Projects Show me your trailers and modifications!

On another thread we got to talking about trailers, new verses old, boat vs utility etc. I then described what I did to my trailer over the years and got to thinking, I bet there are others that have modified their trailers in many ways to work better! So...... let’s see them and hear about the modifications! I would post a pic of mine, but everything is covered in snow right now. I have several trailers that I have added modifications to work or look better.




Bones

 

Just playing around one day. Doesn't help it but I don't think it hurt it.

 

Loading up for the 2018 Meltdown Drags, made a stand to elevate tool box, now have room for gas cans and spare tires underneath.

 

I have a 12,000# winch I brought from harbor freight mounted on the front. Yes, it is overkill for the car trailer but I brought it heavy enough so we can switch it out to the big trailer we haul tractors and heavier stuff on just in case that winch dies but since we switch to badlands versus warn we haven't wrecked one yet but it is here just in case we do.

I have the normal ramps that are made out of channel/angle iron but I have also a set of aluminum ramps that are solid. when loading smaller items on rollers or smaller tire items like lawn mowers the ramps that came with it don't work.

Also mounted the spare tire to it to keep more room in the truck.

Otherwise for any modification to the trailer itself , not really but I brought a car warrior trailer that was set up for hauling cars on already and it is laid out well. Best part is they are across the state from me but I called them early enough and they delivered it to a swap meet just down the road for me for free. I had to wait til sunday to pick it up because they used it as a demo that weekend but it saved me a trip across the state.

That was 18 years ago(2002) already and that was to replace a car trailer that was made in '77 that was starting to show signs of fatigue finally. as the other thread mentioned, you buy a quality trailer they will last a long time and I am in Wi. a state known for turning cars into rusty critters

 

I did swap out the tail lights 2 or 3 years ago for led ones that I picked up on clearance sale at the store so many dislike here, Walmart. The cops were impressed how bright the lights are on my trailer. They said not many people maintain their trailers like I do. I think that helps keep them off me, they are constantly pulling over scrappers here and checking their trailers for violations and make sure they are not stolen too.

 

Trying out my manual winch that I hope I'll never have to use. Works pretty good, rated at 3500 lbs.

 

Hey Fuzzface, as you well know a winch on the front of the trailer is an awesome addition! I was a dealer for various winches for a while, including Ramsey, since the factory was 40 miles away, it made it real handy. You mentioned Warn, for a long time Warn and Ramsey were about the only electric winches available! Then a few years back we experienced the China winch invasion and they are marketed under a number of brand names.
I sold hundreds of electric winches of various brands. The most common problem with most electric winches is lack of available power. A winch can only convert the power in a battery to motion. The odd thing about winches is sometimes a smaller winch will perform better than a big winch on a small or slightly discharged battery. And as the battery becomes discharged, the voltage drops, the winch “ demands” more power and it becomes a problem also with heat involved. The smaller winch will “ demand “ less power than the big winch.
Kinda like the six cylinder car going down the roads 60mph will use less gas than a 454 at 60 mph. Using multiple batteries, in good shape, plus connecting them to the truck battery and alternator will make the winches work better and last longer. Just though I would share that with you. Probably already something you know!








Bones

 

This might be educational before it is done. I picked up a "home made 16 ft trailer that is indeed "home made" Strong as all get out but The builder must have either got a real good deal on angle iron or was able to pilfer it. It was too cheap to turn down though.
I am in the process of putting a cross bar on he front to keep rigs from running off the front and I picked up a 4500 lb winch for a good price at an auction.
No photos as I don't want anyone to hurt themselves laughing.

 

From experience a manual "boat" winch like that beats the tar out of no winch or using a come a long with a 10 ft cable and a piece of chain and scotch blocks to inch a car on a trailer. Looping the cable through one of those snatch blocks with a pulley on it will cut your effort down a lot though. More cranking with less strain.
Sure wish I had had that when I drug a little OT car out of a field a a few years ago. My dog had every inch of that pasture explored before I got the car on the trailer.

