Trailer project

[majerus]

I decided I needed a project, so went on Craiglist and picked up a trailer. (also needed to remove an old camaro out of my garage)

Upon getting the trailer home i started to go over everything that would need replacing, The wood was rotten out pretty bad, the fenders were rusted though in places. and the paint had seen much better days. The following day I took it over to our local powder coating shop and had them sand blast everything.

After getting down to bare metal a buddy and I started to clean up the old spots were the previous owner welded the fenders to the frame and proceeded to creating a mount for the new diamond plate fenders.

The over this nice labor day weekend we started to lay on the Herculiner over everything except for the leaf springs and axles. I am planing to cover those with rattle can black paint.

Still have a quite a bit of work to do. Still need to pick up wood for re-decking, finish painting axles, touch up some of the herculiner, and throw on a light set. Might even try to add a winch. Think a 3k winch would lift a car on this thing? Other then that what do you think?

 

[rsanter]

You may think about making the fenders easily removable. I had a trailer that the fenders were that way and it was really nice that I could remove a fender and then when loadig a car I could open the door over the tires. Otherwise it would have hit the fender

Bob

 

[majerus]

How did you make it removable? I was thinking about using bolts so if i blow a tire i can easily replace the fender, but did not thing about making it removable while loading.

 

[aka Larry]

How much are you into it cost-wise at this point?

 

[majerus]

I picked up the trailer for 800, the herculiner was just one gallon for about 85, two fenders 65 each, wood will cost 180 after taxes, and i have sealer here left over. The thing that i was a little stunned with price on was 210 for sand blasting. All said in done it will be about 1500 without a winch.

 

[driver]

All said in done it will be about 1500 without a wench.

Be careful those 'wenches' can be very expensive

 

[majerus]

Be careful those 'wenches' can be very expensive

ha! lmao.. fixed.

 

[chrisa7164]

Don't know if they are still like it or not,but the older U-Haul trailers had flip down fenders

 

[NUTTSGT]

Did you put the Herculiner right over the bare metal ?

 

[majerus]

I used a light coat of etching primer.

 

[kelzamos]

Subscribed! Top notch work Majerus!

 

[aka Larry]

I picked up the trailer for 800, the herculiner was just one gallon for about 85, two fenders 65 each, wood will cost 180 after taxes, and i have sealer here left over. The thing that i was a little stunned with price on was 210 for sand blasting. All said in done it will be about 1500 without a winch.

It adds up quick. Around here car trailers really hold their value. Buying a used one usually only saves you a few hundred bucks, and after you get it up to par, it's usually a wash cost-wise...not counting the labor required to get it to that point.

 

[readhead]

Kind of curious why you didn't straighten the frame before you put all this work into it. When we repair this type of trailer we line up the side rails and then put in a piece of tube steel above the axles to stiffen up the frame.

 

[Jagmandave]

Don't forget to pull the hubs and clean/repack the bearings before you go to use it in earnest, I'm taking a lot of heat for a failed Chinese bearing on my trailer, and it only has 1,000 or so miles on it.

It's a good idea, I'll give them that.

 

[ambenz]

Very nice project!
I was wondering if you thought about some way to preserve the floor better than just putting planks down?
I saw somewhere where you could buy plastic sheets of diamond plate...it would match the fenders ya bought!
Laying it down over the planks may hold moisture between the two, so I am not so sure about the idea.
I think a ultra light but very durable and stiff floor is priority #1....unfortunately, I have no inexpensive recommendations.
I will be watching and learning...subscribed!

 

[porschedude996TT]

Have you seen the fenders on a u-haul car trailer. They swing outward and allows a driver to open his door and the door hits the tire rather than a fender. Otherwise the driver would need crawl out the window. They also have tie down straps that are attached to the trailer and really work well. My hats off to the designer of this trailer.

 

[bwane]

build a cage around the very fragile taillights

 

[bullnerd]

Pic I had saved.

 

[bwane]

I think a 3K winch is worthless, it is for me. I got a 9K from Horrible Freight on the advice of the jeep forum. They say its good and they know. It was less than $400

 

[the gypsy]

Kind of curious why you didn't straighten the frame before you put all this work into it. When we repair this type of trailer we line up the side rails and then put in a piece of tube steel above the axles to stiffen up the frame.

Did you mean strenghten, because I don't see anything that needs to be straightened? And then in the second sentence you talk about putting a piece of tube leading me to believe that you meant strenghten.

 

[captain14]

Is that your S10 pulling it? 4 or 6 cylinder? If a 4 cylinder how does it perform power and braking wise?

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

Its coming along nicely!

 

[majerus]

Kind of curious why you didn't straighten the frame before you put all this work into it. When we repair this type of trailer we line up the side rails and then put in a piece of tube steel above the axles to stiffen up the frame.

This could be my ignorance, however I was told the trailer was built that way? I thought it was kinda odd, but took the guy for his word.( it does have a slight curve to it) Also I figured anything I put on it should not stress it too bad. Do you have a pic of the thing you do to straighten them?

 

[majerus]

Very nice project!
I was wondering if you thought about some way to preserve the floor better than just putting planks down?
I saw somewhere where you could buy plastic sheets of diamond plate...it would match the fenders ya bought!
Laying it down over the planks may hold moisture between the two, so I am not so sure about the idea.
I think a ultra light but very durable and stiff floor is priority #1....unfortunately, I have no inexpensive recommendations.
I will be watching and learning...subscribed!

