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

[jim_manley]

Hi Everyone,

I just happened to check out the HF website today and discovered that there are no trailers listed, including looking at the Trailer, Trailer Parts, Trailer Accessories, etc., sections, and searching explicitly for product numbers associated with trailers I've bought before and saw on the site just a couple of weeks ago. Do they routinely purge their inventory by this time of the year (at the end of the Summer) to make room for new stock, or could this be the harbinger of new(er) and improved(er) models, e.g., 5 x 8, 6 x 8, 5 x 10, 6 x 10, and/or, be still my beating heart, perhaps some aluminum models? I didn't notice this until too late to call them, but if no one has an answer before Monday, I'll call my local store and the corporate HQs, if the former doesn't know what's going on, either.

All the Best,
Jim

[WizardOfOdds]

A month or two ago I spoke with an employee at a local HF store about their trailer line and suggested to him that they could sell a lot of 5x8 trailer kits if they sold one. (Years ago they did, it came with metal side rails and a rear drop gate, but it was about $600 while they were selling the 1800# for under $300). He indicated to me that he was told 'over a year ago' that the HF line of trailers was going to under go a big change. I considered this claim as 'rumor' back then, but perhaps (just maybe) that is what is going on. By the way there is a current thread on this subject at http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=69372

[jim_manley]

A month or two ago I spoke with an employee at a local HF store about their trailer line and suggested to him that they could sell a lot of 5x8 trailer kits if they sold one. (Years ago they did, it came with metal side rails and a rear drop gate, but it was about $600 while they were selling the 1800# for under $300). He indicated to me that he was told 'over a year ago' that the HF line of trailers was going to under go a big change. I considered this claim as 'rumor' back then, but perhaps (just maybe) that is what is going on. By the way there is a current thread on this subject at http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=69372

Thanks, Mr. Wizard!

Yes, for those my age, I am also making a very old reference to a wonderful TV show that helped me become an engineer, a scientist, and a Navy Officer in the face of the Commie Hordes in response to the Sputnik Scare. Now, the Commie Hordes are on our campuses and in our streets, and they're protected by the very laws and benefit from the same system that they despise, rant, and rage violently against, which millions have sacrificed their lives, health, and sacred honor to provide for them.

The "HF Trailers" thread you so kindly provided isn't on the first page of any of the threads of which I could think would be relevant. There's also no way to search for and find this thread, because "hf" and "trailer" are too common terms to provide meaningful results. The PHPbb software used to implement this forum doesn't allow searching for terms with less than five characters, or that occur in more than a certain percentage of posts ... for some reason, "trailer" is in nearly every post on this forum!

So, it looks like the tread separation issue that many have referred to may finally being addressed, which is well worth the wait for the moment. It would be really nice if they took this opportunity to offer larger and lighter models, too. An aluminum 5 x 8 or 6 x 10 frame would be really great ... if it were offered at a Harbor Freight price.

[kramergwt]

I got mine at Northern Tool about 8 years ago. Not sure if it's better or not but they seem to still carry them. I found my 5x8 for $489.


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[Esteban]

Just checked Harbor Freight's website. When I used trailer or trailers as a search term I can't find any trailers for sale. Only trailer parts are offered. I also checked the website's site map. When I clicked trailers and accessories no trailers are shown.

Then I checked the Harbor Freight monthly ad shown online (on 10/01/2017). It shows two 4' x 8' trailers for sale. The Super Duty 1720 lb. capacity trailer is offered for $399.99. The Heavy Duty 1195 lb. capacity trailer is offered for $299.99. The part of the ad for the 1195 lb. trailer says "item not shipped".

I called the Harbor Freight store in San Luis Obispo, CA. The manager told me their trailers sales are suspended because the Department of Transportation put a recall of their trailer tires. He did not now when, or if, trailer sales will resume.

About a year and a half ago I bought a Northern Tool 5' x 8" trailer on sale, with a Retail Me Not Discount code, for $399.99 including free shipping to my home in California. I use it as a utility trailer. I may convert it in the future to build a teardrop trailer.

[Vedette]

Could be a blessing in disguise!
Brian

[WizardOfOdds]

I called the Harbor Freight store in San Luis Obispo, CA. The manager told me their trailers sales are suspended because the Department of Transportation put a recall of their trailer tires. He did not now when, or if, trailer sales will resume.

In support of this recall explaination, I noticed that they also seem to have deleted their trailer tires/wheels from their web site. Maybe they will issue (those of us who bought a trailer) a credit toward buying better tires when/if they begin to sell them.

[elcam84]

The store here has had their trailers on clearance for over 6 months. The manager said they just don't sell well and wouldn't be surprised if it became an order only item. I haven't been into HF for a month or so and don't know what has changed since then. I may stop in there later this week and will see if they still have them available there.

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[2bits]

Seems odd that if there was a recall on the tires that it would cover ALL of them, they have the tiny ones and the 12" ones but maybe it's the Chinese rubber, I dunno. I bought in August because I needed something with low clearance to move my truck camper into my garage for repairs. Had to flip the axle on top of the springs and buy the tiny wheels for it but I got it in there with 2" of clearance!! I sold it today for exactly what I paid for it with the key word being "ASSEMBLED"!!

[doris s.]

So how many of you have built a teardrop on a utility trailer that has those metal rails on it? Did you cut the rails off? I have been looking for a 6 x 10 trailer and there are none that come without the darn rails. HF is not selling them and Northern Tool trailer tires are rated for 45mph.

Doris

[mustangcats]

I was in a Harbor Freight store on Sunday and there was a sign by a trailer that said due to a problem with tires, Harbor Freight is suspending the sale of trailers until further notice. The trailers are still in their sales flyers...but those flyers were printed some time ago. I tried to click on a trailer in one of the email notices I received, and instead of giving me more information about the trailer, it linked me to one of their industrial floor fans.

[jonesnforcampin]

I believe the tire issue being the reason for not seeing trailers for sale. I got out trailer at NT, but a spare tire at HF. Through working on it im 90% sure that HF tire ended up mounted on the trailer. That tire separated on us after VERY little use. Absolute garbage. Luckily that size tire is pretty cheap at Discount Tire.

[kramergwt]

I bought my trailer from NT, and put the deck together without glue and then the project stalled while I got the house ready for the market. A couple years later in a rush to get it hooked up to the car to drag from CT to TX I just loaded it up (probably close to max capacity), checked the tire pressure and headed out. There was so much to do I never had time to get a spare tire and figured I would look for a NT along the way and get one. The tow package I installed on the car showed up a couple days before the trip. Never really got close to a Northern tool during daytime so state by state we made it here to Austin on the 2 tires it came with. I’ve used it quite a bit here for buying furniture and saving on delivery charges (which alone has paid for the trailer 2 or 3 times). The tires still look like new. I also thought the NT trailers were a little tougher than the HF counterparts. ...so I’d say forget about HF and just go with NT. Don’t let HF’s quality control issues slow down your project, there are better alternatives. Also, when I went to the DMV to get it registered they needed the receipt which the movers had already taken with the file cabinet. I called Northern Tool from the DMV and they tracked down the 7 year old purchase and faxed the DMV what they needed and saved my @$$. Would HF do that?


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[WizardOfOdds]

Read the recall at this link
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2017/RCLRPT-17T017-3269.PDF
It says HF will replace affected tires and this blog
https://www.hobie.com/forums//viewtopic.php?f=11&t=61708
claims that will include new rims and was to start the recall Nov 8.

[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