New Trailer's almost done

[OreoGaborio]

I got my Harbor Freight trailer delivered yesterday to my parent's house in Topsfield... I got it pretty much all assembled today... i took my time, did it as systematically as i could & knocked it all out in about about 4 hours. If i had to do it again it'd easily take me less than 1/2 that time. (the directions fuckin sucked & 1/2 the pieces weren't labled)

Thinkin i'm gonna do the wiring tomorrow, then get a tow hitch for my car next weekend so i can actually take my bike home w/ me after the next race weekend

all in all, seems like a damn good kit for under 300 bucks delivered


The thing that i thought was most amusing was the fact that the bolts were 5/8ths inch drive, and the nuts that were used with them weren't... they weren't even standard... they were 17mm drive

[dhuze]

You got the spare tire right? You shoule also get bearing buddies it will make greasing the wheel bearings neater easier and you'll be more apt to do it regularly.

[Chris]

Congrats on the new trailer bro!
What are using for the deck?

[Half Squid]

Originally posted by Chris
Congrats on the new trailer park Ho!
What are you using for a dick?

Has to be someone else's. Or the complaints will start.

[LuckyATB]

the wiring can be a real bitch, keep in mind the paint screws up the grounding...I've never been able to get mine working quite right.

[cbrf41999]

I put my ground up where the ball hitch goes, no paint on the place where the hitch mounts. It took me all of 30 minutes to wire up the lighting, since it was stripped with no deck. 5 years later, trips to canada, Deals Gap, and vacations and errands everywhere, still working fine.

[lucentone]

Funny you guys have the same problem as I do with the wiring. CBRF41999 can you elaborate a little more on what you did? All my parts are powder coated and do not pass current, even the black hitch assembly.

I tried hand wiring the ground but it doesn't work right. My next step is to grind the paint off all the connection points including the hinge points on the A. I'm hoping that will allow the frame to properly act as the ground.

If there's a smarter way to do it please let me know.

[R7]

Originally posted by lucentone
If there's a smarter way to do it please let me know.

Be sure to ground your trailer wires to the tow vehicle frame, if you rely on the ball hitch doing the grounding, your lights will flicker when you hit bumps and shit... especially if you tow stuff properly and greese the ball like knowone does

[cbrf41999]

When my trailer is back here I will take some pics, but I do not have powder coated frame, and my hitch assembly is metal, not painted or anything.

As far as greasing the ball, I did not know that... Maybe I should start doing that, why do you do it? So I can justify getting greasy every time I have to use the trailer.

[JeffL]

Do you have to register/title those little trailers, or no?

[OreoGaborio]

I'm gonna either get some good plywood or a couple of metal rails. each one has it's benefits. Rails are lighter but plywood will give a bigger footprint for storage area.... i'll probably go w/ plywood.

the wiring is pretty straight forward... just gotta route the wires accordingly & get a good ground. I think i'm gonna attach the ground by grinding a little paint off the frame up by the hitch under a connecting plate and run the wire to that point between the frame & that bare metal connecting plate that's right under the hitch and bolt it down. Think that'll give me a good ground. If not, we'll see... suppose i could run it back to the car if i need to.

all i need is the plywood or rails, some tiedowns and some eyelets to bolt to the sides to hook everything down.

i'll do the wiring today & the flooring next weekend.

doesn't seem like much, but i also gotta do the rear brakes on my car (ebrake actually, regular brakes are fine), the hitch instalation (UHaul), get it inspected, register the trailer, and fix my EX all before the 15th

[SVRACER01]

i would ask u haul how hard it is to put the hitch on. it took heath and i less than 15 min to put mine on but i was already wired up.

[Rye]

Pete, there is a ground wire location on the front left frame...screws to the frame w/ a self tapping screw. Use a nice 3/4 plywood. 4x8 and use carriage bolts to mount it. I already did mine just need to get a chock and tiedown loacations setup. I also made rails out of 2x4's but I am not 100% happy with the setup. May modify it. BTW, you'll also notice zerk fittings on the wheels. They are angled and when screwed in tight the angle faces the wrong way...may replace with straight ones. Otherwise nice quality trailer.

[need4speed]

Also you might want to mount the license plate using " s " hooks. If you use the tilt feature the license plate gets all bent. Poor location IMO.

[OreoGaborio]

Originally posted by need4speed
Also you might want to mount the license plate using " s " hooks. If you use the tilt feature the license plate gets all bent. Poor location IMO.

yeah, i noticed that this afternoon when i put it on... first thing i did after i bolted the bracket on was tilt it back to see if a plate would hit & there's no doubt it will.

Ryan, i didn't see the ground spot you mentioned, but i did notice that i'm missing one self tapping skrew.... i only got 4 of em, 2 for each running light

[lucentone]

Originally posted by Rye
Pete, there is a ground wire location on the front left frame...screws to the frame w/ a self tapping screw.

The problem with that is it only grounds the A, not the whole trailer. The pivot points where the A meet the trailer frame rails do not pass current - the paint prevents it. And the other pivot points where the trailer folds is also insulated by paint. So you won't get any current to the tail lights. I tested with a multimeter - it only passes ~1.5 volts. I think the paint has to come off at those points.

I don't understand why the trailers were made this way. Surely the manufacturer tested the grounding capability of the trailer after paint, right? Or am I just missing something simple?

