Trailer for tractor and Jeep

Just a little experimenting and finally I get the photo to show up. Geez, I hate having to learn new tricks. This is how I feel about the new site and I am the horse 

I have 5 new tires ordered and need a spare rim. I need to clean the trash out of the bed gaps, treat the wood, repack the bearings, make a spare tire rack, make ramps, modify the safety chains, replace the offending cross brace, put more reflectors on it, put some tie downs on it and touch up the paint. After a short local run with the Jeep on it I should know if I need load levelers, I hope not.

It's a factory built trailer but we know how they just throw them together. It's a fairly decent job but they put one of the cross supports under the floor right in front of and rubbing against the front axle. I have to cut that out and put a new one in away from the axle. The bed frame is made of about 2 1/2″x2 1/2″x3/16″ angle iron with an A frame subframe from the hitch to the front axle. The side rails are, in my mind, a boxing support to keep the bed from wobbling like a wet noodle. If I cut the side rails off the trailer would self destruct in short order.

Of course I knew all this before I bought it because it was obvious except for the cross member thing because I didn't want to lay down in the snow and look under it. That came later.

The front sub frame rail has the serial number and the 5000 GVW stamped into it. I have the original “factory” registration sheet for it and it lists the shipping weight of the trailer as 1450 lb so I rounded it off to 1500 lb for my satisfaction because I'm sure they lie about that as much as they lie about how much it will safely carry. It's with tongue in cheek and rolling eyes they would say to the buyer, “Oh yes, it's good for 5000 lb GVW”. 

That would make their rated payload at 3500 lb and my opinion of the rated payload would be 2500 lb to 3000 lb MAX. for safety's reason. Also, my Ranger has a tow weight max of 3400 lb so the trailer and a 2500 lb load is 4000 lb, a little over the tow limit but close enough for me. 

The thing is, I have been looking at new trailers and used trailers for a while and have seen how they are built and none of them are what they should be. The redeming part of the deal is I only paid $750 for it. The tires are car tires and weather checked badly and leaking. I am putting Carlisle bias ply 6 ply trailer tires on it. I understand some have issues with Carlisle tires and my neighbor hates them. The rims are what's called 5″ on 4 1/2″ BC by 6″ wide Wagon wheel design.

The Carlisle tires only last him a few thousand miles and blow out and he wonders why. He overloads his trailers and drives at 80 to 90 mph on his delivery runs. He has bent the frames and axles on his trailers from the overloads. He restamped the GVW numbers on his trailers so they are way overrated now. He is extremely hard on trailers and tires. He does use load levelers and that saves his butt many times. Of course he brakes the load levelers too because of the overloaded trailer.

I have no intention of driving that fast or carrying over loads, it ain't happening. As to whether I use the load levelers it depends on how the trailer and Jeep ride in tow. 

I borrowed a trailer to haul the Jeep home from Nashville Tn and it towed so nice it was easy to forget it was there. I hope this trailer does as well.

Well, it's raining here and I want to go out and rip the road up and get the gravel on top of the mud again. Since I have to wait until the rain stops I decided to write a book about the trailer and post it. It's amazing what we do when we are bored and watching it rain or snow. 

We even beat dead horses 

I called the maker of the trailer and asked about the axles. He said they are 3500 lb Dexter's. He said brakes for it are $180 for a pair. I went and got them and told him about the angle iron rubbing the axle and showed him some photo's. He wasn't pleased at first but after we talked for about a half hour he wanted the photo's to show and tell about what not to do.

I am thinking about adding some more angle iron supports where the vehicle wheels would be to prevent any fall through.

I moved the angle iron before I put the brakes on and it was harder to move the angle iron than I thought it would be. I have a controller and need to install it and wire the trk and trailer. 

I have been thinking about making some stands to hold the tail of the trailer up when loading and unloading the tractor or Jeep. Would that be over kill? I'm thinking it would keep the hitch from getting jerked around as I load or unload a vehicle.

What's your thoughts on this?

The frame is 3″x3″x3/16″ angle iron for sure. I guessed it at 2 1/2″ the other day without measuring it. I'm not wild about the angle iron but with the top rails making a box with the bottom frame it should be strong enough. 

The floor is 2″x6″ treated wood and is not rotted and I intend to put some wood treatment on it.

I thought about putting the stands on the ramps but I want to make them adjustable and that would be hard to do attached to the ramps. 

Yes, the equalizing hitch but I don't want to spend the $200 unless I have to. My neighbor uses them and I like the way it smoothed the ride out on his trailer.

Right now I am planning to strap the ramps to each side of the railing but that may change. The ramps are hell for stout but the angle iron was shorts I got cheaper than a full length as were the cross bars. I saved about one fourth the price by buying drops. They weigh about 75 lb each.

If it quits raining for a day or two I will take it on a test run with the Jeep loaded.

Hmmm, that's a good point about using pins in the jack stands. It always makes me uneasy when loading a trailer using ramps when the trailer and vehicle bounce up and down. I haven't had one come off yet but it can happen.

Since the trailer will weigh about as much as the truck the equalizer hitch may be required to be safe. I sure don't want the tail to wag the dog or lift the front end.