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Trailer

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

Trailer Suspension Mounting – Misdirection !!

May 28, 2022May 14, 2022 by Mechanic
Suspension Mounting Too Close

Shopping online is both a boon and a bust.  It’s great access to a wide variety of components, but it’s a bummer when misleading info causes extra work and frustration.  That brings us to this Customer Story of misguided

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Categories Customer Stories, News Tags Customer Story, Customize, Measurements, Steel, Strength, Trailer, Welding Leave a comment

Trailer Towing Tips

June 11, 2022April 15, 2022 by Mechanic
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

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Categories Adventures Tags Safety, Stability, Tips, Trailer Leave a comment

Car Hauler Trailers — New Trailer Plans

May 28, 2022March 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

Car Hauler Design – Trailer Research

March 5, 2022February 25, 2022 by Mechanic
Car Hauler Design Research

Prior to starting new plans, we do research to understand the landscape, then look for opportunity to improve and make a better product.  That is certainly the case with our upcoming Car Hauler & Equipment Transport Trailer design.  New plans are coming soon.

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Categories Adventures Tags Analysis, Calculation, Car Hauler, Strength, Trailer Leave a comment

Torsion Axle Conversion Plans

February 19, 2022February 19, 2022 by Mechanic
Torsion Axle Conversion Plans

By far, the most common trailer suspension is leaf springs.  They’re cheap, straightforward, easy to repair and a bunch of other things.  That said, there are definitely benefits in other suspension styles, too.  Torsion is the 2nd most common

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Categories News, Plans Info Tags Axle, Conversion, Engineering, Torsion, Trailer Leave a comment

Tilt Top Trailer Plans Conversion

January 31, 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 redesigning all our trailers and sizes, we made it a conversion t0 will work with our utility trailer plans.

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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

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

Small Trailer Instead Of A Truck?

October 6, 2021 by Mechanic
Trailer Instead of a Truck

That sounds like a good idea.  Right?  There are a million good reasons to need the capacity of a pickup truck, but actually, very few people use a Truck as a Truck that often.  Can we get the function we need without all the weight and wasting fuel?

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Categories Solutions! Tags Analysis, Cost, DIY, Trailer 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

Why No Plans For Aluminum Trailers?

March 4, 2022August 23, 2021 by Mechanic
Example aluminum trailers

This question comes up often — because there are not many good plans for aluminum trailers out there.  We have great trailer plans, but none for aluminum.  Why?  As one of our Frequently Asked Questions, this one deserves a good answer. 

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Categories Plans Info Tags Aluminum, Cost, Plans, Steel, Strength, Trailer Leave a comment

How Often Should You Tighten Trailer Wheel Bolts?

November 30, 2021August 10, 2021 by Mechanic
Trailer Wheel Bolts

A friend asked me this question, along with the companion “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

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

From Cheap Kit to Improved Trailer

October 28, 2021July 26, 2021 by Mechanic
Harbor Freight Improvement

You’ve seen them, the inexpensive bolt-together Harbor Freight trailer kits.  While they pack a lot of function, they unfortunately are often something like a rattle trap.  (Not always, of course.)  While they have a cheap rap, they sell a lot

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Categories Customer Stories Tags Customer Story, Customize, DIY, Trailer 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

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

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

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

How Much Can I Tow With My Vehicle?

November 30, 2021March 3, 2021 by Mechanic
How Much Can I Tow?

There are 3 main factors with how much you can tow.  While it all seems simple, digging in makes it a little less clear.  Yes, it’s easy to look at the simple rating numbers, 

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Categories Mechanics Tips Tags Limits, Safety, Stability, Towing, Trailer 2 Comments

Wide and Wider Tiny House Trailer Plans

October 25, 2021February 13, 2021 by Mechanic
Wide and Wider Tiny House Trailer Plans

What if . . . You want to live Tiny, but not “that” tiny?  Sure, there are a lot of attractive elements with living Tiny, but to some, the 8 foot width is just too tight.  If that’s you, go with a wider tiny house built with these new trailer plans!

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Categories Plans Info Tags Analysis, Plans, Tiny House, Trailer, Triple Leave a comment
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