Just Joe65's Trailer build journal.

[Justjoe65]

Ok Folks, I actually started this back in Feb, and just havn't put it up here just yet, however, now that I am getting to the down and dirty, Guess it's time to start posting. Haven't been around for a while, but work and been crazy here. Things are starting to calm down a bit, but still wanted to have a good chunk of this done by now. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.

Oh, and I did scrub the idea of making the trailer able to pull behind my bike. At least this one... LOL

2/26/14: Well, I finally got a chance to get down to Harbor Freight in Kennesaw, Ga to get my trailer, I had first went to the HF in Douglassville, however, they were sold out of the trailer I wanted. Since I am attempting to build this small and light enough to haul behind my bike, {An 88 C.I. 2000 Harley Davidson Electra Glide} I was first going to use the small trailer that Harbor Freight has Model 2174, a 40.5” X 48” light duty trailer, however they did have one of these on display, and after seeing it up close and personal, I decided that it would not be big enough even with building my frame and floor larger than the trailer frame and getting a larger axel. So I opted for the Model 1169 48” X 96” trailer, I am still going to attempt to keep the trailer as light as possible but if it is too heavy to haul behind the bike, then I guess I am stuck with the truck till I can figure something else out. With the rain, the idiots on the road and having to get up an hour early due to the supervisor meeting, that is about as far as I got with it today. Hopeing that we are not working this weekend so that I can at least get the trailer assembled and plumed. Then I can start working on the sub flooring and floor frame.

3/10/14: Well, I got off my sorry butt and did some work on it this weekend. Had a nice weekend and we even had some time off. I got the basic part of the frame for the trailer built and started looking at getting the mounts for the spring perches put in. Problem is, I remember reading on the tear drop message board about shifting the axles, So I stop and start looking at where this is on the web site. Took a while but found it, then got to thinking about this, Is this really going to be needed, I look at a few of the trailers on the site and notice that NOT ALL of the trailers have the axles shifted! So I posed a question about this and one of the wiser individuals informed me that it is really not needed. The best bet is to build the trailer THEN see if you have a weight distribution issue or if there is a door clearance issue. Then you would know if shifting the axles is needed. However the rule of thumb as it is written on the site is 43 ½” from the back of the trailer if the axle needs to be moved.
Guess that tomorrow I can go ahead and put the spring perches on and go from there with getting the axle in the stock location, I guess that I will need to make my way to Snellville this weekend and get my Welder as well as some of my wood tools out of storage so that I can get the trailer fixed the way it needs to be done. I will have to make a 220 extension cord to run from the dryer out to the outside in order to get the frame squared and welded. Then I can move on to getting the sub floor in place.

5/19/14: Been a while since I have worked on the trailer. Been busy at work not to mention that I get pre occupied with other things when I was off, however to get this thing going, I had to get my butt in gear. Here we are in to Spring, almost summer and I have nothing but a bare metal frame in the back yard.
I tried to start on the frame last week, but found that my old welder had pretty much given up the ghost 10 years of Motorcycles, Trucks and other odd projects takes its toll on a B grade welder, But had to make an emergency trip down to Harbor freight and buy a fair Chicago Electric welder to replace the old one. Not top of the line, but for the welding that I do, I will work.
I ground down the areas where the cross members are on the trailer and with them checked to be square, I welded in place so that I don’t have to rely on the bolts only for any of them. Then will be welding the tongue in place so I don’t have to rely on the hinge bolts and the pin that Harbor Freight provides with their trailer. One note here, The Harbor Freight trailers are made of very soft steel so the power setting on the welder needs to be LOW. If not, you will just punch holes and chase your tail. One other thing work your bead fast and go heavy over your bead to push material which is already laid down to prevent losing a lot of trailer material.
Tomorrow I will also flip the trailer over with the aid of my Girl Friend to be able to weld the other side of the cross members, When I have it flipped upside down, I will take this time to square the front half to the back half and weld an angle piece over the gap in order to stiffen the entire frame in to one piece. Before setting the sub floor in.
One thing I want to say is I am truly thankful that my Girl friend is on board with this trailer. She has come up with some ideas for the Galley, Interior and even how to finish the exterior that I think will work better than what I was thinking. She is excited to see the trailer complete and getting to go camping in it. The more she is driven on the trailer drives me. So yes, this is going to be a good together project for us.

[Justjoe65]

Well all the welding is done {Or so I hope!" I welded pieces of angle iron on the folds of the trailer to reinforce them since I will not be folding the trailer again. I also measured back 34 1/2" from the rear of the frame and aligned the spring perches then welded them in. Prior to welding them, I mocked up the springs and axles in the perches and measured from the center of the hitch to the center point of the axle tips on each side to even it out. I came up with 109.5" each side. then welded them to the frame. This "SHOULD" aid in the trailer pulling straight if I am not mistaken.

after welding and assembling the springs and axles, I had to put it away, have to work tonight so I will worry about getting the hubs and wheels on tomorrow. Pictures to follow soon.

