Quote:
Originally Posted by jack002
(Post 19997526)
...do you plan to build more and market them? I think there must be a market for these.
|
I've considered it, but have no plans to do that. But I agree that there is a market for something like this. I looked a very long time before deciding that nobody made anything like this and set about to build my own. It was fun to build, but I'd have bought one off-the-shelf if they were available.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IslandTimePE
(Post 19998038)
Did you start with just the base frame and build the entire box yourself? If so, can you provide a brief outline of the materials/process?
|
I started by buying a
$239.00 cargo trailer kit from Northern Tools. However, after we started building it up, we decided that the frame was not rigid enough, so we discard it and welded a new primary frame from 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 1/4" steel. From the beginning, we had planned to weld the secondary frame from lighter weight 1" x 2" and 1" x 3" box tube. Instead of welding that secondary frame to the Northern Tools frame, we welded it to the primary frame we created. In the end, we used the wheels and axle and the coupler from the Northern Tools kit, but nothing else. We started to use the Northern Tools tongue, but decided that it was (a) too short and (b) not stiff enough, so we also fabricated that. The kit came with lights and a wiring harness, but I bought LED lights and used them instead. I also replaced the wiring harness and used a 7-pin connector instead of the flat-4-pin connector that came in the kit. The skin is aluminum. It's on the inside of the secondary frame so that we could have the side skins all the way out to the fenders, creating a wider interior space. Otherwise, the Home Depot bins would not have fit as shown.
The bike hardware on top is a combination of ordinary fork clamps bought on Amazon and some aluminum U-channel which we cut to hold rear wheels (along with yards of double-sided male-female velcro straps). A 3/4" plastic-wrapped steel cable runs through the main triangle (top tube / seat tube / bottom tube) of every bike while in transit, so if any bike should become un-moored in transit, it can't fall off the trailer and onto the highway. And not one bike has even loosened a bit on any trip. At night (if we have to spend the night on the road) the cable is replaced by a maximum security, super-hardened, 1/2" square-link chain and iron-shrouded padlocks and the trailer itself is chained to the vehicle in a similar fashion. No locks can withstand a motivated thief, but I have this secure enough that I don't expect anyone to be willing to spend the time and make the noise required to defeat my security.
My original design (not shown) had five aluminum wheel forks that looked like this
https://www.skicountrysports.com/pro...-DEFAULT-m.jpg
but mine were homemade and were about 14" taller. These were interspersed between the bikes on top of the trailer. The design worked (so then I only had to store one wheel inside the trailer), but it made loading and unloading the bikes and wheels a much bigger chore. After one 1900 mile trip, I removed them (but still have them).
My current thought is that I'm going to take the forks and make a new bracket that holds three wheels low and three high at the front of the trailer above the triangle of the trailer tongue. Depending on how it fits, I may remove the existing trailer spare tire holder and re-mount it under the trailer. By the way, the third wheel was not included in the Northern Tools kit. Funny, but true, even when the trailer is fully loaded, I can tip it on one wheel just by doing a military press on the outriggers that hold the bikes. I literally can hold it up long enough for someone else to swap a trailer wheel. Anyway, if/when I get around to adding the wheel storage back to the outside of the trailer, I'll probably post a pic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rumrunn6
(Post 19998791)
...looks like you wired directionals & brake light? small trailers don't need a licence plate?
|
The trailer has brake lights, turn signal lights and side ID marker lights.
Trailers don't have to have license plates in my state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by curbowman
(Post 19997320)
There are lots of jokes about women who have to tolerate their husband's bike obsession. But after seeing how well built is this unit, I'm sure the wife is more than happy of the other repairs he does around the house.
|
She loves the trailer and how it enables our vacations. We still have three kids at home. Vacations with our kids are incredibly important to us. We prefer to give our children experiences rather than things. This trailer lets us go where we want to go, then leave the car parked for the entire vacation and just rely on our bikes, skateboards and feet. And I am the luckiest SOB in the world to have her.
