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

i'm accepting donations! pm me for paypal info!

 

things have gone poorly.


no pictures of the other trailer, but it did the same thing, though i somewhat expected it. most of the welds were crap, and the front fell off as soon as i looked at it crooked. i did that trailer a favor by pulling it apart. it was an absolute hazard to even be considered road worthy.

in that pic, i figured there was no harm in cutting out the side rails of a professionally-assembled trailer frame, and then replace them with c-channel. turns out, while the welds were of a higher quality than the other trailer, there still wasn't enough support in the center section to support it's own weight. oops.

now i've created the mini-trailer of useless parts. tacked together just to be sure nothing slides around for the time being.


and this is all the parts from 2 trailers now, waiting to become something, other than an eyesore.


the good news is that some of the useless parts of the hand-made trailer went into a scrapyard trade deal for extra c-channel, so i should now have enough to put something back together, where i was thinking it was going to be a little slim on crossmember reinforcement with what i had originally.

the bad news is after all this, i'm really just left with a pile of parts. the only useful thing in the entire batch is the axle, which is still going to require significant modification. i had hoped to salvage the front a-frame of the camper tongue, but the steel size, and old surge-brake tongue just doesn't fill me with confidence no matter how many weld beads i lay across it.

there's really not a single piece from either trailer that works as-is. sort of disappointing, i had hoped to keep the overall parts of the camper-frame, and only add/replace what i needed for my purposes one part at a time. i guess this way, i can build it better.

and so with time, comes better focus.

next steps:
widen the axle to 89"hub face from the current 61"-ish hub face.

--still considering cutting the spindles off and doing 4" drop spindles to get the rear of the trailer low enough without the need for a tilt deck. not crazy about the idea of trying to align spindles, but also don't want to do a dovetail or ramps.

create perimeter frame of design--76"W x 144" L platform, with 53"L box-to-tongue, triangular front section.

blindly build trailing-arm airbag suspension kit--my current challenge/idea for getting the trailer tail to drop enough for loading without ramps or creating a tilt-deck. but even if i do a tilt-deck, i still want to do airbags just for the challenge of the design. i don't make it easy on myself! fortunately, being only a trailer, i can just do a simple pitman arm with swing arm style iteration, as axle rotation during suspension cycling won't be an issue like it is on a vehicle with a driveline orientation to maintain.

after that, i need to reinforce the deck enough to support 3500 pounds, then add fenders, lighting, wiring, paint, boards, and start teh process to generate a title for it...

 

Had a guy offer me a trailer for free one time and I said I didn’t need it. He said I have the title. I said sold

 

re: you being late to practice


well I didn't mean to put this here, oops

 

"the most expensive things in life usually start off as 'free'."

things have happened since i last updated this.

i've turned both trailers into a lincoln log project.


the next big update is that i realized that re-using the old straight trailer axle would result in requiring me to either C-notch the main structure to allow the trailer to drop/air-down as far as i want, or i'd need to build ramps. i don't want ramps. i want the rear edge to sit on the ground when the airbags are aired out. it's one of the core design challenges of the project--anyone can build a trailer with a flat deck and ramps! so a 4" drop axle got acquired. and i installed electric brake hubs on it instead of the hubs i already had, because of buyers remorse.


today was the first day i got all the parts out and started playing with jack stands and clamps to see how reality aligns with the concepts in my head. it didn't go well.



biggest problem is that the rear of the trailer, even in the poor mockup state that didn't get all the angles right(i'm trying to simulate connected-hitch height without welding everything together), is still a minimum 4" off the ground--likely closer to 5-6" in reality once everything is connected properly, and hooked up.


so it looks like i'm doing a beavertail trailer now. mixed feelings about this. i really wanted a flat decked trailer for both ease of installing the decking later, as well as maximizing loading space for other trailer needs. a beavertail will inherently take away some usable space of the trailer deck. also, it means i need to come up with more metal for decking or a creative way of decking it in lumber...

the passenger side frame rail in this picture is mocking up the predicted ride height of the trailer.



i'm currently brainstorming ways to attach the fenders in a removable way that doesn't make them look crazy when lifted/lowered, but remains functional. currently, the leading thought process is to weld some studs to the brake hub backer plate, and then build the fenders off those studs, so the fenders move with the wheels, but i can still take the fenders off if needed for extra bits of clearance. advantage is that they can remain tight to the tires. disadvantage is if i blow a tire, the close proximity means the fender would then become immediate shrapnel, making an unfortunate situation even worse. but if i hard-mount them to the frame rail, it'll look more like a monster truck on transport tires...



