Just Trashed the Trailer

[kyratshooter]

Went to town for some goodies dragging the utility trailer just now. Had an unexpected meeting with a seperated truck tire tread.

The car is OK but the trailer has a bent axle and wore the tires to nothing before I could get the 25 miles home.

I am not sure if or how I will get this axle straight and I am sure I am looking at two or three days work to put it back into use. Go to have a trailer since this is my replacement for a pickup on the homestead. I'll probably wind up bending it "sort of" straight between two trees.

Time to get out the jacks and wrenches

[Rick]

I would think a machine shop could straighten it and from my experience with those guys for not a lot of money. Dang the luck anyway. Just when you think things are going smooth. Just glad it didn't happen when you started home this week-end!

[dscrick]

Wow same thing happened to my Brother in law and I in Alaska this June. We were headed down the highway to Kenai with his Kataraft in tow, spare tire carrier snapped off the trailer tongue & we ran over the tire. Tire went flying through the air and down the road over our heads. When we stopped to retrieve the tire I noticed the trailer axle was bent in a nice shallow "U" shape left of center, like 4 inches from straight. The tire on that side was all out of kilter. We limped to Soldotna and found a guy with a truck repair shop, he let us use his 25 ton press to straighten it out. Might work for yours.

[hunter63]

On a trip home from a Rondy, where we packed up "wet", I overloaded the small Harbor Freight 4 X 8' modified trailer (bigger tire/wheels), and blew a tire......funny part was as I was blasting down the road with it behind my big truck, didn't even notice that a tire had blown till I slowed down to turn.....That's when the sparks flying for what was left of the wheel were noticeable.

As I was about 15 miles from home and traveling with a caravan, we off loaded the gear and continued home, got a bigger trailer and returned back to rescue it.

Bottom line was that the wheel was worn flat, bearing and axle were red hot and destroyed, and the fender was also destroyed from I would imagine that tire leaving the area.......Have no Idea where that was......

Answer was to call the trailer company and ordered up a wheel, hub/kit, and axle...and a fender.....rebuilt it.

So depending how your trailer was made and what axle was used....mine is a U-tube with spindles welded on...at rebuild I boxed in the U tube, making it much stronger....a complete bolt on replacement axle would be a good idea....as misaliment of the tires will result in a trailer that wobbles and wears tires real fast.

As a side note, I just found a "Guy" at the local machine shop that will do side work for cash, including welding, (been losing my "guys' real regular lately) as well as machine work....Just had him narrow down the Nagant scope mount....but thats another story......point is I now have a "Guy" again.

[crashdive123]

Glad it happened on the trip from town rather than the trip from the Jamboree. A machine shop should be able to make short work of it for you.

[hunter63]

Those bow outs can be pretty catastrophic.....so depends on the damage.
Nothern Tool has pieces/parts for trailers......
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_trailers-trailer-parts+trailer-axles

[kyratshooter]

First thing I thougt was that I was glad it was not somewhere south of Lexington with all my gear on board!

This is the equil of the Harbor Frieght 4x8 dump bed. The axle is a U tube. The rig is 20 years old and I have rebuilt the bed about 5 times. If I can not get it straightened out I still got my money's worth from its use and the disaster was not the fault of the trailer but of me following too close behind a semi to dodge a road hazzard.

I am actually debating the situation. I now need two new tires for this rig at $100 plus the effort and cost involved with the repair which may or may not work. I was already concerned about the age of the bearings and that would have been a few dollars and a day of work.

I can get a new small frame from HF for $150 with the next 20% cupon they send me. I can build a smaller rig and trim down the gear, which I really need to do. I sometimes for get that I did rondys out of a sports car for several years, and that was with a canvas tent and 12 foot poles.

I have finished the remodel of the house and have only the occasional stick or two of lumber to haul and I can dump the john boat off the boat trailer for those occasions when I need a long bed for plywood hauling.

It may be time to "retire" this rig.

[crashdive123]

Spare parts are always a good thing to have around.

