5x8 2007 Wells Cargo build

[J.Pierson]

I've seen a few questions about what kind of things to look out for when you are buying a trailer. Somehow they slipped my mind when I actually bought mine.

The floor was soaked and rotted and needed replaced, the aluminum skin had pulled through the screws in places, The majority of the frame had serious rust. After I got it home and took a closer look I felt a bit sheepish for buying it. I realized I may have made a mistake but I didn't have money to buy another one and I didn't feel good about selling it to someone in that condition. So really my only option was to fix it and make it work for my family.

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[J.Pierson]

I stripped the trailer down to it's frame, sanded it down, and painted it with an enamel tractor paint.

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[J.Pierson]

I bought new 3/4 inch plywood and painted the bottom with Henry's asphalt emulsion sealer

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[J.Pierson]

I filled the hat channel with spray foam and then cut the excess of with a sawzall

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[J.Pierson]

Out of the left over plywood, I cut out a support frame for the vent. And then using a lot of caulking, I put the roof back on with some help from a friend. I can't find the pictures that I took of that right now. Framed in the windows with wood as well.

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[J.Pierson]

Then with some serious butyl tape, I lined the panels up and put them in place, and cut the holes for the windows. You can also see in those pictures the spacers so that I could fit 1 inch foam

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[J.Pierson]

For the exterior we here the skin had pulled through the screws in many places, I couldn't find any aluminum washers so I bought a small hole saw and used some scrap aluminum I had from a fan beam for an awning.
I painted the washers with a paint that seemed to match pretty well and backed them with putty tape before installing.

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[J.Pierson]

For the interior walls I used 1 inch foam and spray foam for the gaps

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[J.Pierson]

I've taken fewer pictures as the deadline to finish is approaching fast, but I'm hoping to have it useable in the next 2 weeks or so

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[greygoos]

Good luck with your build. Now you know you will have quality trailer and pride in restoring it yourself.

[J.Pierson]

Good luck with your build. Now you know you will have quality trailer and pride in restoring it yourself.

Thanks! If I were to do it over I would probably just buy a new trailer but it does feel good to take the time to fix things!

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[Rainier70]

Outstanding job on restoring and fixing some major problems. The aluminum washers were brilliant.

[John61CT]

You'll end up with better quality than a new one.

For those looking for decades of use, should go through a similar process before starting the buildout!

Or just get a suspension+chassis to start with go full custom. . .

[hankaye]

J.Pierson, Howdy;

Excellent work, well thought out plan of attack and outstanding follow through!

, !!

The remainder should be a piece of cake by comparison. Well done with the washers
as was noted above.

hank

[onehoser]

outstanding work!