Looking to build me a trailer. A good sized enclosed trailer. Wanted to know if it is cheaper to buy or build? If so any pointers anyone has that has done this, or does this as a living? I know it is more involved that just sticking metal together. Thx

-Bob

 

Every time I have thought about making my own, by the time I add up materials and just a little for my time, it's usually cheaper to buy. They get materials much cheaper than you and I. I tend to want to "upgrade" when I pick out materials and that gets expensive in a hurry.

The only acception to that would be if you had a specific need or purpose built trailer that would have to be custom made. Then you may be better off building it yourself.

 

You may want to buid your own to say I have done it or perhaps to beef up the materials. I do not believe you can build it less expensively than a comercial shop that does it all the time.

 

amartinson is 100% correct.

I make my living, in part, by building trailers, and exactly for that reason. Some people want something that cannnot be bought off a dealers lot, and a lot of the trailer manufacturers don't want to get into customizing their product. Apparently, they make enough money selling their stock units.

I can build a trailer and remain competitive with most of the big manufacturers if I know exactly how they're building them and what materials they are using, but to be honest, I have no idea how some of those cheaper trailers ever stay together. Quite a few enclosed trailer manufacturers are now securing the outside skins to the structural framework using double-sided 'sticky tape'. They're also deriving some of the load bearing support for the whole trailer from those same sidewalls. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I just can't get past that. 'Stuctural Integrity' and 'sticky tape' just don't belong in the same sentance as far as I'm concerned!

I put a 5 year warranty on any trailer I build, and in 20 years I've never had to honor that warranty, so I guess I'm doing something right!

Let me know if I can help you out in any way. This isn't a plug for my business, as I often let people who want to build their own 'stuff', but aren't quite sure how to go about it, into my shop to do their projects, 'no charge'. I guess I get a kick out of seeing people succeed in building something for themselves.

chaikwa.

 

I built my own flatbed trailer 20ft long with 2 3500lb axles, it was custom painted black with 2x6 wood for the floor. Also custom 15x10 wheels and tires. It was about 1000 more than it would have cost to buy something similar . It was extremely well built with 16 on center braces , they don't ever build em that tough. It took me about 80 hrs it was pure enjoyment being able to telll everybody that I built it from scratch. Have since sold trailer got most of my money back. Would I do it again ? In a heartbeat. Thats just me though. If you got the time and resources go for it. It will probably cost you a lot more but at least you know it was built right. good luck

 

"It was extremely well built..."

I'll vouch for that...I saw the pics...those were some of the prettiest, most consistent welds I've seen on a home project!

I've repaired, rebuilt, reworked a few trailers and I wonder how they hold together myself! Some of the welds wouldn't pass an AWS structural inspection...not that they have to, but if it was MY trailer, I would require it. The worst offenders of structural integrity are aluminum trailer manufacturers. Aluminum is pretty soft and requires a bit more attention to detail so the structure doesn't fall apart.

If I had the time, extra money, and equipment I'd surely build my own trailer because at least I'd know how it was put together. And if something breaks, I can't blame anybody else but myself. I seem to be less angry if I know it's one of my mistakes rather than Jim the fabricator down in Kentucky who just came on the job a month ago.

 

Take a look at what your "needs" are, can they be fulfilled by an "off the shelf" product? If your requirements are very specific, maybe you are better off building your own. I built my own utility trailer, learned how to mig weld doing it. It can be fun and frustrating. Never under estimate the time it takes to fab something with steel especially if there arn't plans for what you are doing! Like alltork, I found I spent as much or more building mine as I could have gone out and bought one. Only, there wasn't one that fit my needs "just right" 6'6" box, hinged, covered lid that opens with the 12ft aluminum boat still straped on top, heavy duty 3000lb axel with light 1900lb springs, large 235/75/r15 tires.

 

lol.....i love it.....


My time is very valuable to me. I can build small things like headache racks, bumpers, and running boards. (mainly becuase I use scraps and it cheap!) But I dont think I have the patience to build a trailer. It would be more worth my time to go buy a good one.

 

I just completed building my own open car trailer. I can tell you from my experience, it's definately cheaper to buy a premade commercially available trailer. These trailer manufacturers can buy parts & steel in bulk and will usually get much better pricing. That and they can build them much quicker.

I built this one as I had specific ideas of how I wanted it built and also knew I could build a much higher quality piece than can be bought.

