10 Harbor Freight Trailer Modifications
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- After 22 years, I have come up with a unique set of modifications to make this trailer better than stock.
Topics: Split Safety Chains, Centered Trailer Jack, Traveler Tube, U Bolt Lift Points, Unfolding Assist Bar, Assembly Overview, Folding License Plate Holder, Weatherproof Deck, Reliable Wiring Harness, Spare Tire Holder, Custom Picket Fence, Captured Fence Pocket Pins
Music by Bensound.com
This channel is owned and operated by Armed and Dangerous DIY.
I bought my hardware from northern tool in 2012, but here are example links that might help you:
Front corner hardware: a.co/d/0iROjqIg
Rear corner hardware: a.co/d/00ZlEl3f
Keep in mind I made my own plate for the rear latch because I thought the one that came with it was too flimsy. Enjoy!
Wow you do better with one arm than I do with two. You're an inspiration to us DIYers.
That’s literally why I started a RUclips channel….i got tired of hearing my friends say that. Haha. Thanks for watching!
I have hurt myself before and had limited use of my left arm..... your creativity to overcome a missing limb is cleaver. Nice job involving your kids in the project. I have a hard time with having my kids "helping" because it always seems my projects at home are in a time crunch....
Most of my projects are severely premeditated. I often think them completely through before I start them. And you are right that sometimes management help isn’t always the best, but there’s no better way to teach your kids right? Thanks for watching!
Been trying to figure out how I could unfold this trailer on my own in the garage instead of my steep driveway & I’m a short not very strong lady 😅. Your mods are great. A pickup without a pickup truck is now a possibility for me! TYSM
You can do it!
I also have a garage hoist to raise and lower my trailer. One useful thing that I've learned is to throw some cheap wheel chocks behind the wheels right before they hit the floor of the garage. It stops that wild swing backwards.
Omg I can’t believe I never thought of that. It’s the only unsolved problem of that setup.
Great tips. I replaced the plastic wheel with a heavy duty steel wheel set (required welding).
Thanks for watching!
Dude, your Genius is all showing in 14:59 your video. Keep making videos they’re great.
I appreciate that!
Brilliant! Cant wait to do some of these myself. About to buy one in a week or 2. You've truly transformed this trailer to look beautiful and be way more practical/have more uses. Appreciate the video!
Good luck with your project as well!
You are the 2nd person to say they had to brace up the tongue because of the twisting when moving it. Plus, I like the other ideas you showed in the video. Great job. 👍👍👍👏👏👏
Ya the twist on my old trailer was terrible. It was a 6 inch drop from the front right to back left deck corners. There are fancy tongue jacks better suited but I’m on a budget. I prefer a project vs expensive projects.
Just FYI, any bed liner coating works very well for the bed. Very durable and not slippery. Excellent ideas for the trailer.
Interesting. I didn’t Know Bed liner paint was available for diy. Any suggestions on brand?
@armedanddangerousdiy6096
Herculiner is the big brand available at most hardware stores. They make a aerosol version most people say is easier to work with, I have only used the brush/roll on version...which is a pain, but pretty effective.
That’s what I have used, the roll-on version. It makes a very nice, thick and rubbery surface after 2-3 coats.
anyone tried automotive undercoating? it's made to withstand road junk. (IDK if they sell that at auto parts stores.)
Top notch mods. I'm refurbishing mine right now. I'm going to steal a bunch. So far the only mods I've made is switching the tires to 81mph rated radials and had a channel made and drilled for a triangle jack.
Definitely a good call
My compliments. This is the bestHF trailer setup I saw ever.
Thank you, that really put a smile on my face! Thanks for watching!
Go Pack Go!!!! Good idea on the license plate bracket and moreso with thesafety bar. Im going to definitely make one. For the sides, I drilled out location for the pin and instead of your clips, I hammered in a t-nut then used a normal bolt. Tightens up the sides as well.
Love how your kids aren't helping as you do all the work! 😂😂😂
Yeah, my kids are not that interested in playing with tools, because it actually requires real effort. It’s been a year since I made this video, and my son has definitely taken an interest in playing in the shop with me now. As he gets older, I’m sure that will increase. Thanks for watching!
