But the comments he made after that were about parts that were not welded. So what you meant to say is that some parts, that were not welded, had issues?

 

Here is the latest incarnation of my trailer which was originally bought in Dec 2004. It now works for STR sized wheels/tires. The fenders are moved outward via spacers. The original shown on page 7 was for stock wheels and Kumho Victoracers. It's been to a ton of local events, San Diego four times and Lincoln twice. I think it's a great little trailer and it stands up well probably because it's loaded at less than half its rating. The corners are welded.

The tongue weight as measured at hitch height using a fish scale is 75 lbs. The box contents are a small tool box filled, HF jack, 1 steel jack stand, 5 gal air tank, 2 gal water sprayer, and a few other miscellaneous tools. The balance of the trailer works well for moving around when off the car and handles very well at all speeds.

 

Those were separate points. The comments about the parts that broke were not in support of the "flimsy", they were in addition. The trailer, even with all possible seams welded together and a big plywood box rigidly bolted in place in the back half, will flex easily if you put extra weight on any corner. The flex tends to fatigue some of the welds over time.

Oh, and I think the taillight bracket that broke was welded on, and it broke outboard of the weld...

Compared to other trailers, yes, it is flimsy. But it's super cheap, and flimsy is okay if you're willing to risk something major breaking hundreds of miles from home.

Do note that the leaf springs are not a standard size carried by trailer stores, and there's about a 4-6 month lead time to get them from Harbor Freight.

 

[QUOTE=tinkfist,Jan 24 2011, 12:06 PM]I went with a similar design to what you are thinking.

 

wow, haven't thought about this thread in a while...

i put 22,000 miles on my trailer with a few redesigns:

1: i had to pull off the tailights and mount them up higher so people behind me could see them better.

2: coming back from nebraska the first time, one of the slipper springs wore through the frame. i cut them off and replaced them with a shackle setup that is greaseable.

trailer has seen some fairly high speeds, for long distances as well. i frequently rebuild/replace the bearings, so i never had any failures.

 

Wow. Never thought about that. I'll have to check mine.

 

My friends had that kind of spring problem coming back from Lincoln and it cut through his tire and bent some metal. His has a large enclosed box and lots of weight when loaded. My thought is that if you keep the load down to 400-600 lbs you'll have better reliability.

My bearings are the originals from 2004. They get greased once per year with synthetic bearing grease. If you touch the hubs on the trailer wheels after 200 miles of drivingand they feel barely warm then you're in good shape. If they feel hot then you probably have a problem.

 

Josh - be careful with the box on the tongue. When I built my miata trailer I was going to put a box on the tongue like that. When I was building the trailer I started to wonder if it would give the bumper enough clearance when I was turning. The tongue box I got definitely wouldn't have worked - you need quite a bit of length between the trailer and the hitch for when you're turning around in reverse and the trailer goes at a high angle to the car.

It might work depending on how far your hitch is from your bumper and how big that box is, but just something to be aware of.

 

it is a "local trip" design, not made for interstate crusing. i bought 4,000 lb springs with eyelets on both ends (removed 2 of the leafs) and welded shackle hangers on. i used bolts with grease fittings. total investment: $100. now it is bulletproof.

i may build another, as i have someone interested in my entire BS setup. we shall see.