Homemade trailer progress (08-31-08)

[cactusjack]

Alright. I haven't had much time to spend on the trailer the past couple of weeks, but I am using the 3-day weekend to catch up. Here's what it looks like today:


Now, before you say "Gee CJ, it looks the same as before". Here's what's different: I narrowed the overall width of the trailer by about 4-1/2", lowered it about 2", and extended the tongue by 13".

I used a chop saw to cut a 4" chunk out of the center of the axle. Not having access to welding equipment, I used a 12" piece of 1.25" 14 gauge perforated tubing to rejoin the two halves. The tubing fit perfectly inside the axle. Drilled a few holes, and used some grade-8 3/8x2" bolts to connect everything up. If you look closely, you can just barely see where the cut is.



Here's the axle components before I assembled them:



I removed one of the two leaf springs on each side to soften the ride and mounted the axle above the spring, rather than below it, thus lowering the deck by about 2":



Extending the tongue was simple. I moved the center crossmember forward to another set of mounting holes, which added another 13" in tongue length. This puts the coupler-to-axle distance within the 1.5 to 2 x trailer width range, which is ideal.

Here's a picture of the trailer as it was orignally assembled, to compare with the first picture in this thread:



Next, is wiring and mounting the decking and cargo box. I'll work on it some tomorrow, but I am going riding in the morning.

[ringadingh]

Looks good so far, grab a beer and keep working. ;)

[VulcanE]

It is hard to spend quality riding time working on projects, but it looks like your getting done, and looking good too. The surprise I had was the use of channel instead of square tubing for the axle.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by VulcanE

It is hard to spend quality riding time working on projects, but it looks like your getting done, and looking good too. The surprise I had was the use of channel instead of square tubing for the axle.

When I woke up this morning, it was 76 degrees outside, but it had rained overnight and it was probably 60% humidity. 76 is considered "chlly" this time of year. It was real hard to not get on the bike and put about 200 miles on it, but I was on call this weekend, and couldn't be out of reach. I'm not on call tomorrow and I'm gonna hit the road for a few hours, then come back and work on the trailer some more. Pretty much, all the hard work is done now.

I do still have to decide where/how to mount my taillights. One option is to build a rear bumper and mount them there. I bought some surface mount LED STT lights that I plan to use. They are about 6" long and the mounting flange is about 3" top-bottom, so they won't work on the frame. Oh well, that's part of the fun of building your own trailer.

[audiogooroo]

Looking good CJ!

[bebop]

Nice looking work on modifying the trailer! I was hoping one day to be able to afford a trailer and this looks like it may be sooner that I expected. I can cut, drill holes and bolt things together but I can't weld. Your changes looks like something I might be able to handle.

When you narrowed the width by taking out a few inches in the axle can I assume that you used the same method for the rest of the cross members too?

I'll be looking forward to the next installment of your progress. Thanks for posting it.

Cheers!

[glwilson]

Just a guess that Cactusjack just cut off an "end" on each of the other cross-members; redrilled a hole at the new-end for reconnecting to the outside frame where connected previously.

The axle would likely have been the only one requiring the rather ingenius "splinting" shown.

We'll see what he says.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by glwilson

Just a guess that Cactusjack just cut off an "end" on each of the other cross-members; redrilled a hole at the new-end for reconnecting to the outside frame where connected previously.

The axle would likely have been the only one requiring the rather ingenius "splinting" shown.

We'll see what he says.

Exactly! I cut 2-1/4" off both ends of each crossmember to shorten them. That was straightforward. The axle required some ingenuity. I think the axle is plenty strong after I rejoined it. Welding would have been the preferred solution, but I was too <s>lazy</s> busy to track down a machine shop or welding shop to do it.

[phenrichs]

Hey CJ, I was thinking of using a similar method to add some length to the tongue of my trailer. By cutting it and inserting a piece for desired length. Do you think using the insert and bolt method would be strong enough? I know welding is ideal but I thought for the sake of experimenting with getting the correct length I would just bolt it for awhile until I know it is where I want it.
What do you think?

[phenrichs]

Your trailer is looking great by the way.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by OP

Hey CJ, I was thinking of using a similar method to add some length to the tongue of my trailer. By cutting it and inserting a piece for desired length. Do you think using the insert and bolt method would be strong enough? I know welding is ideal but I thought for the sake of experimenting with getting the correct length I would just bolt it for awhile until I know it is where I want it.
What do you think?

Absolutely, I thought of that too, but the channel used for the tongue is kind of an odd size. You could certainly replace it with some square tubing. On Gadget's Do It Yourself trailer page, the author mentioned extending his tongue using some aluminum square tubing he had sitting around.

Thank you for the compliment, BTW. It's taking a lot longer than I expected, though. I'm going to get the decking on this week, then finish the electrical and mount the cargo carrier. Then I am going to fabricate the rear bumper. It will be done soon.

[phenrichs]

You would have to shorten it alot but a bumper from an old stovebolt chevy truck would look sweet.

[coot]

C.J.
Is there a reason you cut 4" from the axle and 4-1/2" from the cross members instead of both the same?

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by coot

C.J.
Is there a reason you cut 4" from the axle and 4-1/2" from the cross members instead of both the same?

I must have mistyped. It was the same amount from each. Sorry for the confusion.

[pirate]

CJ- Your trailer is looking great. I'm thinking about building a trailer this winter since I can't ride. Our riding season is getting close to the end, maybe only a month or so left, so I'll need something to keep me occupied. The high today is only 56, so the cold hand of fall/winter is coming!
Looking forward to more of your posts.