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Multipurpose SxS Build

adventr

tim_zr2 from the old forum
Joined
Nov 11, 2021
Member Number
4540
Messages
68
How about a build thread on one of these. This one may take me a while to fully post up, mainly because I have over 2,000 pics from this build... :dustin:


Story of a 2019 Polaris Ranger Northstar, and how it went from this boring new stock rig:






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To this street legal beast on portals that I drove all over the country:










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Que the "you can't drive portals on the highway at speed!" comments from all of the FB groups that I was in. :laughing:




 
Subscribed. Exactly what I’ve been wanting to do with one, and to drag it on camping trips to explore and leave the whale of an F550 behind with camp.
 
Subscribed. Exactly what I’ve been wanting to do with one, and to drag it on camping trips to explore and leave the whale of an F550 behind with camp.



That was my usage as well. Makes a good daily driver around town too. Easy to maneuver.

I ended up building a small trailer to go behind it for camping and whatnot:






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Any reason to run a tandem axle trailer on a trailer that small? lower ground pressure for soft/muddy ground? Is it a bitch to turn being tandem axle?Tires looks like they are damn near rubbing. :grinpimp:

Friend of a friend has a Northstar crew with portals and 30s on it. He has grenaded the front diff from what I heard. I have no first hand knowledge of what he was doing when it let go though.

I dig the build though. Do the portals get hot running at sustained highway speeds?
 
Any reason to run a tandem axle trailer on a trailer that small? lower ground pressure for soft/muddy ground? Is it a bitch to turn being tandem axle?Tires looks like they are damn near rubbing. :grinpimp:

Friend of a friend has a Northstar crew with portals and 30s on it. He has grenaded the front diff from what I heard. I have no first hand knowledge of what he was doing when it let go though.

I dig the build though. Do the portals get hot running at sustained highway speeds?



Honestly, I just wanted a trailer with tandem 33s on it to match the ranger. :laughing:
But it did end up working well. Pulled great and the tandem axles ride better than a single axle. I also went slightly overkill and both were 3500lb brake axles. I put a Redarc brake controller in the ranger. Both axles locked, it turned into a pretty sweet land anchor.

I'd guess that your friend was being pretty hard on it in reverse if the front diff popped. I've had this one buried before and wide open throttle with no problems.

Portal heat was everyone's main reasoning for me not being able to run that setup on the highway. I wasn't convinced, as my hummer h1 used portals and they were fine. I took it real easy the first few times and stopped often to check temps. The HIGHEST I ever saw from sustained highway driving was like 115 degrees. Most of the time, they barely felt warm or would even feel cool to the touch.
Fluid never smelled burnt or discolored.
 
What state are you in? It looks like SD plates in your pics but that doesn't mean much.
 
What trails are you riding on in AR? Standard NF trails? I dig that setup a lot. I have kicked around building a expo style trailer to pull behind my RZR a few times but haven't done it. Most of the places I wheel we base camp in a campground.

Are you using a standard 5x4.5" bolt pattern for the trailer wheels? With it being tandem axle even if you did have a flat you could just pull both tires off that axle and let it float. :smokin:
 
Cool to see someone running them down the highway. It makes sense that they stay cool, being aluminum and getting decent airflow. Do you run anything special for oil?
 
Man, I love this so much. I just got my General XP legal this year and its a blast ripping around town. WV has special laws and a special tag for UTVs. we cant get on the interstate though.
 
What type of hitch are you using for this? just a standard 2" ball hitch or one of those fancy 3 axis hitches the overlanders use pulling their trailers? lock n roll
 
What type of hitch are you using for this? just a standard 2" ball hitch or one of those fancy 3 axis hitches the overlanders use pulling their trailers? lock n roll


Yep, was using a LockNRoll hitch setup that I got from E-trailer website. Ended up getting almost all of the parts for the trailer build from there. Might have a pic of the hitch setup...




Both of these were before the front was finished up. But you can see how I made the hitch adjustable. Was able to pull a pin and extend the hitch out quite a ways, which made for great towing manners on the road. Or, pull a pic and shorten the hitch way up, which made it a lot more maneuverable in the woods.

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I want details


Kinda going off memory here. Both the Ranger and the trailer were sold back in (i think) January of 2020.


Trailer was a diamond cargo brand I got new from a dealer over here.
Put tandem 3500lb axles underneath, using the softest leaf springs I could get. Reasoning for tandem, ride quality offroad is much improved as the axles can "pivot" easily even if there's not enough weight to compress the springs. Trailer didn't bounce around offroad like a single axle trailer would.
Also put brakes on BOTH axles. Reasoning there, when offroad and descending steep loose hills, I wanted all the tires having the ability to lock up.
I also was able to use the trailer as a land anchor and sorta "pivot" by manually overriding the trailer brakes. When winching a downed tree or stuck vehicle, locking all of the brakes made the setup much more planted.

I'll see if I can find some time soon to post up more pics and details on here for you guys
 
do you just use the trailer for hauling camping gear expo style behind the Ranger? Any issues pulling it thru the NF trails in AR? I really want to build an expo style trailer to pull behind my RZR but honestly I don't really have a need for it. I just love the idea of expedition trailers. :smokin:
 
do you just use the trailer for hauling camping gear expo style behind the Ranger? Any issues pulling it thru the NF trails in AR? I really want to build an expo style trailer to pull behind my RZR but honestly I don't really have a need for it. I just love the idea of expedition trailers. :smokin:


Exactly what it was used for, camping. Had a batwing awning for it too. If you're on facebook, I started a group some years back called Overland UTV. Just to see if there was any interest in that kind of stuff, and it sure appeared like it. I handed over the reigns to one of the moderators and last I checked there were over 1000 members and tons of pics doing exactly what you're wanting to do.

No issues pulling the trailer. It tracked perfectly behind the ranger. When I ordered the axles, I made sure that the track width was as close as I could get it.
I used an electric brake controller from RedArc which had an "offroad mode" that allowed you to toggle into a linear control mode versus proportional. Proportional is great on the road, but when on a steep incline it thinks you're panic stopping due to the angle it sees. Click it into offroad mode and it goes to a straight linear mode giving a set amount of braking (you can adjust the strength). Pretty sweet setup.

Here's a link:

RedArc Brake Controller
 
so what are the box length on the trailer? I am gonna build a simple single axle, utility style. hauling crap, fuel cans, spare parts on long trips. Doesn't really make sense but I love the idea and wanna build it. Want to keep it same width as my RZR so 66" wide or so. I will do the adjustable tongue length as well. Buddy is giving me a full set of HL wheels and 32" Carnivores I can use. will have to adapt to 5/4.5 trailer hubs. Buddy has a mill and lathe in his garage so I will just turn out some adapters.. I probably won't add brakes to mine. at least not at first. Don't want to add a brake controller to the RZR.
 
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