Harbor Freight Tag-Along trailer

[KYWinger]

As others have mentioned before about HF trailers, finding square wall tubing in that odd Chinese dimension is just about impossible. I couldn't find any either sooooooo....I'm having my local steel worker weld two pieces of light gauge angle iron together to fit the oddball dimension of the tongue. He will add 24 inches to the length plus another 6 inches or so inside to strengthen the added length. I'll take a pic when he tells me it's done.

The project continues......

 

[mwbill37841]

opcorn: opcorn: opcorn:

 

[Tory]

I still have to come up with a trick way of mounting the spare tire...

Here's Tory's set-up...it's tucked up underneath....where ya cain't bang yer shins on it.... :smilie_happy:

View attachment 1

Yep,the spare tire works out perfect there.I later added a cooler to the tongue.

As for lengthening the tongue,I still believe narrowing the width of the trailer is a better option to achive the correct ratio.That is what I did on my first trailor,it still had plenty of room for a good size cooler,was better proportioned to the width of the bike and towed better than the factory made trailor I have now.

 

[Tory]

Heres a rear view (after I replaced the turtle top with a better one.

 

[KYWinger]

Tory-
Since the trailer I bought already has a carrier, it is the right width to begin with; can't narrow it at all, hence the need to lengthen the tongue - besides, I need some space to attach a cooler...

 

[Tory]

I understand.
The harbor freight trailors I have seen,including the one I started with had a few inchs to spare on the sides compared to the cargo box.Although had plenty of room for a cooler.It was very easy to narrow,especially in the build process.
I can not see much of the frame on the first pic,but it does look smaller than the larger square I am thinking of.Closer to 4'x4'

 

[KYWinger]

I got the tongue back from my welder - he did a great job. He made a piece to fit perfectly out of 16 gauge steel that he bent on the brake. He shot it with commercial primer when he was done and I added 3 coats of Rustolium gloss black

I had to lengthen the wiring as well, so I made myself a jig so I could solder 24" extensions to all the wires.

I'm going to clean and repack the wheel bearings with some high quality grease.

and so it continues...

 

[KYWinger]

Someone, in one of the old Gold Wing forums, had mentioned that when they cleaned out the bearings in their HF trailer, they thought it looked and smelled like Vaseline... I thought that was a bit odd....until I took mine apart!

I hafta agree - sure looks like Vaseline!
OK - all 4 bearings are out and cleaned, ready to repack...

I sprayed the wheels with DupliColor chrome; didn't like the white wheels. Ditto with the light units. I'm guessing I'll have to spring for some more LED's from superbrightleds.com to keep the current load down.

The incidentals are adding to the cost of this project!

...and so it goes...

 

[joedrum]

hmmmmm who knows

 

[dan filipi]

Mine had grease similar to vaseline but it wasn't vaseline, just cheap quality grease and not much of it.

 

[AApple]

Looks like a Havoline/Texaco brand grease...and it is some cheap sh.....uh, stuff. Smells nasty right out of the dang tube/barrel.

 

[KYWinger]

Completed repacking and re installing the bearings. I used Mobil1 Synthetic grease. since the axle hubs have grease fittings, I filled 'em up with Mobil1.
The wheels were painted with Rustolium Chrome.
Waiting on the Dyna Beads to come, then I'll be done with the axle assembly.

 

[joedrum]

looking good to me

 

[dan filipi]

The Rustoleum chrome looks pretty darn good!

 

[KYWinger]

Thanks, Dan; I've used that on other things and it looks pretty good.
I also got some paint for the cargo shell; it is almost a perfect match for my Gold Wing!
It is a Kyrlon paint used on outdoor plastic furniture.... I'll post pics when I shoot it.

 

[scdmarx]

I'd almost kill for your work space! Did you just move in? Or are you just still single? :smilie_happy:

 

[dan filipi]

I'd love to see this completed trailer at the Meet in August!

 

[KYWinger]

scdmarx - HA! My 'workshop' is a small single car garage, that is only a 'workshop' when my wife's car isn't in it! Being a submarine sailor; I've had to learn to pack maximum 'stuff' in minimum space. At least it is big enough to park the Gold Wing in during the winter and still fit the car (2013 Accord Sport) in...

Dan- you will see it, for sure. I just went to HF and bought a spare tire, so I'm working on an under body mount for it.
We'll see how the painting goes; Krylon is WAY cheaper than having the body shop color match and spray it! LOL

 

[brianinpa]

The wheels were painted with Rustolium Chrome.

I have never been happy with any paint that is meant to look like chrome, but that wheel looks really nice. I went the other way with my wheels: took them from galvanized to white.

What or how does the loose end of the leaf spring attach to the frame?

 

[KYWinger]

brian- this is how the end of the spring mounts: I cut a piece of garden hose to go on the bolt and I repurposed a piece of hard plastic to act as a spacer between the frame and the spring to eliminate metal-to-metal contact.

Finished mounting the spare!
I used 3/16' threaded stock and made brackets to hold it in place.....everything is held with Nylock nuts to eliminate vibration worries.

OK - axle assembly mounted, spare mounted, fenders on - time to move on to lighting...