I recently was gifted this old golf cart trailer from my in laws as an upgrade from the old Harbor Freight utility trailer that I had. As this trailer is fully welded and has a 2k pound axle, it is a bit more stout than my previous trailer. The overall plan is to use mainly as a utility trailer, retain the tilt function for moving riding mowers and stuff and then eventually build a small camping pod to slide within the 1" square rails on the bed.
In order to get it roadworthy, I will need to do the following:
1. Change out the wheels, tires and bearings.
2. Move the axle back 10" by welding on new spring hangers.
3. Fix the tongue that at some point was bent in a jackknife incident.
My thought is that the original tongue cannot be bent back as it had stock bends to raise the coupler about 2 1/2". With this in mind, I am planning on cutting the front of the tongue (Red line) off and then sistering a new 2 1/2" square steel tube (Blue rectangle) on top of the factory tongue and supports. How would be the best way to attach it? Would welding be strong enough, should I use some bolts to mate the new and old pieces together? I'm totally open for suggestions. Realistically, this trailer will not see more than about 200 lbs of tongue weight but I want to fix it once and fix it for life. Please let me know your suggestions.