[hunter63]

I had to laugh when I called the trailer place, and it was somewhere down "deep" south, with my parts list, talking to the lady, with a real heavy drawl......
She says that the hubs were like $20 bucks, but the "huuub kiiit" (say it with the drawl), is $27 bucks with bearing, races, caps and nuts....But the way she said it was, "Well would y'all be wantin' the huub kiit?...With all the extras?"

I said, "Sure, and make that two", as I wanted a spare .......

I still use this for running stuff around, and a 4 wheeler once in a while, actually use this to haul the 4 wheeler, than use to 4 wheeler tp pull it with gear back in the bush.....
But like my covered trailers, alot as well.......One can never have too many trailers....just don't keep then all in one spot....That way no one know how many you got......

[natertot]

A body shop should be able to pull that kinda axle straight for not much money. Also, HF sells those tires, might be cheaper than $100.

For $150, you could upgrade the axle altogether and be able to haul more!

Glad that it wasn't something catastrophic and that you didn't get hurt. Be safe!

[Cast-Iron]

If you're near a Tractor Supply they tend to carry a good selection of trailer parts too.

[rebel]

This place has 2000 lb axels for less than $60.
http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/index.asp?url=IND

[kyratshooter]

shipping on that axle is $40 and hubs and spindles are not included.

I have come up with a solution after much standing in the window staring into space.

I have a big boat trailer that never gets towed more than a few miles. It has a heavier axle than the one I trashed. I am going to swap axles. Remove and straighten the bent one and put it under the boat and use the good axle under the trailer. The boat even has new stainless steel hubs and new bearings.

I started studying the rig and my trailer frame is rated at a one ton. Anything I get to replace it at low cost will be half that capacity or less. I will swap the axles, buy new tires and keep my towing capacity at the higher level. I will get out for about $100 if I can unbend the tweeked axle myself.

[crashdive123]

Looks like that staring out the window thing works.

I remember the time when Betty Sue was..........oh wait.......that was looking in.....never mind.

[hunter63]

Sounds like a plan.......Gotta love it when a plan comes together......

[kyratshooter]

If I can get this U shaped axle straight I will drop a round bar in the cavity and weld it for support.

Bet I do not run over any more tire treads after this.

[crashdive123]

Nothing like a good project to keep you off the streets at night.

[hunter63]

If I can get this U shaped axle straight I will drop a round bar in the cavity and weld it for support.

Bet I do not run over any more tire treads after this.

That is a good idea, and you might want to box in the tongue (also U-channel) of the HF trailer, makes it a lot stiffer. (I think original rating is like 1150#)

The one I'm running now, belonged to a buddy, he and I bought them at the same time,.......as he was a welder, we both "re-engineered" both trailers over a few beers.

Boxed the axle, raised fenders, went to bigger wheel and tires,.... added box........as is they were so flimsy to start with.... if you tightened up the ratchet straps you could fold the trailer.......

I left mine as a tilt bed and "fold-able".

As time went by, he up graded, so I bought his trailer, sold mine to the DIL for his 4 wheeler....He does store the trailer folded up.

[kyratshooter]

Mine is not a HF unit. Sort of like them but heavier. It tilts as a dump bed but does not fold. It came with 12" tires and has heavy double leaf springs. The tongue is an A frame unit and not the single stem. The axle is about the lightest componant in the unit. I am surprised it was not a solid beam. I never paid much attention to it until now.

About the time I decided what to do with it the weather turned sour. It intends to stay that way for the week. All it will take is dropping 8 bolts, jacking it up and making the switch but I hate working in bad weather! Nothing is going to get hauled in the rain ayway.

[hunter63]

Good plan......No need to rush...haste makes waste......

When i bought my first HF trailer, wasn't from HF but one just like it.....had rondy to go to, so was in a hurry to put it all together, man what a box full of "stuff' and all them bolts were the self locking, have to crank them on all the way, no spinning them to almost home......

Well, being in hurry, I was using the trailer bed and tongue as a saw horse, carbide blade to cut plywood for the sides....sawed right thru the tongue and "A" frame supports......only bogged the saw down a tad.....AW shut!

