Bought another trailer/renovation

[Ted]

I announced this in the hot air balloon thread, but I figured I'd make a new thread about this.

Most people who own balloons want to have enclosed trailers to haul the balloon around. It makes the most sense because it also provides for easy storage of the balloon. I ended up finding this trailer on Facebook marketplace and got it for a very good price:

This trailer is larger than required for the "balloon" purpose. For that, a 6x10 trailer would be ideal. This one is 8x16, so both wider and longer (although height is about right). Plus it's a tandem axle where the weight requirements for a balloon would only require a single axle. Of course, this means this trailer is more versatile. It could also be used for trailering our motorcycles or the Cobra, as it's large enough for those to fit in just fine. So that's a pro of it, keeping the whole thing more versatile, especially if we get our ratings and then decide that we don't want to do ballooning much beyond that.

First thing I need to do is get a more appropriate height hitch, as the one I had was the wrong height with my truck. Easy enough trip to Tractor Supply to fix that.

This is an older trailer and has a few features I'm not used to. It does have electric brakes on both axles, although they're not hooked up and who knows if they're working. The wheels are the kind of style you see on a lot of older heavy duty trucks and busses, I forget what the style is called, where the tires are mounted to just the outer rim and then bolted to the 5-spoke big wheel. I've never seen that on a trailer before, at least of this size. They're 14.5" tires, something I've also never seen before. The general construction is pretty heavy duty and it tows very well.

It does obviously need a cleaning and I'm debating on what level of work I want to put into it. My thoughts to start are:

1) Add some screws for some of the panels that have come loose over the years
2) Repair body damage in a couple of areas
3) Replace some of the plywood on the inside
4) Paint it and use it as a chance to practice painting for when it's time to paint the Cobra
5) Fix the wiring so that the trailer brakes are hooked up and work
6) Replace some of the trim after painting that isn't in the best of shape.

The tires are new and the bearings are supposedly also new. The guys I bought it from bought it earlier this year from someone who used it to move from Indiana (still has the Indiana title). So that's logical - before a big trip like that is usually when people go through and spend some money on making a trailer better.

Laurie wants the trailer painted black because black is her favorite color on all vehicles. Of course that would also match our vehicles and would match the Cobra. But black has disadvantages for a trailer since it'll absorb heat in the summer and make it hot inside. So, something to think about.

 

[Matthew]

It’s a portable man-cave.

Add some storage shelves and tie downs.

 

[Sac Arrow]

I’m a little apprehensive about the lack of thinking involved.

 

[DaleB]

I think there's a reason the vast majority of trailers you see are either natural aluminum or painted white. Probably several reasons, in fact.

 

[lowtimer]

Whatever color you paint it doing something on top to make it easy to spot from the air might be helpful for directing the chase vehicle.

 

[Ted]

I’m a little apprehensive about the lack of thinking involved.

As has often been noted, a lot of the time when I do a "thinking about" thread I've already made a decision. So in this case, I jumped straight to the decision. Besides, I've owned a lot of trailers before.

Whatever color you paint it doing something on top to make it easy to spot from the air might be helpful for directing the chase vehicle.

I hadn't thought of that, but it's a great idea. We'll have to make sure to do that.

 

[Zeldman]

The wheels are the kind of style you see on a lot of older heavy duty trucks and busses, I forget what the style is called, where the tires are mounted to just the outer rim and then bolted to the 5-spoke big wheel. I've never seen that on a trailer before, at least of this size. They're 14.5" tires, something I've also never seen before.

I have a small computer screen, but they look like house trailer wheels. The 14.5'' size pretty much confirms that for me.

If so, then carry 4 or 5 spare tires.

They could possibly be 6500# axles, but I am no expert.

You might be a red neck if you ever helped your favorite uncle remove the tires and axles from his new house.....

 

[mondtster]

The wheels/tires/axles are mobile home pieces. Look there for parts. By chance is this a home built trailer?

The paint scheme on that thing is awesome. You should spruce it up and keep it.

 

[Ted]

I have a small computer screen, but they look like house trailer wheels. The 14.5'' size pretty much confirms that for me.

