\ Trailer widening and Fender-ing | Tom Mandera's Big Sky Binders

Trailer widening and Fender-ing

After making a few passes at the Bozeman mud-drags, I ran into trouble trying to load my very muddy Scout onto my trailer.



Little Devil has never fit well on the deck, being just 2" too wide to fit between the fenders. Over the years I've gone from changing the front tires for some "skinnies" each time I load up, to metal drive-over fender ramp additions to some 2x6s stacked up inboard of the fenders to let me drive over them.



Well, I kept falling off with the 4 balls of mud I called tires.



Fell off about a dozen times or more.



Bent the fenders some more, broke some welds, broke a light, got wood stuck in the truss of the front diff..Something had to change, and it was long overdue.



The old fenders were constantly breaking off (welds), and bending into tires, etc.









So I cut 'em off.







I also had to pull the trailer into the shop, since the weather wasn't cooperating.



New fenders are based out of 2x2x.120 angle, some 3" channel uprights, and some 12"x.120 flat steel sheeting. I'm also going to widen the trailer deck with 2x10s in front of and behind the fenders.













Update from the night of 9/21



Just about finished the driver's side. Still need to add one more support for the new decking, and then add the two longitudinals for the decking.







Then I started on the passenger side.











AFter finishing the framework, the decking went on. This time I used the torch to soften the metal at the bend and used just two pieces for the top. One goes from the front over the top, the other is just the rear ramp.









Wide view of both fenders.







The framed fender was strong enough to sit/stand on, but the outer section did move a little.. can't have that, can we?



So both sides were augmented with a diagonal brace in the center.









Just about done. The big stuff is done. Still need to add a couple supports for the wood decking additions and paint it.



Here's my new torch set I used..







-- After they're DONE and painted..



Looking forward, from the rear













I'll have more pictures with the extra decking. 2x10s were put down in front and back of the fenders, where you see the 2x2 angle support structure in these pictures.