A Minimalist Lowboy Jeep for RC4WD Lowboy Trailer and others

Very basic, frame rails, tongue, fifth wheel plate and a rear bumper. Nothing extra here, but still some decent scale detail in the fifth wheel plate.

Tamiya hardware

This design has integrated mounting holes for the ubiquitous Tamiya two axle leaf spring suspension setup. There are options on thingiverse for printing most of these parts as well. The other parts that come from Tamiya kits are the fifth wheel itself, associated mounting hardware and the release mechanism. You can also obtain the rectangle taillight lenses from the flatbed kit and mudflaps or make your own.

Additional hardware needed

You'll need a few extra 3mm screws (the same as used in all Tamiya kits) to put the jeep together. The rear bumper and the top plate use wood style threads and thread right into the rails. All other fasteners have a recessed hole for a flanged lock nut also used in Tamiya kits.

Uses and compromises

The design allows getting excessive weight off of the pulling semi / lorry. Since the RC4WD was not designed with a jeep in mind, there isn't enough room to make the jeep long enough for the weight to be evenly distributed between the towing rig and the jeep, which is the intent of 1:1 lowboy jeeps. As a result, the towing rig may not have enough weight to facilitate traction on loose surfaces.

This will allow you to put an HD suspension on the jeep if you do not want to install one on your towing rig. Unloaded you get a total of 20mm clearance from the front leading edge of the lowboy, which does help.

Feedback is welcome, happy making!