Tell me about this trailer

The rust on the angle is probably just surface rust. If the floor is good I wouldn't touch it. The more work you do to it, the less you'll feel you got out of it at resale. Make sure everything is solid, clean it up good and make some money off of it.
 
That trailer will make you a great entry level bike hauler unless you are just wanting to clean it and trade up. It's the same size as our horse trailer and ours weighs 3010#'s. We had to upgrade my wife's tow rig 'cause with 2 horses in it, it would have exceeded her 4runner. Don't know what your pick up is rated for but with 2 bikes and some gear you should be inside the weight rating for the truck. Run some water over the roof real good while checking the roof seams for leaks on the inside. Our trailer was in better visible condition than yours when we brought it home this past fall but when I started the clean up, (like you are doing) I found all kinds of issues. (roof leaked,break away box gone, wiring problems ,brake plug shot) I built a 3 bike hauler last year for my son and I to haul the mx bikes around. I'm about to run out room with all these damn trailers. Good luck with your project maybe we'll see you at the track or trails(2 wheel or 4 wheel)...
 
bronco slim said:
That trailer will make you a great entry level bike hauler unless you are just wanting to clean it and trade up. It's the same size as our horse trailer and ours weighs 3010#'s. We had to upgrade my wife's tow rig 'cause with 2 horses in it, it would have exceeded her 4runner. Don't know what your pick up is rated for but with 2 bikes and some gear you should be inside the weight rating for the truck. Run some water over the roof real good while checking the roof seams for leaks on the inside. Our trailer was in better visible condition than yours when we brought it home this past fall but when I started the clean up, (like you are doing) I found all kinds of issues. (roof leaked,break away box gone, wiring problems ,brake plug shot) I built a 3 bike hauler last year for my son and I to haul the mx bikes around. I'm about to run out room with all these damn trailers. Good luck with your project maybe we'll see you at the track or trails(2 wheel or 4 wheel)...
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I race a quad for max speed cycles in Kernersville, and I think I would only be able to get one machine in it. Im trying hard to find somebody with a camper or toyhauler I can borrow for the Birch Creek MX national in May. That is why I started messing with the trailer.
 
Has anybody ever built a bed that drops from the roof and hangs by chains or cables? It seems like that would make for a level bed even if the trailer is not level.
 
Seriously...I'd clean it up and trade/sell it. Horse trailers can bring in more $$$ than you think.
 
That is probably what I will do. Today I called around and nobody has a trailer light adapter that will allow me to tow the trailer with my truck. I dont think anybody makes one to allow the 4 way flat plug on my truck to plug into the 7 way on the trailer. Is there any way I can wire it to work without cutting either plug off? I will need to move this trailer down the road in about 2 weeks.

Today I pulled the plywood pannel off the rear door and discovered the bottom of the door had rusted all the way through. I cut the rust off and welded in some angle iron to support the new piece of sheet metal and plywood, but it was near the end of the day and unfortinately, when I was doing this I forgot to check to see if the door will close, and of course it wont. I will have to figure something else out later this week.
I did get the suspension cleaned on the other side and alos painted the inside of the fender.
I really hope I can find a way to make the trailer lights work with my truck plug so I can drive it to a car wash.




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In this pic you can probably see why the door will not shut.



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You will not find an adapter like you are looking. The trailer has a minimum of 6 way to allow for the brakes and a constant hot (interior lighting or other). The 7 way gives you one more for aux power. Sometimes it is for reverse lights. The best thing for you to do is get a 7 way female and put it on your truck. If you do not need all 7 "ways" simply hook up what you need (stop, right turn, left turn, running, brakes). Later on you can add interior lighting in the trailer and then wire this pin to the truck. You will come out better this way as you can then hook up to any other trailer you may borrow or buy (adapters are avilable to fit the 7 way to anything).
 