Brilliant! I enjoy watching others "upgrade" whatever they have, to make the purchase a better product! Well done! Hartley [garden grove, CA usa]
Thanks for watching!
LOVE the ingenuity! Lots of great ideas here for the HF trailer I just picked up. Mostly bought it for my motorcycle, but I justified the purchase for work as well. Tax write off that also suits my personal needs of hauling my bike around so I don’t need to ride it two hours to where I want to go ride some more and then two hours home lol
Glad you like it. Thanks for watching!
Just bought one of these and I have to say I like some of your mods. Yeah I'll probably incorporate some in mine and also hit most of the corner joints and any crucial ones with the mig welder. Seems like a decent trailer for the money and my biggest draw was the ability of storage for it. 👍
When I bought my first one in 2002, it was just going to be used for moving two states away. It was so handy, I just couldn’t part with it. Over the years I found out it’s pretty rare for a normal person to haul much more than 500 lbs. the price was right and it stays nice being stored in the garage. Thanks for watching!
Neat mods, dude. I also ended up completing the ground circuit on mine. I need to grab those stake rack connectors and corner security latches.
It was the only way to make the wiring reliable. I road trip a lot with it and I don’t want police trouble.
The whole concept is no tools. Some day I’m going to invent a no tools way to bolt the back trailer deck to the frame when you unfolded. Until then, the only thing you need to put that trailer together is a 9/16 socket everything else like the corner security latches are easy. I’m glad you like the video, it represents 20 years of trailer modifications by myself and improvements.
Absolutely genius! I am going to borrow many of these ideas
Thanks for watching!
Man, you`re outstanding!
Thank you!
Total respect for excellent editing and fitting music!
Thanks! Most videos average 3-6 hours of editing. I’ve gotten better over the years but I do appreciate the encouragement.
Thanks for the updated post. Ok after you open the trailer you ONLy use the 2 carriage bolts to lock it in? what about the other 2 regular bolts, one on each side near the carriage bolts, and 2 bolts that go through each independant frame to hold the frames together? you dont lock those in ? I was wondering what most people did about that. Since I plan on keeping this folded up most of the time, I always see people post just unfolding it and using it, they never mention locking in all those 6 bolts. Got a lot of good ideas from this clip, bummer that I literally just finished wiring mine up last night lol. I took a few extra steps to protect the wires and better grounds. Ill keep the junction box idea in my head for the future. man you have it stored in the perfect spot. takes up no room there.
So if you look at the instructions for the trailer, you are correct, that there are two more carriage bolts that are installed vertically through the two frames near the axle. They are virtually IMPOSSIBLE to install. So on a whim about 18 years ago, and decided not to put them in and see what happened. Nothing that’s what. I’ve never installed them since. My theory on that is the two carriage bolts by the fender that I showed in the video plus the hinges are enough to hold the rear deck in place. Plus if you look at the trailer design, as long as you properly load the trailer uniformly, with a slight positive bias towards the tongue, you’ll never have too much weight on the very back of the deck. And trust me, I’ve driven a garden tractor up loading ramps onto the deck without those two extra bolts, and nothing happened. I’ve been running without those two extra bolts for so long, I guess I’ve proved to myself they are not required. I intentionally did not mention that in the video because of the liability of me circumventing harbor freights design. Surely you can appreciate that.
And yes run a ground wire to each light and use junction boxes. Rust and corrosion are the real enemy. The free wiring bundle you get with a light kit is too thing and the plastic cracks in the cold. When you upgrade in ten years buy some heavier gauge wire intended for automotive.
Merry Christmas bud!
Hey GREAT-job on yer 'modz'! ...annnd, u did a GREAT-job (also) with yer video-presentation! Keep-on, keep'n-on.
Thank you. It’s comments like this they keep me going. Thank you so much!
Very clever and useful mods. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Looking at buying one of these to hitch to an older IH Cub Lowboy for yard cleanup/hauling. Also looking at the 4’ square one for a fuel caddy if I can find a 1/2 pet tank, need to find the tank first so..