[01YZF6]

In NH youhave ot register the trailers Jeff...

[R7]

Originally posted by cbrf41999
As far as greasing the ball, I did not know that... Maybe I should start doing that, why do you do it? So I can justify getting greasy every time I have to use the trailer.

Nothing says you have to get dirty and greasy every time you do it
It only takes a little dab to get the job done. Metal on metal is not a good combo and not only does the grease stop that sqeeking noise that drives everyone nuts, but it also helps prolong the life of your tow hitch ball and more importantly the trailer tongue hitch

[LuckyATB]

I am so glad a thread popped up about this trailer. I am sure enough people around the country have purchased it and had issues/questions that a whole forum could be based around re-engineering it.

a) How are y'all keeping the wiring clean & manageable from back to front? I find the supplied little clips useless, and end up with wires sagging & swinging around and being generally in the way & ugly. I was hoping I'd be able to use some kinda tape to keep them tucked within the frame, but nothing's sticking.

b) Anyone else have an issue with the holes for the pins for the folding A-arm not lining up? My left side is cool with the supplied pin, but the right side wasn't even close...I have a long skinny bolt/nut as a band-aid.

c) The pockets for the stake sides don't fit alongside the lighting when folded. I ended up just pulling them off anyway and putting eye-bolts in some of the holes...I would recommend keeping those to corners or anyplace two pieces overlap, I'm not too assured that the metal wouldn't bend otherwise from over-torquing when ratcheting the tie-downs.

d) When folded, mine won't stay folded...it doesn't actually fold shut enough and gravity takes over. I have to use bungee cords to keep it closed.

[OreoGaborio]

for the a-arm slots, i loostened the bolts that hold them together at a point by the hitch, loostened all the bolts at the corners on the front frame, and shimmied it around till the a-arms got into those slots. then re-torque everything. you're probably not getting into position cuz the frame isn't square.

for keeping it folded, there was a 3" bolt w/ non-nylon threaded bolt that is used to bolt the two frames together at the top.. thats what i use.

[lucentone]

Originally posted by LuckyATB
I am so glad a thread popped up about this trailer. I am sure enough people around the country have purchased it and had issues/questions that a whole forum could be based around re-engineering it.

a) How are y'all keeping the wiring clean & manageable from back to front? I find the supplied little clips useless, and end up with wires sagging & swinging around and being generally in the way & ugly. I was hoping I'd be able to use some kinda tape to keep them tucked within the frame, but nothing's sticking.

b) Anyone else have an issue with the holes for the pins for the folding A-arm not lining up? My left side is cool with the supplied pin, but the right side wasn't even close...I have a long skinny bolt/nut as a band-aid.

c) The pockets for the stake sides don't fit alongside the lighting when folded. I ended up just pulling them off anyway and putting eye-bolts in some of the holes...I would recommend keeping those to corners or anyplace two pieces overlap, I'm not too assured that the metal wouldn't bend otherwise from over-torquing when ratcheting the tie-downs.

d) When folded, mine won't stay folded...it doesn't actually fold shut enough and gravity takes over. I have to use bungee cords to keep it closed.

A - The wire clips are junk, I agree. I used a bunch of small pieces of duct tape. It has been working fine and the tape is hidden from view when the trailer is unfolded.

B - I did at first, but I loosened up the hitch bolts before attaching the A arm and that gave me the movement I needed to make it fit. Afterwards I tightened down the hitch bolts and it was straight

C - The stake sides didn't interfere with anything for me

D - Mine doesn't either.


What have you done to get the ground wire working properly?

[bigred875]

Originally posted by LuckyATB
I am so glad a thread popped up about this trailer....

a - after routing mine the wrong way are ripping them out folding it one day I used electrical tape, wire shroudings and zip ties all the way..not a problem since then

b - no..something doesnt sound right...warped? maybe not put together correctly?

c - not an issue with mine..

d - i used zip ties..

I dont fold mine anymore though...i have sides now...

[LuckyATB]

[QUOTE]What have you done to get the ground wire working properly?QUOTE]

I ran ground wires back up to the plate under the hitch, but that never really solved the problem...lights came on but blinkers were really faint. My solution was to fully scan for cops before attempting to turn. I'm gonna try grounding it to the truck frame when I start tinkering with it again.

[cbrf41999]

Originally posted by R7
Nothing says you have to get dirty and greasy every time you do it
It only takes a little dab to get the job done. Metal on metal is not a good combo and not only does the grease stop that sqeeking noise that drives everyone nuts, but it also helps prolong the life of your tow hitch ball and more importantly the trailer tongue hitch

Makes sense, and I was looking for a good reason to get dirty at any moment. I never have enough reasons. Also I was thinking I should do the receiver hitch(toungue slides into assembly on van) that squeaks like a SOB

[LuckyATB]

attempted some re-grounding last night...grounding to the frame didn't help. The bizarre thing is my right-side blinker works fine, it's just the left side that doesn't blink. Fuzzy memory tells me that last year I went the route of swapping sides and all that, and the left side consitantly didn't blink no matter which light was hooked up to it. So maybe it's a problem with the plug connection or something?

Have to tow the bike to a dealership tonight for some electronic work...I have plotted out the route and fortunately only have to take ONE left turn while on-road the entire trip, and that one will be on the way home so folks'll definately see the vehicle blinkers anyway.