Printable View
I found on craigslist a tandem axle 20ft camper. They want $200 for it so I was thinking about offering them $100 and converting it into a trailer. I know a few people on here have done this. Was it worth it? Any tips or advice in doing so? Would you do it again or just spend the money and buy a car hauler or skid loader trailer? I can get rid of the waste for free and have access to a welder/plasma cutter.
Does it have, or do you need a title for it? If you can title it in your state then I would say go for it. You can make at least 1/2 your money back on the aluminum and other items in it.
If that was here and it had a title (PA requires a title) I would pay the $200 for it, it would make a good car hauler if you can stiffen it up and put some planking on it.
A title would be nice. I'm not too sure if it has one. I believe that I could if need be licence it as a home made trailer, but this costs more. I am friends with the person in town who deals with the licencing, so I will talk to them first to make sure.
Shop around for a car hauler and price them out then figure your costs to convert that one and shazam you will have your answer. Don't forget to take the scrap into consideration.
If I had the cash that trailer would already be in my yard and any other like it.
Just called him and will be looking at it tomorow. Thanks for the replies. The cheapest car hauler on craigslist was 1500 and it wasn't much. I sceond guess myslef allot and just needed some reasurance that it wasn't a stupid idea.
If you do get it and make a car trailer out of it, take lots of pictures and share with the rest of us. We love a good build every now and again, and pictures are the bomb. :)
It amazes me that people will spend thousands on enclosed cargo trailers, yet you can score a sweet deal like this and do what ever you want to it and have money to burn...nice score, don't let it get away.
We have converted (4) camper trailers into excellent flat-bed type trailers and one mobile home into a long trailer that we now call our Heavy- Hauler. I definetely think it's worth all the work. There is a couple major considerations you might want to consider.
A lot of the older mobile home axels have what are refered to as Dayton Wheels although the duty rating and weight capacity is really good on these, a lot of States no longer allow these type of wheels being used on trailer anymore. It's easy to tell if it's a Dayton, instead of traditional Lugs & Nuts, the dayton utilize these heavy clips / clamps that hold the rim to the Hub, usually 4-5 of them.
The other main consideration is the over-all condition of the frame, most camper trailers are made really well with fairly thick steel frames, but there are a few here and there that were made with extremely light duty frame-work. But if you are able to cut steel and weld a bit you can beef up any old frame with extra braces etc.
Well good luck with your project.
GreenTruckR
I have recently aquired a 16 footer and also intend to convert it into a car trailer.
Good luck with yours!
A dual axle is a good score, you know at least 1 axle has electric brakes and if you have a big load the electric brakes on the trailer are invaluable. Sure saves a lot of wear and tear on your truck braking system. I always set my trailer brake just a little heavy, that way when I'd hit the brakes you could feel the trailer brakes pulling the truck down slightly. Minimizes jackknives where the trailer tries to eat up the truck.
I just got back from picking the trailer up(parked it out at a farm). Sorry guys I forgot my camara I'm in a hurry to get home to my parents for christmas. I will get pictures after the holiday. It is a 1979 Wilderness. The bed is 19ft.
In Minnesota you do need a title to rebulid a trailer of this size. It was too large to be labled as a home made trailer. We found the title inside the trailer, so that was not a problem.
The trailer is in real rough shape, but the frame is in perfect condition. The wheels are also really nice and have allot of tread left. The frame doesn't look all that strong and will need to be beefed up. The guy also threw in a really nice Reese weight destributing hitch. It also had allot of aluminum pans and other things inside.
I will take pictures throughout the process when I start. It will most likely be later this winter.
W00T, I see a trailer build coming on. Bring on the pics.
That weight dist. hitch cost 2-300 new easy...what a great deal.
It was awesome that he thew the hitch in. I was keeping my fingers crossed as soon as I saw it sititng on the front of the trailer, and all the pieces were there so it is complete.
That weight dist. hitch will make a loaded trailer pull like a dream. No tail wag, and if your tongue heavy you can use those bars to pull it back up level.