 

Just mounted a Warn 4500 lb winch inside my trailer. Should be big enough to drag any rolling load I may want to haul. It’s on a hitch plate if I need to move it somewhere else. The wireless remote is a very, very useful thing to have.

 

Here is a teardrop trailer I made to match my Biscayne..I hauled my handicap scooter in it..I cut down a ~7000 lb trailer axle to get the right bolt pattern to match the old style wheels on my car...also could then use the same spare tire for both..

 

Just a few more things about winches.
All winches are rated on the spool, ie the first layer. By the time you spool 100 feet of cable on a winch, you have usually doubled the size of the spool, therefore, decreasing your winches capacity by 50%.
No matter the size of the winch, it will only be as powerful as the battery powering it. A 12,000 lbs winch , on the last layer (see above) will only be a 6000lbs winch. On a 24 series battery it will only perform at about 50% capacity Now you have at max a 3000 lbs winch.
For a 12,000 lbs winch to work at 12,000 capacity , it requires at least two preferably three 31 series batteries, fully charged and in good shape.
As any electrical winch ages, it’s efficiency falls off, requiring more power to do the same job.
Just a few facts about electric winches.

Also, never let the smoke out of an electric winch!






Bones

 

If you are going to use your winch , primarily, for pulling a car into a trailer, cut your original, usually 100 ft of cable, so that there are about five raps on the spool and the cable reaches out past the loading ramp a few feet. This will make it easier on your winch. Then make loops( eyes) in the left over cable and store it in your tool box if you need a longer pull.

Remote controls are available now for controlling winches and are real handy. But sometimes they , like the remote on the tv , works and sometimes it doesn’t work so good.
What I used to do , when I installed winches, was to cut the controller cord and add a male and female plug in, from a common extension cords. Then the operator could use the 15 ft cord, or use any length of common extension cord , so that he could could be near the car for observing how the car was moving.
I also at times installed guarded push buttons on the housing where the solenoids are, so that you didn’t have to find the remote everytime you needed to operate the winch. Just a few things I did for my customers.






Bones

 

Thanks Boneyard for the extra info.

I grew up with warn winches in the 70's,80's and early 90's. . They were the winch to have back then. Everyone had them around here. My dad's business had one on every support trucks, the farmers, the truckers and even us kids on our mud trucks had warn winches on the front. My dad would buy 4 or 5 a year depending on what trucks we upgraded that year

Then sometime in the late 90's -2000's they went downhill. wasn't because of lack of power but they were breaking in the gearbox, gear assembly area. Father just thought he got a bad one when it only lasted 2 pulls which happens with anything.

Then it got consistent with the newer ones, they were not lasting long at all. the old ones never hand a problem when we traded the trucks in we just left them on. My dad always upgraded his stuff regularly being in business, always wanted new. The last old one we had left we knew was a good one so we took it off because we were afraid of buying new. then we found out the farmers were having the same problem as us.

then my dad went to buying military winches (cannot remember the brand right off hand) but at $20,000 a crack, those were out of my budget but the farmers here went to badland. they were having good luck with them so they talked me into them and I can say so far I am glad I did.

who knows maybe they found out they had a problem and fixed it and all the new ones are great again. that is about the same time snap-on went down hill too. I have $30,000 of older snap on stuff that is great, just starting to fatigue out lately but all the snap-on stuff from 2000's are gone, they were junk and didn't last long at all.

You know what happens when someone switches,? They don't just jump back. If I start having problems with badlands then I might try warn again but I am not like my father and need everything new every other year. the price of warn versus badlands I can replace it more often but as I said so far badland hasn't failed me. My oldest badland is 10 years old and that one gets used quite often. that is on the truck that runs around picking up dead tractors.