If so, then carry 4 or 5 spare tires.

They could possibly be 6500# axles, but I am no expert.

You might be a red neck if you ever helped your favorite uncle remove the tires and axles from his new house.....

Yeah, after doing some Googling I am fairly convinced that they are house trailer axles. Looks like that would have them rated for 6-7k lbs each, which is well above what i expect I would ever be putting in this thing. Even if you figure the trailer weighs 3,000 lbs (which might be accurate) and the Cobra and supplies would weigh another 3,000 lbs (which is on the high side), that should leave everything pretty under the ratings.

Also looks like there's not much point in trying to hook up the brakes on it, which is fine. My Ram stops it just fine.

The wheels/tires/axles are mobile home pieces. Look there for parts. By chance is this a home built trailer?

The paint scheme on that thing is awesome. You should spruce it up and keep it.

The title doesn't list it as a home-built trailer, but trailers are funny like that so it's hard to say with much certainty. The brand is listed as "Tennessee". For all I know, that could mean that some dude in Tennessee built it.

If it is home built, the general quality of the welds and the alignment of running straight down the road is better than I would've expected.

The interesting thing I noted was the comment that trailer home axles are intended for one-time use. I suppose I find that a bit odd and not sure why that would be per se.

 

[Matthew]

The interesting thing I noted was the comment that trailer home axles are intended for one-time use. I suppose I find that a bit odd and not sure why that would be per se.

A quick Google found this:
http://blog.easternmarine.com/trailers-with-mobile-home-axles/

>>
This system was not approved by DOT, but approved by HUD (Housing and Urban Development). It was called the MHA (Mobile Home Axle) and was supposed to be disposable.
<<

 

[Ted]

A quick Google found this:
http://blog.easternmarine.com/trailers-with-mobile-home-axles/

>>
This system was not approved by DOT, but approved by HUD (Housing and Urban Development). It was called the MHA (Mobile Home Axle) and was supposed to be disposable.
<<

Yeah, I noticed that. That said, trailer axles aren't exactly very complicated and frankly this seems heavier duty than a lot of the ones I've seen. It's not like there's anything special about a spindle, a few bearings, a hub, and tires.

My guess is that they were intended to carry a significantly higher weight (for a house) for a shorter period of time.

 

[Matthew]

My guess is that they were intended to carry a significantly higher weight (for a house) for a shorter period of time.

...and then be ignored for the next 20 years until the trailer is dragged away or demolished onsite.

 

[Ted]

...and then be ignored for the next 20 years until the trailer is dragged away or demolished onsite.

I was figuring on a tornado coming through.

 

[Matthew]

I was figuring on a tornado coming through.

They aren't called "Tornado Magnets" for nothing.

 

[Zeldman]

If it is home built

I seem to remember back in my racing days there was a trailer manufacturer that used the diamond style on the aluminum sheet sides. I just don't remember the name of the manufacturer.

The paint style reminds me of the motorcycle/go kart racers back then. Or even the lawnmower/bar stool racers..

There used to be a company that made hub conversions for trailer house axles to use 15, 16 inch Chevy/ Dodge wheels and real tires. I am not sure if that is still an option.

As far as brakes, I don't know about Kansas but in Texas and New Mexico a trailer is not required to have brakes if its gross weight (not empty weight) is 4,500 pounds or less, or its gross weight is heavier than 4,500 pounds but not heavier than 15,000 pounds and it is drawn at a speed of not more than 30 miles per hour. Which put farmers back to being able to haul their own crops on public roads again.

I don't know about anyone else, but I go faster than 30 on my driveway....

 

[Zeldman]

...and then be ignored for the next 20 years until the trailer is dragged away or demolished onsite.

Or until the kids grow up and need a place to live...with a porch big enough for 15 hound dogs to live under...

 

[Ted]

I seem to remember back in my racing days there was a trailer manufacturer that used the diamond style on the aluminum sheet sides. I just don't remember the name of the manufacturer.

The paint style reminds me of the motorcycle/go kart racers back then. Or even the lawnmower/bar stool racers..

