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Picked up a new trailer

4K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  viper65 
#1 ·
It is a 6x8 enclosed trailer. Made from 1/4 inch c channel iron with a triangle tongue. It has a 4 inch drop axle with electric brakes.

It was my uncles, it has sat in a field for about 9 years. It was a homemade job but it was welded up very nice and is stout..

The wood on the enclosure is rotted out bad and will have to be totally torn apart. I was thinking about just hacking the top off and making about 2 ft sides on it and welding some tube steel to the base and making rails. Replacing the wood floor with diamond plate.

The back door is 48" wide. Too narrow for a quad.

I have 3 brand new radials for the tires on it. Ford 4.5 5 bolt 15 inch tires. No small ones.

The trailer is going to be rewired.. The front plug is torn off. I have a tow package on my truck and found the factory harness for the electric brakes.

Now on the hitch, I have a 97 Ram 4x4. The plug on the hitch is a factory 7 plug?? I have a converter to be a 4 plug..

Is there a online wiring diagram so you can see what plug pring goes where? I plan on hooking up the brakes also.

I will get some pics up of it now.. Dont laugh thou.. IT looks really really rough. But for what i got it for I wasnt laughing.. :D When i got it i was looking at the frame and how it was built. It is heavy duty, thats why i got it. Plus i was wanting to get snow tracks for my quad down the road.
And having snow tracks and loading the quad into the truck with tracks isnt a option.

The other reason i was thinking of making it a open trailer vs leaving it a enclosed was because of the snow tracks. And is i want to haul 2 quads with my truck I can make the front rail lay down to the floor so I can be able to drive a quad up onto the bed from the trailer floor..

So what do you all think?? Honest?? What would you do with it? Leave it enclosed? Open it up? It wouldn be nice to have a enclosed one also. Snow tracks need about 51 inches for the door opening.

So far with the trailer and new tires into it I have a total investment of $0.00

If i hacked it off or id have $200 into it abouts. If i redid the wood sides i would have about $400 into it. My guess...

Beats $700 for a 6x8 open trailer.
 

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#2 ·
ANother
 
#3 ·
Nother
 

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#4 ·
nother again
 

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#6 ·
looks like a good start, I did about the same thing pickedup a old popup camper and the wife and I decided not to use it so I tore everything off and made a flatbed with it 3k lbs rating duel axles and all I had todo was bolt down wood :) and add strap tie downs.

I need to get a bigger one tho mine is only 12 feet long tight for 3 atv and I need to haul 4 next year.
 
#7 ·
a friend did the same with one of my old pop-ups.

I was thinking of converting my Travel trailer into a toy hauler type with sleep area, basically just gutting the rear area and adding a fold down door/ramp.

Jim
 
#9 ·
Here are wiring diagrams for all the various plugs...

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/trailer_wiring-diagram.htm

Plus you can get a 7->4 converter at Wal Mart for about $7.

It looks like a nice trailer. I don't think the wood is in all that bad a shape, but I agree, the rear door would have to be widened.

Given how hard it'd be to get a quad in and out due to the small size of the enclosure, I would be tempted to make it an open trailer, then weld up some additional "platformage" (is that a word?) so you can load up two ATVs sideways. Just be sure to check the new tires and ensure you have enough load capacity. My SP800 fully fuelled and loaded with gear weighs 900 lbs WITHOUT ME ON IT, so figure you'll need 1800 lbs plus the weight of the trailer itself, for two ATVs.

Rob
 
#10 ·
Thanks guys for not laughing :) I did see alot of potential. I have a vision of how i want it to be.. Hopefully it turns out like that..

I think i will open it up. Given how i dont know what the axle rating is. The tag is totally worn off. SO i dont know if its a 2k or a 3k axle. I was thinking of welding up additional platforms but given how the rear tires sit so high it would be hard to load 2 quads sideways.

If i cut the top off and make 2ft sides with rails I can use it for a dump run trailer as well as a quad trailer. Or my parents can use it as well. They bought a new Chevy.. Funny every time they need to go get rock or dirt or a messy job they use my truck not to mess theirs up.. LOL I dont mind, I give em a bad time and tell them "Yep only a Dodge is tuff enuf to do the dirty work, pops your Chevy couldnt handle hauling a yeard of rock " I get a kick out of it... Yeah i know a truck is made to get used.. They keep their stuff like a shrine.. They had a 84 chevy.. It has a truck bed mat in it.. When they sold it 10 years later it still had the mat in it and the factory paint with not 1 scratch in the bed, looked like it rolled out of a showroom floor.

I have a Louisiana Guard Dog as well which will allow me to pull a trailer as well as secure my quad.. The tongue rating is 250 for the tongue and 2500 for the trailer I think. With 1 quad that should be fine.

Rob right now i have a 7 to 4 converter. Those diagrams should work great thanks! I just needed to know what wire goes where.

I needed to find out on the electric brakes and the lights back on the 6 or 7 prong plus what wires went to what.. You have the stop, turn, park, grnd, and 2 for the trailer brakes. I found the plug inside the truck to hook it up to the factory wiring. Ill check it out later and see if i can figure it out.
 
#11 ·
From looking at it, I'd say it's a 3000-3500# axle, which should be fine. A dinky little 2000# axle wouldn't have ended up with those big beefy wheels I don't think.

I wouldn't worry about deck height for the ATVs... here's the trailer I built a year ago, which has a fairly high deck (intentionally). This is an OLD pic before I put on the stake pockets or the spare tire mount.

As for trucks and dirt and stuff, my shiny new (to me) 2005 Dodge RAM 3500 has already carried a 3000 lbs of topsoil and a half ton of bark for our back yard. It's so stupid how people will buy a big fancy truck and then not use it for fear of scratching it. Sheesh.

Rob
 

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#12 ·
I like it Jeff, what about having the best of both world and cutting right in the middle of the sides. But keeping or redoing that top part also so that you could "bolt" the top back on somehow when you needed a covered trailer. and when you don't, you could just leave the top off and store it.
 
#13 ·
Well it has been a few months.. Between work and home I havent had much time to work on the trailer, I got some time here in the past few weeks.. Heres the progress..

I ended up tearing the whole thing down to frame.. Walls floor roof... Everything, tore out all the wiring too. Took the trailer over to a sand blast place and got her shot, she is down to bare metal now. Looks really sweet. The guys at the blast place redid some of the weak looking welds and re attached a fended that has broke off. The guy here did the blasting and welding for 85 bux.

I just talked to a friend that paints and he is going to put the frame in epoxy primer and paint it for me for 75 bux..

I may end up making a drop down door for it vs a double swing door. I am hoping i can get this done in time for the polarisriders Utah trip.

Anyways heres a few pics..
 
#14 ·
Yes my garage is still a mess...

ITs sandblasted now.
 
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