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Simple Chain Anchor System – Free Plans

December 31, 2022December 31, 2022 by Mechanic
Chain Anchor on Tongue

Free Plans for an adjustably permanent Trailer Safety Chain Anchor system.  It’s easy to build, easy to install, absolutely solid, yet it allows chain length adjustments fairly easy.  The goal is making the trailer safety chains very secure, while also

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Categories Plans Info, Solutions! Tags Bolts, Build, Chain, DIY, Free Plans, Safety, Steel, Strength 3 Comments

Laser and Water Jet Cutting for DIY

November 24, 2022November 15, 2022 by Mechanic
DIY with Water Jet Cutting

When thinking about DIY, we normally don’t envision big or expensive machinery to do the job.  There are times, however, when it’s really nice to have.  There are some really good reasons for Water Jet cutting (or laser cutting), instead of the normal DIY methods.

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Categories Adventures Tags Aluminum, Build, Cost, Cutting, Steel, Tools, Welding Leave a comment

Building A Trailer – Critical Things To Get Right

February 11, 2023August 3, 2022 by Mechanic
Success List To Make A Trailer

There are a lot of little details that go into a trailer building project.  Some big, some small.  Overall, it’s not hard, yet, when we think about the really important things that make a trailer perform well, the list is pretty short.  Give just a little extra

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Best Practices, Build, Chain, DIY, Safety, Trailer Leave a comment

Tips To Set A Trailer Tongue At The Frame Center

July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 by Mechanic
How To Set A Trailer Tongue Central

When building a trailer, there are a bunch of things we want to get right.   Here is one.  “How To set a trailer tongue properly, and central on the frame“.  Intrinsically this is easy to grasp, but maybe not as easy to accomplish.  Here are some tricks

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Best Practices, Build, Measurements, Tips, Tongue, Trailer Leave a comment

Dump Trailer Plans – And Build Video

October 4, 2022March 24, 2022 by Mechanic
Build from Dump Trailer Plans

Need Plans to build a better built Dump Trailer?  How about a 7′ x 14′ dump bed with 14,000 lbs trailer capacity.  I can tell you where to get them, and we know the plans are great, because Synthesis Engineering did them.

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Categories News Tags Build, Customer Story, DIY, Dump, Plans, Video Leave a comment

Car Hauler Trailers — New Trailer Plans

February 22, 2023March 5, 2022 by Mechanic
Looking At Car Hauler Trailers

Where do you get plans for true, tough, Car Hauler trailers.  After a ton of market and product study, we are stepping in and stepping up.  Our niche is engineering better plans for DIY, so read on to learn about our approach to Equipment Transport

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Categories News Tags Build, Calculation, Car Hauler, DIY, Plans, Strength, Trailer 2 Comments

Tilt Top Trailer Conversion Plans

October 10, 2022January 4, 2022 by Mechanic
Trailer Conversion to Tilt Top

It’s time to welcome the tilt top trailer.  You, as customers and readers, request this a lot, for a while.  So, now we have it.  Rather than revisiting the design for all our trailers in all the sizes, we now offer conversion plans.  These are an added option

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Categories News, Plans Info Tags Build, Customize, Plans, Tilt Top, Tongue, Trailer 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

You Don’t Have The Plans I Need. Now What?

March 4, 2022March 26, 2021 by Mechanic
Custom Trailer Design

Sometimes looking for the right plans for the trailer you need is a needle in a haystack.  Every site has something, but not exact.  What’s next?  When you really need a particular trailer that others don’t offer,

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Categories Plans Info, Solutions! Tags Analysis, Build, Cost, DIY, Quality, Trailer 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

Introducing Plans For Deck-Over Trailers

March 4, 2022November 26, 2020 by Mechanic
New Deck-Over Trailers Plans

More new plans, and even more coming.  You’ve been asking for robust Deck-Over Trailers, so that’s what we’re working on.  Now they are here, and we’re not talking about another “Me Too”.

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Categories News, Plans Info Tags Analysis, Build, Deck-Over, Plans, Quality, Tandem, Trailer 2 Comments

Which Welder To Buy?

October 10, 2022July 24, 2020 by Mechanic
Which Welder To Buy?

“I’m looking to build one of your trailers, but I need to know which welder to buy?”  or  “What type of welder do I need – 110 or 220 volt?”  and  “What about other projects from your site that may pique my interest?”

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Categories Adventures Tags Aluminum, Build, DIY, Steel, Tools, Welding Leave a comment

A Tiny House Size Quandary

November 9, 2022June 11, 2020 by Mechanic
Living Tiny In A Bigger Way

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?

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Categories Adventures Tags Build, Cost, Plans, Quality, Tiny House, Trailer Leave a comment

Escape From COVID In DIY

November 1, 2021March 30, 2020 by Mechanic
Is there escape from covid-19?

What more can we say about Coronavirus?  The daily press updates are full of horrible news!  There’s so much concern and sadness everywhere.  Then there’s the “Stay at Home” mandates.  I need an emotional escape from COVID !!

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Categories News Tags Build, DIY, Safety Leave a comment

How Much Will It Cost?

October 8, 2022January 30, 2020 by Mechanic
How Much Will It Cost To Build?

Before starting a project we always want to know — or at least have some idea — how much will it cost to build?  If you’re like me, resources are limited, so knowing how much you’re going to sink into a project is smart.

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Categories Plans Info Tags Build, Cost, DIY, Plans Leave a comment

Building A Trailer — Customer Video

June 17, 2021December 23, 2019 by Mechanic
JTP Building A Trailer

We’ve been working with the great folks at Johnson Trailer Parts for a while.  Their business is primarily selling trailer parts, but they understand the greasy hands-on Do-It-Yourself paradigm!

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Categories News Tags Build, DIY, Plans, Quality, Video 4 Comments

Starting Yet Another Project

June 18, 2021September 3, 2019 by Mechanic
Steel for the Next DIY Build

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,

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Categories Adventures Tags Build, DIY, Fixture, Steel Leave a comment

How To Make A Trailer Wider

August 31, 2021March 1, 2019 by Mechanic
Ways 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?  And, what are the limits or problems with making it wider?

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Categories Adventures Tags Build, Strength, Trailer, Welding 3 Comments

Do It Yourself _ Is Not _ All By Yourself

June 18, 2021December 27, 2018 by Mechanic
Do-It-Together

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

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Categories Adventures, Solutions! Tags Build, Cost, Safety, Solutions!, Tips Leave a comment

The Walking Beam Trailer Suspension For Smaller Trailers

October 6, 2022October 18, 2018 by Mechanic
Walking Beam Trailer Suspension With Twin Torsion Axles

Plans are now available for the Twin Torsion Axle Walking Beam Trailer Suspension.  This was introduced on a build early in 2018, with posts about the trailer including a video of the suspension in action.

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Categories News, Plans Info Tags Axle, Build, Plans, Tandem, Torsion, Video Leave a comment
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