QueticoBill wrote:That carlex is probably better than ironton, which is US$550 now for 5 x 8 versus US$450 for 4 x 8.
Unless you have the tools and skills to cur, weld, machine, and paint steel yourself, hard to imagine it being near the cost of buying an Ironton or similar, even modifying and replacing axel, hubs, wheels, and tires. Not to mention the whole title registration thing.
I guess we are dead lucky here in my home town in Oz, in two ways.
One, we've got an extremely skilled welder who works for $50 Australian an hour and can weld a whole frame in less than 4 hours, shield gas and wire supplied.
Two, the registration process is dead simple.
There are no state based sales taxes so no receipts to be tendered, weighing is free at the city dump, VIN labels are can be obtained over the counter from the local equivalent of the DMV, no appointment necessary at the cop-shop for the VIN inspection (its the central police station for the region, and always attended during the day), and the whole process costs maybe $200-250 Australian including the number plate and the first year's registration fee.
Last time I took a trailer in for inspection, was when my son bought a trailer from Victoria. Even brand new from a manufacturer, not home made, it needed a VIN inspection because the manufacturer's name didn't come up in the rego department database.
So I parked the truck and trailer in the Pizza Hut carpark next door to the police station, walked around to the door and in I went. Very pretty young woman in uniform says, "Can I help you?"
Thought I'd try a bit of levity to keep the day rolling along friendly.
So I says, "G'day, thought I'd drop in and see if you felt like a stroll in the sunshine."
She hits me with a 1000 watt smile and says, "Sounds like fun, where are we going?"
About the only good thing about getting old is, once the babes decide you are no longer dangerous, they start humoring you.
Out we go, check the VIN, she pulls up a driver and issues a warning for a bad piece of steering on the way back to the cop-shop, and job done.
I've looked fairly closely and I think the ironton and the carlex must come from the same factory. Which is why I'm a bit bemused at the large discrepancy in maximum speed specification. They are rated for continuous highway speeds here. 130 km/hr - 80 mph.
Speed limit is 110 kph - 68 mph.
Anyway, Maple has a 5 x 8, for what seems a very reasonable price - let the fun begin.
