New Trailer Frame - Buy or Build?

[blairv]

Hi all

My trailer frame is reaching the end of itslike and needs replacing.

Last year I fitted a new axle, wheels, springs etc so the are fine but the frame is in bad nick.

From the research I have been doing it seems quite hard and allot more expensive than I thought it would be.

I am now wondering if it is worth getting one fabricated? I really only need the frame and can fit all the roller etc myself.

Interested in peoples thoughts/tips and the number of a good metal fabricatior.

Specs are to carry a 4M Clark runabout single axle and I am looking at C Channel and possibly cold Galv and Paint

Thanks

Blair

[Gazza]

Give Ivan at FMS trailers a call they built my trailer to suit my boat @ half the price makay etc where asking and could not be happier great trailers

Gaz

[benno573]

recently went through the same process with our boat trailer - it was for a 5.3m fibreglas runabout.

I shopped around and to get the frame only in hot dip gal we were looking at $1800 +. FMS trailer was going to be the place I went to should this have been the way we ended up going. to get this done "properly" would obviously be the most recommended way to go, however...

We ended up going with some 100 x 50 x 3 supergal RHS for the frames (you'd probably get away with 50 x 25 x 2 or 75 x 25 x 2). Even including bending and having these cut the the lengths required, this came in at a smidge over $300 (admittedly I did get the cutting for free from where I work but you could do this youself with a grinder). We did all the welding ourselves. We then gave the whole lot a decent coat of poly-u universal primer inside and out (we bought the attachment for the compressor kero gun to do inside the rails) and then a coat of poly-u two pac on top of that. Not cheap paint but we had it lying around from when we refurbed the steel yacht not long ago. Then gave the insides of the rails a big coat of lanolin grease.

Treated any rust on all the bolt ons and replaced as required, gave them all the same treatment as the rails got with the poly-u. bolted it all back together and put rubber bits on the chassis with silicone where bolts/rollers may rub on the chassis to prevent the paint being scratched off. All bolts then got a slathering of lanoline grease.

Total cost was about $800 all up as we replaced all U bolts and had to replace many of the wobble roller holders as well, along with new 316 washers and split pins and a couple of vertical roller holders.

Still, it was less than half of what a hot-dip version of just the chassis would have cost and I am sure if maintained properly it will easily last as long as the last hot-dip gal one. 5 months in and after about 15 launches in the salty stuff I have just given it another coat of lanolin inside to be sure to be sure, still looking brand new.

Hope this is of some help to you.

[tugger]

Is the cross members the worst part of the trailer and your 2 main rails running fore and aft reasonable if so its relativity easy to replace the cross members if you can weld or have freinds who can the steel is reasonably cheap and would be the most affordable way to refirb the trailer this is what I have just done then cold gal and top coat painted it has bought me another few years before total replacment which gets expensive. It sounds like you have done a fair bit of work to it aready and would be a shame to ditch it now

[blairv]

Is the cross members the worst part of the trailer and your 2 main rails running fore and aft reasonable if so its relativity easy to replace the cross members if you can weld or have freinds who can the steel is reasonably cheap and would be the most affordable way to refirb the trailer this is what I have just done then cold gal and top coat painted it has bought me another few years before total replacment which gets expensive. It sounds like you have done a fair bit of work to it aready and would be a shame to ditch it now

Mark unfortunately it is pretty terminal the crossbeams are shot and rust is quite well established up the frame.

Know any good welders?

[tugger]

I got the bloke at work to give me a hand he is a gun welder but lives in toowoomba and stays down here while on roster so we did it in a bit of spare time after work he would probably not be to interested at the moment as his kids are quite sick now