shenion
Tool Pack Rat
- Messages
- 7,586
- Location
- Stone Mountain, GA USA
Picked up a $100 used 4x8' trailer. I have a 5x8' enclosed that is nice, but real heavy and a big aerodynamic drag. Doors in back are only 47" wide so I have to remove the mower deck on any riding mower over 42". This should be easy to pull, even with my Mustang:
Like any used trailer, the tights/wiring are crap. It had brackets for those fragile trailer lights that break when you look at them funny. Previous owner had put on magnetic lights normally used for towing cars. They fell off on any big bump.
So, off to ebay. Jeep has crappy wiring with minimal gauge wire. Trailers always had dim lights. So I wanted to reduce draw. Found two 6" oval LED tail lights and 4 marker lights relatively inexpensive.
I have done this before, get surface mount lights that you build a steel frame for them. Make it near impossible to break them.
I had some 3" C channel. But it is architectural with tapered sides and too narrow inside for the lights. I do have 1.5" angle, so first make some C-channel boxes out of it:
TIG welded the ends. Center was cut out for the lights with the plasma cutter:
Then welded to frame. I also added some weld-on D-rings:
My arc welding is now getting consistent. Done vertical down. Tried a vertical up on a cross member I added and did OK.
Funny welded the D-rings on. Had to do near-overhead welding
. Have done very little overhead. As they say, you are so afraid of screwing it up, it works fine 
Don't know which one of the two is overhead (I think the first.)
Done with Lincoln Fleeweld 3/32 (2.4mm) 6013 rods
Now just have to brush the whole frame and paint it up. Painted the tail light frames:
This was an old tilting boat trailer. I welded the tilt mechanism (latch was rusted.) It had a near 6' long tongue. I cut it down to 3'. Did not take many picts. Tongue is a 2' long C-channel I welded onto the 2.5" round main bar. Did 3 plug welds and then added some angle to the bottom to close the box around the tube:
Like any used trailer, the tights/wiring are crap. It had brackets for those fragile trailer lights that break when you look at them funny. Previous owner had put on magnetic lights normally used for towing cars. They fell off on any big bump.
So, off to ebay. Jeep has crappy wiring with minimal gauge wire. Trailers always had dim lights. So I wanted to reduce draw. Found two 6" oval LED tail lights and 4 marker lights relatively inexpensive.
I have done this before, get surface mount lights that you build a steel frame for them. Make it near impossible to break them.
I had some 3" C channel. But it is architectural with tapered sides and too narrow inside for the lights. I do have 1.5" angle, so first make some C-channel boxes out of it:
TIG welded the ends. Center was cut out for the lights with the plasma cutter:
Then welded to frame. I also added some weld-on D-rings:
My arc welding is now getting consistent. Done vertical down. Tried a vertical up on a cross member I added and did OK.
Funny welded the D-rings on. Had to do near-overhead welding
. Have done very little overhead. As they say, you are so afraid of screwing it up, it works fine Don't know which one of the two is overhead (I think the first.)
Done with Lincoln Fleeweld 3/32 (2.4mm) 6013 rods
Now just have to brush the whole frame and paint it up. Painted the tail light frames:
This was an old tilting boat trailer. I welded the tilt mechanism (latch was rusted.) It had a near 6' long tongue. I cut it down to 3'. Did not take many picts. Tongue is a 2' long C-channel I welded onto the 2.5" round main bar. Did 3 plug welds and then added some angle to the bottom to close the box around the tube:
