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Another Harbor Freight build

16K views 51 replies 10 participants last post by  smokeybear 
#1 ·
I purchased the trailer a week or so ago. Had the 20% off coupon and on sale - just under 200USD.
Hope this is the only time the trailer is IN the jeep!
 

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#4 ·
#5 ·
This trailer will be used to carry camping stuff. Extreme off-road not a hard req. trying to free up some space onside the TJ to be able to put the seat back in.

Plan is a standard plank box. Looked at armyRN's build (is that the standard now?). Somebody needs to come up with a verb to described these trailer builds - such as "Dude, I totally armyRN' that HF mini trailer!"

More later.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the compliment!

I think of the thread as more of a clearing house for ideas. So many people have taken what I started and totally ran with it way beyond what I would have thought of.

I think the standard now is using tongue and groove boards (wish I had thought of that when doing mine).

But it's fun watching what folks build, and then actually use. Keep posting pictures and comments! I'm sure there's more than one person out there closely following your progress and taking notes.
 
#7 ·
Some additional notes:
1. Couplers and balls are cheaper at WalMart unless (and sometimes even when) you stack coupons and sales at Harbor Freight. For me, WalMart is closer.
2. Had the 25% coupon for July 4 but of the 2 HF in town, only one had them in stock, so I went ahead and bought mine using a 20% coupon.
3. I heard a lot of customers in both HF talking about missing pieces. Checked my kit, it was complete.
4. Wanted to put a 2" coupler as opposed to the 1-7/8 that it comes with. Bought it, then found that the mounting hoes don't line up! Drilling new holes will put them too close to the original ones. I'm worried they would be too weak. Will take back the coupler and go to a 2" coupler if and when I replace the tow bar with a full length one.
5. My Jeep already has a 2" ball, so I went and purchased a 1-7/8 for it.
6. With trailer squared up, looks like the axle isn't. Looks to be about 1/2" off comparing to the center brace.
7. Putting the fenders on - Right fender is good. Left fender won't go on because the holes are drilled in the wrong spots on the left frame side! Pictures to follow.
8. Cleaned and repacked the bearings.

Just realize that these won't be the best quality kits, but the materials look to be okay. Be ready to make adjustments.
I looked at the T&G wood planking at Home Depot. As someone else mentioned, not the best. I may go with 1x8 and get someone to show me how to join them using biscuits or run a router to make a home grown tongue & groove. I have no woodworking skills other that painting & staining.

I blatantly admit that nothing on this build is my original idea.
Thank you to all that have posted on army's thread or started your own.
 
#9 ·
#11 ·
Glad to see one more thread building one of these little trailers.

Not to bust your bubble ArmyRN, but the lock nuts included are not very good ones. About a third of mine had the "locking material" popped out. Good ones have a polymer that is insert molded into the nut but the HF material is more of a washer that is placed into a groove on the nut, that they then fall out of.
Ya see; I didn't know that about the HF trailer's locking nuts. My bubble's not burst - I just learned something.

Then this is good information to pass along - replace the locking nuts that come with the HF trailers with some quality pieces. You know you're always looking for a good excuse to go to the hardware store... seems like a couple dollars should cover it. I'm figuring these are metric.

My little black trailer came with locking nuts. I'm not exactly home right now where I can compare them to the pictures above, but I don't remember having any issues with them. But you're never wrong going with quality hardware.
 
#21 ·
Ya see; I didn't know that about the HF trailer's locking nuts. My bubble's not burst - I just learned something.

Then this is good information to pass along - replace the locking nuts that come with the HF trailers with some quality pieces. You know you're always looking for a good excuse to go to the hardware store... seems like a couple dollars should cover it. I'm figuring these are metric.

My little black trailer came with locking nuts. I'm not exactly home right now where I can compare them to the pictures above, but I don't remember having any issues with them. But you're never wrong going with quality hardware.
Of course another alternative is to weld the frame....;>)
 
#13 ·
Nothing picture worthy so far. Wired it up, still need to connect to Jeep to see if the electrical (Jeep and trailer) is good. Drilled new holes for the left fender and got that mounted. Not much work on it this weekend.
OT - My cousins son invited me to a run, so we signed up yesterday and ran it this morning. Being as this is Tucson, the race started @0505! I barely made it in time. I ran a 45:01 5 miler, one of my best times so far.
Been vegging all day since.
 
#17 ·
Something that I did not do and wish I would have done that I wanted to point out to you....

When you get around to putting on the plywood floor, use some large fender washers between the plywood and the 3 cross bars. Because they are designed to fit inside the 2 side rails, they sit a little lower. When building mine I did not see this as a big deal so I did not worry about it, mainly because originally I was going to leave mine as a flatbed rather than building sides for it. But, now that I have built my sides, I have come to realize that the gap at the bottom of the front and rear panels is large enough to allow dirt and water in very easily.... which a very cheap fix could have prevented.
 
#18 ·
Something that I did not do and wish I would have done that I wanted to point out to you....

When you get around to putting on the plywood floor, use some large fender washers between the plywood and the 3 cross bars. Because they are designed to fit inside the 2 side rails, they sit a little lower. When building mine I did not see this as a big deal so I did not worry about it, mainly because originally I was going to leave mine as a flatbed rather than building sides for it. But, now that I have built my sides, I have come to realize that the gap at the bottom of the front and rear panels is large enough to allow dirt and water in very easily.... which a very cheap fix could have prevented.
Two other options are to:

1. Put a strip of metal the same thickness on top of those cross bars with holes drilled in the appropriate places so it's even all the way across.

2. If you're good with wood, you could plane down (am I using the right terminology?) a strip on the left and right side of the plywood flooring to compensate for the added height on the sides. Someone else that was building a little trailer did that.
 
