New Trailer, what should I do to it

[Danno]

Ya I torched or drilled the holes in crossmembers. Then reamed to a plastic grommet size. The wires wont chafe if the harness is secured though.

 

[psykown]

I do have plenty of spare fuel line that sounds like a winning plan!

I think after I've welded the rails on she will get stripped down and painted as well, there are some minor rust spots that are bugging my OCD lol

 

[Danno]

The fuel line can be split anshoved in after wiring. Ha so can a grommet. I kinda liked to glue the grommets in with 3m weather strip adhesive. And glue the dust caps for the hubs. The black tabe on the harness is a habit. It looks good and in enclosed areas will keep the mice away from the soybean based coating on the wires.. i get kinda crazy about the little things.

You definitely dont want the spring eyes to hoove with rust. It will put pressure on the plastic bushing and sieze the eye bolt. The eye bolt splines will cut a slot in the spring hanger. Siezed eye bolts on the shackle side will break the spring. If you mess with the bushings. Open up the sping eyes so the plastic bushing is a slip fit. Then grease the spring eye and bushing before siding the bushing in. If not rebuilding then wet everything out with some oil. The leaf springs too. A big adjustable can grab the shackle and wiggle it to verify movement. All this is fun work. But replacing the hangers isnt. Especially low to the ground with the torch slag blowing back at ya. On a lift not so bad. But alot of precise torching to cut the hangers off. I liked cutting the couplers off. And there is some hidden welds. Good stuff!

 

[psykown]

All right so was out of town for some family stuff but I did get the rails welded on right before leaving......I cannot stick weld TIG, great! stick, oh dear god lol I also welded up the right side rail and then realized I had set the top rail on the inside and not the outside, not a big deal just mildly annoying. Gave all the welds the 140lb pull test and nothing budged so I think we are good! Foreman approved and signed off after a small bribe of treats.

 

[MVI]

3/8 repair links are convenient, but not rated properly as part of a safety chain set up

You can buy these from a Dexter dealer, etrailer or amazon

they weld on, and this is the proper way to make a chain swap simple

 

[MVI]

Not sure if you need or want it, but I insure our trailers for theft, damage, collision, etc.

 

[psykown]

For that price I'll definitly pick a set up, just waiting on a spare wheel for now and we are all set.

I'll probably do the same, generally it will have 2 bikes on it so I want to at least make sure I get enough back for them

 

[MVI]

Our WW Cargo Trailer (12,000#) is roughly $180 for full coverage for 6 months. I know rates vary by location, but it seemed cheap enough for a trailer, with replacement cost well over $10K , it was a no brainer.

 

[MVI]

I hadn't seen those. Very nice, and I'll use them next time. Amazon has them for 5/16" chain, too.

I think 3/8" repair links are fine for lighter trailers, but those brackets look like a much better way to go, especially for a trailer that actually needs 3/8" safety chains.


Good idea. I haven't priced trailer insurance for "leisure use", but I'd think it's less than commercial use. Trailer theft of all types is common in my area.

Yes, they come in various sizes, we happen to stock the 3/8 chain sets and the weld on mounts.

I still have a bag of the old style weld on mounts for reference,... they will sit in inventory for a long time I presume