The Oh Crap, I acquired a non-titled, homebuilt trailer thread

i was starting to take over the welding thread with this, and bad things are happening, so figured it might be better to put it all in it's own place. it's probably a good idea to at least try to document my rapid decent into insanity!

my mistake started when i saw a 'free'(nothing is ever free!) 7'x12' trailer that sat by a road i take to work every day. it taunted me for 2 weeks. no one touched it despite the sign indicating it was free for the taking. so i took it home. first mistake.



the camper corner jack stands are still there, as are some pulley's on the corners feeding to a central front cable winch, indicating that it's a variant of a pop up camper frame. some googling for pop up camper frames puts it somewhere around 1960-62 vintage.

the main issues:

• it being a camper, the VIN was part of the shell that was removed
• the hydraulic surge brakes appear to have been disconnected somewhere before the time the internet existed--but the axle is brake compatible!
• 40+? year old tires on a wheel design that barely exist anymore(found some, $200/each, wheels only, no rubber, not happening).
• hitch jack falling apart
• the axle falls inboard of the platform, basically ruins this trailer to be used as a trailer
• axle supports are cracked down the center
• frame has too large of spacing between supports, also questionable ultimate strength of the folded "c-channel/box channel/open seam square tubing" used for most of the build-up.
• no electrical/lighting installed
• no decking installed
• no wheel wells included

the challenge: can i restore it for under $1,000? side quest: can i sell it enough to break even?

initial goals:

• install electric brake hubs
• install current-age wheels/tires
• install hitch jack so i can get my jack stand back
• widen axle to fall outside decking
• add wheel wells
• reinforce frame
• sand/prep/paint frame
• add DOT lighting/wiring
• add 3k winch
• add tool storage and battery box
• finish deck with composite deck boards.

i started by pulling the surge brake components, and verifying the axle bearing surface dimensions. fortunately, the axle still complies with current 3500 pound axle dimensions, so hubs are an easy swap to current gear. i used some non-brake hubs for the time being. this picture was halfway through



then i tried to throw on some 15" tires, though nothing was easy about that-- the grease zerk bearing buddies i installed kept the tires from fitting in between the frame rail and axle... i had to drop the axle to fit the tires, then learned all the spring hardware is seized.

next came stripping off the long-defunct surge brake system components


much better


some plug welding practice because all those now-useless holes bother me, also welded up the hitch surge pivot so it doesn't anymore.


lots of filler welding and grinder flapper disc work, a shot of primer, and i ended up here:


i did attempt to install a new hitch jack in the opening, but found the opening needs adjustment, so that will be a project for later.

and that was as far as this trailer got before old man winter came calling. now it's too cold to work with any motivation outside on the weekends. i'm using the time to gather all the parts needed to make for a faster buildup once spring comes around.


while trying to acquire parts for this trailer, it meant going on facebook marketplace to find a similar popup frame i can scavenge for parts to keep the metals similar without over-building the add-on parts.

and that was where this trailer popped up for far too cheap to pass up.


so now i have 2 trailer builds to plan for in the spring... though this one should be easier considering the frame is properly built. it just needs a floor, axles, lights, and i'm considering also adding a winch, tool storage, and making it a tilt-deck.

feel free to follow along as i figure out what i don't know, and compress everything into a timeline that will never work out anyways!

 

I foresee in your future a sand blaster

 

i was thinking that... i've got a small one, and about a gallon of sandblast media. obviously not going to be enough for this...

i did pick this up a while ago with refinishing in mind, though i suspect the interior edges are still going to require sandblasting instead.



even better, eastwood makes these drums that fit

 

Do you live alone OP?

 

Good luck

 

Playground sand. Sift it through a window screen.

Wear a hepa respirator, obviously. Because silicosis is bad.

 

as excited as you might be to find a potential partner, i wish to inform you that i don't sway that way. i hope you can understand and wish you the best in finding a partner that allows you to express yourself appropriately.