the good news is that the front of the trailer works out that i can make a basic 'A' frame, where the hitch rails attach at 2 different points to better distribute the load, and keep the front of the trailer from folding


i had originally hoped that by using the drop axle, i would have had ample ground contact before bottoming out on the axle. the plan for the back edge of the trailer is to mount 3" c-channel backwards, and taper the bottom part of the 5" main frame c-channel down to the 3" needed. that way, i can inset my trailer lighting into the 3" channel, offering it some protection from direct impacts, and offering a larger, flatter surface to lay on the ground and provide support during loading/unloading the trailer. the beavertail changes this idea some-- the angle will need to be steeper, and i might end up making the 3" channel parallel to the the main rails, instead of perpendicular to the beavertail portion.


i also adapted my airmaxx pivot bushings to take grease, so i'm not entirely relying on the rubber for movement.

$56 airmaxxx 4 Link Bar End Weld On 5/8" Poly Bushing & Sleeve 1.75" Wide 1.5" Outer Diameter (4)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FQGKWW6/?th=1


the initial plan was 1 each for the front of each trailing arm, with 2 required for a pitman arm to control side-to-side axle movement. since that plan, i acquired an exercise bike for scrap that has some really nice bearing-equipped arms and one small-ish heim joint. i might end up using the heim joint equipped portion of the assembly for the pitman arm instead.

 

When I put removable fenders on a trailer, I welded a 1.5” square tube at a 90 in the front and rear of the fender, cut at a 45, and closed the tube. I then drilled and installed bullet led marker lights in all of them as the needed clearance lights
With the fenders, I welded a flat piece to the front of the fender while sitting on the square tube in place. Two bolts on front and back that are tapped in the square tube to hold them down

 

i think i understand. do you have a picture?

 

the crossmembers are irritating me. after getting the axle, i've realized that i can go about 4" wider than i'd originally planned. but it means that all of my material stock that i cut out of either trailer isn't wide enough. so i can either add 2" to each crossmember i install, or i can get new steel.

i'm going to try contacting some local steel suppliers and see what they can do for me on some new/cut-offs of c-channel. i'm hoping i can come up with enough for the cross members, and maybe if i'm lucky, they had someone accidently leave a whole rack of steel outside to rust, that they can't sell to a typical customer...

and since last time, i've had time to think about the beaver tail. i hate the idea. so instead, after looking over some official tilt-deck trailers, i've decided i'm going to do a pivoting a-frame to create a tilt deck, using the same weld-on bushing kits that i already ordered for the axle. that'll at least keep the deck flat, simplifying board installation later, and keeps the deck as open as possible for loading. i'm still doing the air ride, and one side benefit is that the airbags i've selected have integral bump stops. with the tilt deck, i can now plan to raise the trailer height slightly to allow the bump stops to work. if any part of the air spring system fails, i can safely get home on the bump stops, which is far more preferable to laying the frame on the axle every time for loading, and not having any backup plan to the air system failing. and that way, the the tilt deck action will still allow rampless loading/unloading.

in the mean time, i wanted to do something. so i shifted work to the front hitch coupler/a-frame area.

i welded up the main part a-frame and hitch coupler. main problem is that my 20A garage circuit can't handle my welder, i couldn't make a full pass without popping the breaker. i had a lot more starts/stops than i would've preferred in an unobstructed workpiece like this, also really hard to develop my normal rhythm. i'd start getting into my rhythm and then the breaker would pop... i guess my next side project to this project is really going to be figuring out getting a 60A 240v feed to the garage, as well as making an order for a 'real' welder. i knew this project would push the limits of the little eastwood mig80, and running 0.35 wire definitely isn't helping, just didn't expect to be having issues with the breaker side of things.

i also tapered an 8" portion of the 5" c-channel a-arms down to 2-3/4" at the leading edge. i might still tie that further forward into the tongue portion, but currently avoiding it as i don't want to create a 'snow shelf' in the structure that will just collect road debris and rot out. i did it mostly for the aesthetics of making the a-frame look less 'chunky' where it all comes together. it was also just a fun little project to practice pie-cuts and play with bending one rail down and then welding the gap. later on, i'll sand down most of the welds, and the beams will look more like they came that way.

the top that's not pictured got double-passed, the sides that'll carry most of the weight all got quadruple passed, because i felt like it.







oh, and side-note, the rattle can bed liner SUCKS. the etching primer i hit the tongue with originally somewhat held up except for direct welding heat, but the bed liner crap came off in ribbons under a wire wheel. i could probably peel it off with a low temp heat gun and my fingernail. i'm not impressed with that stuff at all.

