What makes a vehicle slice through the wind easier? How does a trailer fit in the mix? The science is complex, but there are some good concepts of trailer aerodynamics that are important to know. Is there anything I can do to improve my rig?
Tips
Adjustable Hitch? Or, Adjustable Ball Mount?
Over the past few years the Adjustable Hitch and/or Adjustable Ball Mount have become quite popular. They are great for adapting to a wide variety of tow vehicle heights and trailer tongue heights. But, which should you use? Does it make any difference?
Tips To Set A Trailer Tongue At The Frame Center
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
Trailer Towing Tips
As we plan and eventually set out for the many adventures this year, let’s plan for a great trip. Here are some good towing tips to make it all go much smoother.
For RV’s or any other trailer, the tips are
Are Your Trailer Plans Certified?
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
Trailer Hitch Class Ratings
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
How Often Should You Tighten Trailer Wheel Bolts?
A friend asked me this question, along with the companion of “How Tight?” The last thing we want is to lose a wheel — because it will not only delay our trip, but a wheel coming loose can do serious damage — to us, our stuff, or maybe
When To 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?
Get 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.
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
Tips To Strengthen A Trailer Frame
I have a great trailer, but it feels a bit flexy, maybe even rickety . . . How can I strengthen a trailer frame? How can I stiffen it?
There’s More To It – Mounting Trailer Axle Springs
As with many things, there’s a lot more to mounting trailer axle springs than first meets the eye. Here are 2 tips to make your trailer frame stronger.
How To Setup A Trailer Frame Build
Just how do you setup for building a trailer frame? Seems simple enough, just layout all the frame members and start welding, Right? Well, mostly, but there are some additional steps that will help it turn out better.
Convenient Trailer Tongue Hinge For Storage
Need to store your trailer in a smaller space? Consider adding a trailer tongue hinge like these. It’s helpful, for sure, but has some definite things to consider.
Trailer Build: Where Does The Axle Go?
Trailer axle position? This is a good question. Unfortunately, there is some popular, but misleading information around. So, how do you know proper trailer axle position? Here’s the whole answer,
Trailer Safety Chains?
Do they accomplish the intended purpose? Or are trailer safety chains just a legal pain in the rear? Maybe the better question to ask, since we’re required to use them: “How do we make the chains more effective?“
The Right Tools – Metalworking Files
Often misused and not very well understood — so goes the life of many metalworking files. Yet, they still do things other tools can’t. That makes them a tool worth knowing!
The Little Things Make All The Difference
The trailer hitch and surrounding hardware are OH so important — with safety as the priority. Here are examples illustrating one success and one horrific failure.
Pre-Stressed Steel Fabrication
The concepts of pre-stressed steel fabrication have been around for ages, but they are not often applied for simple welded structures like trailer frames or crane stands.
Save Big Buying DIY Project Nuts and Bolts
Ever wonder why fasteners like nuts and bolts are so expensive? You would think something so standard and manufactured in such high volumes would be cheap, but in most places, they’re actually pretty expensive. Why?