For a bed like you talked about to sit level it would have to have the chains go from the ends up to a center point so it can swing and level out. This might mean that it would be tricky to get in without flipping lol
 
63cj5universal said:
You will not find an adapter like you are looking. The trailer has a minimum of 6 way to allow for the brakes and a constant hot (interior lighting or other). The 7 way gives you one more for aux power. Sometimes it is for reverse lights. The best thing for you to do is get a 7 way female and put it on your truck. If you do not need all 7 "ways" simply hook up what you need (stop, right turn, left turn, running, brakes). Later on you can add interior lighting in the trailer and then wire this pin to the truck. You will come out better this way as you can then hook up to any other trailer you may borrow or buy (adapters are avilable to fit the 7 way to anything).
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They make them, I've got 2 of them from back in the day.
http://www.hitchcorner.com/trailer_plugs.htm Scroll about half way down the page. I'm sure that almost any trailer accessory place will carry them. I think I got mine off ebay.

It'll be fine, especially if you're not carrying a load in it, if all you're wanting to do is take it down to the car wash. Better to have light than no lights at all.
 
That's assuming the trailer is wired standard. People wire 7-ways all sorts of ways. I've got a neighbor with a nice car hauler. He was bragging about how the trailer was wired the "right" way, with the center pin as ground! Well, I borrowed the trailer one day and tried to wire up a 7-way harness on my Suburban, but finally gave up trying to match it up at 11:00 on a cold night and towed the next day without lights or brakes. Fun.
 
I bet that it would bring pretty good money after cleaned up. Lots of people with half ton trucks and horses would be all over a bumper pull like this. I dated a chic one time that paid a stupid amount for one.
 
I worked on it today and have got the door where I want it. Now it closes. I just need a sheet of metal and some plywood to finish it. After that it will be time to rip up the floor. That and re-doing the electrical is as deep as I am going to go though.
 
I got the converter today but it doesnt work. It plugs in to my trucks 4 way plug fine and I mounted it to the bumper. But I have tried it on two horse trailers and the lights will not work. I guess that was $25 wasted.

I finished the rear door today, except for adding the plywood on the inside.



Inside




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Outside







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maybe the trailers are wired differently than your truck?
 
Check the DOT number on the tires (I found this out the hard way). Trailer tires are notorius for having 100% tread, but can be very old. The last four numbers are the week and year the tires were made. We recently had a blowout on our horse trailer (while hauling horses) on I-85 near Salisbury at 70+ mph. The tires had 90% tread, but were 02' tires on an 03' trailer. Strip the floor back to bare boards, and power wash them. Inspect the frame rails below carefully, horse urine deteriorates the floor badly.
 
I will check the tires next time Im working on the trailer. Today I ripped up the floor. It was actually in good shape and had not started rotting anywhere. There was some rust on the very rear of the trailer where the end of the boards stop and I had to cut a strip out. I amg oing to weld another section of angle iron to catch the end of the boards. Also, the supports under the boards are all in good shape with some surface rust, but nothing a wire wheel wont take off. Im going to clean and paint them before replacing the floor. I feel much better now that I have seen the bottom of the trailer and I know everything is solid.




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Here is the remaining section of what I didnt cut off. The top piece still has good strong metal under the rust, but there are rust "craters" in it and Im not sure what to do to clean it. You can see I tried it with an angle grinder, but it wont reach the deep spots. Also, the wire brush didnt do much.


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From this angle you can see that the piece still has good steel underneith. The bottom side still has paint on it and very minimal rust. No "craters."


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For me, on that rust, I'd use some POR-15 on it. www.por15.com I got a frame I used on over 10 years ago, it's still good to go.

Rust looks light enough that a cheap siphon sandblaster would work on it (but they are aggravating to use). Then regular prime and paint.
 
I finished the rear door today and I bought the wood for the floor. When it quits raining I will be able to paint it and put it in. I bought lag bolts for the floor so they wont stick up past the wood and nuts to put in from the bottom. Im not sure how Im going to get the trailer high enough for me to get under it with a drill, I guess a bunch of wood blocks and my floor jack, one corner at a time. Then its on to the wiring and roof.


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