Yeah I welded up a hitch for the back of my tractor.
@@armedanddangerousdiy6096 I have one with a single point and 2 with the draw bar so. Just need to find the right sized ball and get an adapter made with a longer shoe on it for the single point
A lots of really good ideal's ! Thanks
Glad you like them!
What size clam and clevis pins are used for the fences. What did you use to secure it to the fence when not in use? Ingenious mods!
Glad you liked it. 4 inch clams. I just bought some inexpensive stainless chain and screws.
Great video. A lot of simple, yet very effective mods.
Thank you!
Very helpful ideas. How about an Epoxy paint?
Hmmm…never heard of epoxy paint before. If it’s not at Menards I’m a noob. Hehe thanks for watching!
Brother all that is so ingenious. I just have to ask though is there some way you can work the unfolding process where the hitch coupler doesn’t get pushed across the floor? I’m thinking after watching your video I’d like to get this model and make about every mod you’ve done. But the port floors in our garage are all epoxy and I’d be afraid of digging into it. I guess you could hold it up while you’re down winching?
On my old trailer I had the wheeled jack stand on the outside much closer to the receiver. With that setup only the wheel rolled when unfolding. Putting it in the middle moved it back. Frankly you could just buy a 4 wheel dolly for ten bucks from harbor freight and just rest the receiver on it instead.
www.harborfreight.com/18-in-x-12-in-1000-lb-capacity-hardwood-dolly-58312.html
Awesome, thank you!!! / This is the video I was looking for. I will follow your lead to a T once I assemble the trailer.
I’m glad you can benefit from 20+ years of evolution. Thanks for watching!
You did a great job
Thank You!
Mostly good. The license plate looks iffy couple of good pot holes and it’s gone. The spare undermount would really suck if you had to get it out with a load on the trailer and those kind of flats only happen in the rain at night don’t you know. Nice fence/ sides
Thanks for watching!
Great Video, I just purchased on of the H.F Folding trailers and would love to know where you purchased the corner hardware mentioned at 11:40 sec. Do you have a link ?
I amended the video description but here you go buddy!
I bought my hardware from northern tool in 2012, but here are example links that might help you:
Front corner hardware: a.co/d/0iROjqIg
Rear corner hardware: a.co/d/00ZlEl3f
Keep in mind I made my own plate for the rear latch because I thought the one that came with it was too flimsy. Enjoy!
Great video, thanks a lot! What size are the wire lock/ clamshell pins you used?
You’re welcome! They are 4 inch. I’ve bought them at Menards and tractor supply in the past. They are near the rope, chain, and ratchet straps typically. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for letting me know. I couldn't find 4" pins, but my local TSC sold 1/4" diameter square bale locking pins with 3.5" of working space, which did the trick for the trailer walls - except the left/right brackets forward of the axle. The pivot bracket for the tongue gets in the way there, but with a set of trailer corners the whole thing was stable enough for me to trust it driving 1,450 miles.
To prevent movement/rattle, I recommend 3/8 diameter x 3.5" if you can find them. Amazon sells a SS a multipack 3/8 x 2.5", and I use these to hold the rear down trailer frame in place instead of the carriage bolts that came with the trailer itself since they're much easier to remove. Also recommend 1/2" x 2" for the folding tongue to make life a little easier when storing.
Great mods. Thanks for sharing!
Appreciate the comment!
@sigung01
0 seconds ago
I really thought all of your ideas were great EXCEPT mounting the spare under the trailer. Have you given any thought to how difficult it might be to get up under a fully loaded trailer with a flat tire on the side of a busy highway and get that spare off and out from under the trailer?
That is an excellent point. That’s why I originally had mounted on the tongue, and then a different way on the tongue, and then in the trunk when I go on long road trips. The bottom line is the only time I’ve ever blown a tire is when I overloaded the trailer and broke the leaf spring. So is it important to carry a spare tire? Absolutely. Does it have to be easy to get to? No. At least that was my experience. Therefore it’s on the trailer and available, probably going to be a total suck job if I ever have to get it off, but frankly, the odds of me needing the tire are pretty much slimto none. From my perspective, though, I think it’s foolish to go on a long road trip without one because honestly who carries these size tires, they’re not common unless you go to a tractor supply store. The bottom line is it is a compromise between availability and easibility. I aired on the side of it there if I ever need it and I’ll be cussing up a storm if I have to get it off. :-) Thank you for watching, I do appreciate your comment!