Anyways yes, Pwshuh, isn't that wireless remote great? I can remember when you had to be right there in front and now you can walk around your load and make sure everything is loading right.

 

Doing some work so the mother in law can fit through the door and found some sweet used underpinning that somebody was just gonna throw away

 

Here one of my trailers. I use it to haul my bike behind my truck with a camper. I put aluminum wheels on it, and added a metal shield, backed with bright aluminum diamond plate. I used the rest of the sheet of diamond plate to bling out the trailer. The shield lays down on the tongue of the trailer to make a deck for the camper on the truck, just have to remove two bolts. Used it to tour Canada for thirty days back in 2012. At the border the guard said” nice trailer” quite a compliment for a guy that sees thousands of vehicles every day, I thought. But it was a little shinier back then! Lol








Bones

 

I know the Caprice is ot but my son and I built this for drag week. The back opens up clamshell style and just meets the size limit, 140 cubic feet.

 

I installed this Warren winch that I picked up at a swap meet for cheap because the case was broken, so I built a cage for it. Burnt up two cheap winch's before this one.
Have been thinking about adding a two foot dovetail, but still on the fence on that.

 

This is a home built trailer and dune buggy by our son.

 

Around 4 years ago, I bought a used dual axle, dovetail, car trailer for CHEAP. I tore it down, rebuilt the brakes, and then had to have another spinal surgery (number NINE). I lost my momentum on it, and have't been able to get back at it. I tried to start repainting it last summer, but it was so hot, the paint would dry in the brush (hammer-right). Still, I had the steel wheels media blasted, and repainted them, bought 4 new tires, and had them mounted and balanced, and TODAY, I'm expecting a 5th tire for a spare, after buying another wheel for it from a fellow HAMBER. I have all new lights and wiring, new license plate and hanger, and I even had a new VIN tag made to AUGMENT the stamped VIN on the tongue; the new VIN tag will be hidden for ID purposes should the trailer get stolen. I just need to get back to work on it; It'll be a nice trailer, and I even have a new 12K winch for it. I'm thinking I should have just bought a new trailer to start with! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

All good advice ^^^^ I have always used a snatch block for loading cars. If you run the cable to the item being loaded and run the cable hook through a snatch block and back to a secure loop on the trailer it will pull way easier.

With the cable doubled back the pull speed is cut in half but it is way easier on the winch. It takes a little longer but since it saves the equipment it is a win in my book.

 

Here's a wood trailer that I threw together using a model A banjo and bed that I had laying around. Holds 1/2 cord of wood for the wood stove in the garage.

 

It halves the winch speed but it also doubles the pulling power (which is kind of what you meant by "it is way easier on the winch"). Therefore my 4500lb winch can pull up to 9000 lbs if I throw my snatch block on the load and run the line straight back to the winch mount to pull. Basic principles of leverage at work.

 

I too have a winch on the front of my trailer. Mine is installed on a trailer hitch type receiver. That way, it stays clean and dry inside the toolbox. My winch is a 3500 lbs Badlands from The Harbor. I snatch block it and was able to pull an Isuzu NPR with a 14’ box onto my trailer with it. My tow truck is a Ram Cummins 2500 4x4 and I have 2/0 cable running up to the left battery and a quick connect under the bumper. Just put the truck on high idle and winch away. It’s the cat’s ass. I still carry a come along named Manuel for emergencies.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Our home built trailer for our race car and toys.

We built it with an open centre deck so when "family" borrow it, they can only use it for transporting vehicles [not machinery]

It was a combination of "gravity tilt" deck, dovetail, and ramps so we can load low cars without dismantling it [at the track] Yet the deck is high enough to open doors over the fenders.
The trailer is well balanced so it will stay tilted by itself. That way one person can load the trailer by themself [saving domestic arguments at shows or the track ]


Because Tandem car trailers seem to attract thieves. We designed the tongue pivot so it is easy to remove.
The tongue has 3 x caster wheels so it can slide under the trailer and fit inside a domestic urban garage [away from thieving eyes]

please excuse the off topic car [this is about the trailer]

 

This is a 20’ aluminum tilt trailer with an 8,000 pound winch inside the tool box. Both the tilt and the winch have remote controls. Recently switched from cable to rope.

