Widening Harbor Freight trailer to five foot

[Jim Marshall]

I finally got my carriage built to widen our Harbor Freight trailer to five foot. I didn't want to cut it down the middle and splice everything, as it would have been major problems with the tongue. Here is a picture or two of how I widened it to 5'.





I plan to cantilever the floor struts out 6 inches on each side and go from there.

[asianflava]

Is that a new axle? Or did you widen that?

Good Job!

[mikeschn]

Looking good Jim...

Mike...

[Jim Marshall]

Asianflava, I widened the axle. I may have over reinforced it though. I welded a smooth solid 1 1/4" steel rod from end to end and welded a piece of 1 1/2" X 3/16 angle iron on top of that end to end. The axle has a crown in it so I made sure it stayed in when I welded the other steel in it. I did paint the trailer black today also.

We picked up a great deal for our doors today also. They are windows from a conversion van we found at a junk yard. They are tinted heavy and have the sliding glass with screens for $35 each. They are 27 inches wide and 39 inches tall. We got the inside trim with the windows too. A friend of ours built a tear and used the windows like we have and they really look great and seal very good.

Thanks fellows, I appreciate your kind comments. We are sooooo excited and can't wait to go camping.

[kayakrguy]

Hi Jim,

I'm not sure why, but your picture buttons do not work in my browser so I can't see how you widened the HF trailer...did you just get a wider axel and use the 4' frame?

Thanks,

Jim

[Jim Marshall]

Kayakrguy, I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. I have the same problem sometimes with our PC not opening pictures.

My neighbor gave me some 2X2 angle iron so I made a frame 5 feet long and as wide as the HF spring carriage is. I cut the axle and bought a solid 1 1/4 inch steel rod which fit perfectly inside the U shaped axle tube. I also bought a 1 1/2 inch piece of angle iron and welded that from end to end to the axle tube that I had welded the 1 1/4 inch rod into. I located the carriage where the axle would be at 32 inches from the rear of the HF trailer frame and welded it there. When you build your floor, it will cantilever over the sides of your HF frame. Let me caution you at this point. I wish I had built the carriage for my axle less than 5 feet wide because when I put my aluminum on the side of my tear now, all that will cover the carriage that I built Will be the aluminum skin. Since I am using 1/8 inch plywood on my sides and adding the aluminum, I should have taken 1/8 inch off the width of the carriage that I built on both sides. This would have made my carriage 59 3/4 inch.

My friend, I sure hope I have not confused you. If I didn't explain this right please feel free to PM me or make another post here and I will try to make myself clearer. I am not very good at explaining things.

[kayakrguy]

Jim,

Thank you for your description of how you widened the 4x8. Very clear, actually (today is a good day<g>. My browser finally digested the pictures, so I also can see what you did. Looks good!

Jim