funbun,

Here are some pics of my home made trailer. It is basically a Rubbermaid Action Packer with wheels and a drawbar.

The wheels I got on Ebay for $15 and the shipping was about $12. The wheels have sealed cartridge bearings and alloy rims - good wheels. They were actually sold as Yakima jogger conversion kits so I got a bunch of additional hardware with the wheels. Maybe it will come in handy on a later project.

The Rubbermaid I've had for around 10 years, I think it cost around $10.

The drawbar and frame is thin walled steel from the hardware store and cost around $6. It would be much cheaper at a steel yard but not worth driving that far for so little steel. The hitch end of the drawbar is a heavier piece of steel left over from my last garage door opener replacement. I put an electrical grommet in the hitch so it wouldn't rattle.

The frame is welded together and bolts to the packer and the drawbar. I used nylocks for all of the small nuts.

The axles are actually 1/2" bolts welded into the frame. They have long shanks and are cut down to an appropriate length. I just jam-nutted the wheels on and have had no problems with the nuts loosening. Other than the nylocks, all of the hardware cost $1.19 per pound.

The hitch on the bike is the optional Burley hitch for use with a disk brake. It replaces the bikes stock skewer.

The bends in the drawbar are the most critical thing to get right. You want the bike tire to clear so you can make a reasonably sharp right hand turn but you don't want to come so straight out with it that it can get in the way of your foot when turning left. You want the hitch pivot point to be centered between the trailer wheels so it tracks straight. This will offset the trailer to the left of the bike which is also good as you can ride the bike closer to the edge of the road.

The flag is $5 at Walmart. I put an additional support on it using a piece of rubber fuel line and a zip tie. I thought that was clever .

The track width is just under 20". For comparison the Burley Solo is about 23" and the D'Lite is about 28".

I had it tip once when it was heavily loaded and the inside tire hit a curb on a sharp corner. It didn't roll all the way over but balanced on one wheel at about a 45 degree angle. I didn't even notice at first but happened to see the flag sticking out to the side. I turned back the other way and it dropped back onto two wheels. I guess the way I did the hitch it can't flop over. Fortunately, the hitch was strong enough to handle it.

The trailer is waterproof as far as I know. I've towed it in the rain several times and also left it sit outside in the rain all day without any water getting inside. I did put sealant around all the bolt holes.

It tracks great and other than when climbing hills or accelerating I really can't tell it's back there. It's also very handy. The bike I normally tow it with has a kickstand and it's super easy to pop the trailer lid off, drop in whatever I'm carrying, pop the lid on, and go. The lid can even be locked on with padlocks.

It took a Saturday afternoon to build and was fun to do.