I added top rails to beef up the frame on my RV conversion. Also cut the spindles free from the old axle tube then extended them with new tube to make the trailer wide enough for a car or truck to fit onto the deck.Quote:
Originally Posted by dmm2442
http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_5158.jpg
http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_5157.jpg
Nice work gus. I hope my trailer turns out as nice as yours.
I'm sure that it will, forgot to mention that the trailer with battery and winch tip the scales at 1100 lbs, the heaviest load was an old WD9 tractor. When I loaded that tractor the trailer lifted the rear wheels of my 3/4 ton off the ground until I managed to get the beast forward enough to put some weight on the tongue.Quote:
Originally Posted by dmm2442
The cross members would blow you mind, used 3 x 1/4" flat plate with 1 1/2" flat plate welded onto the middle making it a T-bar, the cross members are proximately 40" apart, the 3" is face up welded low enough that the installed planks are level with the trailer outside rails.
The outside rials are 4" channel with the face towards the inner side of the trailer frame, this allowed me to install my lights inside the rail for protection plus gave me a flat surface to weld my cross members onto. The rails for the hitch were extended for added strength.
Ok thanks for the tips gustavas. The outside rails on my trailer are the same 4" channel iron . My original plan was to take some smaller channel iron and weld it inside of the 4" to make a full tube until your idea of the top rails. What did you make your ramps out of? I have an old battery shelf(3"angle iron on both sides) that is very sturdy. I was going to convert it into ramps(I'd have to get a picture of it for it to make sense). Did the cross members flat plate work out or would you do that differently? That would probably be the cheapest way. I was also going to look for a junky old trailer that I could cut up for the steel all I have is angle iron. Also any estimate on what the tractor weighed?
For ramps I just cut some 2 x 12 junk planking approximately 40" long, the method to this is that sometimes parts from the undercarriage or steering geometry especially if the wheels are off will get caught.Quote:
Originally Posted by dmm2442
Having the ramp planks just laid out onto the rear of the trailer if anything does get caught the planks will let loose then skid onto the trailer, then jack the car or truck up to retrieve the planks for the rear wheels.
This does not happen very often but when it does you'll be thankful for having your ramps loose
Fixed ramps are a PITA in my opinion, there will be more times than not that they are a nuisance.
At the rear and front channels of my trailer I only welded 1 1/2" x 1/4" flat plate. When you weld up your T'-bar stitch and stagger your welds or your going to have some seriously warped bits of iron.
On the 4" channel where the spring hangers are welded onto the frame I put short pieces of fish plating at each hanger, lets say the spring bolt hanger is 2 inches long my fish plate would have extended 1 " off either end for a total length of 4 inches.
The pipe used for the strong back is 1 1'/2" black gas pipe with 1 1/2" x 1/4" flat
bar welded on top. Then tapered down then welded to the top of the channel, Before I tapered I had left the flat plat longer than necessary, I heated it then bent it so that I have about an 1 1/2" contact with the channel for a firm weld.
I looked at fenders from Princess Auto the Canadian equivalent to Harbor Freight but decided not to purchase them. I had some material bent on a brake then cut it to length with notches to bend it where needed to form mud guards front and rear. Just between the tires I've welded in a brace that fits under the fender giving it more support. I believe the material I used is something like 3/16" for the fenders and they turned out cheaper than had I purchased pre-formed garbage.
if you need a picture of this brace I can do in the morning.
I used LED lights, not because I'm in love with them but for this. If the trailer ever broke down and needed to be left at road side I could hook the marker lights to the battery and not worry about draining the battery. The reflective tape is mandatory in Canada for all Commercial trucks and trailers.
Chances are that your 4" channel is facing flat-side outwards, you could just add some pieces of fish plate to weld your cross members onto. If it were me I would cut the side channels loose then swap sides.
To answer your question would I change anything in regards to using the T-Bar, yes if I could have purchased this ready made I would have. This is the second trailer I have built using this system and it is strong.
The 4: channel was an unexpected surprise, my other trailer was made using the frame from a Mobile Home, that had some nice box tubing 2" x 10" x 1/8".
