This is the reason why I converted to a dual MC (if you read my restoration post).
I built this in my high school welding class as my senior project. I drove my jeep to school on the nice days. Bantams or any other type of matching trailers are hard to come by around here in good shape. So I built my own. Here's the short and sweet of it.
I used some old jeep front spindles, hubs, wheels, springs, and 2" pipe for my axle.
The tongue with a bantam like leg.
I finished everything I could do at school. I made fenders that resembled Willys truck rear fenders and some tail light brackets for matching NACO tail lights.
My finished leg and latch.
The axle/spindle assembly
The axle looks pretty neat all one color! I reused my old drive flanges off my '53 since I put the cutlas hubs on it.
I made a spare tire carrier since the jeep has 15" wheels and this is going to have 16" wheels, I didn't want to mix and match them. I found another 15" wheel that I used to replace the 16" wheel spare I had on the jeep.
After primer and paint
I even put a bantam serial number tag on, which I stamped also. My initials, the date of completion and the last 4 digits of my jeeps VIN number
And the decking!
I built it for the intended use of hauling a motorcycle, an Indian, to be exact with 4 tie down points in the corners and a bike wheel chock. I also made a really neat Indian sign for the back of it.
I hit the aluminum with the DA and 400 grit sandpaper, then some clearcoat. That gave it one heck of a nice finish!
In this pic, you can see I put a 6 prong trailer socket in the hole for the PTO on my jeep.
And voila! I have hauled 3 antique engines in it (weighing about 1500 lbs trailer included) no problem. The jeep didn't like it too much though. One bike is just right! The OD is a must with it also. 6 gears are way better than 3! If anyone wants more details about something, let me know and I'll gladly post them up!
This year, I may put some 11" drums on it and one of those hitches with a brake cylinder built into it and do a spring over axle swap on it. I'm still on the fence about those. I noticed the wheels sometimes hit the tops of the fenders. At least I can flip the hitch on the jeep and to compensate for the height difference.
