New Trailer project

[RamAirZ]

Went and picked up a trailer today to turn into my car hauler. It's 18'6" long and 6'6" wide on the deck. Its riding on 2 3500lb axles with new bearings and what not, fairly decent tires and has a leaf spring suspension (rode very well unloaded on the 100 mile trip home and tracked great). I'm planning on trimming the rear deck up a bit, the far rear section has a slight bend in it, looks like someone backed into it real hard with something (they used it for skid steers so I bet they hit it with that), so I figured I'd shorten it and brace the frame up a bit. It'll still give me over 180" of vehicle space and that should be plenty. I'm going to lay down some 2x12 treated Pine along the "tread" areas and debating if I want to just cover the center with some mesh material to keep road debris from flying up or actually encase it completely with wood or metal. I'm also thinking about laying a sheet of thin diamond plate or some sort of vinyl/rubber down on the floor to A)Help protect the wood a bit and B)Look a little nicer. I'm going to check on powdercoating costs for the frame, but I may just strip it myself and coat it with some Master Series coating. Here's a few pics, got it super cheap too!







Now:





My idea:

[RamAirZ]

Also going to add a new trailer jack to the front, a tool box and a winch. Thinking about putting some sides on it and a front "air dam". Might make a removable top for it too lol

[pbkid]

looks great. Im jealous.


I would love to get a hold of a trailer like that.

[RamAirZ]

Thanks, I couldn't pass it up for $300, the axles and suspension alone are worth that. I think I decided that I am going to put 2 more 2x12's in the center, that will give me about an 8" gap right in the center of the trailer which will be good so I can run straps down to the frame beneath whatever I am hauling. Ordered a winch for the front, some new trailer lights, some steel wheel chocks and some straps tonight

[Grif]

Yarp. Looks like that should work.

[RamAirZ]

Hoping to get it together for next weekend!

[samneil2000]

Are you going to move the axles forward when you remove the rear section? I may be wrong but I'm thinking you need them at the new center line. Don't want all that weight on the tongue.

[Bob Barker]

I would leave the middle open, or at least easily reopened. It could be a sort of vehicle lift to park on and get under to do some work with lots of head room to move about.

[RamAirZ]

Are you going to move the axles forward when you remove the rear section? I may be wrong but I'm thinking you need them at the new center line. Don't want all that weight on the tongue.

The rear section is actually alot longer than your typical trailer. I need to take a side shot of it. It should be pretty darn close. And not a bad idea John

[RamAirZ]

Got some stuff today so I can start working on the trailer:



Picked up 6 16ft sections of 2x12, cut them down to 8ft sections. I'm going to run the wood the length of the trailer along the tread areas and put 2 pieces down the center, which will give me about an 8" gap between them in the middle of the trailer. think this will be good so i can run my tiedowns straight to the frame of the trailer. On the center boards I'm going to run them up to the metal section of the front and leave a portion of the metal floor open. Thinking of making a storage area there but also this will make a better mounting point for the winch. I ordered this stuff last night:

Winch:

Has a 9500lb rolling stock rating, which means it can pull something on wheels up to 9500lbs and an 8500lb marine pull rating (pulling a boat up and out of the water). Has a 10ft per minute line speed under load which isn't too bad. Should be plenty to wheel the passport and any of our other toys up onto it

Trailer lights with wiring harness:


Tie down straps, ordered a few of these:


Steel wheel chocks


Hoping to get most of it finished by the end of the week

[Triathlete]

Don't forget fenders...most states require them.

[RamAirZ]

Already working on that. I don't think Florida requires them but I have some ideas for some. I'm going to put a railing around the whole thing and build some fenders off of that. I want to put these wheels on it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/15x5-...Q5fAccessories

[VX KAT]

Hoping to get most of it finished by the end of the week

SLACKER!!!!! Get to work, that all can be done by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest!

[Ldub]

I want to put these wheels on it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/15x5-...Q5fAccessories

Dude...those are SWEET...

Would be the complete package if you had these on the tow rig & whatever is on the trailer...

[RamAirZ]

SLACKER!!!!! Get to work, that all can be done by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest!

LOL!! I'm hoping to have all the frame bracing/shortening done today. Wife is off for Memorial Day so going to spend some extra time outside today (hopefully haha)

Dude...those are SWEET...

Would be the complete package if you had these on the tow rig & whatever is on the trailer...

Nice find there Dub! I've been looking at a few other wheels too, the bolt pattern is 5x4.5 so my options are huge.