If anyones interested, I have a ton of pics loaded on my ISP's server.

http://www.qis.net/~geislert

I've worked on several enclosed car trailers and have been disappointed with the quality. I know their built quickly for mass production, but as a hobbyist welder/fabricator, I feel they could do better.

chaikwa,
Have you seriously tried the double sided tape? I myself used it on my storage box to fasten the .040" aluminum steel sheeting on. It's made by 3M and sold as a product to replace welding and mechanical fasteners. I've used many types of strong double sided tape, but this stuff beats it hands down. It's INCREDIBLY strong. They recommend only 4 square inches (four tiny 1" square pieces) of tape to securely hold a 2 square foot piece of aluminum sheet.

When I placed the aluminum skin on my storage box, we laid the sheet at an angle to try and place it before fully sticking it. The edge of the sheet touched the double tape and it was crooked. We had one heck of a time breaking that .040" edge loose from the tape to re-align it. Just imagine how well it will stick with all the 1" wide tubes covered in the tape. BTW, What I used what 3M calls their VHB tape...Very High Bond.

It also has some other important features. It creates a barrier between a steel frame and the aluminum skin. typically you get galvonic corrosion between dissimilar materials and the tape creates a nice barrier to protect against this corrosion. Also, the tape acts as a spacer and the tape thickness allows for the different expansion and contraction properties of the steel vs aluminum. Lastly, with no screws or external rivets, you have effectively eliminated many, many sources of leaks to the weather, etc. Also, every enclosed trailer I have seen, the screws rust and streak after just two or three years exposed to the elements. No fasteners, no leaks, no rust, no streaks. I tried to find strainless screws, but all the ones I came up with were too soft and stripped out and woudl not hold...tried several different alloys too.

Anyway, I'm, sold on the VHB tape...do some research on 3M's site and you will be pleasantly surprised. If the sheets stay attached on large semi trailers, then the sheet has no issues sticking on my little trailer storage box.

 

10secblu's trailer is beautiful a work of art,followed the pic's he
provided.

 

10secBu,

Oh yeah, I've used the 3M stuff before. It has it's place I guess, I'm just from the 'old-school'. A couple of the horse trailer manufacturers we sell for use it, and so far, it's seemed to hold up pretty well. And yes, it DOES eliminate some leakage issues. I still haven't seen any of them use it on a roof yet, tho I'm sure that's coming.

Like I said, I'm from the 'old-school', and when a manufacturer tells the customer "there's no need for a heavy frame because the walls are part of the support structure", I have a problem (or maybe a mental block!) about using sticky tape to hold it all together.

Just my 2 cents worth!

chaikwa.

 

For anyone that's interested there's also a very high-strength 2-part tube adhesive used in autobody work for 'glueing' replacement panels onto a body. I've also heard that 3M(?) 5200 adhesive is quite amazing as well. One of the stories I've heard, was about someone who had holed his boat's hull down in the Keys so took it to a boatyard for a looksee & repair estimate. Didn't like the estimate so used 5200 to glue a piece of plywood(?) over the hole as a temporary repair, then drove (sailed) it home about 150 miles (statute not nautical) without a problem. When they finally got around to re-doing the repair they had a heck of a time removing the plywood repair patch. Came off in pieces.

Back to DIY trailers. One of my brothers' boss is just finishing up his fully enclosed car trailer & claims that he's spent far less than what he'd have paid for an equivalent trailer new. That's equivalent in size only, as he's so overbuilt it that I feel sorry for any vehicle, short of a tank, that runs into it! Helps that he was able to get his steel/aluminum at wholesale prices. Still ... I think it may be possible to find something used for less, but it definitely won't be as heavily built.

FWIW, he used very large head, ~1" diameter, aluminum rivets to fasten the aluminum sheeting over light plywood sheeting to steel frame. An awful lot of drilling! If you go that route, I'd recommend cobalt bit(s). More expensive but worth it IMO.

Good luck.

 

Or maybe that was 10secBu's trailer pics I saw....

 

I work part time for a buddies body shop where I do restoration work like rust repair, panel replacement, fabrication, welding, disassembly, reassembly, etc. We use the two part panel adhesive on quite a few occassions. It's has it's place and is extremely strong if used correctly.

I used this panel adhesive on the trailers fenders. There two piece design and most simply weld the backsplash to the fender outer portion. This is fine except moisture always finds its way into this gap and it's only a matter of time till rust forms and bleeds out. I used the panel adhesive here which has a super high strength and also forms a water tight seal to virtually eliminate any chance of rust forming between the parts. Very trick stuff.