White Wildtrak 2014 & Ute Tub Trailer Build

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 9:52 am

Shepo23 wrote:Welcome to the white wildtrak club, the Ute looks great. Well done with the mods you have had some time to think about them. Also great to hear about the tyres as the were a hot topic a while back.

Shep

Thanks Shep. So far I am extremely happy with the tyres, fantastic on the black top and sand, and will give them a try off road in a few weeks. Let's see how they last, but for the type of driving I do, they are spot on. No impact on fuel economy around town, 3 full tanks so far and just under 10 litres per 100 km.

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aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 8:01 am

Happy to say a couple of 4WD days coming my way...

Going to Land Cruiser Mountain Park in a week so my wife can get some 4WD experience (doing Chopper's Low Range Course), and early May have been invited to a Ranger Off Road Day by my Local Ford dealer (they are hoping to get 40 Rangers along, but you have to have bought your Ranger from them). It will be a 3-4 hour 4WD trip ending with a BBQ lunch. Will post photo's!

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:40 pm

Got it Dirty today at LandCruiser Mountain Park.

More photo's to follow, was a long, wet, drive home...

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:21 pm

Great Day Out at LCMP with P7 Offroad - Highly Recommend.

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Sun May 04, 2014 6:48 pm

Nothing like a day out 4WDing with a few otter Rangers (21!)...

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aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Fri May 16, 2014 7:56 pm

Photo of my Ranger at recent Ford/TJM outing. Found the picture on the TJM Equipped FB page.

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StvTheo · Post by **StvTheo** » Sat May 17, 2014 1:22 pm

Aja88, how did you wire up the reverse LEDs and tub LEDs please. Love your truck. And how did you fit the reverse LEDs to the rear? Steve.

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Sat May 17, 2014 3:08 pm

StvTheo wrote:Aja88, how did you wire up the reverse LEDs and tub LEDs please. Love your truck. And how did you fit the reverse LEDs to the rear? Steve.

Hi StvTheo, The Reverse LED's are simply fitted to the topside of the tow bar using that real good quality 3M Automotive double sided tape. Once that stuff bonds it holds really well and even if it did ever start to come off, which I doubt it will, you just use the same stuff again. Obviously its only good for light weighted applications. The reverse LED's are wired up into the rear tail lights and spliced into the OEM reverse tail light wires. The location on top of the tow bar is well suited to these lights as they are protected there and throw a decent amount of light. I am very happy with them. Was a very cheap and simple mod.

Here is the link to the LED's, they sell them in different quantity of lights, 3,4,5,6 each etc.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-Pcs-Vehicl ... 51bc8ca905

The LED's in the tub, I simply bought 5m of waterproof LED strip lighting, cut it to size, stuck it to the roller shutter enclosure at rear of tub. The LED strip lights usually come with at least one connector, you will also need a 12v cigarette plug for the connector to plug into (also eBay) and I also bought a wireless remote switch for it (also ebay $8.00). I have this plugged into the 12v socket in the tub and velcroed the wireless remote switch near the tailgate. All up was about $30, including left over 4m of LED Light strip which I have used elsewhere. I did not use the double sided tape that came on the LED light strip, I peeled it off and then used the better quality 3M automotive tape. It hasn't budged.

Here is the link for the Automotive 3M tape, you can get it in different widths, and links to examples of the other items needed:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3M-Genuine-A ... ea0&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Car-Charger- ... 645&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LED-strip-li ... 93c&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OZ-Adapter-5 ... 413&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-Male-5-Fem ... 98c&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Waterproof-5 ... e80&_uhb=1

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 6:33 pm

Spent the day at Noosa North Shore , was a picture perfect day. Driving conditions as good as it gets, which was good and bad. Would have liked some challenging soft sand...

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aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:02 pm

Managed to get my hands on a White XLT Super Cab Tub......

Over the next few weeks will turn it into a Trailer with Roof Top Tent....

Will place updates and photos here as the build progresses.

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wdw · Post by **wdw** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:49 pm

Aj , put some Wildtrak stickers on when done ........looking forward to this project

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:00 pm

wdw wrote:Aj , put some Wildtrak stickers on when done ........looking forward to this project

Something like this ?

