I recently picked up a 1992 Pace 24' enclosed trailer. My trailer dealer buddy believes it was originally intended to be a construction business trailer, not a car trailer. It is taller than most car trailers, has no dovetail at the back and has multiple tie down rings halfway up the walls. It's not pretty but appears to be structuraly sound. After some recent hard rainstorms there are no signs of leaks even though the galvanized roof has surface rust. It has lived it's life as a car hauler though. My main purpose for buying it was hauling cars or parts to car races, shows and swap meets. It does need some upgrades though. The floor tie downs were only into the wood, not into the cross beams plus they stuck up from the floor a little. So first thing was to upgrade the tiedowns. I picked up four 5000 pound tie downs from the Pate swap meet in Fort Worth for $3 each. These were semi-recessed and I wanted full recessed. So first thing was to flaten the edge of the plate. I used my 12 ton press and by the last one was getting prety good at it. A large hole saw was used to cut two holes in the floor, a jig saw and a wood rasp for the drill finished off the hole. A wood chisel, the wood rasp and a coarse sanding disk were used to make a recess in the floor so the plate was truly flush. I placed the tiedowns on the long floor beams so the bolts just caught them. I used 7/16 grade 5 bolts instead of the usual 3/8 bolts for a little more strength without going to the expense of grade 8 bolts. I like it so far, flush fitting, looks decent and much more peace of mind tha the other ones LOL.
Enclosed trailer upgrades
- Thread starter bluebolt
- Start date
Built a removable receiver hitch mounted winch mount for the trailer.
I bought a bolt on receiver hitch mount from Harbor freight. My trailer has a "bench" in the front with a flip up lid. I mounted the receiver hitch upside down inside the bench and cut a small hole in the plywood for the hitch opening to protrude through. The hitch mount is bolted to a 6x6 inch 3/8 thick piece of angle I had, it bolts to a heavy frame crossmember.
The winch mount was built from another piece of 6x6 angle and a piece of heavy wall 2x2" tube. All bolted together no welding. The bolts are bigger than the the 3 bolts that came wth the winch to bolt it down. The winch sitting a little higher helps keep the cable from rubbing the floor as much.
I drilled a hole in the 6x6 for a shackle if I need to use my doubler pulley. I tapped the 2x2 tube for a bolt that wuld bear agaianst the floor so I could tighten the slop out of the hitch
About $30 total in the receiver hitch and hardware.
I bought a bolt on receiver hitch mount from Harbor freight. My trailer has a "bench" in the front with a flip up lid. I mounted the receiver hitch upside down inside the bench and cut a small hole in the plywood for the hitch opening to protrude through. The hitch mount is bolted to a 6x6 inch 3/8 thick piece of angle I had, it bolts to a heavy frame crossmember.
The winch mount was built from another piece of 6x6 angle and a piece of heavy wall 2x2" tube. All bolted together no welding. The bolts are bigger than the the 3 bolts that came wth the winch to bolt it down. The winch sitting a little higher helps keep the cable from rubbing the floor as much.
I drilled a hole in the 6x6 for a shackle if I need to use my doubler pulley. I tapped the 2x2 tube for a bolt that wuld bear agaianst the floor so I could tighten the slop out of the hitch
About $30 total in the receiver hitch and hardware.
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JC23
Well-known member
Good ideas. Any more?
eborcim
Well-known member
Any pics of the inside? Is that the truck you are planning to pull with, it just seems a little small (maybe its the trailer height)? If you have not already, an upgrade to a load distributing hitch with an anti-sway attachment would be on my list. Does it have a generator already (AC unit on the roof)?
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The Lightning is a little short and light for that big of a trailer but has plenty of power to tow with LOL. I have a weight distributing hitch and sway control. I am only planning on mostly using the trailer for the local area within a few hundred miles. No mountains around me LOL. Major plan I have is to slow down, 60-65 on interstate, 55 on regular roads. I have towed a short distance with truck loaded inside and it was fine. Cross winds will be a big issue if I am not paying attention.
tonydanzah
Well-known member
the scale of the lightning to the trailer seems like it would be similar to a semi tractor pulling a trailer
tonydanzah
Well-known member
uhaul website is bad about renting to fords since the tire recall.
MP&C
Well-known member
This is a 16 x 8-1/2 that my wife uses for her used furniture business.
Moving furniture, sometimes you need a 4 wheel dolly, but otherwise it gets in the way. Here's a simple storage solution to get it out of the floor....
Along the same lines, you never have a place to store the heavy duty ratchet straps. I had picked this cabinet up at an auction for $5. It was a bit deeper than I wanted, so the rear was removed, side panels sectioned, rear panel replaced with a hook at the top to hold it in the same method as the furniture dolly holder.
One thing about moving furniture, you never know what you're going to get, so you don't want anything permanently mounted that will get in the way of the tall stuff. This mounting solution allows you to move the cabinet and dolly hanger as needed while packing the furniture.
Moving furniture, sometimes you need a 4 wheel dolly, but otherwise it gets in the way. Here's a simple storage solution to get it out of the floor....
Along the same lines, you never have a place to store the heavy duty ratchet straps. I had picked this cabinet up at an auction for $5. It was a bit deeper than I wanted, so the rear was removed, side panels sectioned, rear panel replaced with a hook at the top to hold it in the same method as the furniture dolly holder.
One thing about moving furniture, you never know what you're going to get, so you don't want anything permanently mounted that will get in the way of the tall stuff. This mounting solution allows you to move the cabinet and dolly hanger as needed while packing the furniture.
U-haul doesn't want you towing a trailer that weighs more than the tow vehicle. That means according to them I can only tow 4700 lbs.
Ford's ratings for the 2003 F150 are much higher at a max of 8800 lbs. The Lightning is a unique vehicle but does have a trailer tow package with a receiver hitch, tow control hookup, engine oil cooler and stiff rear springs. Lightning front brakes are bigger than regular F-150's.
This trailer has 8 lug 7000 pound each axles and a 12,000 pound rating. It also has four wheel brakes. I would be comfortable at about 7,500 in the Lightning for my planned use. In the future I would like a 7.3 diesel F250 but I don't have a money tree right now.
MP&C
Well-known member
Here's my '97 7.3 dually with our 28' trailer. With 4.10 gears, it does like pulling the trailers..
Here's my '97 7.3 dually with our 28' trailer. With 4.10 gears, it does like pulling the trailers..
Nice set of rigs there Robert! The 96-97 Powerstroke truck is what Iam leaning towards.