There used to be a company that made hub conversions for trailer house axles to use 15, 16 inch Chevy/ Dodge wheels and real tires. I am not sure if that is still an option.

As far as brakes, I don't know about Kansas but in Texas and New Mexico a trailer is not required to have brakes if its gross weight (not empty weight) is 4,500 pounds or less, or its gross weight is heavier than 4,500 pounds but not heavier than 15,000 pounds and it is drawn at a speed of not more than 30 miles per hour. Which put farmers back to being able to haul their own crops on public roads again.

I don't know about anyone else, but I go faster than 30 on my driveway....

I don't recall the exact Kansas laws, but I seem to recall brakes weren't required below something like 7,000 lbs. Doing some Googling there are conversions available that let me put standard hubs on if I wanted to go that route. Although at that point, I'm putting a good amount more into the trailer than a few hundred bucks of paint and trim.

On the other side of it, I'm not driving this thing far. This weekend the plan is to go get the balloon. Saturday I figure I'll give the trailer a once over to convince myself that it'll actually hold up on the drive. After that, we're launching from our house and only then driving as far as the balloon can go in one hour. That's not very far, and so the reality is after getting the balloon, it's probably not such a big deal.

Of course if I start hauling the Cobra or motorcycles places, it becomes a bigger deal.

Time to do more thinking. @Sac Arrow will feel better.

 

[Sac Arrow]

I feel better already, thanks.

 

[Ted]

After the kids went to bed I looked at the trailer for a bit. First thing was I put on the drop hitch that I bought to get the trailer height correct. This thing does sit pretty low, probably part of why it tows well.

Then I jacked up each side and checked the bearings. They're tight on all 4 wheels. Two of the wheels have more drag than I think they should. One of them makes a little noise but that sounds like it's coming from the brake drums so not something that's worrisome. Saturday I'm going to prep things before I go to get the balloon on Sunday, and I figure part of that prep work will be pulling the bearing caps off and taking a look at things in there. Possible that a couple of the bearings are overtightened... a lot of people don't know how to adjust bearings.

All that to say... I remain conflicted.

 

[7_Zero_Whiskey]

I bought a 16’ car hauler that had mobile home axles on it several years ago. Ended up replacing the axles with some dexters with regular hubs and trailer tires. From what I remember it’s the tires that are made for mobile homes that are the most worrisome part, not necessarily the axles.

 

[FormerHangie]

I bought a 16’ car hauler that had mobile home axles on it several years ago. Ended up replacing the axles with some dexters with regular hubs and trailer tires. From what I remember it’s the tires that are made for mobile homes that are the most worrisome part, not necessarily the axles.

We had a trailer with tandem mobile home axles. The axles never gave us a problem, but the tires didn't last very long. Some of that may have been from how the trailer was laid out, somewhat similar to the one you have there. Unless you tow a bunch the tire wear shouldn't be that much of an issue. If it were me towing an enclosed trailer with a car in it, I'd sure want brakes.

 

[Ted]

My wife got home from work on Sunday (after getting sent home sick with pneumonia) and to my surprise, she actually liked the trailer other than the fact that it's ugly. We talked about the pros and cons of it and given that it's structurally solid and has a lot of longer term benefits, we think we'll go through and "restore" this one.

The first order of business that really should be addressed is the flooring. The floor on it right now is plywood, just standard thickness OSB (similar thickness to what's in a house). Much of the wood there isn't in great shape and so we figure it would be a good idea to put down new wood. Anyone have thoughts on what thickness/type of wood to put down for replacement? I'm used to my equipment trailers having 2x8s or 2x10s, but those are of course flatbed trailers and not enclosed.

I'm also going to update the electrical. Right now it has a 4-pin connector which is fine, but I'm going to swap it over to a 7-pin. This has the advantage of also adding in reverse lights (put some LEDs on the back for backing up at night) and can also add some interior lights off of the auxiliary power pin. I figure what I'd also do is put a switch in so I could also just turn on the reverse lights from the aux power as well. So get them when backing up and get them if needed when setting up and tearing down.

I have some other ideas, but that's the start.