Be sure to examine any factory welds your going to leave as part of your trailer construction. From my experience they;re not very good welds. I have always ground them off or at least down so that I could get a good root weld, then a second pass to finish the weld off.- make it look pretty,
The guy at the welding shop where I buy my gas for the mig talked me into Co2, when this bottle is empty I'm gong back to my argon / Co2 mix which gives much nicer looking welds with less clean up.
First picture is looking at the LH rear corner of the trailer., 2nd is an example of fish plating to secure the tie down winch, 3rd id the brace under the fender for added support.
One of the hubs I welded to the new axle tubing is slightly out of alignment and wore out the tire after about 3,000 km. First thing after the snow is gone both axles are coming off then going to the trailer shop in Brandon they have a press to align and tweak the hubs. And the nest part is that it is very economical if you take the axles off it's only going to cost me $50.00 do do the pair.
http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_5159.jpg
http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_5160.jpg
http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_5161.jpg
.
Awesome thanks gustavus. I never really thought about something catching onto the ramps. Your method will also be allot easier. Thanks for taking the time to write up all of that. It will give me some good ideas with my build. Im sure I will have more questions along the way.
Nice winch mount. I will most likely be doing just about the same as yours. With saving money on the trailer, I will have some to spend on a winch.
On the first trailer built, I had inverted the T-Bar set apart at proximately 36 inches, this allowed me to use scrap planking cut to size and easy replacement of any damaged sections.Quote:
Originally Posted by dmm2442
http://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/...urrent=001.jpg
http://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/...rent%3D003.jpg
http://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/...rent=001-1.jpg
http://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/...urrent=002.jpg
Sorry I couldn't get the pictures to show up in the thread.
I started Friday after work tearing apart the camper. It was allot of work, but nothing too bad. I got rid of all the junk for free. Our packer at work was on its way by Saturday, so I had them back right up to my pile and throw it in.
My estimate scrap that I tore off was 100-150 lbs of aluminum, 30lbs of wire, 5lbs of copper, and around 50lbs of light iron. I had a bathroom scale out there and weighed a few items and estimated that way, so it may vary a few lbs or so. This is not including the oven, furnace, air conditioner, water heater, and fridge. The oven and furnace was given to a friend who is going to make a fish house. The water heater was given to a plumber who I pick up scrap from. I will cut up the air conditioner and will give away the fridge for free to anybody who wants it.
It took me about two days to get this far. I still have the floor to tear off, but won't take too long. I really hurt my wrist yesterday, so I'm taking the day off.
The last picture is where I spend all of my time. All my big scrap items I tear apart are at this location. It is still amazing that I tore all of this apart in January in Minnesota without gloves or a hat.
Here is a link to a tutorial that I made for people to insert pictures using photobucekt.
http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/showt...ial?highlight=
Basically all you need to do is copy and past the IMG Code for the picture; It the one that has [IMG][/IMG] around the link.
[IMG] http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z389/dmm2442/003.jpg[/IMG ]
(Note: I put a space before the last ] so the link will show up and not the picture)
Looking good, I look forward for more progress on this build.
Thanks CMHN. I gotta run, so I'll have to mess with it tomorow.
Hi everyone, I'm new here so thank you for allowing me to join. So, 2 days ago I got (for free) a 1960's - 20' travel trailer that I have almost to the frame. Just the sides remain. It had the split rims, which I immediately trashed. My questions are.. Do I need to change the axles for the new tires and rims or can I just use existing ones? Which is better diamond plate, wood or both? And where do I find ramps and wheel wells?
Chances are the axle is fine. Clean and Re pack the bearings replace brakes. If the tires are cracked carry a spare and use um. I use wood for decks to save on weight. Ever 2-3 years flip the boards depending on how rough you are on them. I made a frame out of bed frames and box in the wheel wells with plywood. Maybe diamond plate up front for bolting a winch. Make stake pockets for bigs loads of mixed metal. It's nice to have 6ft walls instead of throwing 20 straps
I replaced the u bolts and sand blasted the leafs and replaced all the hardware.i didn't need to tho Just look for broken welds cracks in the tounge and reciver pretend your and ass hole cop doing a road side inspection.