Container Trailer Project

Page 1: Building the trailer

Since I've already fully documented a 3 axle trailer build on my Stanchion Trailer page and the chassis is 90% similar, I'll be providing only a cursory overview of the build here.

It is not surprising that this trailer comes in a very long box. The chassis rails are the length of the entire trailer so the box can't be shortened. Inside are an amazingly large number of parts for "just a trailer". This is actually a serious build. What you see on the table are just the parts for the trailer base. The container will come later at the bottom of this page.

Here are the 3 solid rear axles. Each is supported by leaf springs which are tied together between axles to provide integrated movement. Depressing one axle lifts another. The left and right axle shafts are separate allowing the wheels to all turn at different speeds when turning.

This shows the rear fenders, wheels, mud flaps, and bumper installed. From above you can also see the rest of the trailer. The chassis is effectively done at this point. Nearly everything you see is metal. The container toggle locks are at the ends but also in the middle which allows the trailer to accept a single 40' container or two 20' containers.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect by way of container assembly methods, but I didn't expect this. I thought maybe the corrugated panels were sheet metal. Nope. They are actually formed ABS. The process is similar to how polycarbonate bodies are made, but ABS is much tougher. This stock of formed parts needs to be cut out and trimmed. They are way too thick for a Lexan scissors so I used the score and snap method with my trusty X-Acto knife. The picture on the right shows the front panel after trimming.

Here I'll explain my method for making the rounded cutouts. Each of them has a little dimple at the center which works well to center a drill bit. I used my drill press and a bit of roughly the right diameter to make holes at each cutout as shown on the left. The right hand image shows the notch after I trimmed out the remainder with a blade. These slots are where the clamp blocks will install the panels to the rails.

The side and top panels are half length which means the same parts can be used to build a 20' container. For a 40' you need to connect them end to end as shown by overlapping them and taping them together. This may seem weak (and it is), but the frame does a good job of strengthening everything later. The tape is a special type that will accept paint and not be very visible. These pictures show the top panel. It is interesting to note that the top and sides use different types of corrugation. The corrugation on the top stands proud of the surface and is roughly rectangular. The corrugation on the sides goes inward instead and is tapered instead of square.

With the panels cut out and prepared we can start work on the frames. The corners are held together with white brackets shown on the left. These help to hold everything square and include aluminum cross members. On the right you can see the completed top frame shown next to the solid metal panel that will be used for the bottom. This takes up nearly my entire build table.

The first major assembly to be completed is the floor. You start with the sheet metal panel then attach an L-channel rail to the perimeter and plastic cross members to the center. In case you thought this was easy, look at the massive number of tiny fasteners shown on the right. You can see that the cross members are not the same for the whole length of the floor. On the right hand end there is a tunnel which is used to provide space for the neck of a gooseneck trailer to allow the container to sit lower and fit under bridges. Yes, I had to look that up. Extra points to Tamiya for accuracy.

Here the first long panel has been installed into the top frame. This is the point in the assembly when I started painting. For the side panels, I wanted to paint and apply stickers before I put the panels in the frame as shown on the right. The huge Maersk stickers are very difficult to apply. Any large sticker is hard to apply without bubbles, but this one also has to conform to the corrugations while at the same time staying parallel to the panel. I'd say I spend nearly an hour carefully applying it. One side came out quite well, but the other side has a lot of bubbles.

The construction of the front panel is somewhat different. The L-channels are held together with large diagonal braces which do an excellent job of making the end square which is really important up front because the back has a big opening for the doors. You can also see that the brackets overlap the panel which is what locks the panel in place. For the large side and top panels, a huge number of small rectangular brackets are used to lock each notch in place. Again, lots of screws.

Now I'm finally starting to put the whole thing together. Putting the last side on is quite difficult because it must correctly overlap everything else. I helps to keep the screws locking all the panels loose until everything is in place, then tighten them all at once. I didn't paint the inside of the trailer since it is mostly hidden and, so far, I haven't figured out anything to put inside it. Some scale pallets of RC boxes would be nice.

The last thing to build are the rear doors and, like the rest of this container, they were more complicated than I expected. There are four lock bars on each door with a pair of cranks to hold them in place. They do a good job of helping to hold the box square when shut.

Here's the completed container atop the trailer and locked in place. It really looks realistic.

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