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:08 pm

Going to fabricate a frame like the one below for the XLT Tub Trailer for the RTT to sit on.

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 11:40 am

Secured New XLT Rims & Tyres ( had only done 350 km ) from a top bloke on eBay for $ 185 each !!! And was only 30 minutes drive from home. Bargain. We can start fabricating now.....

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wdw · Post by **wdw** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:35 pm

Not putting in Wildtrack rims AJ?

wdw · Post by **wdw** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:36 pm

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:44 pm

No, for 2 reasons. 1) Its an XLT tub, happy to keep with the XLT theme. 2) People selling their Wildtrak rims must think they are Gold Plated given the prices they expect to get...

Rob 351 · Post by **Rob 351** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:33 pm

.

These are my pics from a similar project aja88

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 6:00 am

Excellent Rob 351. Looks Very Nice. Appreciate the Pic's. Mine should be completed by coming weekend.

mikey01 · Post by **mikey01** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 6:59 pm

aja88 Love your car, have a white wildtrak on order and waiting impatiently lol. Can I ask what tyre sensors you got. The ones that screw on valves or the ones inside the rim? Great trailer pics too. Can't wait to see pics of yours. Happy driving.

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 7:59 pm

mikey01 wrote:aja88 Love your car, have a white wildtrak on order and waiting impatiently lol. Can I ask what tyre sensors you got. The ones that screw on valves or the ones inside the rim? Great trailer pics too. Can't wait to see pics of yours. Happy driving.

Welcome mikey01. I got the TyreDog TD 1000 A, with screw on sensors. Previous vehicle I had the ones inside the rim. Decided to try the screw on ones this time as they are easier to maintain (replace batteries), and I must say I am really happy with them. The screw on cap doesn't look too out of place either. One of the tips is to locate the Receiver Unit in the Cab away from other devices that may interfere with the signal, like Cellphone, UHF etc. etc. I have done over 10,000 km and the TPMS hasn't given me any problems so far. Cheers.

Thread on TPMS here :

http://newranger.net/forums/viewtopic.p ... pms#p45790

mikey01 · Post by **mikey01** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:07 pm

CHeers mate. Did you consider the TD1400 Tyre Dog?

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 4:11 am

Looked at it but decided didn't really need the colour screen. I use it on batteries not 12v socket and the 1000 uses less power.because of the screen.

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:31 pm

Steel arrived (finally) so we have begun fabrication...

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:34 pm

Picked Up the Roof Top Tent & Awning this morning. We are a little behind on the build because of the delay in steel arriving, so will probably have it done by mid next week...

Ben.Allen · Post by **Ben.Allen** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 6:07 pm

I will be doing the same sort of thing when I get back from overseas. What length axle did you go with? 65 inch 45mm square is what I was thinking, going on a few rough measurements.

naddis01 · Post by **naddis01** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 6:15 pm

It looks like there are going to be a few of us with these trailers. From my calculations, the axle should be 1670mm face to face on the hubs.

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 6:27 pm

Ben.Allen wrote:I will be doing the same sort of thing when I get back from overseas. What length axle did you go with? 65 inch 45mm square is what I was thinking, going on a few rough measurements.

Hi Ben.Allen, will measure the axle length as it was custom made by my trailer guy, I do know its 50x50 though.... Good Luck with your build and hope you get a Tub and Wheels at a reasonable price!

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 6:28 pm

naddis01 wrote:It looks like there are going to be a few of us with these trailers. From my calculations, the axle should be 1670mm face to face on the hubs.

We will all have to go on a Road Trip together.....

naddis01 · Post by **naddis01** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 6:47 pm

aja88 wrote:
naddis01 wrote:It looks like there are going to be a few of us with these trailers. From my calculations, the axle should be 1670mm face to face on the hubs.
We will all have to go on a Road Trip together.....

Sounds good to me.

Are you mounting a spare underneath?

What height are you aiming to have the tub Aja? It looks as though it will end up being around this height...

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 7:08 pm

Mounting Spare on draw bar (vertically) in front of tool box.

