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tchimbasta · 01-12-2018, 09:27 AM

hello all. would love some help with a fabrication project. did my safari up to the nines some years ago. she's languished in the garage for some time but, short of polishing again, is ready to roll.

have recently gotten into trail riding and want to set my safari on a 30' aluminum featherlite flatbed

https://www.fthr.com/products/commer...latbed-trailer

and fabricate a two horse trailer on the tail. that works out 19'/11'. lots of questions. was figuring to cut the tongue off, drop the axel out and build a sling that would allow me to lift it from overhead and set it on the trailer. figure I've got to take the pan off and build a perimeter plate for the safari to sit on, get aligned with the trailer tires and fab some new fenders. wonder if you all have any ideas about how to secure it. I've got several rolling around in my head and all include taking the up floor or at least part of it. if there are any designers out there, i wonder if anybody feels inspired to help make the horse trailer look like it was built by airstream in 56. gonna replumb and wire while everything is open. would love all your thoughts. i want to be careful to leave the original safari entirely restorable. i don't plan to have the horse trailer actually touch the airstream or be affixed to it although, from a design perspective, it might appear to. trying to get the info on tire placement on the trailer so i can spec out where the original wheel well lands relative to the trailer tires. was wondering if i could elevate the safari enough to clear the wheels entirely. guess thats all for now. thank you all.

goransons · 01-12-2018, 09:55 PM

Of course it's yours so do as you wish, but personally it's always sad to see a solid 50's unit cut up, but I know it happens probably every day somewhere. In an ideal world it would be cool if you could find a long trailer that took a tree, and move the front and end caps up on the trailer on a new frame (rather than being doubled up) and skin in between and make a truly custom trailer.

tchimbasta · 01-16-2018, 11:40 AM

thank you very much for your reply. yes i had considered your suggestion. what i am envisioning is not far from it. am planning to skin the neck in some elliptical shape that will rhyme handsomely with the safari which, in turn, will be visually extended the 11 ft which will house the horse trailer. i am hoping to be able to keep the normal radius at the end and recess the trailer door keeping the side profile unmolested, simply longer.

do not intend to alter the body of the safari in any unrestorable way. one of my concerns is the new skin itself. i sold all my junkers some years ago and wish i had one back now. is there a resource other than junk for replacement panels?

again, thank you. is there a chat that would be more appropriate in or outside the club for this project? i'm afraid it may strike some of the purists as offensive which worried me in the beginning. i used to be pretty rigid myself. age has weathered most of my hard edges. if i have offended, i apologize.

markdoane · 01-16-2018, 12:08 PM

I would certainly talk with Featherlight. I'd be worried about the weight distribution with two horses riding in the far back.
They build horse trailers so they should know how to balance the weight of the horses and the weight of the Safari and give you the best axle location.