So I got this free trailer...

This weekend a friend gave me a free car trailer. It needs some work, and I need help deciding what to do with it.

Known issues:

• no title or sales paperwork. This may not be that big of a deal as I'm pretty sure it's a home made trailer anyway. I found what I think is a homemade Tcode vin tag but it's painted over. If it was issued a vin and tagged it might complicate things, but GA's pretty lenient on trailer tags anyway. My friend got the trailer from a racer who used it a while but upgraded when he got a sponsor. It was sitting in dude's yard for a couple years and my friend got it for close to free. He was going to fix it to haul his Miata but ended up buying a nice new trailer instead. All things considered I should be able to get the legal sorted if I need to.

• needs 2 tires. Has 2 brand new trailer tires and two tires that were brand new until they were flat-spotted through the cords. I suspect some PO didn't realize the brakes were locked until it was too late. They moved the good wheels up to the braked axle and threw the bad ones onto the trailer.

• brakes aren't connected, state of repair unknown but probably bad

• has a four wire connector that's too short (and obviously won't run the brakes.) Lights are there but wiring is rough and I doubt they work.

• safety chains look like they were salvaged from a shipwreck - rusted almost gone, plus the hooks are too narrow to work on my hitch

• trailer coupler is really loose on the ball - I was using a 2 5/16" ball and the thing bounced around enough I thought it would come off but it never did. I don't think it could use a 3" ball, they are rare and usually for real HD trailers (rated to 30k lbs.) That means either the socket part of the coupler is so beat out that it's enlarged (is that possible??!!) or that the retainer latch is bad or out of adjustment.

• The tongue jack is mounted to one side and needs relocated to the middle.

• sheetmetal covering the tongue is shot and needs replaced or just removed.

• sighting down the trailer front to back I think the frame may be slightly bent.

• no suspension. Axle tubes are welded straight to the frame. Pulling it empty on one axle is like dribbling a one ton basketball. On a loose hitch. with no wiring or safety chains.

The good:

• it was free

• seems built pretty well, frame is solid and only has heavy surface rust.

• 6 lug axles and what look like 12" drums mean they are either 5200 or 6klb axles.

• steel decked and has lots (LOTS) of bracing under the tongue. Although the design looks a little haphazard it also looks like you could drop it off a building. Also may weigh as much as a building.

Other considerations:

• I don't need a car trailer. I'm pretty sure my 200k mile Explorer wouldn't be happy with this 2000 lb trailer plus my 3500lb Mustang anyway. And I don't have time for project cars right now, so....

• I could use a utility trailer to haul yard waste, some metal scrap, a lawnmower, etc. I've been watching CL for a good deal on one.

• the trailer is too wide to get it through my shop into the back yard. I'm going to have to build a giant gate in my fence to get it out of the driveway but it's not really in the way in the short term.

So what do I do with this thing?

I could probably make it usable for scrap hauling for less than $500 as long as I don't want to suspend it, but it's huge. I could cut it up and build God's own utility trailer for $500-$800 with spring suspension, but it would be way overkill and possibly a PITA to use. I'm not sure what it would take to make me feel safe putting the Mustang on it, if I ever would. Complete lack of suspension kind of worries me, as well as using someone else's home made trailer for my car.

Nope, that thing's scary, scrap it. And it's heavy unlike most scary trailers. If it was smaller, or you had a use for a huge utility trailer, I might say you should take the first option.

I'd love a new trailer, but I'm afraid that is nothing but scrap metal.

Find a cheap trailer with a tandem axle setup, move springs/hangers over to free trailer. Scrap/partout cheap trailer and profit. We had a solid axle utility trailer that we used to move from California to Arkansas, then to Arkansas to FL. Used it all over FL, you can use tire pressure to smooth out the ride a bit, but don't go to low with it. Unloaded they SUCK! As you said, loud bouncy scarey things, but put some weight on it, and it's not so bad. We finally put springs under it after 13 years and 1000's of miles of use by hauling a rotting trailer out of somone's yard. Used the hangers, and springs off it, and gave the remander to the welder that welded it all up for us as payment.

spring and hanger kit from amazon

cut off tongue, make new one, shortening trailer in process. lop off back end if needed. drop some plate or wood down the middle, make some short wood sides, use for hauling your crap.

jack is fine off to the side, doesn't need to be in the middle. i can unhook my car hauler with a car on it and the jack on one side of the tongue. it was in the middle but i desired a swing up jack because i kept destroying a frame jacks on steep driveway entrances.