 

one frame rail mostly complete. it's got some side-to-side waviness to it i need to deal with using a come-along later on, but it took most of the day to pie cut the rear section that'll match up to a 3" c-channel for the tail section, clean off the remaining brackets, old welds, plug weld any holes, then wire wheel it, and prime to reduce rusting between weekend sessions. i also got my metal band saw moved from the basement shop to the garage to aid in cutting material, and got the front-most and rear-most c-channel sections cut out.



now one more frame rail to prep, as well as the front a-frame assembly from before, then i can move onto building the overall box section, which will allow me to start locating everything else.

i'm starting to realize how heavy this trailer is going to end up being as over-built as it is, so despite it being somewhat small, i've decided to add a second 3500 pound 4" drop axle, so my max trailer rating will be closer to 6,000 pounds. though it's going to be entirely likely the trailer itself might come in close to 1,000 pounds by itself in completed form...

i regret not getting a single 7,000 pound drop axle from the beginning, but that's nearly 3 times the cost(3500 pound brake axles with brake components are $400, 7000 pound axles are sold complete starting at $1100), and after having far too many trailer flats in the family fleet, it's a nice aspect to have some rolling redundancy.

 

Just for some weight perspective I have 2 trailers, both Belmont brand - I chose them for their solid construction.

5 x 12 landscape/utility - 990 pounds
8 x 18 drive on car hauler with wooden deck - 2080 pounds

 

i started posting in the welding thread, and forgot to update this last time.


this was a before picture of the frame rails. they're warped, bad. a combination of age and heat, from trying to 'save' things i really shouldn't have. it seemed like a good idea at the time. my electric and consumable bill from cleaning them up to bring them back to usable shape likely could've paid for 2 new 5" c-channel sections...


back in early july, i spent far too much time assembling the main frame. ran out of gas near the end and flux-cored the last 4 welds i needed.

the good news is that they entirely straightened out via a chain come along, and cutting the crossmembers exactly equal for the entire trailer.
the only weird part is the second 3" c-channel for the air bags is bowed upwards slightly from the stresses it's under to straighten the side rails. otherwise everything else measures straight.


i primed everything that night, and it's sat ever since. either obscene heat/humidity, or general life stuff has gotten in the way of any additional forward progress until this weekend.

last weekend, before the heat got to me, i cut out all my u-channel brackets for the tilt deck, and suspension arms from a piece of salvaged scrap- heap u-channel i came across early on in the build. this weekend, i set about drilling and altering them to fit my needs.

the inner width was about 2.5", i needed 2" for the bushings i've got, which meant cutting them in half, and welding them back together.
this is an example picture-- the taller one is still unmodified, all the short ones have been drilled and modified for my needs, along with the scrap sliver i needed to cut out of every one of them.


now all of them are built, i just need to set them up on the trailer...


hopefully next weekend, i can build the pivot arms and air bag mounts. it'd be really cool to get both axles set, and the front a-frame set, so i could have at least a semi-functional trailer to roll around the yard. also, i want my work bench back! but i'm still missing the airbag pressure monitor, airbag solenoid pack, and wireless remote.

 

hard to believe this was an entire saturday, but planning, measuring, and squaring up takes time...

got the front a-frame on, the trailer frame is finally sitting on it's own!



the other major part was some low profile bump stops to keep the frame from rattling too much(theory, we'll see how it plays later), and adding the tilt locks. once the sun set, i was ran out of my lighted garage by flying ants, so the locks are mounted, but the locking holes aren't drilled or reinforced yet.






still need to drill and reinforce the locking areas, and clean up and weld the a-frame 'kink' area that was left over from the steel's previous trailer use.

i also need to figure out the front storage area. i had planned on using two 50-cal ammo cans(one for battery/power/fusing, one for straps), but my needs are quickly outgrowing those.

also playing with the idea of shifting the axles forward to better center the load. i'm slightly worried i set the axles too far back, with too much tongue weight.

 

lots of time, small progress! between others projects, and 'un-moving' my grandma's place after she passed, the saturdays go by fast!

got my suspension points and arms welded. a full 12 hour day, with almost very little to show for it.




still lots to do;
biggest item is to finish the suspension--setting the arms to the axles, building the pitman arms, and then building all the airbag mounts off the axles as well as the mounts off the trailer. probably another 3-4 saturdays at the current rate, so given my previous estimates, 8-10 real saturdays.

i've decided to run an exposed and inverted 3" c-channel section down the center to reinforce the trailer for winching, but it will also allow openings above each axle for running either axle as a tag axle off the front-mount winch. it will also aid in a straightening guide for anything i'm dragging on/off the trailer. i might still run it flat side up, and then look to inset the tag axle holes, just haven't come up with a great idea for that yet.

need to make the angled fish plates for at least the front corners for d-ring mounting/reinforcement.

still need to figure out if i'm doing the tilt deck airbag assist. at this point, i'll probably still do it just for kicks.

and i need to figure out the front box mount, and how to jam all the gear i want into the space i've got. i had planned on using 50 cal ammo boxes, but dry fitting the battery and electronics shows i way-underestimated my needs...

