2LOW4U, Building my low-rider wagon

 2 years ago, when we took our garden wagon to the Grand Design Rally, I had to make a rack that would fit over the tonneau cover, with this I was able to take the wagon without stuffing it into the trailer. There was no room in the back of the pickup under the tonneau cover. I didn't think I would need the rack again so I used the wood for some other projects. I have the same issue this year except it's 2 wagons. I used the same basic design; I even had the same metal brackets I used 2 years ago. I used some 2x2's and 2x3's and some cheap fence board to make the rack. I made a story board to make sure the wagon tires will fit. The only issue I see at this time is getting the wagons up on the rack, each is fairly heavy. I had to make wings on the back of the rack for the low-rider wagon, the rear track is about 4 inches wider than the front track. If this doesn't work, my other option will be to remove the tonneau cover and load everything on top of the wagons in th...

Been working on some side projects for the low-rider wagon and trailer. I have a speedy stitcher tool, it is used by sail makers to sew sails for all sizes of sailboats. I have found it works great to make thing from polypropylene webbing. I used it origionally to make some binding straps for the travel trailer. I have also made some keyrings. The first thing I made for this project was a pair of 3/4 inch ratcheting strap to hold the wagon while it is on the trailer. I also made some stronger straps to hold the wagon and trailer to a rack I am making for the back of the pickup. The rack is designed to fit over the bed of the truck with the tonneau cover installed. I made one 2 years ago when we took a wagon the to first stupid wagon contest. I didn't think I would need it again and used the wood for other projects.  One inch ratchet straps in complimentary colors.  3/4 inch ratchet straps that match the low-rider wagon. These will hold the wagon on the trailer.  The board...

 Found an issue with the low-rider wagon today that I didn't notice before. The low-rider frame came with a couple bolts that act as stops for the front axle that prevent the front tires from hitting the wagon body. The John Deere wagon body is longer that the Radio Flyer wagon, this caused the front tires to hit the wagon body even when adjusted to the fully forward position. I searched through my many boxes of stuff and found a couple bracket that worked perfect for stops. They came from an Ikea towel rack. I glued on some rubber to cushion the bracket and they work perfectly. Haven't decided if I'm going to paint them.

 Got some polyacrylic applied to the sideboards. I'm planning on 4 or 5 coats go give them a bright and shiny finish. 

 Finally got to work on the sideboards for the low-rider. Didn't get any pictures of cutting the wood or using my router table to radius some of the corners. Next is installing some edge banding on the oak plywood, I hope to give it the appearance of solid wood. A few weeks ago I found an iron at an estate sale for $5, it is used to heat the banding glue. I also used one of my corner clamp to hold the plywood while applying the banding.  You can see the difference between the plywood with and without banding. Ironing on more banding. Bought a 50 foot roll and used about 40 feet of the banding. All 10 pieces now have the banding installed. Got the sideboards attached. Came out a bit different than I planned but this will work. Some more views of the sideboards. Got the screws measured perfectly, I took my time with these measurements to make sure they were spot on.  Installed the handle to see how it fits with the front piece of oak. I got a black pool noodle, I will use t...

 Got to work on the seat for the low-rider. Layed out the lines then stapled the vinyl using plastic strips to keep the staples from tearing through the vinyl. After the stapling, I stuffed the pool noodle into the vinyl fabric. It's now as cushy as I would have like but I doubt many people will be taking rides in the wagon Finally got a chance to start working on the stake sides for the trailer. I used some 3/4 inch oak I had to replace the rotted wood that came with the trailer. I patterned them off the original uprights. After cutting I had to drill some clearance holes for the top rail of the wagon. Then lots of sanding, then set up my router table to round over all the edges. Drilled more holes for the attach points then installed them. I couldn't find any 1/4 inch oak for the stake sides so I will be using some oak plywood. That will be my next task. 

 Part of my low-rider wagon build includes a seat for any passengers. I looked at some different materials for the seat and found my answer at Dollar Tree. Cheap pool noodles! I made a couple mock ups with what I had and after deciding on a design, I made a full sized mock-up. I just need to work on ends a bit, I have an idea that should work.  I cut the noodles to length and hope to get this done in the next week. 

 With the low-rider trailer close to completion, it's time to work on the low-rider wagon. The first thing I did today was clean the tires for the wagon, they had a bunch of dried mud on them. Discovered one tire has a leak in an inner tube, I have on old patch kit I hope will work.  Next job was to attach the wagon to the frame. I should have done this before installing the wheels and tires, it was a wrestling match to get everything in place. I got it on and all the fasteners are tight. The wagon looks pretty good. The wood I ordered from Home Depot is in so I can start working on the stake side rails. 

Used the warm weather to get the diamond plate matting cemented to the trailer ramps. I clamped then down for about an hour to make sure the mats stay stuck.  Also got the wheels put on the trailer. I just hope I don't need to remove them, getting the little caps on was kind of a pain. They went on real tight so I shouldn't have any problems.  I set the low rider frame on the trailer to test the length. Fits great as I planned.  I test fit the trailer ramps for length and think they are just right. I won't know if the low-rider will bottom out when going up the ramps till later. It looks like they will work fine though.  With the wheels installed I can start working on the parking brake. I mocked up a piece of scrap to see how things will work. My first thought was to mount thd brake lever on the top of the trailer but that will interfere with the low rider. I thought about mounting in on hte front of the trailer but that would involve designing some kind of linkage....

 Got a nice day to do some more painting. The first thing I did was clear coat the wagon itself. Wiped it down with acetone to remove more of the oxidized finish and dirt than gave it a couple coats of a gloss clear finish. I think I'm going to give it another coat in about a week to allow the current coat to fully cure.  Also painted the brace I added to the rear wheel support Also got some stuff done on the trailer. Painted the ramp board black.  Prepared the trailer for the diamond plate mat. Cleaned everything and masked off the area that will have contact cement applied.  Spread a coat of contact cement on the trailer and mat.  Waited about half an hour for the cement to get just a bit tacky then stuck down the mat to the trailer. Clamped down what I could to make sure it goes nowhere.   The mat is now cemented down and shouldn't go anywhere now. Some of the edged didn't stick down as well as I expected to I added some staples to hold the mat down...

 Now that the paint on the trailer frame is done, I can start some of the assembly. First was to install the floor panel. This also includes a trim piece at the front and a filler panel in the rear.  Then I could install the under carriage and axles supports.  Even though they really are not needed, I am making some roll on ramps for the trailer. I made some connectors for the ramps from some old hinges I had on hand. I have a couple long ¼ inch bolds to use to hold the ramps to the trailer.  As seen in the pictures above and below, I have finished the pin striping on the trailer. Still have a lot left to do on the trailer.  With the trailer moving along, I can also get started on the wagon. The first part will be assembling the frame. This part should take too long.