Another harbor freight trailer build

[AviatorTroy]

Nice, I think I'm going to be doing one of these in the next month or so. I intend to slowly improve it over the next year or so, but I think that if I at least get better bearings in it from day 1 it should be reliable enough to get me from Florida to Ohio, yes?

Also I wonder about the Chinese rubber tires.

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by AviatorTroy

Nice, I think I'm going to be doing one of these in the next month or so. I intend to slowly improve it over the next year or so, but I think that if I at least get better bearings in it from day 1 it should be reliable enough to get me from Florida to Ohio, yes?

Also I wonder about the Chinese rubber tires.

Don't sweat the tires, just keep them properly inflated. Mine are about 7 years old with many thoushands of miles on them.

Jim

PS One day I will get a spare though.

[vwboomer]

Originally Posted by JimVonBaden

Don't sweat the tires, just keep them properly inflated. Mine are about 7 years old with many thoushands of miles on them.

Jim

PS One day I will get a spare though.

Sweat the tires. They will likely fail and are rated at 55mph. I lost the center of mine at 65 on myfirst trip. Stopped at fleetfarm 10 miles later and bought two Carlysle wheel/tires.

Seriously. Sweat the tires

Looks good though. Might weld enough tie down points for hauling 3 bikes.
I also added a hunk of 1/4" angle across the front and extending 1.5'. Stiffens it up and tieing down 3 bikes is easier.

[Unstable Rider]

Originally Posted by kiwi_outdoors

your insulation is exposed, and you do hot work in your garage - there is a fire risk?

fiberglass insulation does not burn.

[

[9Dave]

Originally Posted by Unstable Rider

fiberglass insulation does not burn.

[

Glass doesn't burn, but paper does.

As I was looking back at the pic I saw the gasoline cans in the corner - and I thought about how I was welding in my garage with full and empty gas cans (more fumes! - even worse). Next time, I'll be moving them out of the garage, and well out of the way.

[Ed@Ford]

Originally Posted by drtdino

ED, I re-packed the bearings with some good Mobil grease. I don't think I should get bearing buddies because the newer trailers have grease fittings on the inner part of the hub (if anyone thinks otherwise please comment). As far as the seals, they are a standard rubber. And on the part of the axle where the seal rides, it was a little rough so I took some Emory cloth and smoothed it out.

Having the grease fittings on the hub is at least as good as bearing buddies as it gets grease to the inner bearing better than bearing buddies....but bearing buddies keep a little pressure inside the hub, so they can breathe without sucking water or dirt in....decent ones are $20 or so...having both is good insurance....cause I'm paranoid of a failure...had one once in the middle of nowhere...don't want to do that ever again. If height is not an issue, taller US made trailer tires (Carlysle) are better...BUT Carlysle also has non US ones....so watch out!!

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by vwboomer

Sweat the tires. They will likely fail and are rated at 55mph. I lost the center of mine at 65 on myfirst trip. Stopped at fleetfarm 10 miles later and bought two Carlysle wheel/tires.

Seriously. Sweat the tires

.

A statistic of one doesn't make a trend. Many many of us have safely run the stock tires for thousands of miles. Changing the tires effectively adds 50% to the price of the trailer. If you are going to do that you might as well buy a higher priced trailer with different wheels and tires. Oh, and don't be fooled, many of the trailers you buy come with the same tires as the HF ones.

Seriously, don't sweat the tires.

Jim

[Ed@Ford]

Originally Posted by JimVonBaden

A statistic of one doesn't make a trend. Many many of us have safely run the stock tires for thousands of miles. Changing the tires effectively adds 50% to the price of the trailer. If you are going to do that you might as well buy a higher priced trailer with different wheels and tires. Oh, and don't be fooled, many of the trailers you buy come with the same tires as the HF ones.

Seriously, don't sweat the tires.

Jim

If you are paranoid of the tires, here's what I did...and I'm paranoid. With discount coupons and such, Harbor freight has a laser/infrared hand held non contacting thermometer for $20 or so....If I'm on the freeway at 70 for hours I dash into a rest area and hit the hubs and tread with it. 130F is no sweat on the hubs with premium grease, and the tread is usually very close to that as well...on my 4.80-8 tires....12" tires run run a bunch cooler

[HapHazard]

OP, nice job on the trailer! I have the HF folder, I use it around the yard and store it inside, so I just used 1/2" plywood for the floor. I had bought some thin $teel for the floor, and it would have made the trailer too heavy for me to tilt up and store. I would have registered it, but the DMV here makes it such a hassle, and I have a friend with a larger, already registered trailer. Those supports for the casters that allow you to roll the folded trailer around are pretty tender - I reinforced them after one twisted when the little caster wheel got stalled by some debris on the floor.