#20 ·
Hooked the trailer to my Jeep and checked out the lights. Everything working properly. I was a little concerned about the Jeep side of the electrical because I had never tested the existed harness before, PO had a U-Haul hitch installed. Secured wiring and wrapped with split loom cover.

Also purchased 4' x 8' plywood for flooring. Guy at Lowe's cut it perfectly! Bottom piece fits nicely and the top piece I had cut 1" wider, in case I figure out how to do a top.
The plan for now is a pretty standard box - in my head I envision two rows of 1 x 12's and one row of 1 x 8'. Should give a box height of somewhere around 28 -29 inches tall. That might be a little high to reach over for a short guy like me, but maybe I'll do a mock up first.
I like the ship lap/tongue-and-groove ideas, but the wood really does look thin. One finished side, one rough side.

My patio roof is tar paper and asphalt (?). Every few years I roll a coating called Elastek on it. Since I have some left, I wonder how this would work on the underside of the flooring?
I was thinking of painting the top side of the floor a brighter color, maybe yellow. This would make it easier to see in the box in low light conditions (I think). I have a Mountainsmith pack that has a bright yellow lining. It is the best idea in pack design since the adjustable strap! Really makes it easy to find stuff in there.
Still need to get the hardware, then finish (paint, seal) the floor and install. Then start working on the box sides.
 
#22 ·
I didn't have any problems with the Chinese "nylocks" that came with my kit.
Hey Bobdog, that welding looks like it can solve a lot of problems and make things possible.
I don't know much about welding, but I'm pretty sure I could figure out how to run one of those Harbor Freight wire welders!
I've been looking at a Jeep-load of videos on YouTube regarding their 90 amp unit. I guess if you don't run 20 foot welds on 3/4 plate, it'll do the job (as long as you let it cool down).
 
#23 ·
Spent some time this weekend on the trailer. It was HOT!
Drilled holes and cut notches on the floor piece. Got my daughter to apply the Elastik roof coating to the underside of the floor 😃It's not the best, but hoping it's durable.
Had a small can of Minwax stain from another project, so I used it for the floor. I think I'll use up the rest of the small can for another coat tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone using JeepForum
 

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#27 ·
I picked up the wood today to build the sides.
Any reason no ones built wooden sides so the posts are on the inside of the box, rather than exposed on the outside?
Not that weather exposure is the issue, but it looks like you could gain almost 2 inches in width and same on the length. I think that the first (bottom) row of boards would not be supported much by the bed of the trailer. You will also have to remove the fenders and mount them directly to the wood sides. Not sure if this is why Army initially moved his fenders, may have been due to the larger tires.
 
#28 ·
I moved the fenders up because of the taller tires. And with the backets I used it also moved them out a little bit too to almost be centered (as you're looking front to back, not from the side) over the tire. And I'd rather have the tire stick out slightly from under the fender - I'd rather the tire bounce off a rock instead of the fender.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/...ld-up-thread-1180456/index3.html#post11240606

Your idea would work fine. What I would suggest you do (if you were just starting out) is make the plywood floor stick out on all sides 3/4" (assuming you're using 3/4" thick boards) beyond the edge of the frame. That way you can still have support for the bottom boards, and will help make a good seal if you're wanting to make it water tight. But since you've already put down the floor, have the side boards come down the thickness of the plywood to cover the edge of the plywood flooring.

So how much clearance will that leave you between the side of the tire and the boards? How much clearance do you have now between the side of the tires and the frame?
 
#29 ·
ArmyRN, thanks for the suggestion. Well - build and learn. I have already cut the floor, so I'm going to have the "posts" on the outside of the "railings", like many others have done. Maybe I would have gone the other way if I hadn't cut the floor already.
This is one of the things I didn't visualize until actually at that part of the build.
 
#32 ·
i replaced the tongue channel with 2x3 inch, 3/16's tubing. ran it all the way to the back trailer frame and made it a little longer in the tongue to help with backing it up. it was a solid upgrade for cheap.
also, i like using pintle hitches so putting on a lunette eye will increase your travel over a ball type hitch which is handy on trails or off road. just a thought.
 
#34 ·
So I've been following all of these threads really intently for the last couple of months hoping to gain some knowledge on building up a little HF trailer. Last week I finally bit the bullet and bought the little 1090 trailer and began putting it all together. No problems thus far but I've learned my woodworking skills leave a lot to be desired.

I just finished the floor yesterday and am now starting on the box. I went out and bought some 1x4s for the stakes and some tongue and groove pine for the sides. I was just wondering if I chose correctly with the materials..

The trailer will be garaged always so I'm not concerned about the wood bowing due to being out in the elements. This trailer will also only be used for 1-2 day camping trips.

Not trying to hijack the thread but I thought this would be a great place to start.
 
#35 ·
switters - Welcome aboard! No problem jumping in here. I chose clear pine for the sides mostly due to aesthetics. One side of the T&G from Lowe's/Home Depot was finished, the other side (inner) was pretty rough. I didn't want to mess with sanding it down.
 
#36 ·
Thanks azcat.. I went ahead and began work on it all today. Got the stakes up (minus the back of the trailer) and put up the front wall. It stands at about 22.5 inches tall and is a little flimsy.. I'm confident it well be solid once I get the other two sides up. And yeah, the rough side of the t&g boards is a pain in the *** to sand down and shellac.
 
#37 ·
Just finished with the sides and front, now moving on to the tailgate. But I'm a little stuck. Since I'm using T&G pine, i don't think hinges will be the best idea (fold down) so I've been looking for some sort of bracket where the tailgate can "slide" into the two sides. Does anyone have any ideas? Here's current pics.
 

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