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Adventures | Customer Stories | Mechanics Tips | News | Plans Info | Solutions!

Mechanics Tips

Articles  >  Mechanics Tips

We can all use Tips for Building, Planning and Fabricating with DIY Projects.  Below is a list of articles with insights for success with our plans, details for expediting construction, and general items for success when you do it yourself.  If you have something to contribute, please let us know.  If you want to see tips on a certain topic, let us know that too.  This is the Do-It-Yourself portal, and these tips are for you!  Enjoy!  –  See all the Mechanic’s Posts here.

How To Measure A Bolt Pattern

August 23, 2021January 18, 2021 by Mechanic
Various Wheel Bolt Patterns

What is the bolt pattern on your trailer wheels?  For the most part it doesn’t matter because you’re not changing wheels that often, yet when it does matter, it really matters.  Here is some good info to measure and calculate

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Bolts, Calculation, Measurements, Tire Leave a comment

Where and How to Attach Safety Chains

December 31, 2022January 6, 2021 by Mechanic
Attach Safety Chain With One Bolt

What are the best ways to attach safety chains on a trailer?  That’s a simple question without a single best answer.  Don’t you hate it when the answer starts with “It depends . . . “?  Unfortunately, it does depend on many other things

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Best Practices, Chain, Hitch, Safety, Trailer, Welding 8 Comments

The Trailer Breakaway Kit

March 17, 2023December 18, 2020 by Mechanic
Trailer Wiring For Breakaway Kit

What in the world is a Trailer Breakaway Kit?  If you pull a “larger-ish” trailer, you should definitely know, because it’s a legal requirement in many jurisdictions.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Axle, Electric, Safety, Wires 2 Comments

Wheels And Tires For Your Trailer

August 23, 2021November 7, 2020 by Mechanic
What Tires For My Trailer?

There are a million tires out there with a ton of classifications and designations.  What tires do I choose for my trailer?  That is not a silly question at all.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Axle, Best Practices, Safety, Tire, Trailer Leave a comment

Successful Threads With A Die

June 15, 2021October 30, 2020 by Mechanic
Dies

While the Tap & Die go hand in hand as threading tools, they’re very different in the way they work.  There are also different tricks for success.  So, let’s talk success tips for making external threads with a die.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Bolts, Cutting, DIY, Tools 4 Comments

Engineering: Welding Trailer Spring Brackets

August 23, 2023September 24, 2020 by Mechanic
Welding Trailer Spring Brackets

There is some disagreement in trailer building about how to weld trailer spring brackets (also known as spring hangers).   Some of you have sent questions about which techniques are best, especially

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Axle, Force, Safety, Spring, Strength, Welding 9 Comments

Get Thread Tapping Straight

December 31, 2022August 26, 2020 by Mechanic
Thread Tapping Straight

A Tap and Die set is a near must for a DIY fab shop.  While the thread creating functions are pretty easy to visualize, sometimes getting the tread to start straight and run true is a different matter.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Bolts, DIY, Drilling, Measurements, Tips, Tools 1 Comment

Reasonably Accurate Way To Bend Metal

June 15, 2021August 18, 2020 by Mechanic
Bend A Metal Bracket

There are a bunch of ways to bend metal for a bracket.  Do a search on YouTube and you’ll likely find several techniques.  Well, we don’t want to dis any of those because

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Categories Mechanics Tips, Solutions! Tags Fabrication, Measurements, Press, Steel, Video Leave a comment

Drill Matching Bolt Holes

February 9, 2022August 3, 2020 by Mechanic
Drill Matching Bolt Holes

So many times we need to make matching holes to bolt something on.  You purchased something to mount on your trailer or your workbench or some other project, but now you need the exact

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Bolts, Calculation, Drilling, Measurements, Video Leave a comment

Threaded Rod For Custom Bolts

July 15, 2023July 9, 2020 by Mechanic
All Thread or Threaded Rod

You can use threaded rod (often called All-Thread) for a million things.  Make a long bolt, or just the right size fastener.  It’s also good for special brackets if you weld to it.  And, if you’re not careful, you can make it fail in a million ways too.