 

Well, that was unexpected!
What I meant was, no objections from a significant other? Mine of over 40 years might be a wee bit perturbed if I came up with 2 more trailers. Right now there's 6 around here. Camper, cargo, landscape, wood' mover, water mover, one I built 45 years ago and just can't get rid of. Of course there's 135 acres available for storage.

 

He could've just said his heart belongs to another

Way to let a guy down gently

 

in talking to my dad about my new predicament this afternoon, as well as being the day after the 'good deal craigslist high', i've come into a little more clarity in terms of direction.

i've got one trailer with a solid hitch, 3500 pound brake-capable axle and springs, but the axle is too narrow, and has a thinly built sparse frame.

and i've got a second trailer with custom welded 7,000 pound spindles on 1,200-ish pound axles(or it's just random square tubing and the cake is a lie), 12,000 pound springs, and a great frame with poor welds that are already cracking, the frame is plenty long, but too narrow for vehicle use. replacement axles, springs, and mounts would be about $1,300, but are to a common width that the trailer doesn't comply with, which means it must be widened or narrowed. $1,300 in axles sorta blows the budget away unless i want to keep it, and it's just too large for me. but widening it would allow for a standard car trailer use, and allow me to try a 4-link airbag setup i've been itching to try my hand at. still also considering making it a tilt-deck...

more measurements are needed, but starting to consider a plan C, where both trailers are returned to pieces, and a complete trailer is made from the frame of trailer 2 to the dimensions of trailer 1, and the axle/spring components of trailer 1 are used in a new wider layout...

i could've said no, but this way was much more fun!

these 2 trailers are the only i've ever had. previously, i've always used pickup's or found a friend to borrow trailers from. frankly, i don't have a ton of uses for a trailer but the initial free trailer sucked me in. i'm still not too far down the rabbit hole, i could realistically just cut them all up and turn in for scrap, probably close to breaking even. but i'm a glutton for punishment, and facebook marketplace hasn't beat me up bad enough yet!

lol, that's pretty easy to hide from the wife then!

it's a little harder to hide anything on my 1/4 acre lot!

honestly, all i think of when you say 6 trailers is how one needs to replace trailer tires every 5 years, and how you're basically always changing a set of tires in that arrangement...

 

Geez, I've got more than a 1/4 acre covered in junk.

 

@soundman98 You could just put it back on that corner with a better looking FREE sign. Just sayin. lol

 

lol, i'll take it in for scrap before that point!

it's a busybody project. i could be spending money on ridiculous car parts, booze, drugs, or parties. i don't do drugs, party, or drink a lot, so that leaves projects to occupy my time

 

When moving out of my house I wanted to leave a mattress/boxspring out for the trashman. Was told I needed to package them in plastic (cost me money, those bags). Put them out for the trash and 30 minutes later a lowdown mongrel scrounger had stolen them.

You owe me $20, man! I have been looking for you for years!

 

lol

this trailer had very small "free, must take it all!" written on a scrap of cardboard popped up next to the jack, and the trailer was covered with some rotted boards, crushed plastic pipes and other general construction debris. the debris definitely contributed to no one else wanting it..

but i'll never touch used mattresses. my dad's old boss did that once, thought he found a life cheat code for replacement mattresses at his florida condo. his actions ended up getting the entire condo building shut down for 2 weeks for a bed bug infestation so they could fumigate it!

 

it was warm this weekend, and i had 20-too-many 4-1/2" cutoff wheels. it was time to make a pile of scrap!

started off like this


and ran out of cutoff wheels at this point.



the plan is to use the 5" c-channel frame rails from this trailer, and install them onto the other trailer in replacement of it's stamped double-c-channel rails to appropriately support a load, using whatever remains as crossmember/decking supports, while also fixing all the poor welds the previous builder kindly left for me.

 

PLASMA CUTTER my friend!