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Best Practices

Improve Fuel Economy When Towing

June 11, 2022 by Mechanic
Save Money at the Pump

Gas prices are up.  Diesel prices are even higher.  Since I don’t see those prices changing soon, maybe I can DIY some things to help.  Is there any way to improve fuel economy when I’m pulling my trailer?

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Categories Adventures Tags Best Practices, Cost, DIY, Trailer Leave a comment

The Concept of “Strong Enough”

March 30, 2022February 12, 2022 by Mechanic
Is It Strong Enough?

I’m not sure how to categorize this Article.  It’s an answer, but more than that.  We get questions once in a while something like “My trailer is X long and I want to haul a Y.  Is 3 inch angle iron strong enough?”

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Categories Adventures Tags Best Practices, Calculation, Force, Gantry Crane, Plans, Quality, Safety, Testing Leave a comment

Are Your Trailer Plans Certified?

April 6, 2022December 22, 2021 by Mechanic
DOT Approved or Certified Plans

This is a great question we get a lot, in many variations.  Are your plans DOT approved?  Are the plans Stamped?  We think it’s great to know the level of plans you get when you buy, so asking about certified plans is a great place to start.  However, this question

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Categories Plans Info Tags Best Practices, Build, Safety, Testing, Tips, Trailer, Wires Leave a comment

When Does My Trailer Need Brakes?

November 13, 2021 by Mechanic
Trailer Axles with Brakes

There are laws that say when a trailer must have brakes.  In most places within the USA, when the trailer total capacity is over 3000 lbs, trailer brakes are required.  That’s all well and good, but we all know that laws are an ignorant way of covering the least

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

Trailer Hitch Class Ratings

October 27, 2021October 22, 2021 by Mechanic
Trailer Hitch and Drawbar Classes

As a convenient way to help with safety, trailer hitches, balls, and receivers have categories or load rating groups called classes.  Each trailer hitch class has ratings for how much it will carry.  A look at the ratings for each component

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Best Practices, Hitch, Safety, Strength, Tips, Tongue Leave a comment

Trailer Sway – Video Review & Discussion

September 25, 2021 by Mechanic
Trailer Sway Video Review

Understanding Trailer Dynamics like Sway is a really important.  If you look for it, there are many articles and some great YouTube videos discussing and demonstrating the many factors and issues.

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Categories Adventures Tags Best Practices, Safety, Stability, sway, Trailer, Video Leave a comment

I-Beam Shape Choices: Is it I, S, W, M or H?

May 13, 2022September 7, 2021 by Mechanic
Which I-Beam Shape?

When is an I-Beam not really an “I” Beam?  While it’s common to use the generic term “I-Beam” for any beam with an I shape section, there are actually variations with different letter designations.  And, there are advantages for the various shapes

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Best Practices, Bolts, Force, Gantry Crane, Strength Leave a comment

Bent Tongue — Judging A Weak Trailer

July 5, 2021 by Mechanic
Bent Trailer Tongue

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.

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Categories Adventures Tags Analysis, Best Practices, Customer Story, Failure, Safety, Strength, Tongue, Trailer Leave a comment

Why Special Order Axles?

April 1, 2022May 5, 2021 by Mechanic
What Is The Right Trailer Axle Size?

Some Trailer Plans don’t use a standard axle size.  Why not?  Good question, along with the also common “Why should I special order the trailer axle?

There are a few common-ish axle sizes

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Categories Plans Info Tags Axle, Best Practices, Customize, Plans, Spring Leave a comment

Good Ways To Shorten A Chain

June 28, 2021April 20, 2021 by Mechanic
Need To Shorten The Chain

In previous articles we discuss the importance of trailer safety chain length.  If the chains are too long, what can you do?  Yeah, odds are you won’t need them, but what if you do?  Long chains can complicate things quickly, so how can we safely shorten a chain?

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

Dangling By A Single Trailer Chain

March 9, 2022March 22, 2021 by Mechanic
Saved by Trailer Chain

If you ever doubt the sanity of safety chains, then see this example of where a single trailer chain literally saved lives.  The story is amazing from all angles –

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Categories News Tags Best Practices, Safety, Stability, Strength, Trailer 2 Comments

When To Replace Trailer Tires

June 12, 2021March 16, 2021 by Mechanic
Replace Trailer Tires

Don’t mess around with your safety or unexpected trip interruptions.  The Best Reason to replace old or worn trailer tires is personal sanity, because who wants to deal with it on the side of the road?

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Best Practices, Safety, Tips, Tire 1 Comment

Are Aluminum Trailers Good or Bad?

August 30, 2021February 11, 2021 by Mechanic
Aluminum Weld Adjustments

I’ve heard different opinions, so let’s look again at the Engineering and clear up some facts.  Maybe we can also debunk a few misconceptions.

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Categories Mechanics Tips, Plans Info Tags Aluminum, Best Practices, Build, Steel, Strength Leave a comment

Where and How to Attach Safety Chains

March 23, 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, Hitch, Safety, Trailer, Welding 6 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

Threaded Rod For Custom Bolts

June 16, 2021July 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

Which Trailer Plans Should I Buy?

February 19, 2022May 26, 2020 by Mechanic
Which Trailer Plans To Buy?

I want to build a trailer, but there are so many possibilities — and some are mutually exclusive.  How do I narrow my needs, and how do I choose which Trailer Plans to buy?

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Categories Plans Info Tags Best Practices, Customize, Options, Plans, Trailer 6 Comments

Converting A Trailer

June 16, 2021February 24, 2020 by Mechanic
Converting a Trailer

The concept of re-purposing or converting a trailer is absolutely awesome.  My hat’s off to anyone who can find a way to reuse and convert something from end-of-life to new-again.  We need more of that in our world!

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Categories Customer Stories Tags Axle, Best Practices, Calculation, Customer Story, Stability, Trailer 1 Comment

Does Your Trailer Have Attitude?

September 30, 2021January 16, 2020 by Mechanic
Trailer With 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

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Categories Adventures Tags Best Practices, Hitch, Safety, Tongue, Trailer Leave a comment

What Do You Want In 2020?

October 25, 2021January 1, 2020 by Mechanic
What Do You Want for 2020

A new day, A new Year, and a new Decade!  We don’t get to say that very often, so it’s kind of cool.  Anyway, as we look to the near future for Mechanical Elements, we want to know what you want in 2020.

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Categories News Tags Best Practices, DIY, Solutions!, Tiny House 5 Comments
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