Track Trailer Build

[loudbeard]

where is the spare wheel for the trailer?

Great question, Jimmy! After the footers are done I'm going to use some square tubing and build an arm that extends above the fuel containers with a backplate for the spare to bolt to. I use some extra tubing for triangulation so it's sturdy.

GFY

Now there's no need to get all butt hurt because your entire state looks like it took up chewing bricks as a past time. Thanks for lobster!

[Jim]

the Adrenaline Cycles trailer has a shelf up top in the front of the trailer, instead of fabricating on the frame.
that's where they keep spare race wheels, fuel cell, and i think a spare trailer tire.

[SVRACER01]

Now there's no need to get all butt hurt because your entire state looks like it took up chewing bricks as a past time. Thanks for lobster!

i LOL'd

[loudbeard]

Ok so the fuel can footer came around pretty quickly. Measured the perimeter of the can and cut a 6" wide piece of 20 ga 2" longer than I needed then marked where I needed to brake it, every 10.5".


Biggest obstacle here was not having a press brake. I used some quick grips, the edge of my fab table, and a hammer to brake the steel. Not beautiful, but it'll do for a 6 year old trailer.


I made it 2" longer than I needed to so I could fold it over itself. Butt welds (as done on the cylinder footer) are pretty tough on the thin stuff so by doing this I could use a lap weld instead. I drilled a few holes in the flap and tacked it in place


Then finished the lap weld and ran the grinder a bit


Here we have the final layout with both fuel canisters in place. To secure them in transit I'll just drill a few holes or mount eye bolts to strap a single bungee over the top.


Still need to get the crossmembers and footers welded to the base. Both footers I made 1" taller than their final position. Any guesses why? Hint is I'll be using the extra to attach them to the base.

[loudbeard]

No takers, that's fine, we're moving quick today.

Used the extra inch to weld the footers to the base. Remember? Butt welds suck. Used the factory (square) side of the sheet metal and measured in 1" at the point it intersected the crossmembers. Did some painfully tedious and ugly cutting work with the angle grinder and ended up here


Bent the tabs in 90* and welded them to the base


Now this part is done minus the paint. Calling it a day and back at it tomorrow to build the tire carrier and blast it with some paint.

[MarkMarine]

If you need some sheet metal TIG'd I have access to a 250A squarewave

[loudbeard]

Don't need it on this build, but I snapped off a spool during a low side if you're handy with aluminum.

[butcher bergs]

Can you tell me who this brilliant manufacturer is so that I can avoid their product?

I'm looking to buy a new / gently used trailer and the prices seem to be all over the place. This type of...shoddiness...is I guess how some of them cut costs....

8 years old, 50,000+ miles and a little surface rust on a couple of the (covered) interior frame rails is all you need in order to avoid a product? Having owned the actual trailer in this thread, I'd say if there were any issue with quality it would have been the choice to go with luan walls.

[Ductard]

8 years old, 50,000+ miles and a little surface rust on a couple of the (covered) interior frame rails is all you need in order to avoid a product? Having owned the actual trailer in this thread, I'd say if there were any issue with quality it would have been the choice to go with luan walls.

Sorry dude, wasn't trying to tell anybody they had an ugly baby.

My comment was sparked more by my current trailer search, lack of familiarity with brands, and bewilderment at why I can find a brand new 5x8 enclosed trailer for $1,500, but sometimes the used ones are $2,500+

If it's a good trailer, it's a good trailer, but when I read that they didn't paint the covered parts of the frame, it struck me as an unnecessary shortcut. Sure, the trailer would be OK for 5 years, but at some point you'd expect problems, right? I don't know much about building trailers, but it seems like they did things out of order - shoot the frame first, then start building the enclosure on top of the painted frame. I don't know why you'd put the walls up and then paint the frame around them - hence it seems like an unnecessary shortcut and all else being equal, I'd assume other shortcuts were taken. That's why I said I'd avoid that manufacturer.

As a note, I'm leaning towards a CargoPro 6x10 at this point with an all aluminum frame. It is on the more expensive side (~$4K) but I'll be pulling it with a sedan with a 2,000 lb tow limit and the 805lb weight is less than most steel-framed 5x8 trailers I've seen. To me its a bonus that the aluminum frame will last forever and I'm *hoping* that comes through in the resale value, if I have to sell it within the next 5 years or so.

Open to any thoughts / feedback on that reasoning from anybody here, or any suggestions for good trailer brands.

