Sept 6 2019
This story starts with having to dispose of an old damaged Travel trailer.. It was obviously in the flood from 2018. It was a mess, and needed to go to the landfill. We moved it into my second driveway and salvaged what we could.. not much !
However the frame and axles were good… The tires held air and the brakes were still working.. The frame is a good 5 x 2 box steel with only surface rust. So why not keep the frame like we did last year with the other two free trailers. This was a big trailer… the body was 28 ft long. So we cut the bolts holding the body to the frame and lifted and blocked the body.. At the landfill they used the big loader to push the body off ( flattening two tires in the process) So we were left with just the frame. No cost because it was a flood trailer.
And here we have a very long but nice frame. First off… remove all the extra bits .. like steps and those side pieces and the propane tank holder.. Then I cut 7 ft off the rear and removed the axles.
I spent weeks cleaning and painting the axles. They were in great shape. The brakes were like new… Bearings to needed only to be re greased. These are 3500 lb drop axles made in Edmonton.. with good Dexter electric brakes.
I adjusted the brakes .. very handy working up here… and replaced all 14 nylon bushings. The frame was flipped over and the spring hangers were moved forward to the proper position for a 18 ft trailer.
Now the axles are back on.. Also bought new 8 ply tires .. load range D. heavy duty…
Cleaned and painted the rims.. of coarse ! And we can now mount the wheels back on as well… but first I need to clean up the frame 
Here is a cleaned up… but unpainted frame. ( because there is more to add ) I put the wheels on so I could move it to the other driveway… making room for the other old trailer frame. Needing some of the steel from the rear end.
So I cut the whole back end off just behind the wheels. This frame is C-channel not box like the one I’m building. And that C -channel is perfect for the uprights on the sides.
Here I have one side done. The tall upright at the back is that way to hold the mesh ramp in the closed position. As I progress it will all make sense.. to me at least.
Also important was the re – attaching of the rear bumper… this makes the trailer 18 ft long on the deck. Perfect ! There is a gusset plate on the inside of the joint. And I will have more to add outside too.. I’m getting better at anticipating useful stuff.. like tie down points.
Here I’ve added a rod across the upright channels because this trailer is for carrying things that need to be lashed down.
Today was sunny again so I got to the welding.. Top rails are on.
So are the taillight pods. One more day of welding should do it.
And so I’m done the welding.. it was a very nice day.. and I put in long hours to get it done.. This is what I did…
Rear tie down points.. These are important ones and the same for the front tie downs.. Great place to easily hook straps to. Why not weld them in place now.. Then they get painted..
The holder for the box and the winch mount.. In the plans for sure.. I have a steel locking box and it will keep the winch and battery safe and dry..
And last of all the hinges for the windgate / ramp. And after a test I had to move them a bit.. They can now be welded in place.
Today was a nice day so I did as much painting as I could…
All but the very back where the ramp needs some adjustments..
After welding a few bits on the rear.. and a spare tire holder …we are good to finish the painting. And there in the pile of bits I had removed from the trailer frame was the spare tire holder.. Originally on the back bumper.. but now works great on the right side in front of the fender. and speaking of fenders….
I got to work on those too. Next is the wiring..
I got a start on that today..
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Installed all the penny LED marker lights.. These are tiny but bright ! Supposed to rain tomorrow.. So I would change gears and work on the RZR 800… Yes I have two projects on the go…. one in the shop and one outside.. Depends on the weather..\
Rainy today.. so working on the RZR…
Here’s a photo of where we are at.. It’s on it’s wheels. Just missing a few things.. but I got a break in the weather and all the wiring , the winch and box are done now.
And yesterday we got the decking and installed it..
Looks great ! I’ve taken the trailer for a spin… and it tows as well as it looks.
The winch and battery are in the box with room for storing other stuff. Just the windgate / ramp left to install.
Spring 2020…. Used the trailer last fall the take two ATV’s up hunting … rough roads.. and some of my welds broke. So this spring I fixed those and made new mounts for the ends of the fenders. Good to go again.