Buy a trailer (instead of a pickup truck)

[PaulB2]

I am going to put one of these in it also:

http://gaboats.com/boats/whitehalljr.html

I guess I won't be able to get the bike and boat on at the same time.

That hitch mount of HHOTDI has the advantage of adding no rolling resistance.

The tongue is not that long, around 29" from front of frame to the ball. Thinking about moving the mounting back, thus shortening it more, but then backing gets difficult. I wish somebody would invent an extendable tongue, heh.

I am having a little trouble getting this thing square to the axle so it pulls straight. An annoying number of bolts and some are hard to access. It also ended up being quite high (17 inches to the bottom of the steel frame) so the motorcycle is going to end up sticking farther into the wind. One of the reviewers said he took the trouble of flipping the axle which takes it down a bit but then the axle "U" is upright and would fill with dirt and maybe start rusting. Annoying they didn't just use a tube for the axle.

Remember your passat already has great CD

Does it? I have no idea, wonder where to find that information.

[freebeard]

It's hard to tell from the Harbor Freight picture because of the angle, but it looks like the U-bolts point up. Put the axle on top of the springs. If it hits the frame, flop the spring shackles.

[PaulB2]

I was looking at that. The plate has a hole in the center, and the leaf springs have a nut and bolt (nut end) that goes into that hole to locate it. I don't know what the bolt head looks like, or if it is flush. Didn't notice it when putting it together. Anyway if the axle went on top of the springs then I would have to partially drill the axle to make room for that nut on the spring. I'm thinking about it.

Oh, the other thing is that while the top of the inverted "U" is flat, which mates well with the spring leafs, the other end has the welded-in spindle studs and they project a bit. Since they are rounded they wouldn't mate well with the leafs. I'd have to grind it flat first, before doing my partial drill to make room for the leaf nut. Getting difficult...

I looked at some old 5.80x8 wheels I have around. They would lower the bed an inch, not worth messing with. Generally I like larger tires/wheels anyway because the ride is smoother and the bearings are not worked so hard.

I suspect I will just put up with it as it is.

I wish I could find another less-than-4-feet wide axle to make an aero trailer like this, but this is the only one I could find. Maybe the answer is to get a 4 foot one and have a welder cut and reweld it.

Well since there is plenty of room underneath I can put some cross beams in and create some sort of custom fender for the thing - assuming I want to go to all that trouble. Trailer fenders and wheels always annoy me, they stick out so...

[freebeard]

That's the way it goes. I was looking at an obscured image of a different thing.

[HHOTDI]

[QUOTE=PaulB2;504390]I am going to put one of these in it also:

http://gaboats.com/boats/whitehalljr.html

I guess I won't be able to get the bike and boat on at the same time.


hey PaulB2...

I'll look for a picture i have of me carrying an ATV and a canoe on top of it that i had inverted and rested it on the handle bars, and then straping it down. It got a lot of looks/cell pics while traveling down the freeway to say the least!

:{)

[HHOTDI]

hey PaulB2...

I'll look for a picture i have of me carrying an ATV and a canoe on top of it that i had inverted and rested it on the handle bars, and then straping it down. It got a lot of looks/cell pics while traveling down the freeway to say the least!

:{)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I recently saw some aerodynamically-enhanced trailers with fiberglass bodies, including one used by its owner to sell kebabs, but wasn't able to take a picture.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by PaulB2

I just bought one of these:
40-1/2" x 48" Small Utility Trailer - 1090 Lb. Cargo Capacity

Nice thing, in Oregon there is no registration for trailers this small.

Sweet! Thanks for the info about registration. I just bought this trailer for $240 using a 20% off coupon.





I was thinking I would have to pay the $86 registration every 2 years, but DMV says this:

Note: You do not have to register a light trailer (which includes a utility, boat, or horse trailer) or obtain a trip permit to operate it on the road if the trailer, plus the heaviest load carried, weighs 1,800 pounds or less.

I'm wondering why everyone says to repack the bearing grease? If the company is going to sell the trailer with lubed bearings, why wouldn't they have done it correctly from the factory?

Can I just use gasoline or WD-40 to clean out the original grease?

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'm wondering why everyone says to repack the bearing grease? If the company is going to sell the trailer with lubed bearings, why wouldn't they have done it correctly from the factory?

The original grease is just to protect the bearings during shipping, crazy I know... Easy job though.

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'm wondering why everyone says to repack the bearing grease? If the company is going to sell the trailer with lubed bearings, why wouldn't they have done it correctly from the factory?

Can I just use gasoline or WD-40 to clean out the original grease?

I have the same trailer. Now 6 years later its been heavily modified.
The guy I bought that trailer from bought it new and put it together. He said he had his motorcycle on the back of it and a wheel bearing seized while going down the interstate.
The trailer was only about 3 months old.

It just so happened the next exit had a northern tool. Once the hub cooled the bearings partially unseized so he it drove it to northern tool and got 2 new sets of bearings and a hub and replaced the bad hub right there in the parking lot.
Then the wheel bearing on the other side was almost in the same condition by the time he got home and did the other side.

That is part of the reason I replaced the axle on that trailer, both spindles were really tore up.
And guess what, you cant buy just that axle. You have to go with a stronger more expensive 1 ton axle or you have to buy replacement spindles, cut the old ones out of the existing axle and weld the new ones on the axle.

Then when you repack the bearings I don't care what anyone says, grease is not grease, as most people will tell you. As you can see from the "factory grease" used in the bearing all greases are not created equal.
Get a high temperature lithium complex (not lithium soap base). That is all I have ever used on wheel bearings and it has never failed.
Specifically I use Valvoline "synthetic blend" grease. It uses a lithium complex thickener and synthetic oils for the oil base portion of the grease. The minimum and maximum temperature operating range for this grease is ridiculous, something like -40'F to +560'F.

To clean the bearings you can take them to a car wash and pressure wash the grease out of the hub and bearing, just be sure to dry them as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
I use compressed air to blow them dry, but paper towels by them selves should work.
Remove the old grease seal and toss it.

The amount of grease you should use should be roughly equal 1/3 of the volume of the empty hub bearing cavity. Work the grease in between the rollers and coat everything with grease, spindle, races, seal inside of the hub, don't worry about using too much.

To tighten the bearing back down just go hand tight and line the castle nut up to the hole in the axle to install the cotter pin.
You want the least amount of torque on that spindle nut to get the bearings so there is no play in the hub.
Use a new cotter pin and bearing seal every time.