When buying a trailer, how can we decide if it’s well built, or just cheap? How do you know if it’s strong or weak? While there are always tale-tale signs, we’ll use this example of a trailer with a bent tongue to illustrate.
Adventures
Articles > Adventures
These are stories and thoughts including Do-it-Yourself adventures. Some success stories, some humorous, and some stories of disaster. We learn from them all. If you have a contribution, we’d love to hear it. Enjoy These Adventures! – See all the Mechanic’s Posts here.
Engineering: Calculate Beam Loading (Intro)
As a simplistic introduction to beam loading, this article discusses the complications in calculating stresses and deflection. While it’s pretty easy to calculate beam loading for simple theoretical cases, very few beams are actually simple. A trailer frame, for instance,
Low Profile Trailer Suspension
Every once in a while something unique catches my eye. This time it’s a low profile trailer suspension that does much the same as torsion axles — but in a way to allow tandem axle load sharing. As I’ve looked at it more, there are some really interesting advantages
On The Road – Rattle Traps We Call Trailers
Are you ever scared by what you see in tow rolling along down the highway? I am often surprised at the contraptions that pass for legal. Join me. Let’s make a collection of photos here for a few good laughs — Scary trailers on the road.
9 Essential Tools For Your DIY Shop
We’ve been asked many times about “What are the most essential tools for your shop?” Well, that’s a hard question, because frustration and wailing are the result when the right tools are not available.
Which Welder To Buy?
I’m looking to build one of your trailers, but I need to know which welder to buy? What type, and do I need 110 or 220 volt? What about other projects from your site that may pique my interest?
A Tiny House Size Quandary
OK, so you want to Live Tiny. That’s awesome. What can you do without? What do you really want to have? And how about that claustrophobia?
Does Your Trailer Have Attitude?
When we think about airplanes flying, or boats sailing, it’s easy to imagine how they move. An airplane rolls some as it banks into a turn. A boat pitches up and down with the waves. So, how do these factors — Pitch, Yaw and Roll — apply to trailers
Starting Yet Another Project
This is what the beginning of a new DIY build looks like. Of course, there’s the planning stages, the design stages and finally the acquisition stages where all the raw materials begin to come in. With all of that behind us, this is the start of the build,
Old Time Tiny House Trailers
The Tiny House Craze is cool and feels New, but it’s actually one of those things that has come around — though with a twist. There is a lot to learn from the past if we take a few minutes
How To Make A Trailer Longer
Sometimes I wish my trailer was longer. Is there an easy way to make a trailer longer? Is that even possible? And, what are the limits
Gantry Crane Failure Modes
There are a lot of ways to abuse a crane. We won’t go into those, but let’s do take a minute on crane failures and what they look like.
How To Make A Trailer Wider
So, I have this trailer, but it needs it to be bigger. Is it possible to make a trailer wider? Can I make it wider to carry more?
Do It Yourself _ Is Not _ All By Yourself
DIY is the common acronym for Do It Yourself, but there’s a misnomer in the expression. In some things doing it by yourself is awesome, for sure, yet DIY does not mean
Buying A Used Trailer – Surprise !!
People buy and sell used trailers all the time. Craigslist and other sites have a lot of them. The question: How good is the used trailer you’re looking at? Oh, and what are the sneaky little details
Video – Testing Twin Torsion Axles
Time to look at the action by testing the Twin Torsion Axles. Video is a great way to see what’s really happening with the new suspension design, so we’ve mounted a camera!
New – Smooth Action Tandem Torsion Axles
Over and over we recommend: “Don’t use torsion axles in tandem because they don’t load-share”. Well, What if we make them share? Here’s a new design that brings the benefits of a torsion axle to the tandem axle party
Building A Better Folding Trailer Tongue
Intrigued by the cool potential of saving storage space, increased security, and removal of a shin knocker to step over, this new folding trailer tongue adds greater utility to a trailer.
The Trailer Build – Project Progress
Update on building a new design specialty utility trailer. The trailer build is going well, and we thought you might have interest in following the progress. Especially for some of the experimental new concept features.
The Economics of DIY Projects
“I want to build a new trailer.” That’s an awesome thing to say, and it’s even better to do. Yet, many such adventures don’t launch because of project economics? What does it cost to build?