So the "carcass" of my trusty old '90 pickup has been picked almost clean by myself and other parts scavengers. The plan since the wreck has been to turn the bed into a trailer capable of following my truck around on some of the lighter trails. In the planning with my dad, the issue of resistance from the differential under the truck came up. I've had a couple of thoughts about what to do to eliminate, from cutting the axle shafts short to pulling the third member and removing the ring gear from the carrier. Anyone have any other ideas?

Also, Would cutting the axles short affect it adversely? I was thinking that cutting them off at the back of the bearings might allow them to bend or break with a load.

 

If it was me I would sell what is left for scrap and take the money and buy or put it toward building a trailer.

Over the years I have had several people approach me on making a trailer like this . I always explain that till I get done fabricating the tongue and supports it is cheaper to just go buy a new one.

Then if I need to remove all the brakes and stuff it gets more costly.

Then you are dragging around all the extra weight of a rear axle housing brake drums backing plates etc.

Then if you want it to sit anywhere near level the tongue needs to be made in a way that drops the hitch so it is close to where your receiver in your tow vehicle sits level.

It can be done but to me it is more of a pain then it is worth.

In any case Good luck

 

can't cut the axles short. they need the center portion of the diff to help hold them in. axle would fall out..
unless you had a full floater..

 

Well the thing is that my dad used to do this as a way to make money on the side. He'd take wrecked trucks, scrap everything but the frame and bed, then cut the frame about halfway under the cab and heat and bend them together for the tounge. He was able to do this fairly cheap, thus making a quick buck off the deal. As far as this one goes, we're planning on keeping the yota axle under it in because as of right now, it sits about 1.5-2 inches taller than my truck, which has BJ spacers and a shackle. We figured then, loaded, it should sit level with the truck and ride pretty good.

As far as the cheap axles, I've seen a couple of the cheaper one's break. The last shop I worked at used to offer trailer bearing packs for $120, so we saw alot of home built trailers, and because of this, I saw alot that had cracks in the spindles. I knew from the get go that I wasn't going to use one of them.

At this point, with the frame ready for the cutting and bending portion of the build, I might just run the axle the way it is and see how it pulls. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for the input!

Btw, Here's how the truck looked alive, and how she sits now...





Not gonna lie, I kinda tear'd up pullin the cab and everything off...