No More Harbor Freight Trailers As Of 9/30/2017???

[daveesl77]

Wiz, thanks for the information! So, I guess HF now owes me 3 new tires. I had the two that originally came on the trailer, the hub went on one, so HF replaced it after I bought one from Tractor Supply. Drove for 12,000 miles and needed to replace the tires. The HF replacement had been used as a spare, so never on the ground and I purchased an additional one in August so I would have two new ones on the ground. Thus I have 3 HF tires and 1 Tractor supply, one HF and the TS have the 12,000 miles on them.

dave

[daveesl77]

I just went down to my local HF store and asked the manager when they would be doing the exchange. Interestingly, even though I have the NHTSA recall notice and the HF recall info from the web, the local store knew nothing about it. They only knew there was a problem from back in the summer. As per the HF notice, the stores were to have been notified in October and consumers should have received their letters between Nov 6 and 26. Nope, no letter yet. In addition, the store has not received the replacement tires and wheels.

The recalled tires were manufactured from Jan 2014 until Sept 2017

dave

[Dan242]

I went to HR website and checked their recall notices, Not listed there, just the one about trailer lights


https://www.harborfreight.com/customer- ... ort.html#6

[westerly]

Good news! it appears the trailers are back!

2 months ago or so, while at harbor freight, I asked the clerk when the trailers would return. The reply was end of July or August.
(while unavailable, they did not turn up on the website and the product manual were "not found")
Presumably they got the tires to pass DOT and both trailers and product manuals are on the website again!
Perhaps the clerk's uncertainty of availability is related in moving stock from warehouse to store locations, so it would be wise to check with your preferred store .
Let's see some new build journals now!

[djdawg]

The HF that is south of me about 80 miles have them back in. The clerk I was talking to on the phone was looking at them as we spoke.

[greygoos]

I am told that trailers , at least in my area will only be available by ordering through the website and you pay the freight to your door.

[gudmund]

djdawg - the HF 80 miles south of you I take to be the one in Mt. Vernon - they have had them in stock from the very first day they opened earlier this year(end of last). I live on Camano Island - personally I would start with a 'real' trailer frame when building a TD - better to have more than what is needed, only to find out later after adding 'this and that' when building the TD, improvements are needed.Here on this web-site, I see it all of the time with HF frames - need bigger wheels/better tires - better bearings - frame bolt problems - hitch/tongue problems, etc. etc. I would rather pay a bit more to start with getting a welded commercial quality frame to start with thus not having to spend the extra later for 'it's' short comings. Just my opinion for what it's worth - my $.02 anyway..............................

[pchast]

I've got to say that it really depends on your intended use......

I've got 2, one as a sleeper and one as a utility. The sleeper has
in excess of 11,000 miles on it, all highway. The utility has less
than 500.... I've greased the bearings every fall on them. Its
time for replacement tires at 5 years for the sleeper. There is
virtually little appreciable wear.

I've had no problems at all so far.... I may have just jinxed that with the statement.

[slowcowboy]

I just heavly motifed mine back in 09 withe help of my dad a,retired welder..we did,a hole complete axle swap,.. added 7 inch Dexter trailer brakes,..added Monroe gas shocks ,...and 15 inch mud and snow tires off a old ford ranger..swapped out the trailer hitch for a good bull dog coupler..only thing left on my tear thats,harbor freight is the frame.then I added miles and 9 years later..i still got my teardrop going.. slow

[djdawg]

djdawg - the HF 80 miles south of you I take to be the one in Mt. Vernon - they have had them in stock from the very first day they opened earlier this year(end of last). I live on Camano Island - personally I would start with a 'real' trailer frame when building a TD - better to have more than what is needed, only to find out later after adding 'this and that' when building the TD, improvements are needed.Here on this web-site, I see it all of the time with HF frames - need bigger wheels/better tires - better bearings - frame bolt problems - hitch/tongue problems, etc. etc. I would rather pay a bit more to start with getting a welded commercial quality frame to start with thus not having to spend the extra later for 'it's' short comings. Just my opinion for what it's worth - my $.02 anyway..............................

Thanks Gudmund! Good information about the trailers. I live in Bellingham and I was actually talking about the Everett store haha. But close enough. Mount Vernon's even closer!

I guess I was off a bit by 20 miles! Everett is only 60 from me.

[gudmund]

the Mt. Vernon store is where the old Cadillac dealership was on old Hy99 just south of the bridge to Burlington and there is now a HF in Marysville now also - somewhere- just got the flier on it's Grand Opening a few days ago. You do have one in Bellingham also - in the K-Mart shopping center store area east of the freeway off Sunset. Thanks Slow, you just validated my opinion on HF trailers - a lot of extra work trying to make it what it wasn't to begin with - like I said, it's just my opinion and everyone has at least one......................... take care and good luck

[Dan242]

Bought my HF folding trailer few years ago, moved axle back about 8", extended tongue about 12" with a third rail going back to first cross (had a box in the way to keep me going back further). Only took half a day to make the mods. In May of 2018, overloaded it and moved 1900 miles to MT from TX. No unexpected issues. If you like building, figuring things out, I think the HF trailers are good bang for the buck. I paid 225.00 approximately for mine.

[Kevin A]

I just heavly motifed mine back in 09 withe help of my dad a,retired welder..we did,a hole complete axle swap,.. added 7 inch Dexter trailer brakes,..added Monroe gas shocks ,...and 15 inch mud and snow tires off a old ford ranger..swapped out the trailer hitch for a good bull dog coupler..only thing left on my tear thats,harbor freight is the frame.then I added miles and 9 years later..i still got my teardrop going.. slow

Your dad is a retired welder? I can't help but wonder why you didn't purchase the necessary steel to build your own frame?

[S. Heisley]

Your dad is a retired welder? I can't help but wonder why you didn't purchase the necessary steel to build your own frame?

Kevin! Was wondering where you've been! Haven't seen you at a gathering in a couple years and don't see you on here very often. Glad you're still kicking!

[jondbar628]

Just got my latest HF on-line flyer a couple days ago, and it says they are now stocking trailers again. (Although, being HF, they probably won't show up at your store for a while) ...jd