 

progress! got one axle mocked up. just had to do it twice after trying to run the airbags on it and broke all the tack welds. still need to build the reinforcements, finish welds, and track bar, but the hard part of measuring and locating is done...

 

progress! i wish i had made some last weekend with the great weather, but unexpectedly got stuck running errands/voting nearly all day. bummer, but such is life sometimes.

fortunately, the weather was still great this weekend so i made some more progress, but still only on one axle. my optimism hoped i'd get the current axle fully set in place on airbags and the second axle tacked into position. that didn't happen.

i also got sidetracked with my winch mount plate and the center reinforcement section that will better reinforce the trailer for winching, as well as serve as the support for running either axle in a lifted single-axle configuration. i'm still hoping that running the rear axle lifted will make the trailer 'short' enough for me to jockey it around my back yard with the truck, instead of moving it by hand.



the idea in the morning was that i wanted that center section installed so that i could chain up the axle to it while i was working on it's reinforcement. the reality is that it was far easier to put the trailer on jackstands and use a floor jack to lift/lower the axle to the needed welding positions. so it didn't pan out, but still needed to be done.

otherwise, the axle is fully welded in now, with just an additional section of 1-1/2" square tubing added onto the main suspension arm. there's very little rotational flex in the assembly, meaning that i very likely can skip the panhard bar. this has changed the scope a little at the moment. i had planned enough square tubing for a long panhard bar to keep the axles aligned laterally, but given the current stiffness, i might just triangulate the arms to the airbag mounts to eliminate potential lateral movements, and further stiffen the airbag mounting point.





and that's it for this round. it was really sort of fun this time around, even if it doesn't look like much.

that's all due to a whole lot less thinking, measuring, and figuring-- it was really just a lot of 'finish' work that didn't need tons of forethought or planning, it was just acting on the plan already in place for once. i burned through a full two rolls of 2lb welding wire spools today, even skipped dinner to stay out later..

the eastwood mig90 really isn't officially up to the task, but at the same time, it's surprisingly keeping pace the whole time--even in those four 21" long passes to connect the new supports to the pivot arms. i was genuinely expecting it to run into thermal overload protection at some point, but it never did. it just needs to be on a 30A breaker/rv plug to run happy...

probably the best $60 i could have invested (sold my old flux core for $100, and picked up the eastwood on sale at $160). i'm still looking forward to upgrading to a nicer/bigger welder that's better suited for the task, but the current compact setup is really punching above it's class, even if it shouldn't!

 

also had a surprise rain shower halfway through the day. my saw was just outside the garage door-- under the garage overhang, so mostly protected, but needed an extra layer of protection given it's the most expensive tool in my shop.

so an unusable 'winch cover' that was far too large for the trailers winch got a new lease on life.

$13 Winch Cover Waterproof, Heavy Duty 600D Breathable Oxford Fabric Dust-Proof Winch Protection Cover, Compatible with Most 8500-17500 Lbs Electric Winches, Indoor/Outdoor - (21.5” x 9.5” x 7.5”)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0894CCTXW



the saw's now inherited it as a permanent dust cover!

 

yay! one axle complete!


and as it sits, raised up, and at ride height


it definitely needs shocks so it won't ride like a pogo stick, need to figure that out somehow...

i designed the measurements of the airbag mounts around this diagram, which also indicates an integral bumpstop.


they don't have that, it just bottoms out on plastic mount... so i now need to extend my added on bump stops for the added protection i was looking for.

it also rides like a pogo stick, so i'll need to add some shocks into it somehow/somewhere as well to gain back some moderate road manners. and i'm debating adding limit straps to ensure the bags aren't over-stressed at full extension on bad roads.

 

did some stuff.

got my hand truck hitch adapter re-worked


i also did the extremely tedious part of patching and reinforcing the trailer tongues previous notch and v-bend job.



and the tongue, being 1960's vintage, didn't have the locking tab newer tongues have to prevent vibration loosening. so i added it with a remnant from all the pieces that were cut apart for the tongue patches.

