L-Series wagon based trailer?

sven · Post by **sven** » Sun May 13, 2007 2:33 pm

Am just finishing the salvage of the good bits - leaves essentially half a good car from the B pillars back. Got to thinking, could this be trailer in the future?

Thati s weld the rear doors in, cut them back, brace the tub, paint it up the same as the next car, won't as useful as a 6x4 but handy nevertheless??

Anyone done one? / seen one?

cooloothin · Post by **cooloothin** » Sun May 13, 2007 4:14 pm

sven wrote:Am just finishing the salvage of the good bits - leaves essentially half a good car from the B pillars back. Got to thinking, could this be trailer in the future?

Thati s weld the rear doors in, cut them back, brace the tub, paint it up the same as the next car, won't as useful as a 6x4 but handy nevertheless??

Anyone done one? / seen one?

seen plenty of half-cut hilux's and old nissan/datto utes around.
Can't see a reason why you couldn't do the same if you have the bits, the time, and the inclination to get it legal.

subarursliberty · Post by **subarursliberty** » Sun May 13, 2007 4:30 pm

cooloothin wrote:seen plenty of half-cut hilux's and old nissan/datto utes around.
Can't see a reason why you couldn't do the same if you have the bits, the time, and the inclination to get it legal.

Yes but hilux's have a seperate chassis. I would think you would have to do it the same. Make a chassis for the L series to sit on.

D3V1L · Post by **D3V1L** » Sun May 13, 2007 4:36 pm

andrewt has the same idea as well..he has a rear cut L series from his old touringwagon which he has plans to turn into a novelty trailer...and i have some ideas lingering of a liberty trailer too...all depends on how creative u are and how much money u are willing to spend :P

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Sun May 13, 2007 6:40 pm

Something like this?

D3V1L · Post by **D3V1L** » Sun May 13, 2007 6:44 pm

Bahahhahhaha

Post by **Alex** » Sun May 13, 2007 7:59 pm

hahahahahaha....ditto that Dave!

alex

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun May 13, 2007 8:04 pm

ooh, that hurt my eyes !!

BrennyV · Post by **BrennyV** » Sun May 13, 2007 9:19 pm

i feel a photoshop thred a commin'

mroberts · Post by **mroberts** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:50 am

Why not leave the roof and doors - easy access to get stuff in and out.

Since no-one has to actually be inside it, you could make the rear hatch and roof removable if you need to fit big stuff, but still have it enclosed for carting other stuff.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon May 14, 2007 1:50 pm

This idea has crossed my mind too.

I'd leave the B pillar in and make a frame for the hitch to mount and mount that with some extral long bolts to the front section of the rear suspesion, then weld it all together. And somehow make up a front wall for it (been thinking of putting the windscreen back in but dunno how i'd do this). Add a rear wheel carrier to the trailer, ultilize the fuel tank for long range trips (dodgy with the fuel line i know but we can dream - and if it happened it would be a one-way line to the car's fuel tank operated by a dash mounted switch...)

I've heard of another guy putting a hydrolic pump off his rear shaft on the car to another hydrolic pump on the diff in the trailer for off roading. Apparently it was the bomb and could go anywhere with this trailer that the car could (think it was an old Landrover).
This wouldn't be hard to do, room would be the main issue, use some toothed belts, slide them on for off roading, slip them off for on roading... sounds good to me (could be a pain in the arse if you needed to reverse down a slope after not making the distance...)

Ah, pipe dreams - gotta love em!

Brumby Boy · Post by **Brumby Boy** » Mon May 14, 2007 6:58 pm

Suparoo wrote:Something like this?

What about this?

90brumby · Post by **90brumby** » Mon May 14, 2007 9:01 pm

i want 1 thats cool

theclick · Post by **theclick** » Mon May 14, 2007 10:17 pm

hehe. First attempt at a photoshop here (didnt even use photoshop)

Maybe a little like this?

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:15 am

wow great job on the photo!

Having gone as far as actually chopping down my old wagon to make a trailer, I can tell you that setting it up as an open 6x4 trailer has one glaring problem. Wheel arches. 6x4 trailers have them on the outside, not the inside. I could see them always getting in the way. Theres no real advantage to making it into a 6x4 other than the look of it when being towed behind an L series.

For that reason I'm going to keep the roof and windows on mine and make it fully enclosed. This way it could make a nice tool-trailer for a tradesman, or possibly some kind of camping facility, perhaps with an annex or something.

Other than that I like some of the features this trailer comes with as standard...
- 50litre tank (for fuel or water)
- Brakes
- Fully independant suspension (although not that heavy duty)
- Electric windows (in the case of my ex-touring wagon)
- Rear window demister and windscreen wiper
- Built in large toolbox/storage compartment (where the floor drops down to allow for the back seat that used to be there - you would build a false floor above this to match the level of the main floor section).
- Offroad capable!

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:29 am

Oh also, there is the idea floating around to put another L series tailgate on the front end of it....I had a play around and came to the conclusion this won't work due to the weight of the door.
At the moment my trailer seems to be perfectly balanced, it pivots on the wheels with a slight bias to the rear which is good because after the front A-frame and hitch are welded on, and the front enclosed in with sheet metal then it will have a slight bias to the front and sit nicely on the tow ball.
Hopefully it has more of a bias to the front actually, wouldn't want it to try tipping backwards when the tank is full.
A bridge that will have to be crossed one day when I get to welding it!

daveosubi · Post by **daveosubi** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:38 am

AndrewT wrote: - Built in large toolbox/storage compartment (where the floor drops down to allow for the back seat that used to be there - you would build a false floor above this to match the level of the main floor section).

It would be good to be able to remove the bench seat from the back so you could have a camping couch. Actually come to think of it would probably be to hard with the way it folds forwards, and the need for a base, legs and securing the 2 sections.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue May 15, 2007 1:55 pm

daveosubi wrote:It would be good to be able to remove the bench seat from the back so you could have a camping couch. Actually come to think of it would probably be to hard with the way it folds forwards, and the need for a base, legs and securing the 2 sections.

Nothing a few cans and a mate with a welder can't fix...