And not to harp on the subject, but understand I’ve had this trailer for over 23 years now, and I’ve only blown once tire so my perspective is a bit warped. Depending on how you use the trailer, you might want to locate it in a different spot. 90% of my trips are less than 15 miles, but occasionally, I do take it on 1000 mile road trip
Great video, thank you
Glad you liked it!
Bravo........my upgrade.......add second axle...and...spare tire........cheers
Good choice! Thank You!
I’m curious with all the mods you’ve done, why not get some slim LED oval taillights that bolt right on the back frame? Nothing would sticking out anymore so they’d be nothing getting knocked around all the time…
That’s a good idea. The main reason is I can’t put a hole bigger than 1/2” in the frame without compromising the integrity strength wise. If the taillight hung down it would interfere with the tilt function. It’s why the license plate folds up. You have me thinking now though. Expect a video in three months implementing a version of your idea. Thanks!
Great video with lots of great ideas!
Glad you like them!
Great video Thank you..
You are welcome!
Brilliant mods. Gives me some ideas for mine
Glad you liked it!
I wonder if your choice of paint color for the deck was driven by the same thought process as mine. mis-tinted paint marked real cheap at Lowe’s. Yours is coincidentally the same color as mine. 😂
That’s a very good observation, but unfortunately, in this particular case you are wrong. In college, I was in a fraternity and purple red and gold were our colors. I always have those colors laying around the house and when I just need something, I just go grab whatever I have laying around in this case purple.
I have had a fender break off - any ideas on how to make more secure and not jiggly?
Would suggest buying a heavier gauge fender and making a new fender bracket out of 1/4 hot rolled steel. The stock ones are legal and that’s about it. Thanks for watching!
AWESOME!!
Thanks for watching!
What a great video! 👍 subbed, now to take a look at more videos.
Welcome aboard!
Brilliant
Thanks for watching!
Great modifications and 70s porno music
Trust me, finding music that’s not copyrighted that I can use on RUclips is harder than you think. The good music you hear on RUclips cost a lot of money per year subscription fees. But thanks for the comment, I’m glad you like the video. Take care buddy.
Just a heads up, your jack is on incorrectly. The plate needs to be turned, and the three both holes need to be on the bottom and one bolt hole on the top on each side of the plate.
I had no idea. Do you know people like us, we just take the instructions and throw them in the trash without reading them as usual. I’ll flip it around, thanks for letting me know!
can this trailer handle 60mph with a 250 lb load for 3 to 4 hours at a time...any bearing upgrades that would need to be performed, etc.
I’ve taken this trailer on road trips in excess of 1000 miles without issue. As long as you stay under the weight rating, which in this case is 1600ish pounds you’ll be fine. Every couple years I do take the axles apart and wash the bearings out and repack them with fresh grease and reset the preload but Beyond that it’s pretty much fool proof. I put over 50,000 miles on the first trailer I owned. I probably have 5000 on this one with no incident. It’s pretty basic and that’s why it holds up so well I think.
@@armedanddangerousdiy6096 and 60mph speeds...ok?
Oh yes
Nice mods, problem is most people aren't equiped to 'weld up' anything
Only two of the 10 mods require welding. And you are right, that most people aren’t equipped to weld. However, there are other ways to achieve the same objective without a welder if you’re the creative type. Thank you for watching!
Great job on everything, I love all the modifications you've done except for it's not really basic DIY if you have to buy and learn hoew to use a welder lol, thanks though🤔
It’s funny you say that as it was my first welding project. However, I also included a pic of my first attempt on my old trailer which was just 2” x 2” square tubing bolted between the frame rails. That is totally a DIY grade project. Either way good good luck with you and I hope you learn something. Thanks for watching.!