Beyond just soaking the treated lumber in thompson's I could not think of really any good way that would keep moisture from just sitting on the wood either.

 

[majerus]

Is that your S10 pulling it? 4 or 6 cylinder? If a 4 cylinder how does it perform power and braking wise?

I have a 1999 dodge durango I saved from a junk yard with a 5.9 360. That is what I use to pull this guy and the boat. For just moving it the escape, and s10 work pretty well. The s10 has a 4.3 with 5speed, breaking without a load seems fine, and would not try with a load on that little truck. The durango didnt have any issues at all stopping

Here is a durango pic

 

[majerus]

Picked up the lumber today , here are some quick pics. I was planning on using 13.5 2x6 however, 12 2x6 and one 2x8 fit perfectly.

At the lumberyard

In the garage

 

[J Persons]

Does the trailer have brakes? I don't think I would want to pull much of a load without brakes. My car hauler came with brakes on the rear axle and I added a set on the front axle. It stops much smoother with four wheel brakes.

 

[majerus]

Does the trailer have brakes? I don't think I would want to pull much of a load without brakes. My car hauler came with brakes on the rear axle and I added a set on the front axle. It stops much smoother with four wheel brakes.

Its wired for them, however they are not installed. I might add them, but to this point I have not needed them. How much did front brakes run you?

 

[aka Larry]

Its wired for them, however they are not installed. I might add them, but to this point I have not needed them. How much did front brakes run you?

Not saying you can't haul a car on a trailer w/o trailer brakes (I have done it) but it certainly isn't a wise move. Think of it this way. Your S10's brakes were designed to stop the weight of the truck, not the truck plus another 4,000 lbs. If you need to make an emergency stop, w/o the aid of the trailer it will end badly.

 

[J Persons]

Its wired for them, however they are not installed. I might add them, but to this point I have not needed them. How much did front brakes run you?

The brakes are about $180 complete. That includes the backing plates with shoes and all hardware and the drums/hubs including bearings and races. Wiring them up is simply adding a jumper from the wheel magnet, spliced into the brake wire. Just be sure your controller can handle two axle brakes. I have a Tekonsha Prodigy and consider them one of the best. I got everything I needed at etrailer.com

 

[readhead]

Don't have any pics of the repairs. We usually run a piece of tube about a foot past the spring mounts and keep it below the wood. That frame is already stressed and it will only get worse. It is still easy to do before you put the wood on it. It may take a few pie cuts to get it straight. Weld up the cuts, grind them smooth and install the tube.
This happens because of the lever action applied when the ramps are bearing on the back of the trailer while something is being loaded. Some blocks of wood or jackstands under the trailer will minimize the damage. The longer you make the tube repair the stiffer the frame will be.

 

[the gypsy]

Hi readhead. I wish to apologize for my earlier comment. Seeing the picture of the trailer, i wasn't sure if it was distortion or the angle in which it was taken. Seeing that Majerus acknowledged that there was a slight curvature, I realize there was no distortion in the pic. therefore I reiterate my apologee.

 

[readhead]

No problem. I could see where the confusion may have come from.

 

[Lippyp]

Check any local laws regarding brakes, in the UK any trailer with a loaded weight of over 750kg HAS by law to be a braked trailer.

 

[A_Pmech]

That trailer needs brakes on at least one axle per Illinois law.

 

[majerus]

That trailer needs brakes on at least one axle per Illinois law.

Good to know. Ill buy a set or two.

 

[justanengineer]

Not sure what fenders you have in mind, but personally Id add plate "drive-over" fenders vs the cheap stamped tin ones on most trailers. Also, if you take it anywhere in the Northeast with a decent amount of salt on the roads, make sure you wash it thoroughly underneath the minute you get home. Trailers really should not be undercoated or lined IMHO for this reason as it traps the salt, expedites rusting, and really looks like *** after a few years when the coating starts peeling in big sheets due to the rust underneath.

 

[majerus]

Not sure what fenders you have in mind, but personally Id add plate "drive-over" fenders vs the cheap stamped tin ones on most trailers. Also, if you take it anywhere in the Northeast with a decent amount of salt on the roads, make sure you wash it thoroughly underneath the minute you get home. Trailers really should not be undercoated or lined IMHO for this reason as it traps the salt, expedites rusting, and really looks like *** after a few years when the coating starts peeling in big sheets due to the rust underneath.

Hope that does not happen, I figured sandblasting it along with a coat of primer should keep it anything like that from happening.

 

[majerus]

Don't have any pics of the repairs. We usually run a piece of tube about a foot past the spring mounts and keep it below the wood. That frame is already stressed and it will only get worse. It is still easy to do before you put the wood on it. It may take a few pie cuts to get it straight. Weld up the cuts, grind them smooth and install the tube.
This happens because of the lever action applied when the ramps are bearing on the back of the trailer while something is being loaded. Some blocks of wood or jackstands under the trailer will minimize the damage. The longer you make the tube repair the stiffer the frame will be.

Is this what you are referring to. The Red would be the "tube"

 

[NUTTSGT]

How wide is your trailer, outside of tire to outside of tire ? How wide is your garage door ? How tight was the fit to get it inside ?