slefain
PowerDork
9/18/19 8:35 a.m.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
I was going to do the same thing, make a HF trailer into a little do-all hauler. Ended up going bigger when Lowe's was knocking out 5x8 utlity trailers for $600. We decked it with marine plywood and added 48" high sides. I sling a tarp over the whole thing to make a fake enclosed trailer. It put in removable bike fork mounts for vacation duty, and we pack everything in plastic totes that stack in the trailer. So much better than playing Tetris to pack for a trip, just throw it all in the trailer and roll. Next up I'm thiking of adapting a truck bed tonneu cover to replace the tarp.
In reply to slefain :
Can I see pics of your tarp cover?
slefain
PowerDork
9/18/19 9:43 a.m.
See if this works:
The tarp is sandwiched between 1x4s on each side, with the front of the tarp retained by a removable 1x4 that clamps it to the trailer. The rear of the tarp is pulled tight via bungee cords. You have to change the tarp every two years or so. The boards allow the tarp to be pulled tight evenly without ripping out the eyelets. My engineer FIL designed it, and I admit it is pretty brilliant. I stopped using straps across the top, it doesn't need it. Now I just use one strap at the front pulling down and forward, and one strap at the back pulled the gate shut tightly.
mtn said:
https://www.hfqpdb.com/best_coupon/1195+LB.+CAPACITY+4+FT.+x+8+FT.+HEAVY+DUTY+FOLDABLE+UTILITY+TRAILER
https://www.hfqpdb.com/best_coupon/1720+LB.+CAPACITY+4+FT.+X+8+FT.+SUPER+DUTY+UTILITY+TRAILER
Decent coupons...
Funnily enough, I also found those. I think I'm going to grab one either today or tomorrow at lunchtime even though I'm flat out on a roof job and won't get around to assembling it for a few weeks. The urgency is the spousal unit is currently in favour of a new trailer having been struggling with the disintegrating one. This may not be true in a couple of weeks time!!
Can you put taller wheels on them ?
It just seems that they are made for around town at 40 MPH ,
and then you see them loaded up and being pulled down the highway at 75 MPH
The tires are overloaded and the cheap wheel bearings must be crying !
lrrs
HalfDork
9/18/19 10:26 a.m.
Adrian_Thompson said:
One thing I've read online is that the hubs and bearings are metric, so common parts like dust covers for the hub are not standard parts. Not sure about getting hold of metric parts in the future, what are peoples experience / thoughts on that subject?
Cheers.
Dust covers were an issue on my Hf trailer, bearing not so much. Whet to the local beating place, the guy pulled them off the shelf and asked what Ducati I had. Apparent Ducati at the time(90s) was sourcing the same crappy bearings and there had been a huge run on replacements.
In reply to californiamilleghia :
They're fine up past 100mph from experience.
The bearings are larger than the ones on most compact cars. It is a non issue.
Going to be getting a trailer from hf to turn into a kayak hauler for the wife's car. Should be neat when it's done
Honestly, the wheel bearings have done far better than expected. I seriously had those little 10" wheels up to 110mph and have towed fully loaded at 80+ for hours on end. I've repacked them a couple of times and once readjusted them in a Starbucks parking lot, but they still roll nice and smoothly. The rest of the trailer is just suffering from age, environmental conditions and being left outside uncovered between use for 10 years.
So, after a two hour lunch break I now have the heavy duty (1,720lb) 4x8 trailer kit on the rook of my Volvo. The closest HF didn't have the trailer in stock, despite their system claiming otherwise, so I had to go to another store after they called ahead for me to put it to one side. The garage is full of a broken Porsche right now so I may bolt it together here at work next week then take it home for welding and finishing. Stay tuned for updates.
So the box on the roof was 260lb's, heavy berkeleyer and a bitch to get up there. Easier unloading it back at work though!
I’ve had a 1720 lb with 12 inch wheels for 16 years now. Best money I’ve spent.
