My race trailer refresh

[Dirt_Racer41]

Hey guys,

I recently decided I wanted to build a better box on the front of my race trailer. Something that was a little more for me and my needs, and something that was more aesthetically pleasing.

This is my first attempt at anything like this, and it's far from perfect. But this will get you caught up to where I am currently in the build.

I still have to finish out the interior and paint the trailer. The Midwest weather has killed any opportunity to this point to be able to get it prepped and ready for paint. Hopefully that will change soon.

Here is what I began with



The box was small, not well built and really just an eyesore.

Soo I cut it off and started building this



I used 1x2 square for the main frame and 1x1 square for the interior bracing. I then used .040 aluminum to skin it.



And the door. This is probably what I'm most proud of, as I was just wingin' it.



The rear fold up tire door.


Some trim work.

 

[HOTFR8]

Not seeing any images.

 

[Dirt_Racer41]

Sorry. Thought I had it fixed.

 

[The Cobbler]

just an FYI, imigur doesn't play with GJ

 

[Dirt_Racer41]

just an FYI, imigur doesn't play with GJ

Thank you.

 

[Dirt_Racer41]

And this is where I am today:



I plan to finishing painting the trailer black on the sides, and a light gray on the decking to try and minimize heat on top of the decking. Then I will be replacing all of the lighting with LEDs and adding a few flood light above the rear tire door for those tracks that don't have the best light.

Thanks for taking the time to look at my little project.

 

[quadrcr87]

Nice work! That door looks like a factory covered trailer

 

[HOTFR8]

Sorry. Thought I had it fixed.

just an FYI, imigur doesn't play with GJ

Thank you.

Can see them now. Nice project.

 

[jimgood]

Nice work!

 

[TS3g]

Great work! Once you get it all painted and finished up, it will look as good or better as a professional built one.

I want to do the exact same thing to my trailer. I have an old Beckham that was built for late model. Its a great trailer, but like yours, the box is pretty small, and I don't like having my tires out in the elements. The weather has been crazy here as well, and I can't fit the trailer in our shop with the car too, so I haven't been able to go through with it. Someday...

That's a good looking car too! Being from IL, and having the chain link tires, I assume you must race UMP?

 

[Dirt_Racer41]

Great work! Once you get it all painted and finished up, it will look as good or better as a professional built one.

That's a good looking car too! Being from IL, and having the chain link tires, I assume you must race UMP?

Thank you.

I don't know about looking professional lol. But I did learn a ton of what to do/not to do if I ever take it on again. I wish I had bought a 24ft so I could make the box a little bigger.

I extended on to the tongue about 5" so I have a place to put my pit lift and hang some from suspension parts from.

Unfortunately I am in UMP country. Where the only rules are silly ones and the wallet rules the land. I'm hoping to be able to get out to some USRA tracks in Missouri this year. Puck(hard tire) racing is always a great time.

 

[TS3g]

Yeah, UMP seems like the wild wild west, where rules are just suggestions most of the time. We run IMCA mostly here, but plan on traveling a bit more and running some USRA/USMTS stuff as well.

 

[Richard Cranium]

nice looking project, I really like the door, it is some thing to be proud of.

 

[aka Larry]

Nice work man. Looks really nice!

I assume you don't tow very far or fast? The box addition must have the same aero as a brick.

 

[Dirt_Racer41]

Thanks guys.

I tow typically between 100-150 miles round trip to the track. The box is actually about 1 foot shorter than my box truck I haul with, so I don't expect the impact to be much. I'm still under total height of a typical enclosed trailer.

TS3g It definitely is. The only thing I ever get checked for is deck height and the little filler panel in front of the driver door. Oh, and limit chains on the rear suspension. They said they were trying to save us money so they didn't let us run them, even on the LR, for some time.

The weather is looking like I will be able to get the painting done this Friday. Just in time for it to rain out our Season Opener on Saturday. haha.

 

[aka Larry]

I tow typically between 100-150 miles round trip to the track. The box is actually about 1 foot shorter than my box truck I haul with, so I don't expect the impact to be much.

Ah...so you are towing one brick with another brick.

Carry on!

 

[Dirt_Racer41]

Ah...so you are towing one brick with another brick.
:

Pretty much!

It gets a whopping 6mpg anyway. Can it get worse?!

 

[aka Larry]

Pretty much!

It gets a whopping 6mpg anyway. Can it get worse?!

Not much! For reference, my buddy tows an enclosed 24' trailer behind his 2016 F-150 with the 3.7L Ecoboost power plant and it only gets 7 MPG.

 

[gearhead1]

Nice work. I’m looking at doing something similar. Did you use aluminum flat bar and angles for the trim? How did you attach the trim to the door, glue and/or rivets?

 

[Rich1028]

looks great!

 

[toolman9w]

Looks awesome.

 

[Dirt_Racer41]

Nice work. I’m looking at doing something similar. Did you use aluminum flat bar and angles for the trim? How did you attach the trim to the door, glue and/or rivets?

Yessir. That is exactly what I did. I use the angle where possible and flat along the bottom. For every rivet hole and lap edge(along with the trim, I sealed with silicone. I went a little overboard with it to be honest. I have each piece about 3" of overlap so I could make sure it was water tight.

My plan was to get some painting done this previous weekend, but Mother Nature had different plans.

Now we have a two week break before our next race(for the season that hasn't started yet.. because of rain). So I'm really hoping to get it taken care of soon.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I see in the pictures and notice you mentioned pulling it with a box truck. In the picture, it looks close. Do you have any issues with jack knifing the boxes ?

 

[Dirt_Racer41]

I see in the pictures and notice you mentioned pulling it with a box truck. In the picture, it looks close. Do you have any issues with jack knifing the boxes ?

It was definitely close.

I ended up buying a '00 7.3 F250 over the weekend a Class V hitch. That gave me some additional clearance. I got 'er pretty sideways and didn't get within 6" of the box, so I don't foresee any issues.

I love the box truck, but it's a '77 model with a box stock crate 350 and while it did what I needed, it wasn't too happy about the Missouri hills.



So now the box is a bit taller than the truck (12-18") but is still under what the typical enclosed is. This truck is all power and the AC still works, so now the woman can't complain riding in a 40 year old truck with no radio or AC. Not to mention the fuel mileage difference. The friend who I bought this from averaged around 18mpg without a trailer, so I fully expect it to be substantially better than the 5-6mpg the box truck was getting.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Always better to make the wife (GF) happy, especially if she is going to the races with you.