 

it's been quite a while since i had an update for this thread. my dad had some rental property maintenance issues that came up, so this was put on hold while i helped with that. then my uncle--the "don't ever throw anything away, i'll repair it" guy, called me in april after i had talked to him in january at a late christmas party. he was complaining about having far too many projects laying around, and i offered to take some to make something out of them. it only took 3 more months for him to make up his mind!

so the trailer got pressed into service early for a surprise haul of 3 riding lawn mowers--my uncle isn't one to get rid of things, so for him to come to terms with anyone taking anything is a huge occasion. the day before, i spent a few hours cutting the deck boards and getting my temp lights wired up for duty. but i was happy to take them, as the trailer was getting too heavy to be carting around by hand, and i had been looking at either a riding mower or an ATV since january. but most involve a 4-digit price tag for used equipment that needs work.




the trailer towed amazing the entire time, to the point i could've easily forgotten it was back there. i had been planning on some shocks to keep it from bouncing too much, but even loaded, it self-stabilizes pretty quickly, enough that i'm debating not dealing with the added effort of adding shocks.



previously, about 2 weeks before my uncle called, i got antsy with the nice weather, and was looking for an 'easy win' in the garage. with parts piled up in the garage for the trailer, i got an idea for a better use for the winch than just dedicated to the trailer. the core problem of most of my projects-- parts are always good for more than one use...

so i took a day to build an 'ammo can winch' box that fits any 2" receiver. the benefit of the ammo can, over just mounting the winch to the plate is that the winch relay, remote, and wiring all fit within the box, for a controlled use of the equipment. 'a thing for everything, and everything in it's place'.


i had originally laughed when i saw these dual-hitch height adapters at harbor freight. but they're making a lot more sense now.



add a container and a length of jumper cables from the garage that i really have no idea how i got, and i've got a towing/winch box setup. if i ever need to tow/winch, i can toss the entire thing in the truck and be set to go. i've since added a tri-ball reciever, and an adjustable-height dual 2"/2-5/16 receiver to the box as well.


and harbor freight had an amazing special going for a week (20% off any item, cheapest it's ever been), so i ended up surprising myself and upgrading my garage air setup. the hose real got mounted just above the compressor, and the compressor is amazing to be able to hear things louder than it! it's especially nice to not be dealing with 50' of air hose laying on the ground constantly unless i need it at the moment.
i still need to add inline dryer and oiler, but it's a better air setup than i've ever had anywhere currently, so now i'm just being nitpicky.


after that, it took a few weeks to dig through the mowers to try to get them running. i don't like this much stuff in my small yard, so i'm motivated to see them move on. but there's problems. always problems.

the sears/craftsman is the only one that's 100% worked. figures it's the roughest looking, but it's just a workhorse. the engine literally doesn't like stopping. a new carb and some fresh gas, and it's off to the races. but it's missing a mower deck, which makes sell-ability vague at best.

but it makes it a great candidate for a yard dog for the trailer. which turned into it's own project on yet another weekend.


the red tractor has a bad rear diff, i believe a broken pinion, but i need to open it up before ordering parts to verify. the motor runs strong with a new carb.
the orange tractor has a hydrostatic rear end, and is leaking profusely at the rear, as well a hole in the engine block.

i'm hoping to repair and sell off the red tractor. the orange tractor's future is questionable at best. i don't like the idea of selling it without repairing the rear trans seals(last thing i need is an angry facebook person because i sold them a mower that lasted long enough to get onto the trailer!), but that might be prohibitively expensive when coupled with the motor swap it needs. but its frame is in the best shape...



back to the trailer, one of the issues that came up during 'project mowers' that needed to be addressed was the tongue. at first, i had two mowers running side by side on the very front of the deck, with one at the rear sideways, but noticed that my tongue a-frame was starting to bow from the weight. i never squared it when i put it together, and the added angle at the center from the re-used steel definitely didn't help structurally.

for reference, this was what the trailer looked like since the last update, without decking


now i've added 3 5" c-channel crossmembers, and re-squared the sides to the crossmembers to make the tongue deal with the weight better.


re-squaring the frame ended up requiring use of the winch again. it's paid for itself at this point!




after that, i got a total of 3 crossmembers installed, which should eliminate any tongue flex issues, and also starts to setup the trailer for the battery box, and an idea i've got for a power-front tilt...

this was the state of the trailer just before i slapped it back together for the night, and hastily slapped some primer on it to keep from rotting outside.

 

Getting some things done


Nice score on the 20% off at HF.

Think carefully about adding an in line oiler, you won't be able to use any down stream piping or hose for painting or other clean air jobs ever again.