Is it possible to be OCD and impulsive at the same time? I think that's my issue, so I decided to catalog my build here.
First, some pictures of the trailer when I first got it.
http://i.imgur.com/NxNuw5G.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WPEVK70.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zYEJEMe.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/S2sqE6g.jpg
That's how its sat when I paid for it. It cost me $500 from CL. It was built by a farmer who used it for, whatever a farmer would use such a trailer for. I am not a farmer. The thing was built like a tank, and very heavy.
My first step was to gut as much excess steel of the trailer as I could. This caused me endless headaches of chasing rust, it was very invasive. Fortunately it was all surface rust. I removed the rear bumper (sold for $100 on CL), the steel floor and decided redo the cargo rack into some sort of frame for a roof.
http://i.imgur.com/85sDgqb.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/rb7COgH.jpg
Then the Army decided it was time to move, just in time for Christmas no less. So I put in a temp plywood floor, threw in some stuff the movers didn't take and drove to GA. This was horrible actually. Apparently there was a winter super storm in Texas, so I figured I could around the storm by going across Kansas. The super high winds kept my speed down around 60 while pulling nearly 3000 RPM and getting around 10 MPG. It was like dragging a boat anchor, for a battleship. Once I hit Illinois the trip got much better. Then I got to Kentucky and had to do an emergency re-alignment of the leaf springs, but the trailer made it to Georgia just fine.
Once in Georgia I rented a temp house until I could buy one where I could work on the trailer some more. However, the trip taught me a lot, like this trailer was just to darn heavy for its own good.
My next steps was to remove what was left of the roof rack and the large utility boxes.
http://i.imgur.com/kB1QYAu.jpg
These things weighed far more than I thought they would. I would estimate somewhere in the ~4-500 pound range, each. If they fell over, like the first one did in the above pic, I could not stand it back up again on my own, and I am not exactly unfit. I ended up getting a bar under it and slowly raising it on blocks until I could use my high-lift jack under it. After two weekends of some serious labor, I finally got them to their final resting place in my shed. They do make amazing tool boxes.
After I got the first box off I notice a broken weld on one side just above the leaf springs.
http://i.imgur.com/1zkH2wr.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/bYFwLB5.jpg
Thanks to the super amount of knowledge here, I was informed that the wrong hardware had been used. Rounded bolts on a square axle. Based on the info from this forum I got the new hardware in the other day. Squared U-Bolts and plate side for my axle and leaf springs. $45.45 for both sides isn't bad I think.
This is how the trailer sits now.
http://i.imgur.com/HhawOjz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IKwAQsz.jpg
I have been able to confirm (my neighbor as it happens own a custom trailer shop in my new town, but unless you are buying from him he is not very friendly, so yes, I paid for the inspection) that the axle is (or was) rated for 2000 pounds. The boxes, the original steel floor, the steel bumper, and all of the rest of the steel I have taken off, I am certain weighed more than that when it was empty. However, he checked out the axle and couldn't find serious concerns. The wheel angles are all still correct and it doesn't look like it is bent anywhere. So that's good news at least.
Then I found this.
http://i.imgur.com/pTrb2k4.jpg
If you look at one of the earlier pictures you will notice there is a secondary 2x4 frame inside the main frame. The above pic shows why. Apparently the farmer who built the trailer didn't have a single length long enough, so he butt-jointed two pieces of the 2x4 steel tube together, then put in a third piece on the inside of the frame to support it. It is in the same spot on both sides, and at the same angle.
And while I could have saved money (maybe) or at least done it right the first time, by building from scratch, I would then be out 2 amazing tool boxes, so I don't feel bad even if I end up scrapping the entire frame and starting over. Between the tool boxes and the axle I still got a deal for $500. But this does change my design choices and/or options.
Each "section" of 2x4 tube is right about 5' 10" long. They each have an angled cut at one end so the length is a little different depending where you measure. The frame tubes actually go quite a ways under the steel mesh. However, the spring hangers are on a single piece of frame tube. I am considering chopping the frame just past the center weld to make the frame an even 6 feet or so, then rotating the axle so the tongue comes off the other end. I would then be able to use the inside 2x4 pieces for either a new tongue or run them across as cross-members.
Either way, my design is going to have to be changed (dramatically) to make this workout in any sort of way. Unfortunately I have to pull duty this weekend, so not a lot is going to get done. Next weekend however (or maybe throughout the week) there will be more cutting. I still have to remove the mesh off the tongue and inspect all of that as well as finish removing the rest of the vertical posts.
Anyway, that's my "build", as it were up to this point. The struggle continues....