Saw 2 things i'd change. 1) that a frame mounted trailer jack. I've seen way to many pickups with dents in the center becaust the gate was dropped and hit the jack, a many jacks bent because they were not raised high enough and drug on the ground. I think the frame side mounted jacks that can be pinned at 90 degrees when not in use are a much better design. 2) the deck looks too low compaqired to the tires/wheels. once you have fenders on there, with every car you load the doors will hit the fenders. I think the top of my fenders were 7" above the deck, most doors cleared the fenders then. Also, make the fenders heavy enough you can stand on them with fear of bending them. At some point you will end up standing on the fenders a few times, make them from heavy enough material they don't easliy bend. The readily available ones are too thin. Gene
Those 33-36 Ford taillamps you have are nice but not really ideal in a trailer application where the most and best light possible should be the goal. You might think about using 4 taillamps rather than just two. To improve the situation using these lamps, paint the inside of the housing gloss white and use 2357 bulbs which have a much brighter stop element than common 1157 bulbs. Also periodically take out the lenses and scrub them clean inside and out.
my only suggestion is to weld the winch on. or it can be stolen like the one on my fathers trailer, that i was borrowing and now have to replace
I have two trailors one 14ft the other 12ft the 12 I use more then the other it tows beautifull has a surge brake. The biggest car I have had on it was a 51 pontiac. and it was tight. my G.P. is way to big so I am looking for a 16 ft featherlite. or hell with it i should get a flatbed with the amount of moving shit around that I do. oh well I am just rambeling now..... nice job and those taillights are the jump off!!
thanks again for the thoughts and ideas, i did add 3 more "cross members" that the 2 x 12's will be bolting too, i'm going to be using about 130 carriage bolts to hold the 6 boards down with. I know LED lights are superior, and i could find some brighter tail lights, but i just like the way they look (along with the "armored" marker lights i'm using at the 4 corners) spare tire is just sitting there, going to make a removable mount so entire assy. can be removed incase it's in the way... I know the deck is supper low and the fenders very high, but i won't have a problem getting out of either car i'll be hauling (The fender will be able to be removed also, about 4 bolts and 6 screw on each side) getting ready to order these amber and red "bullet" motorcycle lights, they will be mounted just infront and behind fenders...... here's the latest pictures..................... any other ideas/suggestions?
My trailer is a tilt bed. No ramps. It has a 24" beaver tail. When loading stuff that doesn't roll,I just back up close,tilt the bed until the beaver tail is on the ground and back under the front end of whatever I'm loading. Spool out the winch,hook up and pull it on. Done deal. I love it and have used it for 15 yrs. It's paid for itself many times over.
I'm not sure yet......... I'm waiting to design until i get perfect length to load my low ground clearance roadster. plan is to mock some up out of wood that are correct size/length and then find a nice place to mount/store when not in use...... the ones stored underneath are a pain to get out sometimes, but is perfect when stowed away. I'm thinking about building them to look like the railing and maybe mount on the sides when not in use.
I'm planning on putting a small electric winch and aircompressor in the trailer tongue box along with a small car 12 volt battery. i need to use a brake away system and am wondering if i can use the car battery? or can a brakeaway system like the one pictured be used to charge a car battery in the tongue box? what i don't want it the Tow Field Battery to equalize with the Trailer Battery, i originally planned to use an isolator for chargine the battery to prevent this, just looking for other/better ideas..................
Don't use 2x12's they'll cup, and pop the bolts. I worked for a lumber company for 6 months replacing floors on all the 53' flatbed semi-trailers that they had (26 of them) use 2x6's or 2x8's for a floor, they won't cup nearly as bad, and you won't have to spend as much time replacing bolts and or boards.
I "speed read" through the replies and didn't see any posts regarding Brakes. Trailer Brakes,you need them.....
suggest cutting the center out of the dovetail and bracing more where the wheels ride up on it. makes it much easier to get axle straps on the rear when the car has a few flat tires .
Look at the brake backing plates on the axle. It has four-wheel brakes on it. Recommend you fill in the backs of the fenders. The way they are now, they are very weak, plus you'll splash up road crap and rocks onto your trailered vehicle.
Didnt someone post an Autocad drawing and dimensions of a car trailer on here a few years ago??....I will have to search now LOL
I have steel on the inside of my fenders to keep road debris off my load. Your fenders stick up way to high to open car door. My trailer is higher than yours and think it is too low sometimes. I dont think you could open door if the fender was off. IMHO
My philosophy is that if my car trailer is a pain in the ass to use, then I won't be tempted to put my hot rod on it. It's worked out pretty well.
