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

Subbed for the shitshow.

 

you're right. i've got my eye on this one, next time things go on sale. i thought it was a dryer/oiler, but it's a dryer/filter.

 

very tail of the trailer is FINALLY completed fabrication-wise. last detail was adding mounts for some led ATV flag whips. these connect to the stop/turn/reverse wires, because normal snow plow markers are boring.

the big benefit is that these have quick connects on them, where plow markers don't. and they'll add additional lighting to the rear of the trailer. something i noticed when pulling it is that people would creep right up to the edge of the trailer because they couldn't see it over their hood. with the whips high up in the air and waving around as fiberglass poles do, i'm hoping it'll keep people a little further back.

it'll also really help with backing the trailer up unloaded, to see where the tail is in relation to the truck.



and i added a front board support, and prepped the winch plate for the fairlead.


that progress gets me back to 'emergency towing' status, where i've corrected everything that came up from the test use.

next on the task list, is to add a motorized scissor jack to the front of the trailer for a power tilt function. it's not waterproof, and hydraulic options that i would prefer had comma's in the price tag. electric scissor jacks are running $50/ea. so i bought two. i'm hoping to be able to paint them with some silicone and make them waterproof. time will tell how well it'll work. i had originally wanted airbags for this purpose, but decided that a screw-type mechanism is far more stable than a variable air pressure system. i'm also running out of space on the trailer for the air bag size to get the travel i need.

and after that, i want to re-build the current axle airbag mounts to be in front of the current axle instead of behind it. right now i'm running a roughly 1:2/1:3 ratio of 'axle travel vs. airbag travel'. i'd like to try to have less airbag movement for more axle movement--closer to a 2:1, 3:1 axle/bag ratio. i don't need additional travel, but would like more flexibility on total travel usage. biggest thing right now is that with the bags behind the axle, the mounts get really close to the ground at full extension, and the mounts rotate, which puts a ton of pressure on only one side of the airbag, which could pose a maintenance issue later on. the mounts don't rub, as they're shorter than the tires, but only if i don't blow a tire, which with my track record, should've happened already.

sometime after that, the plan is to either work out the fender mounts, and figure out fender lighting schemes (have some ideas with conduit that are very different for this), or start working on adding in the second axle. fender mounts really sound more exciting to me.


after those things are worked out, then i can start working on hard-mounting all the big gear, (battery/fuse/relay box, airbag controller, trailer junction block, compressor, and air tank. then i need to mount the tiedown d-rings, then figure out final connection locations for things like the compressor fill chuck(so i can either air up other things, or quick-fill the tank from another compressor), accessory an battery cutoff switch locations, and add all the threaded studs needed for grounding(so i can run the trailer chassis as a common ground) between the tilt-deck and axles, that are all currently isolated by the rubber bushings.