I needed/wanted a trailer to carry tables for the Dutch Oven Competition and to haul trash from the desert clean up at this years SoCal Desert Rendezvous. After scouring craigslist i found a homemade trailer for a good enough price. It looks to have started life as a small boat trailer. At some point a deck was made and stake pockets added to accept stateside rails. The deck is 6'6" wide and 8' long.
The guy I bought the trailer from never registered it. He also couldn't figure out that the rear rail was on backwards and fit better turned around. These shots are after i drove it home as is. Some of the lights were cracked and I figured it would be just as easy to rewire the whole thing than to just replace lights. So I stripped the rails and decking off so I could more easily do the wiring.
The YouTube "how to" videos about rewiring a trailer said it should take an expert about 1/2 an hour, and a novice about an hour to complete. Four hours later I had the lights working.
Time became a issue so I put the old decking and rails back on to go to the DMV to get it inspected, registered, and plated. As this is a family friendly site I'll gloss over this part of the story. Inspection:
Waiting in the lines:
Long and the short of it, trailer has VIN tag and license plate and Title is in the mail.
I used the trailer for the SoCal Desert Rendezvous.
It worked as planned for hauling.
Next step is to remove all the old decking and rails and put new plywood down that has been coated and sealed with a no-slip material. Not only for load control but to protect the material. For the rails I'll not go as high as the existing rails block a bit of the rearview of the side mirrors. They are 2x4 vertical stakes with 2x6 railing. Way beefier than needed, so I'll cut some of the weight by using 1x6 instead.
At some point I will put a articulating hitch on it as well.
Future plans may include:
-Replacing the existing axle to accept matching rims and tires to the tow vehicle. Haven't really done the math to see if the height will be too wonky, or if the wheel well will intrude too much into the decking to be useful.
-Building a 'teardrop'. The trailer being 6&1/2 feet wide, I could sleep practically sideways in it. Toying with the idea of making the teardrop removable from the deck by means of corner jacks.
Fun project to play with.
The guy I bought the trailer from never registered it. He also couldn't figure out that the rear rail was on backwards and fit better turned around. These shots are after i drove it home as is. Some of the lights were cracked and I figured it would be just as easy to rewire the whole thing than to just replace lights. So I stripped the rails and decking off so I could more easily do the wiring.
The YouTube "how to" videos about rewiring a trailer said it should take an expert about 1/2 an hour, and a novice about an hour to complete. Four hours later I had the lights working.
Time became a issue so I put the old decking and rails back on to go to the DMV to get it inspected, registered, and plated. As this is a family friendly site I'll gloss over this part of the story. Inspection:
Waiting in the lines:
Long and the short of it, trailer has VIN tag and license plate and Title is in the mail.
I used the trailer for the SoCal Desert Rendezvous.
It worked as planned for hauling.
Next step is to remove all the old decking and rails and put new plywood down that has been coated and sealed with a no-slip material. Not only for load control but to protect the material. For the rails I'll not go as high as the existing rails block a bit of the rearview of the side mirrors. They are 2x4 vertical stakes with 2x6 railing. Way beefier than needed, so I'll cut some of the weight by using 1x6 instead.
At some point I will put a articulating hitch on it as well.
Future plans may include:
-Replacing the existing axle to accept matching rims and tires to the tow vehicle. Haven't really done the math to see if the height will be too wonky, or if the wheel well will intrude too much into the decking to be useful.
-Building a 'teardrop'. The trailer being 6&1/2 feet wide, I could sleep practically sideways in it. Toying with the idea of making the teardrop removable from the deck by means of corner jacks.
Fun project to play with.