 

The wheel of death

 

Mine is built from a heavy boat trailer,4” channel frame. Added two house trailer I beams, mounted flat on each side, was going to use them for runners, but figured it would be too wide for small cars, or too narrow for full sized ones. Ended up with them on the outside edge, then floored the trailer with 2” thick LVL laminated beams about 18” wide, left the center one out for now. The axle was toast, so I added mounts and put on two mobile home axles. Floor is 16’. I have one of those $69 portable electric wenches, I welded a bracket on top of the headboard so I can take the winch off and store it when not in use. I bought a 25’ heavy duty extension cord and used it to wire the lights after trying to use a couple of those trailer wiring kits with the too small wires that break so easily. The extension cord has heavy wires and is double insulated. I’ve had regular incandescent lights and led’s on it at different times, just depended on what I could find after I knocked one off, lol!

I’ve probably got less than $300 in it total. I gave $50 for the two axles and 8 tires, $50 for the boat trailer, all the steel I used was scrap or given to me as was the LVL beams I used for flooring. I think I paid $10 for a gallon of barn paint for the floor. Lights and wiring were less than $50. Not bad for a 16’ trailer. Maybe I can post a pic this weekend, don’t have one on this tablet.

 

I paid $ 600 for this trailer on Craigslist. I replaced the deck boards , rewired it . Added new LED lights
Installed fenders and cut the rear to make it a beaver tail. Painted it. Added tie down loops.
I have around $800 in it now. Going to add a winch and a tool box . Maybe an electric tongue jack.

 

I'll add to my post [#25 above]
We've seen 'em all when it comes to car transporters.
If you walk around the paddock at a car show / race meeting , you'll see some $100,000 + "Pride n Joy" dragged around on something that resembles "an inverted bed frame on wheels"

or
A trailer so complex you'll need a team of "Hangers On" just to load it.
So we decided to address that issue so it is easy to load .

Gravity tilt on a well balanced trailer is the secret. You can move the payload to the point of balance easily [then move it forward another 3" for the ideal towing position]
ALL cars have a point of balance , rear heavy cars need to be moved further forward etc.

We have seen the consequences of somebody crawling under the rear of their car to tie down the rear, BUT their "Hanger-On-Helper" forgot to bolt/ or latch down the tilt deck like they said they had.
So what we did was make an Auto-Latching tilt that latches like a door closing.

The spring bolt was modified . You flip the handle upwards to hold it open [to unload the car]

You flip the handle downwards so it can Auto latch [We did it this way so if somebody bumps it, it defaults into safety "latching" position]

Here it is latched. The striker was cut at 17 deg angle


The other crazy thing we witnessed was somebody driving/loading a car on a trailer with ramps and the coupler came off the hitch [The person standing beside it guiding the car on, was injured]
This wouldn't happen if a chock of wood was placed under the rear of the trailer.

So what we did was make these "chocks" [or height limiters] an integral part of the ramp. They slide forward with the ramp into ramp drawers.
The trailer "loads weight" down onto these ramps.

At the outer front edge of these ramps we welded a striker and also a modified spring bolt to the side of the trailer frame. The ramps can slide in and also "Auto Latch"

The spring bolt slides behind the Height limiters to prevent the ramp sliding out.

When slid all the way in , the height limiters are higher than the axles.[so they don't hit anything]
Here is another angle [one ramp out and one in] .There is a piece of tubing welded across the rear to prevent the ramps from being removed from the trailer [thanks to friends losing ramps]

The height limiters also set the angle of the tilt deck, so the dovetail and the ramp angle is both at the same angle when tilted.