RaleighSS

Found a good deal on a tire trailer on craigs list .... its the harbor freight one that is 40/49" did a search on here but did not see any photos with that size trailer.... Anyone using that size trailer?

bobmoore2

Lots of us are using that trailer. I can't believe you didn't find any photos. Here's some.

I've modified it since those photos were taken. Now it has two vertical posts, and I put the hole in the wheel center down over the posts. So now the wheels are on their sides, instead of standing up like these pics show.

Everyone customizes their trailer differently to suit their tastes. Some put all four tires near the front and a tote-box/toolbox on the back.

c4cruiser

I had one of the HF trailers about 5 years ago and it worked very well to haul tires and a toolbox. I got the one with the 12" wheels for highway use. It easily handled 75-80 MPH speeds.

I think the loaded weight was around 300-350 lbs by the time I added all of the stuff I added in the toolbox. I towed it behind my 87 and it never was a problem. The trailer was narrow enough that the outside mirrors were not blocked.

One thing I did change on the trailer was to replace the standard bulbs with LED bulbs. Most factory turn signal flashers for passenger cars are only designed to work with the bulbs on the car. Adding the trailer lights causes the flasher to run too fast and the trailer bulb won't be bright. The LED bulb fixed that. HF has entire LED light kits and it may be a good idea to just replace the entire wiring and light housings.

ReddyZ06

That is a great trailer for tires. Finding a good deal on an assembled trailer is good because there is a great deal of assembly time on a new one.
I thought the width on that trailer was just a bit short for how I wanted to mount the tires so I went with a 48" width but most people use the one you found.
The tip posted above about the led taillights is good information too.

Photos of the 48" width: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...e-trailer.html

Mike

RaleighSS

Well got the trailer done.... after thinking hard and looking at all the photos I thought strapping the tires to the trailer would be sufficient. It would take a double strap failure or a single failure of the frame of the trailer to cause me to loose the tires. Used the Walmart 44$ box and now for 210$ I have trailer for the track. Thanks for all the input ....

grantar2

RaleighSS have you thought of adding the two posts as insurance for the tires? Seems prudent considering the cost of even one tire rim package.

Has anyone added an upper deck to one of these to carry say an EZ up or other gear?

RaleighSS

Yes... have another member going to email me his photos later... Agreed that third level of inc will help my worry would not be the tires getting hurt but if one got loose at 60MPH someone could be hurt very badly ... But again I have never had one of these straps fail and to have 2 fail at same time would be tough .... still on path to put poles.

I plan to lay tent across the top back side of box ....

quick04Z06

PM sent re tire trailer.

bobmoore2

If I were you, I'd be more worried about that jack flying off. That could hurt someone worse than a tire.

Here are the photos I promised, of my tire trailer now with the vertical posts . Also several photos showing how the posts are secured to the trailer.

The parts list:
- A Harbor Freight trailer, 40" x 48" with 12" tires
- a piece of plywood cut to the dimensions of the top of the trailer (40" x 48")
- paint to seal the plywood from the elements.
- 2 pieces of 24" x 48" sheet aluminum. My hardware store only sells it in this size, so I bought 2 pieces and attached them lengthwise on top of the plywood, overlapping them in the middle.
- 4 round "pipe stand brackets" (the circular metal things). They are generally used for attaching a threaded metal pipe to a floor or a wall when making a cheap stairway railing. They come in several pipe sizes. I chose the 2" outside diameter size, to match the size of my pipes.
- a 60" by 2" (outside diameter) piece of black ABS pipe. I cut it into two 30" pieces.
- 2 black ABS pipe adapter pieces to adapt 2" threaded to 2" not-threaded pipe.
- ABS pipe glue
- 8 bolts, 8 aircraft nuts (nylon locking), and 16 large washers for the pipe stand brackets.
- 6 big eye bolts, 6 aircraft nuts (nylon locking), 6 plain nuts, and 12 large washers. The eye bolts are for the strap hooks and are attached with a nut and big washer on both sides of the deck. There are actually 10 eyebolts on my trailer, but I am not using 4 of them.

How are the pipes attached to the trailer deck?
- Applying the ABS pipe glue to both surfaces, I very quickly screwed the pipe adapters into the pipe stand brackets. The glue acts as a lubricant making it easier to screw the two together. It will also make it impossible for a thief to unscrew the pipe adapters from the stands.
- Applying the ABS pipe glue to both surfaces, I glued the pipes into the adapters. Before it started to set up, I ensured the pipes were straight in the pipe stands. I let the glue dry overnight.
- The pipe stands are bolted to the trailer deck with one stand above and one below the deck for each pipe. This spreads the stress over a good portion of the deck surface. I inserted the bolts from the bottom up, used washers on both sides, and an aircraft nut on top. For the front post, I could only feed two bolts bottom up, because the tongue frame was in the way. When the tires are locked down on top, a thief can not reach the nuts and the bolt heads at the same time, so he can not unbolt the posts. Therefore the tires and wheels can not be stolen by an amateur thief.

Here are the pictures:


With the tires stacked and strapped down on the trailer. (The Kumho V710s have been mounted backwards on the wheels to balance the wear.)



a side view - same thing



a rear view - same thing



With just 2 tires, so you can see the post better



Showing how the tires slide over the posts



A picture of how the front post is attached to the deck, showing the top pipe stand, the pipe adapter, and the pipe.



Another picture of the front post attachment.



The lower pipe stand for the front post.



The lower pipe stand for the rear post.