cdemeyer
New member
So this started with a conversation My wife and I had back in July about a week after our first was born. While talking about all of the stuff we will need to purchase over the next few years, the subject of a radio flyer wagon came up. The Jeep guy in me immediately says "well she can't have a stock one". This led to discussions of all of the ways we could modify a wagon. The discussion continued until I decided well why don't I just build one from scratch? And, if I was to build one from scratch I think my daughter's wagon should look just like her mom's JK.
If the mods will allow it here I will share with you my Jeep wagon build.
First a picture of Mom's 2008 for reference. It's a mildly built 4 door Rubicon with all of the bumpers and fab work built by me from scratch
The plan is a scaled down version of a 4 door JK sitting on pneumatic tires with a 4 link coil-over suspension. The "wagon tub" will be hand built with a hood that opens. I plan to use as much raw materials that I have left over laying around the house. I had to put myself in check when, at one point, I had the bright idea of machining all of the suspension components out of aluminum.
Then the design work began. I used AutoCad to layout the geometry. I found some scaled lines drawings of a top, front and side view of a 4 door. I started by tracing over those line drawings and scaling everything to fit the tires I found. I balance that with what I wanted for the size of the tub that my little girl will ride in. The sheet metal work was drawn in 3D using Inventor. This program will develop flat patterns of all of the parts. This was extremely helpful for the hood
Let the fab begin.
The over all goal was to use very thin wall tube when possible to cut down on weight. After all, I do have to pull this thing around. The main frame is 1" x 1" x 16ga tube. The link arms are made from 1/2" EMT Conduit with coupling nuts welded inside for 5/16" rod ends.
The axles are round tube I had laying around. The pivot points for the front steering are sleeved with bronze bushings
If the mods will allow it here I will share with you my Jeep wagon build.
First a picture of Mom's 2008 for reference. It's a mildly built 4 door Rubicon with all of the bumpers and fab work built by me from scratch
The plan is a scaled down version of a 4 door JK sitting on pneumatic tires with a 4 link coil-over suspension. The "wagon tub" will be hand built with a hood that opens. I plan to use as much raw materials that I have left over laying around the house. I had to put myself in check when, at one point, I had the bright idea of machining all of the suspension components out of aluminum.
Then the design work began. I used AutoCad to layout the geometry. I found some scaled lines drawings of a top, front and side view of a 4 door. I started by tracing over those line drawings and scaling everything to fit the tires I found. I balance that with what I wanted for the size of the tub that my little girl will ride in. The sheet metal work was drawn in 3D using Inventor. This program will develop flat patterns of all of the parts. This was extremely helpful for the hood
Let the fab begin.
The over all goal was to use very thin wall tube when possible to cut down on weight. After all, I do have to pull this thing around. The main frame is 1" x 1" x 16ga tube. The link arms are made from 1/2" EMT Conduit with coupling nuts welded inside for 5/16" rod ends.
The axles are round tube I had laying around. The pivot points for the front steering are sleeved with bronze bushings
