my bike trailer rebuild

[greyhair biker]

I decided I was going to drag my old bike trailer down to Moab instead of my flatbed beast of a trailer so naturally I had to make it presentable and road ready. Holds seven bikes...and gear.

[Sombeech]

That actually seems like a much better way to go than a hitch mounted rack.

[blueeyes]

That is exactly what I want! Just a small trailer that I can load the bikes on some camping gear and off we go to explore. Where did you get that? Don't tell me you built it or you will be building me one! Of course I would pay.

My bike rack scares the pee out of me. The whole car moves with all three bikes on there. When I put Dave's bike on I was sure the rack was going to bend over like pulled taffy everytime we hit even the tinniest of bumps. Dave told me the welds were fine. I still don't trust it. And it is a pain in the hind end to put the bikes on.

[Kent K25]

Please tell me that's wheel grease/shine on the tires too

[accadacca]

Wow, very nice.

[greyhair biker]

Actually Chere' I bought it from the old bikeshop owner here in town - he built it . I completely gutted it & repacked the wheel bearings - armoralled the tires - you'll have to check it out but I'm not gonna want to part with it What brand/type of hitch rack do you have? I have a Saris 2 bike hitchrack as a spare and a HitchHauler 3 bike rack but if you need to make some room in your gear I can put your bikes on the trailer. Just let me know if you need to.

[Deathcricket]

Just one question not being that familiar with the setup. Wouldn't it be better to have a metal ridge on the outside? Like a half inch metal angle iron or something. What's to stop the tire from falling off the trailer? See pic.

[blueeyes]

Well at least I have a picture now. I know what I want out of a trailer... I just need to save my pennies and have it built. Next summer. I will have my car paid off and maybe for a treat I will get the trailer then.

I have a Thule it will hold 4 bikes. Hitch mount. But if the bike frames are odd shaped it is hard to get the bikes on. I can get our three on if I take mine and spenc's seat and front wheel off. I just worry about it because my forester did not come with a hitch I had it installed. I believe it is a 1 1/4" and my bike rack is 2" (bought it when I owned the Durango) so I had to get an adapter. It just doesn't feel right to me, so I worry. I probably don't need to but that is just me. I don't want a roof rack. I am not in the mood to hoist bikes on top of my car. I do have a fake top tube thing but that makes me nervous too. I just have visions of my rack malfunctioning and bikes being destroyed as they tumble off on the highway. If they did happen I think I would throw up.

[Last Child]

That's a sweet trailer for sure.

[accadacca]

Just one question not being that familiar with the setup. Wouldn't it be better to have a metal ridge on the outside? Like a half inch metal angle iron or something. What's to stop the tire from falling off the trailer? See pic.

Wrap a bungee cord around that SOB.

[greyhair biker]

Just one question not being that familiar with the setup. Wouldn't it be better to have a metal ridge on the outside? Like a half inch metal angle iron or something. What's to stop the tire from falling off the trailer? See pic.

Wrap a bungee cord around that SOB.

the tires fit into the v-shaped trough and are strapped in with short ratcheted Thule straps for each wheel...they are very secure. Then the front wheel clamps down with the skewer and then I run a locking cable through the whole mess through metal loops in the frame near the 'corners'. The whole thing is quite secure
Chere', it sounds like there is a bit of movement between the adapter from 1 1/2 to 2", the hitch, and the frame of the vehicle. I'm afraid you probably won't be able to get rid of that without going to a different rack. I'll have to check it out.

[blueeyes]

Looky what I found. The begining of my bike trailer. It will be awhile before I make any progress with it. But hey it is a start. Guess I am going to have to wait on the Joplin. Maybe next month or maybe for x-mas.

[greyhair biker]

that trailer has a lot of potential! All I can say is do your research for rack & building Let me know if you need help/suggestions and I'll help all I can.

[live2ride]

Going to be a sweet trailer! When you do build it why not add some short walls so you could throw some camping gear on it and not have it fly off?? Just a thought?

[Last Child]

Nice trailer blueeyes! It looks a lot like one I built in high school close to 30 years ago. I just finished rebuilding it. I'll have to get a couple of pics. I wish I would have thought about it and got before shots with lots of rust and old worn out wood.

[greyhair biker]

I had a few requests for dimensions so here ya go:

width across the center of the bed: 52"
witdth across the wheel wells and rear rack: 68"
length from rear center to center of axle: 43"
length up either side from corners: 78"
length from center rear to center point of the tongue(front of gearbox): 102"

Everything is 1/8" square stock tubular steel except for the actual vee channel for the wheels, which is lighter weight 1/16" channel. Fork mounts are standard BikeTight brand mounts but you could use anything with a flat base. I'd like to change some of mine to allow for newer 15mm and 20mm axles. The wheel mounts are standard as well. After using the trailer to haul both bikes and camp gear I'd have built the mounts higher so as to allow more gear room but it works the way it is.

I replaced the old 1/2" plywood bed with 3/4 A grade stock plywood. Massive difference.
Also, the actual tongue square stock is larger...didn

[blueeyes]

I. After using the trailer to haul both bikes and camp gear I'd have built the mounts higher so as to allow more gear room but it works the way it is.

I was already thinking that. I have an idea of what I want. Even found a guy who will do all the welding. Just money! Taking it in this morning to see about new tires. As the current ones are in bad shape. I would be afraid to take it anywhere loaded. Mine is much smaller than yours. Bikes take up the whole thing. So I have to have them mounted higher if I want to use it for camp gear as well.

[greyhair biker]

I. After using the trailer to haul both bikes and camp gear I'd have built the mounts higher so as to allow more gear room but it works the way it is.

I was already thinking that. I have an idea of what I want. Even found a guy who will do all the welding. Just money! Taking it in this morning to see about new tires. As the current ones are in bad shape. I would be afraid to take it anywhere loaded. Mine is much smaller than yours. Bikes take up the whole thing. So I have to have them mounted higher if I want to use it for camp gear as well.

Well, you saw how mine packs with gear . I'd make it high enough to put cooler-size stuff under the rack with room to pull stuff out without pulling the bikes off to get to said stuff...and plenty of 'holes' to hook tiedowns to the frame.