So I am in the market for a trailer, the use would be for karting and possibly 2 kayaks. I would be pulling it with a car with a towing capacity of 1,000LBS, karting stuff probably weigh 300lbs would be the max. Harbor Freight has a cheap option, which I have read that people like them, but I have seen a couple of homemade truck bed trailers that are probably safer to travel over 70MPH then having a HF trailer singing back and forth. Has anybody built one or had experience with them?
Not sure on total weight, but from what I can find on, bed itself is approx 300 lbs, rear axle is probably another 250-300 lbs, plus what the frame part weights. You would probably be real close or over the cars limit once loaded. HF trailer would probably be a better option, get one with the biggest tires you can and it should pull alright with weight on it. Personally, no matter what trailer I pull, I try to keep it at 70 mph or below.
My thoughts are that if a truck is rusty enough to cut in half to make a trailer, it's just a rusty trailer.
I've borrowed my neighbor's trailer to haul multiple motorcycles, chucked it full of manure and occasionally some firewood. Thing never even blinked. It's rated for 1,000 lbs. and is $750 brand new, half that used.
Dan
For the money, especially when on sale or with one of the eleventybillion coupons, the HF trailers are tough to beat for what they are. I've got the 4x8 Folding Utility Trailer, with 12" wheels. I think the wheels say 55 mph on them, but it's seen 70 mph pretty much every time it's been on the interstate unloaded. I tend to take it slower loaded. It's pretty bouncy, but it seems all small trailers are that way, especially with little/no load on them.
I paid around $270 for mine with tax, and I've noticed them cheaper than that in the HF email flyers a few times in the past few months.
I took the time to sand all of the frame, and painted it all with some Rustoleum Hammered Black before assembly. I took my time squared everything, and put a quality 3/4" plywood deck on it with some counter sunk flat allen head bolts. I recommend getting a 1/2" (9/16" if you can find it) or maybe 5/8" plywood, the instructions specify 3/4" but it's too thick to have the two halves fold up flush against each other for storage.
Other than paint, all I've done is add some latches to keep it folded up during storage, mounted the license plate on hinge so it won't get torn off, water proofed the deck with some cheap patio/deck sealant, added some ~1/8" HDPE strips to fill the gaps between the cross braces and deck, replaced the horrible HF casters with some heavy duty ones from Surplus Center, and coated the underside of the deck with rattle can undercoating.
The trailer has never wagged, loaded or empty. My only real complaint is how bouncy it is, but I've got plans to remedy that eventually. I think I'm going to put some 13" wheels on it with some radial tires.
My HF trailer says 55mph on it, but I'm usually driving about 70-80 on the interstate with it. I'm sure it has seen 85 at some point passing.
Every truck bed trailer I have seen looks like it was a truck that was too far gone to use anymore. That doesn't make for a safe trailer IMHO.
i have one. it used to be my 88 silverado. it pulls perfectly. not sure on the weight though. we pulled about a ton of trash off a job site with it wednesday. the pickup springs and shocks make for a smooth ride versus stiff trailer springs
I'd rather use a decent truck bed trailer than an HF one. You're looking at better springs, bearings, wheels, larger tires, more load capacity. Done right I think they make great trailers. Using 1/2 ton axle and short bed might get you under the weight you need to be at. If i had one I'd go weigh it to give you an idea, but I don't.
I don't see those around much anymore, they were a lot more common in the 70s and 80s. My dad had one back then made from an early 70s Dodge that he used for hauling miscellaneous crap. I assumed they'd gone away for a reason. I'm sure they are beefy, but they don't have that much capacity for their size and weight, and why haul around the extra weight of a differential when you don't need it? I'd rather have something that was built to be a trailer. Bonus: Most actual trailers have a lower load floor.
Would you feel more comfortable above 55 mph if you could swap the 12 inch wheels for something bigger in diameter?
My dad made half a dozen pickup bed trailers and I don't know what to do with them.
They are convenient for the sides and because a Craigslist topper turns them into enclosed storage.
