Thinking of building a trailer...

[bugfish69]

and have a few questions for those that have done it.

 

1. Option one is the Harbor Freight. With prices coming close to $500 has anyone considered the attached trailer from the same company? $429 complete; Pros and cons?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/gifs/clear.gif

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/gifs/clear.gif

 

2. Option 2 is using an aluminum truck box. I really like the look better but don't know if I can justify the price? Are there benefits other than looks that make it worth it?

 

3. Are there any sites that help with figuring out axle placement? How far from front or back etc... Also, tounge length and other dimension questions.

 

4. I see everyone mounting their cooler on the tounge in front of the trailer. Doesn't that add directly to the toungh weight? I believe I read tounge weight should be under 25 pounds. Doesnt a full cooler take up at least half of that?

 

Thanks!

[YamaDuck]

On option 1.

I saw that in the Harbor Freight cat. and called a nearby store. The stores do not even show the part number so it is strictly a catalog item. The item is marker oversized freight and the shipping section says it is an additional $75 shipping. $75 plus what amount I don't know or it may just be $75.

 

Option 2.

I like the looks of the aluminum boxes also but are they water tight? If they are not water tight how much extra would it cost to make it water tight?

 

Option 3.

The cooler added in front of the box would not necessarily add very much weight to the tongue. It would all depend on the placement of the axle. If you move the axle closer to the front of the load the less tongue weight you would have. You could actually have a negative tongue weight if you move the axle to far forward which would be very very bad.

The longer the trailer the easier it is to back up. Unless you have a Goldwing this will not be an issue. Each time you load your trailer it will change the tongue weight depending on what you pack and where you pack it in the trailer but it should not change a lot.

 

There now you have my worth. I'm sure others with more knowledge or differing options will chime in so you will be able to make a more intelligent decision.

[Rottdoglover]

Have you looked at buying just the trailer and adding your own car top carrier? Price would be close to same and you would have greater choice in capacity and style. I can tell you the longer tongue pulls better.

[muffinman]

Jim the truck tool box was done by Squidley and he said it pulled fine he built his to carry his golf clubs.

The harbor freight trailer works good the way it is I did not modify mine at all I did put the cooler on the tounge because you need to adjust the tounge weight to the box weight you need at least 25 to 35 pounds on the ball.The trailer has not slowed me down one bit it is stable all the way up to 125 mph with the tounge weight set properly.

You also need to adjust the tire pressure accordingly I run 15 psi in mine and when I put the 86 Venture parts bike on it I set the tires at 20 psi.

(No that did not make me run slower either) As far as the tounge length it could be longer to make the ride more stable at all speeds so far as backing it up I have no problems.

I only know the trailer is there on take off and when stopping.

If you do build a trailer you need to ride it alone for at least a week by yourself so you can get used to it,

You dont need to learn to pull a trailer with Wendy on the bike because it will take the curves different and you need to get a feel for it.

Give me a call if you need any more info.

Jeff

[similost]

Here's my home made trailer from a truck box. I didn't build this one, but I bought it from someone that had it made. For the price I got it for, it would have been hard to beat the cost of buying all the parts and building it myself considering the work I would have to do. There are a few things I would have done different, but hey, this thing works great! I was planning on building my own using similar materials until I found this one for sale. I drove to Dallas to pick it up over a weekend, and even with the cost of the trip, I was still money ahead.

 

This one isn't completely waterproof, because where they drilled the holes for the handles on the top they didn't seal them. They don't leak much, but I will take maybe an hour and seal them with silicone between the washers and the bottom of the lid on the underside.. Other wise, it is pretty water tight. There is a seal on the lid that seals it to the box.

 

I've only pulled this one time, just this past weekend.. I had the cooler on the front filled with beer and ice, but I also had a second cooler inside to the very rear of the trailer filled with food and ice... it all evened out the load. I figure total weight I was pulling was around 500 lbs or so... You want the tongue to weigh about 10% of your load, or so that's all I've read..

 

I would guess on the way out, I had the tongue weight around 45lbs or so, and the way back around 35 lbs.. towed great both ways with different weights..

Edited May 27, 2009 by similost

[sarges46]

The length of the tow bar should be twice that of the width of the axles. That seems to be the rule someone made up long ago.

 

As mentioned you dont want negative tongue weight as the trailer will go beserk and sway all over.

 

As for the cooler...I run mine empty mostly so there really is no great weight to it. But I have also put a thing of ice and a few waters in it. I've also stuffed a sleeping bag in it when I ran out of room in the cargo part.

 

I have the xl piggybacker. Nice enough rig for the price and the folks that deal in them are top notch. Found on ebay or just type in piggybacker and it will show up.

[ibents]

and have a few questions for those that have done it.

 

1. Option one is the Harbor Freight. With prices coming close to $500 has anyone considered the attached trailer from the same company? $429 complete; Pros and cons?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/gifs/clear.gif

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/gifs/clear.gif

 

2. Option 2 is using an aluminum truck box. I really like the look better but don't know if I can justify the price? Are there benefits other than looks that make it worth it?

 

3. Are there any sites that help with figuring out axle placement? How far from front or back etc... Also, tounge length and other dimension questions.