[Justjoe65]

6/7/14
Well had a chance to work on the trailer, however only after going to the parking lot sale at Harbor Freight. I got a small 2 HP Generator that will be mounted on the front inside the Tongue box. "Have a secret idea for this..."
Regardless, I got home and with Pati and her Grandson, we started trying to assemble the hubs on the spindles. One side fit just fine, no problems there, however went to the other side, and I found that the bearings wouldn't fit over the spindle! I tried to see if there was a difference in the bearings that were provided, however it come to be that one spindle that is welded in to the axle is larger than the other. Anyone else had this issue? I have heard of some horror stories about the axles in the Harbor Freight trailer kits and am thinking about going down to the local Tractor supply and trying to find a better made axle.
Regardless, we put the one good wheel on so that we didn't have to carry the whole trailer around when we wanted to work on it, then I welded in the top frame supports over the hinge points so that the reinforcement of the trailer is complete. I used this opportunity to teach Pati's Grandson about welding, I tacked the parts in place then showed him how to set a bead down, then let him get at it. He is a good kid and it was fun getting to work with him today and teach him something knew. I had to laugh, when we got ready to take him back to his house, he looked up and said "Nana, When you and Joe work on the trailer next time you can come get me!" I like the idea of having an extra hand around first but giving him something constructive to do over the summer as well as getting him away from the TV and Video games.
All in all a pretty good day, oh, and as for Chandlers welds, For a first time, VERY LITTLE RE WORK!!!!!

[lthomas987]

I haven't had the issue but I know that another guy building on a HF trailer did. Here's his thread about getting his hub axle issue sorted out. http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=58980&p=1065660#p1065660

[Justjoe65]

Thanks! I actually went down to the local Tractor Supply and found a 2000 lb axle that I am going to put in instead. Kinda ticked me off, but what can you do, they are made in China. Oh well, This new axle has 5 lug hubs already installed just drop it in and go, I will be able to move up to some 14" rims and tires that way. This should ease the pain on the bearings a bit as well.

Thanks again for your input.

Joe

[rebapuck]

Made in China or not, doesn't HF guarantee them?

[Justjoe65]

Hey folks, Been a little behind on the build journel, Sorry for that, but have made some progress with it. Trying to play catch up on a lot of different things around the house and work. Work is still hectic, but I am getting a few days off here, Have a few Holsters and knife sheaths in the making right now, that I do as a side job, But here are a few in the log that I keep on my computer here as I work along.

6/28/14: THANK YOU EBAY!!!! I ordered a set of 1923 Ford Model A tail lights that have been converted to run LEDs so my tail light dilemma is over now. They are cool, polished stainless steel with black vertical brackets. Not sure if I will use the brackets, I really want them coming off the side of the trailer May come up with a way to mount them off the fender so that I don’t put too much more money in to this.
6/30/14: Not a good day in trailer land. Went to install the axle, at first the spring perches on the axle didn’t fit, but got to thinking that I could mount them on top of the spring. Well that wont work either, there is not enough travel and under the load of the trailer it would bottom out on the axle when I hit a bump. So I cut the spring perches off and fabed a way of mounting them to the spring to keep the axle aligned when I tightened it up. I had to set the axle spacing side to side, came up with 4 ¼” frame to hub for spacing laterally, then triangulated it again, the measurement for triangulation was 109” again. Thank God, No change there!!!I get the axle mounted {in the rain I might add!} and mounted the wheels to the hubs, then flipped the trailer over, I went to move the trailer so that I could go in and dry off, only to find that I didn’t take in to account that with the larger wheels, the off set to the inside would be larger, so now the tires are rubbing on the trailer frames! Next step, Buy wheels spacers! I don’t want the little ¼” pancake ones, however I think I will buy a set as to not hold me up till I can get the mountable with studs ones that will be roughly ½ to ¾” wide, That will give me 1” clearance at ½” and 1 ½” at ¾. These spacers are going to be pricey, about 70 to 90 bucks but they are a safer way of stretching an axle!
7/5/14: Pati and I then installed the sub flooring which was a sheet of ½” ply wood then installed 1X2” beams to build a frame to support the flooring, we then cut the insulation and installed it inside the frames followed by a sheet of ¼” plywood for the flooring. This was all screwed down, other than the ½” sub floor which was secured to the trailer frame with 3/8” 1 ½” carriage bolts.
Once the flooring was assembled, we then applied in door/ out door carpet glue and secured a remnant of gray in door out door carpet to the floor and allowed to dry. After the carpet was secured, we flipped the trailer on its side and masked off the wheels and hubs then sprayed a solid coat of under coating to the trailer and it was allowed to dry. After I got the trailer down on its wheels again, I hooked the trailer up to the tractor to see if it pulled straight, It seemed to do the trick so I think we are headed in the right direction! Too bad I have to go back to work, I am now getting excited to see the walls up with the progress that we made this weekend! Oh well there is another weekend coming!!!!
7/12/14-7/14/14: Got some done but not a lot. We did cut out the walls once, Pati and I had decided on a nice looking design which said it was for a 4X8 trailer and dummie me, I didn’t realize that it showed the design on a 4X8 sheet of ply wood, Needless to say, it was almost an egg shape and at the “WIDEST” point, it was in fact 8 feet long, however this caused us to lose serious trailer space on the floor! We lost about 12 to 14” at the head of the trailer and about 10” on the back end in the galley! I wound up scratching that idea and went with a typical Benroy design with straight walls front and back with some curve over the top. It still looks good, Just have to try and get all the ides put together.
One other thing that happened this weekend was decisions conflicting on the interior of the galley vs. the interior of the sleeping area. Yes, we are still going through that issue as well as “to pain, or not to paint” the exterior. More on that to come I am sure.
The last thing we worked on this weekend was the alignment of the axle, we had an issue with the U bolts slipping come to find out, the They would not tighten down all the way on the axle causing it to do what it wanted, needless to say, that was rather an easy fix thanks to the extended threads on the U bolts we have. Just shimmed down the spring brace. Re aligned the axle with the trailer and then centered according to the tongue then locked them down! Now, when we have time again, we can start hanging the walls on the sides and installing spars! Cant wait, It has changed my attitude seeing the walls take shape and I have a revived spark of energy regarding the trailer now. Live is looking better every day! Hope to make some good progress on this in the next coming week or two. Pictures will be posted in my gallery shortly