Cant tell by the pics where axles are located.I have buildt about 25 car trailers and rule of thumb is the equalizer between the axles should be 2/3s of the length of the trailter.Say the trailer is 21 ft from hitch to rear,then the equalizer should be 14ft.You want to make sure to have proper tongue weight when loaded,if you ever had a trailer loaded improperly and start that trailer wiggle,it is not fun.you may have it located properly,just couldnt see in the photos.
x2 on the 2x12s cupping. Have been working on a deck this fall: 2x12-16 and 2x12-20 PTs, soaked with rain are F-ing heavy. And yes, they are cupped straight from the mill, seemingly. Smaller boards will stay flatter longer, but at the penalty of more hardware. With enough steel under-support, I would think 1x6 PT deck boards (maybe run side-2-side for more 'loading traction') would hold anything- pretty solid for street vehicles. Whichever you use, install the boards so the end-grain 'cup' is upsidedown to make them stay flatter, longer.
gotta agree.. I've roached several straight welded jacks.. and I am pretty careful.. I dont have a great winch.. and I have only used this two or three times.. but this was my solution. the winch is mounted to a plate that slips into a trailer hitch receiver that I welded into the front of the trailer bed.. this way it can be removed.. and stashed in the truck / garage. If I had a GOOD winch I'd worry about it getting wet / stolen.. etc.. somehow I hope to integrate something similar into my new enclosed.. if anyone else is looking for an open trailer I have this one for sale.. its in the classifieds.. because i just upgraded to an enclosed trailer I like the wood deck alot.. and the raised rail provides a place to tie things off too..
thanks again for the ideas/help............. you really got me considering not using the 6, 2x12's i planned on. do you think the 130 stainless steel carriage bolts i have and plan to put 3 bolts per board per crossmember would help? I've not bought the boards yet so i'm still thinking (also plan is to use "Fir" and seal with Thompsons water seal, instead of treated boards) my buddy don't like that idea either. so i used some old aluminum road signs to make the fender backs also mounted the "bomber" lights and have started to run the wires... heres acouple pics of the fenders completed and at permanent height. thanks for all the comments about my fenders being too high, but i ordered "drop" axles because i want this trailer as low as i can make it (I might cover/enclose it sometime also) the doors of my 52 F-3 will go over the fenders and my Roadster is pretty narrow, i think i'll be able to deal with the fenders.......
Nice trailer, but 1 thing that you may like, from my experience, is a sliding axle block so that no matter what you haul you're able to keep your tongue weight at the weight you want. A set of slide axles sure make things nice when you go pick up your new treasure. They're also great is the slippery stuff because of the ability to add weight to the drive tires of the tow vehicle. Just my .02 cents. Nice job either way.
I gotta agree that you have done a really nice job building this trailer. I feel as long as you don't haul anything really heavy it will do what you want it to. And a few rules of towing. 1. tongue heavy is always best, 2. tie the load down good. it never fails some ass will stop short in front of you or pull out in front of you while hauling anything that will slide. 3. and this one might to late, use a 2 5/16 tongue. reason being the 2 5/16 balls have a 1 inch shank. This way the buddy or neighbor can't borrow it because his hitch don't have a 1 inch hole to mount the ball. ( this keeps the tail lights and fenders on the trailer )
Looks great to me. The only problem with mine is the angle of the dove tail and the bars that go across at that point. My mufflers hang up on them. I already broke an exhaust manifold. I now have air shocks on my '56 and I pump them up to 80 psi and crank the front of the trailer (and back of tow vehicle) as high as practible and it will go on. I'm fixing to cut that area out of the dove tail where the mufflers go across it and put a sheet of metal across the gap there.
One trick I learned years ago was to move the passenger side of the axle back 1/2" to stop hula sway.Moving the axle back does help stop sway, but too much really increases tongue weight.
I got 2x10 or 12s on mine for 6 or 7 years and it was used when I got it with no cupping. My boards are setting on frame with only one strap in front and one in rear to hold them loosely. It is always outside. I think when I loaned it to some one 5 years ago they painted the boards but all that is gone.
I had a wood deck trailer and the boards lasted a long time. Never had no problem with them. Don't know what kind they were. I see a lot of landscaping trailers with wood decks too. The board decks are handy if you ever have to nail someting down on there.
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