Harbor Freight Teardrop

[kerryb]

Dan, yes I did make the handle on the tailgate, but it's original purpose is to be the license plate light. made from a metal tube, two 1/2 x 1/8" metal brackets and a pair of LED dome lights from wally world. The led's are taped to a wood stick inside the tube and the ends are plugged with 1/2 rubber plug.
(made the rubber plugs by sharpening the end of the same size tube, and rotating to cut rubber sheet)

So what was originally just going to be a light, also is strong enough to lift the trailer (153lbs) and act as a bumper/guard for the 4 red tail lights. Win, Win!

 

[joedrum]

yep thats really nice looking ...and good work .....

 

[dan filipi]

I like how you put LED in there, very slick.

 

[Ansimp]

Very nice detail multipurpose work. :good:

 

[kerryb]

I'm happy to report the project was a succes! I had great time on the campout, met a great bunch of people and can't wait to do it again. Trailer towed great and I got 40mpg on mostly two lane roads. Alleghany forest is such beautiful riding country.

 

[slabghost]

40mpg? With a trailer! Wow! that is fantastic!

 

[mcgovern61]

That is great! :clapping:

 

[brianinpa]

kerryb » Tue Sep 06, 2016 9:08 pm[/url]":1nwgkpsg]
Dan, yes I did make the handle on the tailgate, but it's original purpose is to be the license plate light. made from a metal tube, two 1/2 x 1/8" metal brackets and a pair of LED dome lights from wally world. The led's are taped to a wood stick inside the tube and the ends are plugged with 1/2 rubber plug.
(made the rubber plugs by sharpening the end of the same size tube, and rotating to cut rubber sheet)

So what was originally just going to be a light, also is strong enough to lift the trailer (153lbs) and act as a bumper/guard for the 4 red tail lights. Win, Win!

So, how bright is that light on the license plate? I have been wondering how I am going to light my plate up, and I think I just found it.

 

[Ansimp]

kerryb » Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:29 am[/url]":1fvrx4l3]
I'm happy to report the project was a succes! I had great time on the campout, met a great bunch of people and can't wait to do it again. Trailer towed great and I got 40mpg on mostly two lane roads. Alleghany forest is such beautiful riding country.

:good: :clapping: :salute:

 

[slabghost]

Might just be the Airstream of bike trailers there.

 

[Denver]

Not aluminum. :hihihi:Very nice :good:

 

[slabghost]

Not aluminum but apparently not wind resistant either or mpg would be a good bit lower.

 

[kerryb]

Brian, the license plate seems plenty bright enough, but we should figure out a way to waterproof the bulbs. Right now the wires are soldered directly to the bulb ends and I don't know how well the bulbs will stand up to weather.

Slabghost...my mpg without the trailer has been about 45mpg on similar conditions, so I did lose some mileage. The bottom of the trailer is still open with crossbeams exposed and I want to fit some form of belly pan to clean up the airflow. The spare is currently in the trailer and it takes up too much space (had to leave my chair behind!) So the next big improvement will be a belly pan shaped to hide the spare and reduce drag underneath.
On a side note, I really noticed the added weight (about 175-185lbs) of the trailer when climbing a hill, I down-shifted more often to keep the rpms at 3500 or above. When running at higher speeds, 65-75, things really smoothed out and she just hummed along, very pleasing.

 

[julimike54]

Great to see the finished product, I guess so far?

 

[kerryb]

After setting up camp, I went to buy firewood, it held quite a bit, and wasn't fazed by the weight. I really do need to come up with hatch supports that aren't in the way of loading/unloading!

 

[brianinpa]

What about a hatch back hydraulic cylinder?

 

[kerryb]

yes Brian, gas struts would work nicely, but the structure isn't rigid enough to work with any that I've seen. I need to add a couple stiffening strips to the underside to keep the edges tight now so I think just a couple of folding prop rods will do the trick.

On another note, I added the spare tire to the underside of the rear of the trailer. Frees up space inside and may have even improved gas mileage. I have to go back and look at the records from my second trip to loleta Pa. last week. Puzzling that more stuff on the outside of the box actually improved airflow, but the numbers don't lie! Got what appears to be 42mpg with the trailer but the traffic was very light and my speeds were somewhat higher.

 

[Ansimp]

Make sure that you don't have too much weight rear of the axle as you will then have a handling issue with the trailer. That said I do like your new spare wheel mount. :good:

 

[julimike54]

Maybe the wheel acts as an airfoil to reduce underside drag?

 

[desertrefugee]

This thread popped up in a Similar Topic list (Harbor Freight). I didn't weigh in when this build was underway, but dang, the craftsmanship is top notch. I have always said that I just am not a cycle trailer guy, but if I was, this style is IT.

Top notch.