Regarding Height, important for it to sit higher than the the one in the photo you attached, otherwise it will look silly behind a full size Ranger. It will sit at a similar height to the one Rob 351 has built. What we have done is used the measurement, or 'space', from the top of the wheel to the bottom of the wheel arch from my Wildtrak as a guide. My Wildtrak has a 40 mm lift and that measurement is approx. 260 mm. On the trailer we are working off 200 mm for this space. Tub will be mounted to the chassis to achieve that 'space' by fabricating brackets that give us the height we want. Obviously we will also set the draw bar taking height from my tow bar so it rides level as well. Went over this with my trailer guy today, as I wanted to make sure it sits at the right height. Make sense ?

naddis01 · Post by **naddis01** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 7:46 pm

Yep, all good.

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:02 pm

naddis01 wrote:Yep, all good.

I had the same thought when I saw the chassis this morning, as it sits (in the photo), I said the Tub will be too low compared to my Ranger. The guy making it for me said the mounting brackets he was attaching to the tub would give us the extra height I wanted. He is a bit of a perfectionist so I am quietly confident it will work out fine. Thanks for pointing it out, makes me feel better because I had the same concern. My tub didn't come with a rear bumper bar, so he is fabricating a number plate frame and filling in the area either side with checker plate (painted black) so it looks nicer. He is also checker plating (black) the front of the Tub (where it would butt up against the Ranger Cab). Let me know if you think there is anything else I might be overlooking, thanks again...

Ben.Allen · Post by **Ben.Allen** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:38 pm

aja88 wrote:
Ben.Allen wrote:I will be doing the same sort of thing when I get back from overseas. What length axle did you go with? 65 inch 45mm square is what I was thinking, going on a few rough measurements.
Hi Ben.Allen, will measure the axle length as it was custom made by my trailer guy, I do know its 50x50 though.... Good Luck with your build and hope you get a Tub and Wheels at a reasonable price!

Yeah got a xls tub, lights and rear bar for $200 only problem is, it's white and I have some alloys of an old bt50 for now, old springs and shocks from the ranger, just got to get the steel and axle etc when I get back and get it done.

I'll put some pictures up during the build.

naddis01 · Post by **naddis01** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:44 pm

If you weren't so far away Aja, I would give you my rear bumper. I am not putting mine on. It is silver though.

The only other thing I can think of with yours is the rear shackles on the springs. I thought they are meant to be mounted on a slight angle rather than vertical. I guess that will change once there is a bit of weight on them and I might be wide of the mark.

Is there a reason why there is an extra cross bar at the back of the frame compared to the front? How is the tub going to be bolted down? Are there going to be tabs welded to the side of the frame or are you going to just drill through the frame and bolt directly onto it?

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 5:24 am

All good questions and I will have to refer to my trailer guy for answers. I am away for the weekend and it should be done by the time I see it next...

alpha1 · Post by **alpha1** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 8:48 am

Just guessing but the the rear shackles don't appear to be fixed yet and the extra crossmember is prob to hang the spare off!!
cheers Tim

Gunmetal · Post by **Gunmetal** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:13 am

aja88 wrote:Mounting Spare on draw bar (vertically) in front of tool box.

aja88 · Post by **aja88** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:25 am

Dropped by this morning and took a few more photos. Tub has been test mounted on chassis.

Height at centre rear, ground to top of tailgate, is 1300 mm. My Wildtrak with a 40 mm lift is approx 1370 mm. Happy with that as didn't want the trailer too high either. The gap from top of wheel to bottom of wheel arch is 200 mm (what I wanted).

I took a photo of how the chassis is mounted to the tub, looks like he used the existing bolt holes in the tub that were used to bolt the tub to factory chassis. Fabricated 6 brackets to mount the chassis to tub.

We have decided to add shock absorbers, but that will be done in a few weeks as he has a back log to work through. Up date again on Monday....

Rob 351 · Post by **Rob 351** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 11:02 am

That looks about right aja. Important to get it sitting at the right height or, as you said earlier, it will look out of place behind a full size Ranger.
Lookn good.