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The Hammer Mechanic Meets Harbor Freight Trailer!

19K views 23 replies 9 participants last post by  Wingspan 
#1 ·
Here are a few photos documenting my experience putting together a Harbor Freight folding 4X8 trailer. The cost was $290 shipped to my door, plus about 12 hours of assembly. I worked pretty casually and elected to paint the deck and stakes, which added more time. Anyway, on to the pics!

The trailer came in two boxes. This one held the wheels, fenders and electrical. They were easily unloaded from the truck, the larger box containing the frame probably weighed around 160 pounds.



Everything laid out on the floor waiting for assembly.



Better shot of the frame rails.



That is a whole lotta nylox nuts. They actually are SAE - 11/16" nuts and 5/8 bolt heads. They presented the most difficult aspect of assembly - no finger tightening a nylox nut. On the other hand, it won't come off either :)



Electrical stuff. Pretty straightforward. The clips supplied are cheesy. I used zip ties. One neat trick I employed was to simply tuck the zip tie "tails" under the deck to hold the wires and keep them nice and neat. You have to keep in mind that extra wire slack is needed near the folding tongue and mid sections. A bit of careful trial and error and I got the routing and slack dialed in.



The certificate of origin and fairly decent instructions. The cops gave me a puzzled look when I took it in to have the VIN number certified for title, saying I needed a "VIN certification tech" (whatever the hell that is) to do it. I went down the street and paid the emissions shop $9 to do it. Whatever. As you can see, it is quite obviously from China. The form at the DMV did no have enough spaces to put all the characters in :laugh



Frame fully assembled, folded, and ready to have the axle put on.



A shot of it with the stakes and bed on. I don't need the stakes for hauling the dirt bike.



Shot of the dirt bike mounting system.



Done deal, stood up and folded, strapped to the wall.



I used it to haul my DRZ to the riding area today. It towed great and no issues cruising at 70 mph. I checked the hubs when I got there and they were fine - just warm to the touch. I stuffed them full of Valvoline red heavy duty bearing grease.

Ah. After selling my truck, it is good to have carrying capacity again :) It was some work to put together, more than I thought it would be to be honest, but worth it. The price was right.
 
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#2 ·
So did you get to hammer anything?:coocoo :devious :dowhat Good job sir!:hail
 
#3 ·
I've had my eye on the exact same trailer, I'm glad you took the time to decribe the project of getting it rolling. I may just drive to Albany Ny and pick it up as that's the closest Harbor Frieght to me. Although gas prices just may have me spending the $$ on shipping......What did you use for decking? I noticed the payload is greater for the 12" wheel package, so what did they get that model? i'm curious as the catalog won't say how much shipping costs.

I figured getting one of these and a hitch for my wife's SUV is cheaper than me buying a pickup truck. Aside from bike hauling, it'll com in handy for trips to the home improvement stores..
 
#4 ·
I used 3/4" exterior A/C plywood for the deck. It came with 12" wheels and the cost was $240 for the trailer (no tax) and $50 for shipping. It took about 7 business days to arrive.

I did do one "mod" to the trailer. The loops bolted to the front for bike tie downs required drilling out the existing holes a bit. I staggered the mounting points for the front wheel shoes, it can comfortably carry 2 dirt bikes. The loops work perfectly as mounting points for tie downs. :)
 
#5 ·
yes good lil trailer... now if i can just download my piturs and show off my abombination of a trailer for my wife and I.:banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead
 
#6 ·
Cool stuff:thumbup
 
#9 ·
Nice mods to your trailer Wingspan. I see nylon skateboard type wheels for the stock casters, and the spare tire mod :)

I would like to see a detail photo of your Sport Chock setup. I have the same thing and will use it when I transport the TLS on my trailer.

Thanks :hail

Tillah, I use a cool folding aluminum ramp to load the bikes.
 
#10 ·
I have a steep slope on my front lawn so we'd back up my truck and it was perfect. however where ever you went you'd need a similar slope. ramp is key.

I would think that spare tire is worth it's weight in gold......I see lots of trailer broken down with the little use they get and people neglecting them. At least these can be stored in the garage so it's out of the elements and within view for maintainance.
 
#11 ·
Duken4evr said:
Nice mods to your trailer Wingspan. I see nylon skateboard type wheels for the stock casters, and the spare tire mod :)

I would like to see a detail photo of your Sport Chock setup. I have the same thing and will use it when I transport the TLS on my trailer.

Thanks :hail

Tillah, I use a cool folding aluminum ramp to load the bikes.
Nothing fancy for the sportchock mount, just a few nuts and bolts. I have the bolts coming up through the trailer floor from underneath with washers and nuts holding them in place permanantly. The sportchock drops over the bolts and is secured with another set of washers and nuts. It takes all of 30 seconds to install or remove the chock and cost a lot less than the mounting kit they sell for the chock.

