Well Now I done it.

[Flyinfool]

I went and ordered the hitch for the scoot.

 

I already did the thread on whether or not to use brakes on the trailer.

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47141

 

Now I just need to design and build the trailer.

 

I need to a lot of pricing out parts to see if it is more cost effective to build a trailer from scratch, or to start with something like a Harbor Freight trailer and modify from there.

 

The box needs to be a minimum of 96 x 40 x 20.

At this point in time I am thinking of making the box out of marine grade plywood with a one piece hinged lid. Maybe a sloped and/or V nose to help wind resistance. I am still concerned about side wind load in a strong cross wind.

 

That is a big trailer for a bike but what I need to carry is not heavy, just big and fragile.

 

I am open to ideas for the construction of this beast.

[Squidley]

Just keep in kind that the tounge, from the axle to the tip should be atleast twice as long as the axle is wide. I have built several trailers from the Harbor Freight kits and they work great. Get the 12" wheels as the bearings wont spin as fast, and install bearing buddy's on the hubs. If you get into a spot cell #s in the profile, have fun with it

[Bubber]

I went and ordered the hitch for the scoot.

 

I already did the thread on whether or not to use brakes on the trailer.

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47141

 

Now I just need to design and build the trailer.

 

I need to a lot of pricing out parts to see if it is more cost effective to build a trailer from scratch, or to start with something like a Harbor Freight trailer and modify from there.

 

The box needs to be a minimum of 96 x 40 x 20.

At this point in time I am thinking of making the box out of marine grade plywood with a one piece hinged lid. Maybe a sloped and/or V nose to help wind resistance. I am still concerned about side wind load in a strong cross wind.

 

That is a big trailer for a bike but what I need to carry is not heavy, just big and fragile.

 

I am open to ideas for the construction of this beast.

 

I can share what I know from building my teardrop and what I did and what I wouldn't do again. :yikes:

Construction techniques and stuff like that if your interested.

I still have the construction pics of the trailer and prior to the aluminum skin.

 

Godd luck on the project!

 

Steve

aka Bubber

[RedRider]

Jeff,

 

Unless you need a trailer for a specific need that a standard pull-behind cannot handle (or need one available all the time), you are welcome to use mine. It gets used about once per year when I go on a trip with my wife. It is a good solid trailer, but will not get many Oohs and Aahs.

 

Let me know if you are interested and I can shoot you some pics.

 

RR

[Flyinfool]

Jeff,

 

Unless you need a trailer for a specific need that a standard pull-behind cannot handle (or need one available all the time), you are welcome to use mine. It gets used about once per year when I go on a trip with my wife. It is a good solid trailer, but will not get many Oohs and Aahs.

 

Let me know if you are interested and I can shoot you some pics.

 

RR

 

I will likely only use this one a couple of times a year but it needs to hold 2 parts that are 82 inches long x 24 wide x 16 high and weigh a total of 22 lbs. I may even after the first trip decide that I will just have to take the P/U to travel with these parts. There is also about 50 lbs of support equipment if I bring a full 5 gallon jug of Jet A1 fuel.

 

OK I know your is curious as to whats going in the box, so here is a pic.

The body is 82 long, the tail is not removable, the wing is 82 long and 24 wide. I would have to build a cradle to hold the parts seculy during transport. That is the easy part.

[RedRider]

I will likely only use this one a couple of times a year but it needs to hold 2 parts that are 82 inches long x 24 wide x 16 high and weigh a total of 22 lbs. I may even after the first trip decide that I will just have to take the P/U to travel with these parts. There is also about 50 lbs of support equipment if I bring a full 5 gallon jug of Jet A1 fuel.

 

OK I know your is curious as to whats going in the box, so here is a pic.

The body is 82 long, the tail is not removable, the wing is 82 long and 24 wide. I would have to build a cradle to hold the parts seculy during transport. That is the easy part.

 

I'll measure the insides of the box tonight. I know I can fit a set of golf clubs with plenty of room to spare. The jet fuel would kind of worry me though. Not sure I would like to be pulling around a bomb.

 

Honestly though, it appears a custom trailer is likely the way to go. That is a high priced toy that will need special packing.

 

RR

[Guest Swifty]

96 inches is quite long.

The original box I built for mine was only 60" long, 32" wide, and 20" tall...it caught the wind so much on the highway that I couldn't take it anywhere far and fast. I took it off in favour of a Sears car topper. If I want I can still put the big box on when I tow the trailer behind my car.

 

And what's with this need to have bearing buddies? I've had many trailers over the years without bearing buddies doing up to 10,000 kilometers in ONE summer and I've never had a bearing issue. Yet the one trailer I (had someone) put bearing buddies on gave me such a greasy mess on the wheels that I'd say the time savings by grease gunning them over packing them by hand each year isn't worth all the time spent cleaning wheels, mud flaps and fender wells.

[Flyinfool]

Jet fuel is much less of a bomb than that gasoline between your legs or in the back seat....

 

Actually one of my intended destinations to fly is only a couple of miles from your house.

Near Lost Arrow RD and Hickory RD.

[Flyinfool]

96 inches is quite long.

The original box I built for mine was only 60" long, 32" wide, and 20" tall...it caught the wind so much on the highway that I couldn't take it anywhere far and fast. I took it off in favour of a Sears car topper. If I want I can still put the big box on when I tow the trailer behind my car.