They suffer from low tongue weight due to wheel placement and the heavy tailgate in the back. Most have truck bed toolboxes mounted on the frame in front of the bed to help with that.
They are also quite a bit taller than a regular trailer, which could be good or bad depending on how you load or unload the bed.
I have a 5x10 landscaper trailer that I used to haul dirt bikes. I'd recommend one of those over the pickup bed trailer, lower cg and known good construction. The HF trailers seem OK but never used one myself.
They are cheap, many of us use them a lot, without problem. Definitely want to avoid that!
Far better to use a much heavier and taller home made thing.
...and easier pushing a dead dirt bike up a HF trailer than a pickup box.
People keep mentioning how tall the truck bed trailers are. They're very easy to lower and done right won't hurt load capacity.
Someone mentioned larger wheels/tires on the small utility trailers. I ditched the 12" wheels for 15"s and never looked back...made a world of difference.
Why just the bed when you can go fully enclosed front, and carry extra passengers?
914Driver wrote: My thoughts are that if a truck is rusty enough to cut in half to make a trailer, it's just a rusty trailer. I've borrowed my neighbor's trailer to haul multiple motorcycles, chucked it full of manure and occasionally some firewood. Thing never even blinked. It's rated for 1,000 lbs. and is $750 brand new, half that used. Dan
like to know where you are getting that half off used.. people around here seem to think that beat to E36 M3 big box store trailers are worth almost what they were new.. Something like that would be 500 or 600 on CL around here
It is not a truck bed trailer, but what is it for? Gas grill, car stereo on the remounted dash and tow truck disco lights. Is it some sort of tailgating contraption? It was advertised for $1,000 firm.
<img src="
" />
I was shopping HF trailers but found a used home improvement store trailer for $200. It's very similar to the HF trailer but welded and slightly larger (52x96). It doesn't fold but it does tilt. I bought it to haul karts but have found a variety of other uses too. The minivan is no longer subject to hauling dirty stuff. I measured it and think I can get 2 karts on it perpendicularly if I take off the sides.
trigun7469 wrote: So I am in the market for a trailer, the use would be for karting and possibly 2 kayaks. I would be pulling it with a car with a towing capacity of 1,000LBS, karting stuff probably weigh 300lbs would be the max. Harbor Freight has a cheap option, which I have read that people like them, but I have seen a couple of homemade truck bed trailers that are probably safer to travel over 70MPH then having a HF trailer singing back and forth. Has anybody built one or had experience with them?
Hey Big Paul, go with the harbor freight over a truck bed, for many many reasons! I have built and thoroughly used two of there 4x8 kits. The first one I built was back in the early 90's, specifically to haul my enduro kart. It had the little 8" wheels, and was on the flimsy side. I did swap out the tongue, with a piece of 2" square tube and extended it from the very back to slightly longer out front than the stock piece. Then added one of the plastic pick up truck bedboxes on the front to have some dry somewhat lockable storage, and towed that all over the darn country. Seriously, it went from Indy, to Ontario Canada, all the way down to Daytona, Fla. It worked fantastic. Not one issue ever. Trailer #2 was built in the early 2k's. The later model had the 12" wheels, and the only thing I did was change out some of the standard nuts and bolts to grade 8 hardware. I put down a 3/4" piece of plywood, and have hauled quads, dirtbikes, lumber, etc. with it for a very long time. Never had an issue with either towing decent loads at or slightly above highway speeds. Only went above to keep up with traffic, or merging, that sort of thing.
The one thing to keep in mind, is when you build the kit you have to jump through our states hoops to get registered and licensed. Its not that big of a deal, but jump something to keep in mind. I would check with AAA as to what the costs are nowadays, so you have a true full comparison of costs. You can also find good deals on the metal angle iron trailers on craigslist. My dad bought a 4x8 one that was like new for $500. That's maybe a hundred or so more than the HF one, but its ready to go.
Good luck
Paul
You'll need to log in to post.