I added a custom tongue jack bracket, winch-style spare tire holder underneath, folding sheet material stops, and mounting posts for a custom kayak & bike rack to our trailer and didn't weld a single thing. These trailers are very DIY friendly.
Love the location of the spare tire.
First I tried the tongue. It made the tongue too heavy to fold the trailer. Then I tried the picket fence but then you have no spare flat bedding. Then I just kept it loose but then it was in the trunk in the way. I finally settled on the under deck location as a happy medium. I’ve only used the spare once in 22 years. That was the trip I broke the leaf spring overloading it. To be fair an 18 year old rusty leaf spring from China didn’t have much of a chance. I want to figure out a traveler tube to hold the wrench and mount an old car spare jack to be complete. Take care bro!
Where’d you get that over head cable hoist?😊
The hoist itself I got from Harbor freight. I did a video last year where I installed one that swings on a heavy piece of plumbing pipe.
GO PACK GO!!!!
I hail from the motherland my friend
smart man
Thank You!
must be a lot of fun to get at the spare tire when you have a flat with a loaded trailer
In the 23 years, I’ve owned a trailer, I’ve had one flat. That was because I overloaded it and broke the leaf springs. So in general, you are right that it sucks, but how often do you really get a flat?
@@armedanddangerousdiy6096 once would be enuff
🙄🤦@@nickmandziak7702
I'm in Indiana, can I pay you just to replicate one for me ?
You’re pretty funny. I actually have a rather good job, so I just do this kind of stuff for fun.
Great video. The musics a little distracting though.
Noted!
lol why no wire loom
Honestly? Because I’m cheap
Cuales son las medidas de largo y de ancho
The trailer deck, the flat part you can carry a load, is 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. If you include the tires and the tongue, the trailer is 6 feet wide and 12 1/2 feet long approximately.
Te combiene mejor comprar la traila 5x8 que vende Norther Tool. Es mejor calidad. Nada mas te cuesta como 100 dollar mas.
Great mods. And I see you are using your steel toed toes! At least put shoes on. You don’t want to lose a foot too!
Yes, those were an investment after I bought my Walter. I dropped a piece of steel on my tall several times before I learned that hard lesson.!
O I forgot GO PACKERS 😊
So sayeth our lord, Vince Lombardi in the glory years!
I’ll be damned if I got to lay on my fat rolls to put a tag down, self tap screw it to it.
These days I flip the license plate before I unfold the deck so I don’t have to climb underneath
i wanted so bad to see someone as anal as me in modifying a cheapo trailer into a rolls royce of trailers.... i was horrified almost immediately... first and foremost... FLIP FLOPS? REALLY? just smash your toes with a hammer and cut out the middleman. your wiring and attachment leaves much room for improvement, use some wire loom for a more professional look as well as protecting the wires. cuts down on the ability of chafing. spare tire under the bed? i bet thats great on a snowy or rainy day. lighting? LED LED LED. replace those terrible HF tail lights with 4 to 10 inch slim line stop tail turn mounted on the rear beam... removes the chance of smashing your leg and bending the bracket as well. marker lights front and rear.. top of fenders too.... LED LED LED. how about adding some ''e'' track and or eyelets? NOW... IF YOU REALLY WANT TO PIMP YOUR RIDE... add some under deck colored LED lighting. visibility.... 3M vinyl reflective tape... for the added HEY WATCH OUT for me look. next... and this is a just in case one... a old GM scissor jack and lug wrench for tire changes. next a nose box... old plastic milk crates are great for straps and that scissor jack. these are just a few of my improvements... im working on others... didnt mean to be a jerk... BUT SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY and overkill to make yours the best and be the best
Ok
Who asked?
Ground wire is a great technique but you should protect wires with wire loom or conduit. Don’t need full conduit. Even open end straight runs provide drainage and protection.
Good call
maybe run the wires thru PEX plumbing tubing?
I made T handle type threaded screws with a threaded plate from behind, to lock the pickets, in place, on my trailer.
That’s a good idea!
Barefooted? Fuck.
I get made fun of all the time for doing projects barefoot. I never much pay attention I guess