Trailer deck screws

YotaOnRocks

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Location
Madison
About to put a new deck on our old 10ton Hudson trailer. Any recommendations on the best screws to use? Any installation tips? TIA
 
I used these on my last deck. They went down easy using a impact driver. I predrilled the wood where it was near the edge to prevent splitting but it general it just went right through the wood and crossmember. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Teks-14-x-3-in-Phillips-Drive-Sheet-Metal-Screws-40-Count/3327744

Another trick is to look at the end grain on the board, and make sure the grain is curved down in orientation to prevent cupping.

This. You might be better off shopping around for a shorter (2-1/2" screw) in a bigger box to get the cost down (Lowes and HD only sell them in the small boxes), but that's the kind of screw you want.
 
Just for a contrarian point of view.
When we built our homemade trailer 20 years ago we used carriage head bolts with the square shank. predrilled the board to just under the thread diameter, drilled the cross member to actual diameter and drove them through and sucked them down with nylocks.

I probably wouldnt do it that way again, but its been 20 years and the OG boards are still on there and they are still holding and no cupping.
We also just used lowes treated lumber
 
Disappointed. Thought this thread was gonna be about how much the ladies got aroused by guys with trailers.
 
Just for a contrarian point of view.
When we built our homemade trailer 20 years ago we used carriage head bolts with the square shank. predrilled the board to just under the thread diameter, drilled the cross member to actual diameter and drove them through and sucked them down with nylocks.

I probably wouldnt do it that way again, but its been 20 years and the OG boards are still on there and they are still holding and no cupping.
We also just used lowes treated lumber

That is EXACTLY what I did on my 5x8 utility trailer 30 years ago. The boards are still in place, but starting to fall apart a little.
 
Just for a contrarian point of view.
When we built our homemade trailer 20 years ago we used carriage head bolts with the square shank. predrilled the board to just under the thread diameter, drilled the cross member to actual diameter and drove them through and sucked them down with nylocks.

I probably wouldnt do it that way again, but its been 20 years and the OG boards are still on there and they are still holding and no cupping.
We also just used lowes treated lumber

That sounds like it took forever.

Related, it seems that a lot of trailer manufacturers don't (didn't??) use treated lumber on their trailers. If the trailer sits out in the sun and isn't loaded all the time, the wood dries out and holds up fairly well. If the trailer has shit sitting on it all the time, the wood rots in a big hurry.
 
That sounds like it took forever.
Not really.
Longer than just zipping a screw in sure. But we laid the boards in place where we wanted them.
I think we used 3/8 bolts. So we ran a 5/16th bit through the board and metal frame on both ends. Sat the boards off. Then upsized the metal holes.
Tapped the bolts through and impacted the nylocks on.

I was 21 and broke at the time so time wasnt real valuable either. If I had to guess the whole process probably took about 2.5 beers. (thats also how I told time back then)
 
If the trailer was originally built with carriage bolts or whatever, and you're replacing the decking with the same type of decking and re-using the same holes, just use the same method. If you're changing something about the decking and are drilling new holes, use something different if you want.

It's hard to go wrong with carriage bolts and Nylocs if that's what you're replacing. I sure as shit wouldn't buy them from Lowe's though, I'd order them from someplace that sells something worth using (McMaster, lots of other places). You'll get far better fastener quality and it will be cheaper.
 
Just for a contrarian point of view.
When we built our homemade trailer 20 years ago we used carriage head bolts with the square shank. predrilled the board to just under the thread diameter, drilled the cross member to actual diameter and drove them through and sucked them down with nylocks.

I probably wouldnt do it that way again, but its been 20 years and the OG boards are still on there and they are still holding and no cupping.
We also just used lowes treated lumber

I have a 12ft trailer that was basically done the same way, 40 yrs ago when built. I helped my dad replace the deck on it ~20yrs ago and all the bolts were rusted. Had to cut/bust the boards and bolts loose. He wanted to reinstall the new ones the same way, using the existing holes. It sucked, but wasnt hard. The boards are now fallen apart again. I will likely use the screws this time around.
 
If I had to guess the whole process probably took about 2.5 beers. (thats also how I told time back then)

Damn.... @Chris_Keziah can mow 1/2 his yard in that amount of time
 
Related question: my gooseneck was redone by the PO with new treated wood. He didn’t screw the boards to the cross member, it just has metal slats holding them by the ends in their respective place. Trailer is pretty flexy, I imagine it would give it quite a bit more rigidity if I screwed the boards down correct? Should I even bother?
 
Related question: my gooseneck was redone by the PO with new treated wood. He didn’t screw the boards to the cross member, it just has metal slats holding them by the ends in their respective place. Trailer is pretty flexy, I imagine it would give it quite a bit more rigidity if I screwed the boards down correct? Should I even bother?

I wouldnt bother. You might could add a strap across the center of the boards, if you feel the ends arent enough to hold them.

I dont believe that the screws would give it any strength. If you want to reduce the twisting, a torque tube is the only real way.
 
Probably not.
I would think a goose neck would be twisty. I watched a few You Tube's on re-decking, & 1 guy had a real cheap trailer. Without the boards screwed down, it Really twisted! But a well built trailer I don't think would.
From watching 1 video, I used torx self tapping deck screws. Don't know the brand now, but this guy said they would tap & drive into the crossmembers. I ordered them through Fastinal, & they let me order 50, I think it was. They look like the Teks sheet metal screws per Paradise Wolf, but with torx head. Them SOBs, didn't self tap into My cross members! After I wore out a couple & broke a couple, I Did pre-drill the holes. And still I used a impact to drive them! Good luck!
 
I would think a goose neck would be twisty. I watched a few You Tube's on re-decking, & 1 guy had a real cheap trailer. Without the boards screwed down, it Really twisted! But a well built trailer I don't think would.
From watching 1 video, I used torx self tapping deck screws. Don't know the brand now, but this guy said they would tap & drive into the crossmembers. I ordered them through Fastinal, & they let me order 50, I think it was. They look like the Teks sheet metal screws per Paradise Wolf, but with torx head. Them SOBs, didn't self tap into My cross members! After I wore out a couple & broke a couple, I Did pre-drill the holes. And still I used a impact to drive them! Good luck!

If you think about how a trailer is designed, the only thing that is going to keep it from twisting is a torque tube. When you strap a vehicle down to it, the rigidity of the vehicle stiffens it up a good bit.
 
If you think about how a trailer is designed, the only thing that is going to keep it from twisting is a torque tube. When you strap a vehicle down to it, the rigidity of the vehicle stiffens it up a good bit.
Or a steel deck ;)
 
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