So bottom line is just rent a trailer if you are only using it a couple times a year and save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run. The best way to go is all aluminum lighter & cheaper to tow - don't rust - etc but a decent little aluminum trailer will run you over $1000. I could write a book about people I know who thought they were smart buying cheaper little trailers and had to buy 3 of them just to get the same amount of use I got out of one slightly better one. A decent 4x8 or 5x8 open trailer should cost about $800 to $1000 - anything cheaper isn't worth owning. If you are going to purchase a trailer for highway use buy a decent one not Harbor Freight or the stuff like Lowes or Home Depot sells. If you don't plan to use a trailer at least 6 to 8 times a year it is much cheaper just renting one when you need it. So every 5 to 7 years a trailer will cost you $75 to $140 to replace the tires - not including any thing else you might need to do on it. For a small price, you can get a really great light duty trailer that can pull tons of gear and leave p. It is worse for trailer tires due to sitting they dry rot quicker because they are not being used & exercised. Heres my quick review of the HF 4x8 utility trailer. Something else to consider is trailer tires (or any tires for that matter) only last 5 to 7 years. Like stated above those little tires just spin way to fast and using a trailer with them is just asking for problems. With that said I would never tow a trailer with 8" tires down the highway - it just isn't worth the risk. So I have a good bit of experience with trailers. I still have a little open trailer I use occasionally but rarely for highway use. Anyway I got new grease seals so I was ready to repack. Probably been around 4000 miles since I got it and pumped grease in there thru the fitting but no repacking. And storing it is even easier.I have owned 14 different trailers in the past 10 or 12 years and for the first time in 25 years I don't own an enclosed trailer. ok guys and gals gimme your opinion on my wheel bearings I just took out for repacking on my Harbor Freight Utility trailer. I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone with some mechanical know how as a viable option. The trailer tracked straight as an arrow and even through smacking some nasty bumps gave me not one lick of trouble. ![]() 14 straight hours driving (one way) and the hubs were never more than warm to touch. ![]() Well I made the 2000 mile round trip and this trailer kicks ass. Ran a separate ground wire to all lights and used wire loom the whole way through. So I cut a piece of angle iron and bolted it to the top of the tounge to give me more real estate for the sway control ball, this also brought it more inline with the hitch. I bought the friction sway control bar also from harbor' the ball plate is wider than the tounge and it also sits lower than the hitch. I reinforced the tongue with another cross bar to give full boxed support. The hubs I stripped and hand packed with mobile 1 synthetic bearing grease. I was able to find the DOT speed rating of the hf tires and believe their rated up to 86mph. Reading more on using the trailer at speed my big concerns were the hubs, tires, and overall stability. Welded some nuts on the bottom plate to keep them captured so the wheel chock can be put on and taken off without hassle.īuilt some staked sides with 1x10s to act as rock guards. Got it positioned and bolted a steel plate again to the bottom of the trailer. These are not welded to the frame but good luck pulling them through.īought a wheel chock also from harbor. 10k lbs rated D rings in each corner with stainless steel plates on the underside for tie downs. Notched the sides to sit into the frame flush and notched the corners to clear the bolt heads. Used 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood cut in half. I used red locktite on all the bolts, some others online bolted then welded it, I stuck with the red locktite. ![]() The trailer is a project to get it together. Long story short I heard about the HF trailers and was skeptical but researched a ton on them so I figured screw it and bought the 1200 capacity folding trailer kit with 12 inch tires, here's my experience. Figured I could buy something to keep for that price and started an obsessive search for a trailer. U haul one way was in the ballpark of 250 so looking at 500 round trip. So I was looking for a way to get my bike from northeast Ohio down to my brother in Jacksonville Florida.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |