Box Trailer Rebuild

[Doc Sprocket]

Looks fantastic! One thing, though- I wouldn't have suggested welding the tongue jack directly to the tongue. Should you have to replace it with a different model jack... Well, you know.

Not necessarily saying it was a BAD choice, but I have worked on enough trailers for people that it makes me nuts when I'm the poor bugger that has to cut the old one off when the replacement jack doesn't use the same pivot bracket!

 

[OzFab]

Looks fantastic!

Thanks! Coming from a painter, I consider that pretty high praise.
The only thing I don't like about the finish is the paint (metallic charcoal hammer finish) is not as forgiving as I thought it would be; you can now clearly see the welds along the side panels...

One thing, though- I wouldn't have suggested welding the tongue jack directly to the tongue. Should you have to replace it with a different model jack... Well, you know.

Oh, you mean the jockey wheel...

Well, I thought about bolting it but, being angle, it wasn't gonna hold really well (as it stands I had to weld a brace across the A frame to stop it flexing). I thought about using a piece of SHS but thought it's easier to weld it & cut it off later if I need to than play around with U bolts & bits of scrap. The bottom line is it's only 2 2" welds...

Next comes the new wheels then the loading ramp...

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Actually (too late for you but a great thought), I have recently become enamoured with the ring-mount jacks. See thumbnail. A steel ring gets welded to the A-frame or tongue. Then, the jack gets socketed over the ring. To swivel the jack up or down, you pull the pin, rotate jack, and reinstall. Pin holes are clocked at 90*.

The main benefit is that the ring is a standard size, so installing a replacement jack requires 5 seconds and NO tools. Here's the great concept I schemed up and applied to a friend's trailer and will apply to mine:

2" Sch40 gas pipe is about the same OD as the mounting ring. After welding the original mounting ring to the tongue of the trailer, I cut TWO new rings from 2" pipe. I then welded a ring to each side of the trailer frame just behind each wheel and drilled (vertically only) through the ring for the lynch pin. Now------

Got a flat tire on the trailer? No probs! Leave the trailer coupled to the tow vehicle. Take the jack off the tongue and pin it onto the ring on the side of the flat tire and jack it up! Painless!

Testing revealed that because of the geometries involved, it is totally stable and safe for the tire change process! Great for servicing the bearings, too!

 

[OzFab]

2" Sch40 gas pipe is about the same OD as the mounting ring. After welding the original mounting ring to the tongue of the trailer, I cut TWO new rings from 2" pipe. I then welded a ring to each side of the trailer frame just behind each wheel and drilled (vertically only) through the ring for the lynch pin. Now------

Got a flat tire on the trailer? No probs! Leave the trailer coupled to the tow vehicle. Take the jack off the tongue and pin it onto the ring on the side of the flat tire and jack it up! Painless!

Testing revealed that because of the geometries involved, it is totally stable and safe for the tire change process! Great for servicing the bearings, too!

Ha, that's a great idea... I wish I'd thought of somethinig like that...

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Thanks- I was quite pleased with myself when I put that thought into motion! The recipient certainly didn't complain, either!