Harbor Freight's Out of the Picture

[GPW]

Er, studying the plans has left me with a few questions... I see it’s a folding trailer ... That may (or may not) be good for me in the future , just in case I want to use a new Foamie cabin on it and store it folded in the meantime ??? ... To fold , or not to fold ... That is the question Guess I could just bolt it all solid ... no casters... Simple Although bolting it solid , I guess it may be stronger to use the hinges too ,although non functioning ??? Guessing no Tilt either ???

Guess we don’t need those stake clamps either huh ??? Unless we make a folding table or such for out there ??? Add , or Not ? ... or just save them for later ?


Also thinking of using the leftover casters and steel to make a small dolly !!!


OK, my ten minutes are up ...gotta go !!!

[aggie79]

GPW,

Here's a couple of things I remember when assembly my HF trailer:

1. I think the instructions say this, but if not, bolt everything together loosely at first. Then square it up.

2. If you're using the factory bolts, don't over-torque the lock nuts - you'll strip the threads. (This is from experience. I unnecessarily overtightened mine and had to make a run to the hardware store for some extra nuts and bolts.)

3. Be sure and clean the cosmoline - or however you spell it - off the bearings and use good bearing grease. The cosmoline looks like grease but is just a rust preventative.

4. Like any new bearing install, after you've had a few miles on yoour HF frame, pop off the dust caps and re-check the castle nuts. Most likely, you'll need to tighten them one more notch after the bearings have seated.

Good luck and take care,

Tom

[GPW]

Thanks Tom , will do !!!

[GPW]

Coming along ... I did have a little trouble with some slightly mis aligned holes where the tongue pieces connected to the frame on the sides ... abrasive stone on a drill fixed that ... More pics in the Album ...

Taking my 10 minutes now ... resting ...

[GPW]

I’d have posted this sooner , but I had to go take a nap ... Tired from trailer assembly , and crawling around on the floor ... All I have to do now is re-pack the bearings, install the lights and the coupler , and we’re ready to put the Foamie on top ... One thing I already found out ,the holes for mounting the cabin are too close to the edge and would be covered by the foam walls ... and my door looks like it might open onto the fender , so we’ll have to do some shifting around ... Guess that’s what I get for building the cabin , before I got the trailer ...

[eaglesdare]

oh no. that is the main reason i was afraid of building off trailer. i am sure YOU will figure out a solution.

[pete42]

as light as the fomies are you could still make your trailer fold and stand it up in the back of the garage out of the snow and stuff.

wait a-minit you don't have snow never-mind.

[GPW]

Yep, no snow , and thank goodness too ... I’d be a Popcicle ...

Eagle , all I have to do is move the cabin forward a few inches and all will be good ... but that does leave a little bit of the trailer sticking out in the back , where I suppose a small deck would be practical and handy ... Or I could just re drill the trailer frame and bolt up the cross brace again ... at the right location...
My primary concern at the moment is where to bolt the floor on ... the outer frame perimeter falling under the foam walls .. I could fabricate some clips/brackets to do this , or just bolt the floor to the inner cross braces (lots of holes ) .. something I don’t see a problem with , done correctly ... We’ll see how this plays out ...

[GPW]

All done now , finished ... Built pretty stock , but I did solder and heat shrink all the wiring ... just seemed better job for our Humid clime rather than the little blue crimp connectors ... Looks Good ,all done , but boy am I sore ... back , legs ,butt ... This was a workout for the old guy ...

All’s well and That’s that !!! What a story eh ???

[chartle]

All done now , finished ... Built pretty stock , but I did solder and heat shrink all the wiring ... just seemed better job for our Humid clime rather than the little blue crimp connectors ... Looks Good ,all done , but boy am I sore ... back , legs ,butt ... This was a workout for the old guy ...

All’s well and That’s that !!! What a story eh ???

So you left it as a folding trailer and didn't use the middle cross braces to join the two sections together?

[StandUpGuy]

...So you left it as a folding trailer and didn't use the middle cross braces to join the two sections together?

I simply throughbolted the two crossmembers together and tossed aside the two "braces" you refer to. I see them as unnecessary weight.

[GPW]

Ended up bolting everything solid ... removed the bolts from the hinges , left the hinge plates ... for some unknown reason ...

Since I didn’t bolt the stake brackets to the sides , I have lots of nuts and bolts left over for .... something else ...

[chartle]

...So you left it as a folding trailer and didn't use the middle cross braces to join the two sections together?

I simply throughbolted the two crossmembers together and tossed aside the two "braces" you refer to. I see them as unnecessary weight.

Which braces, the silver hinge thingies?

OK the build journal I read was one where they moved the axle back.

Since the brackets that hold the axle/leaf spring assembly also brace the two halves at the joint they used the two cross braces in the channels of sides and joined the two halves together. This though did kind of leave a hole in the middle of the trailer that had to be filled in.

One other thing,, can ask a favor? How high are the fenders off of the frame and whats the measurement from the top of the frame to the ground. My model I found some where on this site doesn't look right.

Thanks

[atahoekid]

Looking good. Now time to mount the cabin to the frame and call it done!

[Tiredoldwhiteman]

All done now , finished ...

Bravo! Fortissimo!