I wasn't impressed with the stock casters, so replaced them with a set from an old mechanics creeper. Along with the spare, I've also got a tounge jack from HF that I picked up for about $20. It's worth it's weight in gold. For Tie downs I use forged eyelets and a tie down rail that I got from Flyinbrian at Valco Cincinnati. I have another length of the tie down rail to install, but I haven't decided yet on it's exact location.

One more pic:



FWIW, these pics were taken in Florida. According to my GPS, on that trip I averaged 70mph for 12 hours each way (only one 15 minute stop for gas each way) and the hubs only barely got above ambient temp.


TILLAH: I use a set of steel ramps I also got from HF for ~$40. The trailer bed tilts, but after trying that once I decided not to do it again.
 
#12 ·
the blown vmax guy used the folding hf trailer, also with good results.

:hail hf, the love - hate relationship...

:laugh
 
#13 ·
my abortion in process.....

It STARTED as a basic trailer.. the idea was to keep it SIMPLE.. oh yeah right. That flew out the window in about 10 seconds. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/zippytls/Trailer/PICT0019.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/zippytls/Trailer/PICT0017.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/zippytls/Trailer/PICT0012.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/zippytls/Trailer/PICT0001.jpg

Ha, and the best part.... the darn thing dont fold anylonger:banghead :banghead Gee wonder why??? :laugh
The other addition is the wheel weights... i took the tires and had them balanced as well. wowo, were they way out!
 
#14 ·
Zippy: do you have a pic of it from the back with both bikes on it? I am wanting to do something like that as well as I would have two to tow.
 
#15 ·
:dowhat
$240!!!

I need me one of those!!!
 
#17 ·
Wingspan said:
I wasn't impressed with the stock casters, so replaced them with a set from an old mechanics creeper. Along with the spare, I've also got a tounge jack from HF that I picked up for about $20.
What are casters?

Is the tongue jack a thingie that supports the trailer to keep it kinda level when not hooked up to the car?
 
#18 ·
Wingspan said:
It's even better for those with a HF store near by. Mine was only $199. :)
Fat chance :banghead
 
#19 ·
Just contacted them :devious
 
#20 ·
rear pic

Here ya go fast rider77


If i were to do it over... for hauling TWO bikes... i would not cut the plywood in half. I'd just bolt it as a whole for better structurall rigitdity. and I think i would skip the D.P. I tell ya.. that damn stuff is like a MIRROR in the sun. wholly crap! I am really pleased with the strapless transport stand i have and the Condor-lift front holder is awesome as well. It amazed me how well it held my wifes sv in place. The best part is it keeps the bike upright so you can put your tiedowns on by yourself. The strapless jobbie is a definetly a two person job.. I think i will upgrade the lights to LED in the rear.... there awefully dim in full sunshine... and that is when i will be hauling most of the time. Slowly but surely.

Word to the wise.... dont tighten all your bolts untill you have EVERYTHING on. At least i found that i had to loosen MOST of the darn bolts to get the flooring on and to get the axle assembly to line up. I was rippn my hair out on that one. pissed me right off. I think the onlly bolts you could make tight would be the ones holding the fenders on.. since no other body part connects to them, that and the light holders. Other than that. It's a great lil trailer.

Yes a trailer jack is what holds the tounge while the trailer is not connected to the rig. However. with how light it is. If you stood on the back of the trailer witha jack on the front. you would find yourself in a wheelie. Dont waste the time or moeny on one. It's a light trailer. To do ANY loading, I always have it connected to lil pick up.:)

My only dissappointment was from the trailer tounge itself. I did not realize that with my bumper mounted trailer ball the turning radius is very narrow. Now, Northerntool sells the almost identicall unit, but the tounge is a long single rail.... I would have bought that one instead to keep me from installing a 2in box reciever hitch set up. although it gave me a reason to have a real hitch... it just added expense and time to my project.
 
#21 ·
I will try to get a picture of the tounge issue later today. :)
 
#22 ·
Damn :banghead
Shipping is $445... :no
 
#23 ·
Word to the wise.... dont tighten all your bolts untill you have EVERYTHING on.
Yep :laugh
 
#24 ·
Yes a trailer jack is what holds the tounge while the trailer is not connected to the rig. However. with how light it is. If you stood on the back of the trailer witha jack on the front. you would find yourself in a wheelie. Dont waste the time or moeny on one. It's a light trailer. To do ANY loading, I always have it connected to lil pick up.
Umm...:confused The jack has nothing to do with loading the trailer when it's not hooked to a truck. However, once it's loaded you can safely unhook the truck and leave the trailer. Try that without one! :)

It's quite nice after a long trackday and an even longer drive home to just back the trailer into the garage, unhook and not worry about unloading it until the next day.

Waste of time and money? They cost $20 and take less than 5 minutes to install. Even if you hated it...and I promise you wouldn't...how much of a waste is that really?
 
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