Do you have lots of spare time laying around? Do you have a welder? Do you have a pile of scrap metal to fabricate from? If you answered no to any of these questions haul it to the scrapyard and exchange it for cash. Do it quick before you begin bonding with it!

CL trade it for a smaller utility trailer?

ArthurDent wrote: CL trade it for a smaller utility trailer?

This had crossed my mind...

I have a 110v wire welder, but no scrap or much time.

Somebody offered me $100 for it as it sits. Any idea what scrap value would go these days?

Look around craigslist, see what trailers in your area look like. In Mi, that would sell for $800-$1000. No Kidding.

FYI you can get trailer plates through Maine for cheap, regardless of where you live, and the home built/no title thing is a non-issue with them.

Here in IL they've really cracked down on home builts - which I found out after I bought my trailer(with no documentation other than a bill-of-sale), so it's plated & received a vin through Maine. They don't actually issue titles on the smaller trailers, but now that I have a Maine registration it's no problem to get it titled/plated here when the current 5-year plate expires.

ultraclyde wrote:

ArthurDent wrote: CL trade it for a smaller utility trailer?

This had crossed my mind... I have a 110v wire welder, but no scrap or much time. Somebody offered me $100 for it as it sits. Any idea what scrap value would go these days?

place i drove by today said $240/ton

the axles are worth more than the scrap price of the whole thing.

I would clean it up, get the lights working and sell it or trade it "as is", around here that is a $800 trailer. Somewhere someone is looking for a car trailer.

All in, it doesn't look that bad.

It's a set of torsion axles, fenders and paint away from being a decent car trailer. Even a spring set would help.

If you don't need it, CL trade it for something you do or sell it. If you scrap it, someone will buy it from the scrap yard and fix it. I paid $275 for mine from the scrap yard.

List it across the border in South Carolina, we don't require trailer tags on anything under 20' and 2500 pounds empty.

Up here you can get springs from Princess Auto - so you guys must be able to get them from Harbor Freight. Set of springs, LED lights and a new coupler. I would fix it and not scrap it.

Oops - missed the not straight part - if its just the axles are not welded on straight that's one thing but if the trailer is bent. Yuk!

Case of black Krylon and a some tire shine, then put it on CL for a grand.

Double axle needs springs and equalizers to work correctly.

As for loose on the ball you likely just need to tighten the nut on the bird mouth fork under the hitch. That should tighten it. Before use lube the ball and hitch with wax stick sold for band saws. http://toolmonger.com/2009/08/28/castrol-stick-wax/ It will keep it from squeeking to much and keep it from rusting and best part is you will not get all gooey if you bump the ball afterwards.

Real car trailers have 4 brakes mandatory in most states. Google the list for trailer brakes there's a ton of RV sites that list it. Oddly a 3500lbs trailer in NY only has to have ONE brake!! Want your trailer doing circles? WTF dam bureaucrats.

I towed for years with a no suspension open trailer but it was single axle and the race car had a defined spot as di the spare tires and tool box. I moved the axle around until I had the tongue weight where I wanted it at #150 with everything on it. Never waged when loaded right. once I had to load the car backwards do to hitting the wall and it wagged the truck the whole 210 miles home....not fun

Oh Eastern Marine has there annual brake sale going on now http://www.easternmarine.com/

I can only see the top pic, but I see nothing wrong with that trailer that a little elbow grease won't fix.

I've never owned a dual axle trailer with suspension. The car has suspension. That will do the job.

Drive it to your local cruise night/Cars&Coffee/race track exactly as it sits with a "For Sale $500" sign on it. I guarantee it will be sold before the sun goes down...possibly before you park.

Pull a hub or drum and check the dimensions on the spindles. If it's not standard 6k spindles then scrap it. If it is, then it might be worth fixing. If nothing else the 6-lug hubs with 12" brakes can be used to convert a mobile home axle to regular rims.

Based on what you've said, I'd sell it, either whole or sending all but the axles and wheels to scrap, probably worth $600 or so either way, between scrap steel and the value of the axles, or just as a trailer to somebody who doesn't care about this particular example's deficiencies.

I believe the bonding process has begun...