One of my neighbors had the 8" tired version of the trailer, and both tires had tread separation in less than 200 miles. Maybe they were underinflated? Maybe they were crap tires? I have a boat trailer with 12" tires and bearing buddies, and on long trips also check the temperature of the hubs every hour (they should be warm, not hot to the touch - I don't use a thermometer) and give the tires a visual check as well. One time I did find a large bubble forming on the sidewall, so it is worth keeping an eye on any trailer tire, and always carry at least one spare.

I remembered this post regarding small trailer tires in a similar thread - using 155/80R12 tires (Geo Metro size) being a thing to try:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showp...3&postcount=21

[drtdino]

I just purchased two new Kenda wheel and tire combo's , a weld on folding tongue jack, and (8) recessed d-rings. The only other thing I want to get now is a box that sits on the front... But I will most likely hold off till next year on that...

[Motomantra]

Originally Posted by drtdino

Is there better bearings that I can install? I drive to Florida a couple of times a year (1200 miles each way), I am planning on getting the two new Kendall wheel and tire assemblies and keeping the originals as spares that I will mount on the front a frame.

I wouldn't sweat the OE bearings if you clean & repack them. As far as bearing buddys, (Mine has the zirks on the hub too) I don't know if they'd fit. I lost one of the bearing caps & the only place that had that size was Harbor Freight.

[vwboomer]

Originally Posted by JimVonBaden

A statistic of one doesn't make a trend. Many many of us have safely run the stock tires for thousands of miles. Changing the tires effectively adds 50% to the price of the trailer. If you are going to do that you might as well buy a higher priced trailer with different wheels and tires. Oh, and don't be fooled, many of the trailers you buy come with the same tires as the HF ones.

Seriously, don't sweat the tires.

Jim

PM Papalobster and ask him about HF tires. He told me to replace them right away, I said yeah whatever. Well, when your trailer gets squiggly on the highway and you slow down, then your left tire tread goes rolling by you....well....change the fucking tires

They aint rated for 55mph MAX because they are good tires.

Glad you've been lucky. Keep on keepin on. Read some good stuff from ya, but we're just going to disagree on shitty chinese tires

Originally Posted by Ed@Ford

If you are paranoid of the tires, here's what I did...and I'm paranoid. With discount coupons and such, Harbor freight has a laser/infrared hand held non contacting thermometer for $20 or so....If I'm on the freeway at 70 for hours I dash into a rest area and hit the hubs and tread with it. 130F is no sweat on the hubs with premium grease, and the tread is usually very close to that as well...on my 4.80-8 tires....12" tires run run a bunch cooler

My cargo is worth more to me than $100 worth of new tires.

Good on the OP for doing the right thing for safety and longevity.

FWIW, I made it less than 20 miles at 65-70 mph before the tread came off. And yeah, it was exactly inflated before leaving town.

[One Less Harley]

you had better clean and grease the wheel bearings!!! Plus get an extra set of wheel bearings to keep on hand when traveling especially if going any distance. measure the spindle to make sure the bearings aren't an unusual size. the ones on my trailer weren't a popular standard size and were only available from HF.

I had one side seize on the way to Barber, and what should have been an easy fix by going to walmart or any parts store for replacement bearings ended up being an all day ordeal. ended up using a set of head set bearings from a Carabella motorcycle fork and Al shims from a coke can to get the inner race to fit the spindle.

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by vwboomer

PM Papalobster and ask him about HF tires. He told me to replace them right away, I said yeah whatever. Well, when your trailer gets squiggly on the highway and you slow down, then your left tire tread goes rolling by you....well....change the fucking tires

They aint rated for 55mph MAX because they are good tires.

Glad you've been lucky. Keep on keepin on. Read some good stuff from ya, but we're just going to disagree on shitty chinese tires



My cargo is worth more to me than $100 worth of new tires.

Good on the OP for doing the right thing for safety and longevity.

FWIW, I made it less than 20 miles at 65-70 mph before the tread came off. And yeah, it was exactly inflated before leaving town.

What size were your tires?

I still say a statistic of one is not a trend. I drove 400 miles to pick up my GS at over 70mph the whole way with no issues. I've carted 1000 pounds for hundreds of miles above 55mph, no issues. My statistic is as valid as yours.

Jim

[concours]

Originally Posted by vwboomer

Sweat the tires. They will likely fail and are rated at 55mph. I lost the center of mine at 65 on myfirst trip. Stopped at fleetfarm 10 miles later and bought two Carlysle wheel/tires.

Seriously. Sweat the tires

Looks good though. Might weld enough tie down points for hauling 3 bikes.
I also added a hunk of 1/4" angle across the front and extending 1.5'. Stiffens it up and tieing down 3 bikes is easier.

+1. I always carry TWO spares. and a compact cross wrench, cheap bottle jack. Been there, done that. Load Range C tires are the proper upgrade at replacement time