 

4. I see everyone mounting their cooler on the tounge in front of the trailer. Doesn't that add directly to the toungh weight? I believe I read tounge weight should be under 25 pounds. Doesnt a full cooler take up at least half of that?

 

Thanks!

 

I believe there was another post on here that said the Harbor Freight completed trailer was going on sale in June for $350, which seems like a pretty good deal, may be check it out.

 

Ian

[99silver]

http://forums.delphiforums.com/MCTrailertowing

 

Here is a link to the forum I used for info when building my trailer.

The people there have been great to respond to questions and there's

lots of info to look at.

 

Gary

[dray]

I believe there was another post on here that said the Harbor Freight completed trailer was going on sale in June for $350, which seems like a pretty good deal, may be check it out.

 

Ian

 

 

yes june 12 13th. and 14th. it will be on sale for $349.99 its in there sale flyers at the store i have one here on my desk im looking at right now

 

lot # is 66771 and it will come up on the computer with that #

[jeeper0202]

this is my trailer and i love it .. i got about 500.00 tied up into it .. but made it myself.. bought a h/f trailer and made my carrier top the way that i wanted it .. works great for me [ATTACH]31072[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]31073[/ATTACH]

[Squidley]

I have made 4 trailers over the years and you can get away with making them for less than $500. The diamond plate truck box was the 1st one I made and what I liked about it was the room for, as Muffin mentioned, my golf clubs. I am looking to make another one, but will go with a 48" box this time. I also liked that the trailer was no wider than the bike, if the bike would fit through it, so would the trailer.

I have towed that particular trailer for over 20000 miles and it pulls beautifly. Longer tounge is a great idea and makes the rig much more stable. Here are a few of the pics of it and another one that Lewis posted for a friend a year or so ago. If you have other questions PM me or my #'s are in my profile.

[DaveDanger]

I've built a few motorcycle trailers and can offer a few basic suggestions.

 

1. You absolutely want a minimum tongue length (from axle to hitch) of two times the width of the wheels outside width. Slightly longer is even better for sway or wiggle resistance, but twice is the minimum. Too long increases the amount of wide turn you have to make to get around a corner... you tend to hit curbs with the trailer tires.

2. You do want to be able to balance your load fore and aft as best you can, taking into account that you never want to have a negative weight at the hitch. Fabricate your trailer frame or chassis, so that you can adjust your box fore and aft until you have it where you desire. Ideally, set the axle as close to the center of "WEIGHT CARRY" as you can, then back it up just a few inches. ("Weight Carry" includes external weight as well, cooler, spare tire, etc). You always want the capability of adjusting your load inside the box so that you can change the percentage of weight that rests on the tongue. If your axle is a few inches aft of the center of the "WEIGHT CARRY", it will tow easily with just a few pounds weight on the hitch... even empty. I always set my empty weight to where it sets about 10 - 15 pounds positive to the front "on the hitch". Then I can adjust my load internally to maintain that balance. I can change mine drastically at any time... I'm a mechanic and don't feel comfortable leaving the driveway without at least a 50 lb. toolbox in the trailer, and I can slide that toolbox fore and aft for a quick weight adjustment as needed to get the tongue weight to where I feel it's perfect. If you ever get your load weight heavier to the rear of the axle than in front... it is guaranteed to wiggle and sway. This has nothing to do with tongue weight, it has to do with mass and rotation in a horizontal plane. If you've ever seen a pair of handlebars go into what's called a "tank slapper", you realize what that unbalanced mass can do. You don't ever want a trailer to begin that increasing-frequency oscillation behind you at any speed.

3. I can't support this idea with any engineering, but on a ball type hitch, I FEEL that you want your ball height and hitch to sit at or below the axle height of your rear wheel. My very first homebuilt hitch sat a few inches higher than my rear axle (I was giving too much importance to ground clearance) and what I felt was that when I leaned into a turn, the trailer seemed like it wanted to accelerate my lean... in other words it seemed like it wanted to push my lean right on into the ground. It fought my attempt to straighten back up. Having the hitch up that high seemed like it made the trailer turn more sharply than the bike was. Scairt me a few times till I figured that out and redesigned my hitch and got it to the axle height. I never felt that again with the lower hitch height. (The Uni-Go single wheel trailer with a high hitch setup, doesn't generate this effect since the trailer leans with the bike exactly)

4. Wheel/tire diameter really does have a noticeable effect on motorcycle trailiering. The larger the rotational circle, the more stable and smooth it pulls and handles. The smaller the tire, the more it tends to bounce and wiggle. The smaller the tire, the faster it rotates per any given bike speed. The smaller "boat trailer" sized wheels can turn more than twice as fast as the wheels on the bike. This mandates very frequent bearing maintenance. My last trailer I built to use a pair of older spoked front rims off of an indeterminate model motorcycle. A local bike dealer let me pick thru his backroom stash of used parts and I found two identical spoked wheels that used the same size tire as the front of the bike I was riding, when I wore out a tire on the front of the bike, I'd mount it on the trailer, next worn out tire went to the other side. They'd dry-rot from age before wearing completely out on the trailer. It pulled and handled like a dream. I ran those motorcycle tires at about 18 psi, and had NO suspension on the trailer. It didn't hurt the appearance to have the trailer tires exactly match the ones on the bike too

 

Just my own two cents worth