Called a welding guy, about 4:45, closed at 5:00 PM and enplaned my situation....I needed that trailer.

He says he will wait on me, so I hurried over, and as he welded it up, his buddies were kinda laughing at me.....

When he got done, I asked "How much?".....and as he and his buddies were having a beer, he says, Naw, we'll just call this one on us....for the entertainment value, as long as you have a beer and explain how in the heck you manged to do that?.

Kinda looking like y'all are gonna get some of that storm, as well?

[kyratshooter]

The Storm? Yea, winds are gusting up to around 50mph and I just looked out the window and saw one of my chickens suspended by the air inside the pen flapping her wings and going nowhere!

Little bit of rain mixed with the wind that feels like buckshot when it hits you and a wind chill that is out of this world. 45 degrees and feels like about zero! Welcome to winter in N-KY. The trees are now stripped bare.

We timed the jamboree exactly right. A week earlier and there would have been little color, a week latter and the leaves are gone.

I have spent most of the morning doing final weatherproofing of the house since this wind really tells me where the air leaks are. I have plastic and duct taped everything that could not run away fom me. If we have an NBC attack I am now set for shelter-in-place. A candle would probably go out in ten minutes for lack of oxygen in here.

[Rick]

We're under a high wind warning all day but so far we're just getting some breeze. Not bad at all. I saw on the radar this morning you folks in S. Ohio/N. Kentucky were getting freezing rain. Was it hitting the ground? Sure was a lot of pink on the radar.

[kyratshooter]

This morning?

Just a normal miserable winter rain. No ice in the mix and the wnd has died down from 40mph gusts to a steady 5-10 mph breeze. Even now at 9:30 the temp has not topped 40. Feels more like December than Oct.

[kyratshooter]

Just measured the axles.

The boat trailer has a track of 50" and the utility trailer has 54".

This ain't going to work!

Guess I need to stare out the window some more.

[rebel]

Just measured the axles.

The boat trailer has a track of 50" and the utility trailer has 54".

This ain't going to work!

Guess I need to stare out the window some more.

I'm not familiar with the deck over the tire design but, would that work?

[hunter63]

Kinda boils down to a spring mount problem.......and ride height.

[kyratshooter]

This is about to turn into a real project. Been considering it all evening. We're talking reciprocating saw, cutting torch, channel iron and welder time here.

I'm going to cut off the axle ends, replace the center and weld it all up bigger, badder and better. I can do that now, the weather has broken and the sun is out. Well it was out, it's dark now.

I'll have it done in a few days.

I got to checking after the first measurement. 5 trailers on this lot and none of them has the same width track!

[hunter63]

Hummmm, saws torches welders steel stock......Hummm'
"Yeah....Hello axle store,,,yeah goona be needin' one those :yea by coue' axles..... in the book....Yeah, there is room for a semi to unload....Thanks"

PS....Gonna be working on my back blade the afternoon,,,,want it to fit the quick disconnect on the tractor....
It's always something.
Good luck

[kyratshooter]

I got the axle out of the trailer this afternoon. This is going to be a patch up for garbage runs. Not much future for this axle. It has about 15 degree bend just to the left of center. It is U channel with the spindles welded into the ends. I have unbent metal for about a foot in from each hub. I can splice and patch but I am not going to have any faith in this repair for long distance hauling.

After the axle pull I am too tired to deal with any more today. Metal supply will not be open until Monday anyway. I will measure and chop tomorrow while praying for good weather next week.

As you say, "always sumthin."

[hunter63]

Got back from a vet and hardware run.......dog at vet, needs ear surgery.....other dog at home bumbed out....Where is my buddy?

Needed cut off blades, for my 4-1/2 grinder....picked up the wrong size arbor....oh well, gonna hit farmers market tomorrow, and get the right size wheels on the same trip.....again....Guess I should have checked size before heading out

At "The Place", so my other two grinders are at the city house.....The wheel will fit ...Those....LOL