I saw a lot of aluminum framed ProLine trailers from http://nhtrailers.com/ during the last LRRS round, but while it's closer to Boston than the CargoPro dealer I've identified (http://www.trailersuperstore.com/ a little ways outside of Philly), Trailer superstore has the trailer I want in stock whereas it looks like the ProLine would take a 10% deposit and 4-6 weeks.

It's a bit of a PITA to find out which brands offer a 5x8-6x10 aluminum framed enclosed trailer, so I'm open to any brands people might suggest.

Also curious if there's any thought on trailer color. While black would look the best (my car is black too), I'm leaning more towards white to cut down on heat, especially when all my toys are cooped up inside.

[Jim]

are you suggesting that Berg's baby is ugly?

[Ductard]

....I'd say if there were any issue with quality it would have been the choice to go with luan walls.

Would you mind elaborating on that a little bit? It turns out the CargoPro trailer I'm looking at has luan walls.

That could be the reason it's 250 lbs lighter than the comparable Proline trailer and $200 cheaper (currently $600 cheaper b/c it's on sale - and Proline isn't willing to discount off their price even knowing that I'm deciding between them and a cheaper option, I already asked).

[Ductard]

Don't need it on this build, but I snapped off a spool during a low side if you're handy with aluminum.

If it's for the CBR, you might want to check Fleabay.

One of the spool tabs was broken on my GSX-R and I was going to have a new one welded on, but they've got swingarms all over ebay for $20 or so. I got mine delivered within 2 days for $40 all-in, and the swingarm is overall in better condition than the one that's on the bike. Try getting that kind of turnaround / price by having somebody weld one on. The one potential upside to the welding route is if you can get somebody to weld the tab on while the swingarm is still on the bike. I haven't put mine on yet but it's looking to be a couple hours and require a couple funky tools or some imagination...

[butcher bergs]

Ductard - If you have a trailer thread going, sent me a link to it and I'll answer your questions. No sense in going OT in this thread.

[loudbeard]

Spent some time getting the tire carrier fabricated today. Not quite done yet but here's some pics.



I'll weld the angle iron base to the trailer tongue, then add a triangulated brace that ties into the square tubing cross member I added to the fuel container carrier


The long piece of square tubing extending horizontally from the top of the tire carrier will be cut back to around 4.5" after I make the backplate for the spare. This way when I secure the tire it will bottom against frame of the carrier eliminating any rattling around. Plan to finish the carrier up tomorrow and get some paint on, need to get on the inside of this thing ASAP.

[a13x]

Nice work with the refurbishing. Love your Triumph as well.

[CBR929RE]

do you have a job?

[Garandman]

Whats the deal with this rust reformer stuff?

Rust Reformer is a Phosphoric Acid compound like Duro Extend, Naval Jelly, etc. I mostly use Extend as they have it at HD, and zap it on OPE, trailer hitches etc whenever a I see rust.

In the old days we used a Coke....

[loudbeard]

We all have "jobs," Brett

[loudbeard]

Nice work with the refurbishing. Love your Triumph as well.

Thanks! Easy to see now why prebuilt race trailers are so expensive now, lots of labor time in this job.

I'm convinced my S3R is the best street bike one can ride, it does everything well. Looks like I lucked out buying the '13 model, this year they ditched my blingy PVM wheels on the R model.

[Jim]

what are you doing to transport spare wheels?
are you building mounts or using hooks on the wall?

[loudbeard]

I haven't done the layout for the shelving unit yet, but I'm planning on having a slot in there for spares.

[loudbeard]

Finishing up the tire carrier this afternoon. Just need to get it welded to the tongue and add a brace and it'll be a wrap.

Took some 3/16" plate and a 6" hole saw and made a back plate for the wheel.


Secured the plate to the back of the wheel using painters tape and marked 3 of the wheel studs


Drilled out 1/2" holes and stuck some 1.5x1/2" bolts through to verify alignment


Measured the remainder of the backspacing and cut the excess off of the tire carrier then welded the backplate to it and tack welded the bolts to the back of the backplate



Going to try and finish up getting everything welded to the tongue tonight and blast it with a coat of primer. Also finished up chassis paint inside the trailer while I was waiting for welds to cool.

[loudbeard]

And, DONE! Gonna pass on paint today, no masking paper to keep it off the trailer. Here's where we stand!

[MarkMarine]

Don't need it on this build, but I snapped off a spool during a low side if you're handy with aluminum.

The service running to the welder isn't enough to sustain high amp welding, I wouldn't want to pop a breaker mid weld, lose argon and hydrogen embrittle your swingarm. But smaller stuff that wouldn't endanger your life if it broke... I got you

[Jim]

is the fuel and propane secured enough with those low walls, or are you going to be strapping it down