 

And what's with this need to have bearing buddies? I've had many trailers over the years without bearing buddies doing up to 10,000 kilometers in ONE summer and I've never had a bearing issue. Yet the one trailer I (had someone) put bearing buddies on gave me such a greasy mess on the wheels that I'd say the time savings by grease gunning them over packing them by hand each year isn't worth all the time spent cleaning wheels, mud flaps and fender wells.

 

Yes 96 is long, I was thinking of slanting all of the sides for better wind survivability.

I do not think I would try to pull this much more than about 100 miles. Any farther than that and I will probably want to take the RV and plan to spend the night.

[Danimal]

Shorten the length and stick the tail out the back of the box. That'll get some double takes. Just trying to help! lol

[Flyinfool]

That would get some looks.....

The tail could easily handle any towing speed since the plane has a top speed of 170 MPH in level flight.

The problem would be the wing tip also hanging out the back.

 

But it was an interesting thought.

[RedRider]

Jet fuel is much less of a bomb than that gasoline between your legs or in the back seat....

 

Actually one of my intended destinations to fly is only a couple of miles from your house.

Near Lost Arrow RD and Hickory RD.

 

Yup, been by there when they are flying. Call me when you are coming up. Would enjoy coming over and watching you pilot something faster than your 1st gen.

 

RR

[Squidley]

And what's with this need to have bearing buddies? I've had many trailers over the years without bearing buddies doing up to 10,000 kilometers in ONE summer and I've never had a bearing issue. Yet the one trailer I (had someone) put bearing buddies on gave me such a greasy mess on the wheels that I'd say the time savings by grease gunning them over packing them by hand each year isn't worth all the time spent cleaning wheels, mud flaps and fender wells.

 

 

The reason for bearing buddies is ease of maintenance and not having to disassemble the hubs everytime. If you were getting grease all over the place you either had bad seals on the back, or were putting too much grease in them. They have rubber boots that go over the hub portion also

[RedRider]

And what's with this need to have bearing buddies? I've had many trailers over the years without bearing buddies doing up to 10,000 kilometers in ONE summer and I've never had a bearing issue. Yet the one trailer I (had someone) put bearing buddies on gave me such a greasy mess on the wheels that I'd say the time savings by grease gunning them over packing them by hand each year isn't worth all the time spent cleaning wheels, mud flaps and fender wells.

 

Bearing Buddies were developed for boat trailers. When you run the trailer, the bearings get hot. You then back the trailer into the water and the bearings/housings cool rapidly, creating a vacuum that sucks water in thru the seals. With Bearing Buddies, the vacuum pulls grease into the bearings rather than water. On a normal trailer, they are really not needed as long as you periodically check to make sure there is sufficient grease in the bearings. Once a year giving them a shot or two is usually sufficient.

 

RR

(former Timken bearing engineer)

[Flyinfool]

I wonder if this might work?

http://www.yakima.com/racks/cargo/boxes/product/8007184/skybox-21.aspx

Just slap it onto an HF trailer, splash on some white or light color paint to help it stay cool, add a few lights and be done.

 

It will be a tight fit for what all I want to put in there but it would sure save a lot of work. Cost might be close to building from scratch too.

 

The only big thing I see glaring by its absence anywhere in the advertising are the words "water tight".

 

Hmmmmm..........

[Guest Swifty]

I wonder if this might work?

http://www.yakima.com/racks/cargo/boxes/product/8007184/skybox-21.aspx

Just slap it onto an HF trailer, splash on some white or light color paint to help it stay cool, add a few lights and be done.

 

It will be a tight fit for what all I want to put in there but it would sure save a lot of work. Cost might be close to building from scratch too.

 

The only big thing I see glaring by its absence anywhere in the advertising are the words "water tight".

 

Hmmmmm..........

Those Yakimas are WAYYY too expensive for my pocket.

This is the one I got. It fit between fenders ever after cutting a chunk out of the axle and frame to make it exactly as wide as the bike. Only down side was the low opening height which was solved by replacing the stock lift hinges with some truck cap lid stays.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02872020000P?keyword=car+carriers

[Flyinfool]

Hmmmmmm.....

 

Just started to look at installing the hitch.

 

There are some damaged and missing parts.

 

I need the 2 bars that slide inside the mounts and the hitch.

It looks like someone used the hitch to jack up the back of the bike and bent those bars.

 

I also need the 2 vertical brackets and U clamps that come up from the chrome tabs.

The ebayers that I got the hitch from does not have the vertical brackets.

 

If I really have to I can fabricate all of these parts, but it would be a lot easier to just bolt the right stuff on.

[Flyinfool]

These are the brackets that I need.

[slick97spirit]

Just keep in kind that the tounge, from the axle to the tip should be atleast twice as long as the axle is wide. I have built several trailers from the Harbor Freight kits and they work great. Get the 12" wheels as the bearings wont spin as fast, and install bearing buddy's on the hubs. If you get into a spot cell #s in the profile, have fun with it

 

 

Squid, I'm curious what the principle is here? Not disputing what your saying, just want to understand. I know I've heard it several times here before. Then not long ago read where someone said they've run the standard tongue length with no problems. I'm gonna have a trailer or a camper to pull behind some time in the future and was just wondering.

Thanks,