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Categories Mechanics Tips, Solutions! Tags Best Practices, Bolts, DIY, Measurements, Solutions! Leave a comment

Tricks To Weigh Heavy Things

November 9, 2022June 18, 2020 by Mechanic
How To Weigh A Trailer

Do you need to weigh something really heavy but don’t have access to an industrial scale?  How can I weigh heavy things — like a trailer frame — without a special huge or super heavy duty scale?  Answer:  With some physics and a little math.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Calculation, DIY, Force, Measurements, Trailer, Video Leave a comment

4 Pressing Issues

June 16, 2021May 4, 2020 by Mechanic
Using A Workshop Hydraulic Press

A shop press is a fantastic tool, and when you need it, there’s not much that can really substitute.  On the other hand, we need to keep things in order because when things go bad, they can easily go really bad in a hurry.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Fixture, Press, Safety, Tools Leave a comment

Does My Trailer Need A Spare Tire?

June 17, 2021November 27, 2019 by Mechanic
Do I Need A Trailer Spare Tire?

What about that trailer spare tire?  No, I don’t mean the one around my middle . . . for your trailer.  Do you really need one?  Some say yes, and we see them on many trailers, but they are rarely used.  What if you just go without?

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Cost, Safety, Tire, Trailer Leave a comment

What Bolts For DIY? – Bolts 101

July 15, 2023November 12, 2019 by Mechanic
What Bolts for DIY?

Bolts are an amazingly simple yet complex fastening method.  They’re used everywhere so mostly we take them for granted, but why are there so many different kinds?  And what bolts should I use?

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Best Practices, Bolts, Safety, Steel, Strength 5 Comments

How To Choose Bolts

July 15, 2023November 12, 2019 by Mechanic
Understanding Bolt Choice

This is Page 2, continuing the Bolts 101 article.  Here we discuss choices for bolts for an application.  The previous post, Page 1 of Bolts 101, gives a ton of good background info, so we recommend reading that first,

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Best Practices, Bolts, Safety, Steel, Strength 1 Comment

Recommendations For Trailer Frame Painting

July 20, 2021October 14, 2019 by Mechanic
Finishing or Trailer Frame Painting

(And finishing other DIY Projects.)

Now you’ve invested all that time and effort into building an awesome trailer, how should you finish it?   Of course we don’t want it to rust.  And, we want it to last. 

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags DIY, Paint, Quality, Steel 3 Comments

Calculating Axle Position

July 15, 2023September 19, 2019 by Mechanic

There is always more to the story.  Our previous post titled “Where Does The Axle Go?” has spawned a lot of great questions.  Here is one particular question asking for some very relevant info about calculating axle position.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Axle, Force, Trailer, Triple 7 Comments

Why Shouldn’t I Use Torsion Axles In Tandem Or Triple?

May 23, 2023August 12, 2019 by Mechanic
Study of Torsion Axles In Triple

Torsion axles are awesome, so Why not use torsion axles in tandem?  It’s a frequent question, along with the corollary “Why shouldn’t I have torsion axles in triple?” Good questions, especially in light of all the misinformation

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Analysis, Axle, Spring, Tire, Torsion, Video 29 Comments

What Is The Right Trailer Tongue Length?

June 18, 2021April 10, 2019 by Mechanic
What is the right trailer tongue length?

How long should a trailer tongue be?  Is there a standard or is it totally arbitrary?  Let’s get some answers on this fun trailer tongue length topic.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Force, Stability, Tongue, Trailer 26 Comments

Practical Safety With A Crane

November 9, 2022April 2, 2019 by Mechanic
Spring Foot for Gantry Crane Safety

Nothing ruins a pleasant day quite like a goose egg on your head, or a throbbing finger pinch.  Avoiding those things (and, of course, the much more disastrous potential events) is the context of this gantry crane safety article.

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Force, Gantry Crane, Plans, Safety, Strength Leave a comment
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