone around a little nervious, but I have yet to leave my tire marks on the curb

 

[NapaBavarian]

Know where your corners are, if you have trouble with any normal width vehicle then anything over width will be a problem, I pull a 102" wide 24' long dovetailed flat bed, great trailer, but it's the legnth that kills me, not the width.

That being said, duals may not gain you much on a trailer, it isn't too hard to place 6000# on a one ton axle, if you need more than that then dual axles may be the way to go for better balance, granted you may need 2 beds and grafting skills, there I go giving myself ideas again!

I'll be building a similar trailer for my diesel blazer and plan to keep the frame lines neat and clean by chopping the frame at the front of the bed and sistering 5" channel below it to attach the hitch.

 

[timothyr1014]

If I were to build it I would probably build the look as DRW to match the truck, but only run outters on it unless I was gonna take it to capacity.....but than again, a 16' dual axle dually bed trailer would look pretty unique...not sure what I could use it for, but it would be cool to have.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Timothy, fabricating fiberglass fenders is way beyond my bodywork skills - when it comes to steel and cast iron I can weld those pretty decent, but I have no patience for building fiberglass parts. So if I do go ahead and build that trailer, it will be with regular dually fenders, nothing one-off and super-fancy like what you're planning on doing. That said I'd love to see how your project turns out when you're done with it

NapaBavarian, the dually axle under the trailer will be only for looks, so the trailer matches my truck - if it were a SRW truck then there would be a SRW axle under the trailer. Additionally there will hardly be any weight on the trailer, as I really have nothing to load on it - I'd love to put my slide camper in there but due to the nature of the bed and the camper that will put the center of gravity behind the axle (just like it does in the truck), other than that tho I really have no need for a trailer, lol. Really it will only get used should I ever need to haul lots of furniture or construction materials at once, besides I think it will be somewhat of an advertising device as I've had that happen to me before - people like something about my truck or car and want their vehicle done in a similar manner, so I'm happy to provide

 

[timothyr1014]

I am hoping to have them done in the next couple of weeks....basically I used the original fenders to create a mold, and then added about 18" in front of the wheel opening. backs, bottoms, and all frame work is steel, door fronts and lid are fiberglass. Basically you end up with 3 compartments, a flip open top (basically from the body line of my 86 to the top of the fender), a small one behind the rear wheel (enough to store my tire chocks and 3-ton jack), and a larger one in front of the tire. The worst part (which is more anticipation because I am not there yet) will be dealing with the fuel fills....I want onee locking door with access to both tanks.

 

[Agnem]

I've built 3 trailers of this type in my day, 2 of which were A-frame hitch, and one (the Moose Tail) which is a box frame hitch. All with surge brakes. I vastly prefer the box frame for looks and functionality. The A-frame is very easy though and requires less welding.

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Start with this much of a truck.

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Take sections of the frame ahead of where you made your cuts, and make two pieces that are mirrored. The holes on both sides of the frames are pretty much identical, which makes creating these a snap.

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My tongue on this one is actually designed similar to a reciever hitch and insert. The tongue "floats" in the receiver which is box welded into the front of the frame, and tied to the rear cross member. My original concept was that I was going to have a hydraulic cylinder in there, that was going to allow me to make the tongue longer and shorter on the fly while driving. I even had it worked out so that when I put the turn signal on, the tongue would automatically lengthen to clear the bumper, such that I could back up into a perfect jacknife if I wished. Then, when driving streight, the tongue would shorten, and this would pull the trailer closer to the truck and make it look cooler, and be more aerodynamic.

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Unfortunately in my zeal to do this, I did not give adaquet attention to the balance factor. With a real short tongue, the trailer got ass heavy in a hurry, which led to poor tracking abilities. Consequently, I had to leave the hitch at it's longest setting and I ended up abandoning the very cool hydraulic tongue idea.

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The decision to make it into a dump bed went hand in hand with trying to figure out how to best make the body lines match up.

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I have the guy to thank who helped me build my home addition for donating the hyraulic pump unit.

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I had never built a semi-scissor lift before, and didn't even draw it on paper. I just sort of rednecked my way, and didn't make any real mistakes except one. I should have put the pivot points closer together to take strain off the pivot rod. Other than that, it turned out perfect.

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In addition to the surge brakes, don't forget to make use of the parking brake as well.

Good luck! I look forward to seeing it.

 

[timothyr1014]

the weight distribution is what makes me nervous on something like that and is what draws me towards the idea of building a 12' bed (so you more or less pushing the axle further back).

My next question is how does the box frame vs. a-frame do as far as stability and tracking when you got a load in it?

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Calvin, that looks like one very beefy tongue your friend built there! It probably helps with weight distribution tho.

Mel, thanks for the detailed pics, it helps a lot. How big is that square tubing you used fir the tongue, looks like a 3"x3" or so? Also how long is the tongue from the ball couple to the bed's front wall? And I second Timothy's question on the A-frame vs straight tongue as far as rigidity is concerned?