 

[Matthew]

As large as it is you might add a couple of interior lights, too (edit: I see now that you already thought about that part). Going with the 7 pin lets you add brakes, does your truck have a brake controller?

Depending on the structure of the trailer, you could add some tracks inside for rolling your Cobra onto it without having to add structure to the entire floor. A lot of glider trailers also have aluminum tracks and pull-out ramp extensions for rolling the fuselage and wing dollies in and out.

 

[Ted]

As large as it is you might add a couple of interior lights, too (edit: I see now that you already thought about that part). Going with the 7 pin lets you add brakes, does your truck have a brake controller?

The truck has a built-in brake controller which works very well. These hubs do have electric brakes on them, but I have no idea how well they work (if at all).

Depending on the structure of the trailer, you could add some tracks inside for rolling your Cobra onto it without having to add structure to the entire floor. A lot of glider trailers also have aluminum tracks and pull-out ramp extensions for rolling the fuselage and wing dollies in and out.

By tracks are you thinking like metal plates over the specific area where the Cobra's wheels will be? This also maybe a motorcycle hauling trailer and as you know i have a tendency to pick up random stuff for no apparent reason that can be heavy. So I probably would be smart to overbuild the floor.

 

[Matthew]

The truck has a built-in brake controller which works very well. These hubs do have electric brakes on them, but I have no idea how well they work (if at all).

With only a 4-wire, I wonder how they are/were controlled?

By tracks are you thinking like metal plates over the specific area where the Cobra's wheels will be? This also maybe a motorcycle hauling trailer and as you know i have a tendency to pick up random stuff for no apparent reason that can be heavy. So I probably would be smart to overbuild the floor.

Yeah, either metal plates or 2 2x10 doublers from front to back.

Glider trailers often have aluminum tracks inside, the aircraft parts rest on dollies and can then be rolled in and out easily. For your balloon application it may not work so well, except for being able to load the heavy stuff in one end and then roll it forward more easily instead of climbing inside and muscling it around.

 

[Ted]

With only a 4-wire, I wonder how they are/were controlled?

They weren't.

The previous owners of this trailer definitely didn't know what they were doing when it came to electrical. The guys I bought it from realized that none of the lights worked, so they went to WalMart, bought a 4-pin and some new tail lights and wired those in. The brakes from what I can tell haven't been connected in some time and it's questionable whether they'd work.

Yeah, either metal plates or 2 2x10 doublers from front to back.

Glider trailers often have aluminum tracks inside, the aircraft parts rest on dollies and can then be rolled in and out easily. For your balloon application it may not work so well, except for being able to load the heavy stuff in one end and then roll it forward more easily instead of climbing inside and muscling it around.

Basically the envelope gets rolled around and the basket slides on the plastic skids. So any sort of flooring that's semi-slick (but not too slick for your feet) is a good thing.

Doing some reading up it looks like 3/4" plywood is probably what I want. So I may just look for a few sheets of that when at Lowes tomorrow and redo the flooring with it and some Kilz. Then if I want to put something on top of it, I could do pretty much whatever I wanted (metal, diamond plate, etc.).

 

[Matthew]

They weren't.

The previous owners of this trailer definitely didn't know what they were doing when it came to electrical. The guys I bought it from realized that none of the lights worked, so they went to WalMart, bought a 4-pin and some new tail lights and wired those in. The brakes from what I can tell haven't been connected in some time and it's questionable whether they'd work.



Basically the envelope gets rolled around and the basket slides on the plastic skids. So any sort of flooring that's semi-slick (but not too slick for your feet) is a good thing.

Doing some reading up it looks like 3/4" plywood is probably what I want. So I may just look for a few sheets of that when at Lowes tomorrow and redo the flooring with it and some Kilz. Then if I want to put something on top of it, I could do pretty much whatever I wanted (metal, diamond plate, etc.).

Croft Trailer Supply has all sorts of accessories, but it's a few extra blocks out of your way.

 

[jsstevens]

I like the 3/4" plywood plan. If that's supported every couple of feet it's remarkably stiff. And as you've said, add stuff on top if needed. Do seal it top, bottom and edges. Water will release the glue over time.