This old Trailer Project thread

[revhead347]

I have started back on fixing one of the biggest mistakes in my life, which would be the pos car trailer I bought 3 years ago.

I got this crap car trailer for a song, but it came with some serious design flaws. My intention was to buy it, put suspension on it, and brakes on it. I then found out that it had mobile home axles, and they don't make good brakes for mobile home axles. I then went out and bought a 7000lb axle kit, which wasn't terribly expensive to rectify the problem. Then my Mustang engine quit, and I spent so much money getting that back up and running, the trailer project went on the back burner for lack of funds to buy new wheels and tires for it. I was recently able to trade this old wrecked crap diesel Mercedes my dad left me when he moved back to Norway for some trailer tires and a few other things, so now I can start working on it again.

Yesterday, I got the axle frame pretty much done, and in rolling condition. I test fitted it all, and the next step is to take it all back apart and finish welding it.

I was actually surprised how fast I got this together considering I did it all with an angle grinder and a wire feed welder. To keep the cost down, I'm using almost all scrap steel that I find at the salvage yard. The next step is to start cutting all the crap out of the old trailer that I'm not using. The whole thing is pretty much crap design wise, but for what I paid for I got my money's worth in just materials. I seriously doubt I could do any better if I had bought raw steel and welded it all together myself. I would kill to have a plasma cutter right now, but I'm going to have to make do with an angle grinder.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

One of the most glaring problems is the location of the axles. The hillbilly who built this thing in eastern Tennessee put the axles way too far forward. Well that, and neglected to put springs on them. The last time I pulled this trailer, I thought I was going to have to go see a dentist and a chiropractor afterwards. It's not so bad with a load on it, aside from swaying like crazy because the axles weren't welded in straight, but empty it's a nightmare. I have a little diagram of how I think I'm going to put it back together. This is the frame that will go under the car bed. The black lines represent current sections of frame. The green is the tires, and the blue is the axles. The red is the new metal I will be adding as part of the axle frame. I had to draw this up with openoffice paint, which is quite possibly the worst drawing program ever made, so go easy on the drawing.

The straight coupler is going to sliced off completely, and my intention is to replace it with an A frame coupler. I would also like to add a winch to the trailer. Any advice from members with trailer experience is more than welcome. I need to add a brake controller to the truck. My intention is to put a Tekinosha P2 on it. It seems to get good reviews. The axles have 12" x 2" electric brakes on the front axles.

Kurt

 

[VibrantRedGT]

Too bad you're not still in Florida. We have a ton of steel out back of our warehouse I'd donate to your project. Flat bar, plate and round bar.

 

[revhead347]

You're killing me, because I need some round bar to finish it up. I'm going to be in Daytona on the 10th, but that's still 260 miles away.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

A full day with an angle grinder and the old axles and I beam are out. I would have been so nice to have a plasma cutter, or a light saber.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

Cut the fenders off too. I can't believe how heavy they were. Who makes wheel fenders out of 3/8" steel?

Kurt

 

[RIO5.0]

A full day with an angle grinder and the old axles and I beam are out. I would have been so nice to have a plasma cutter, or a light saber.

Kurt

Least you had the Sawzall...Thats a weapon in itself !!!!!

 

[revhead347]

The sawzall had to be used in certain places, but it's a pain in the butt. It vibrates like a jack hammer. There is no way I could use that all day.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

Today was kind of a weak sauce day. I couldn't get the motivation to go out and work on it, so I started late. Basically all I got done was tear down the axle assembly again, finish weld the axle brackets and then box them in. I cut the ends to square it too, but I never actually squared it and tacked them on. I swapped the axles to the top of the springs to see how they would work. I think I'm going to leave them this way. The trailer really does need to be at least this low. The wife did some derust work on it.

I had a lapse in judgement earlier today and forgot to put on my leather apron before using the angle grinder. I lit my shirt on fire, and gave myself a nice 2nd degree burn.

View attachment 154517

Kurt

 

[blksn955.o]

Looks good so far but I would think you need some kind of X brace in the new portion at least and at best 3 sets of x braces in each square section now that it does not have a center I beam. It looks like a whole lot of room to flex.

 

[revhead347]

Funny you should mention it. I haven't updated the diagram, but the new design will have diaganal braces in each section. I just picked up 32 feet of round steel this week to do it. I have made some more progress, but haven't uploaded any pictures yet.

Kurt

 

[blksn955.o]

BTW-I am jealous of the trailer.

I am wanting to get a small-ish trailer to haul random big things around like a bike, random car stuff, and the like. A car trailer would be awesome if I had something to also pull it with. The wife wants a Toyota FJ Cruiser so at least it can tow something...the mustang, ZX2, and Fusion cant or will not be used as a trailer rig.

 

[revhead347]

I wouldn't be jealous of this trailer. I'm hoping it will be worthy of jealousy when I'm done. If you ever want to get a car hauler, get a "Big Texas." Those are awesome, and go for about $2500 used. I have a boat trailer for my little dingy as well. You really do need a nice tow vehicle to pull a trailer. I use my F150, and it does a very good job at towing. I've done a few things to help. The best towing investment I made was the air shocks. Also, I found that having a manual transmission is way more important than having a big engine. I just have the little 4.2 V6 in my truck, and it pulls a lot better than a lot of my friend's V8 trucks because of the 5 speed transmission. Obviously a brake controller is necessary for big loads. I pull 6000lbs with this truck all the time, and it does it flawlessly. You hardly even notice the trailer.

My car is a street car, but I have always wanted a car hauler. Before I would have to put the skinnies on the front, and load the slicks in the trunk. By the time you get to the track, swap the tires, and chain all your tools to the fence, you've missed 2 passes. I am really going to enjoy having everything setup to go, and just loading the car on the trailer when I get off work and going. I also want to have a winch on the trailer in case the car brakes. When I friend my Centerforce, I had to have AAA bring a rollback into the track to drag my scrap home. That was embarrasing. The car couldn't move at all under it's own power.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

Had to put some reliefs in the main bar to leave room for spring travel.

And the previously discussed angle bars. Need to finish welding those in tomorrow.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

I've taken more pictures, but photobucket is being a little bitch right now.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

The finished axle frame.

Kurt

 

[VibrantRedGT]

That looks good.

 

[Texas_Made]

Looks much better then the mess that it was. Should be a great trailer when your done.

Kris

 

[revhead347]

Thanks guys. I'll be back out there with the frinding wheel on thursday.

Kurt