Ive been looking around for a car trailer, and honestly I would like something that would fit the xB perfectly as well as being able to hold a motorcycle at the front, as well as sitting rather low to the ground to optimize ramp angles so that the vehicle can have coilovers put on it and be able to get on and off the trailer.

I found this site, which basically has a walk through on how to build a trailer

http://knol.google.com/k/how-to-build-a-car-trailer#

but before I go through with buying the steel and getting my hands dirty, Im looking to see if anyone has any tips.

Thanks

 

RedNeck asking about trailers... dude thats awesome.

 

Thanks for adding nothing

 

Not a problem, I'm a pro.

Seriously though it comes down to two things: how comfortable are you designing and how comfortable are you building.

Hopefully you have or have access to someone with some engineering experience otherwise you will be stuck with the "best guess" which could very well be wrong. Our plans and designs are not tested when things are going well, they are tested when all hell comes loose. I would throw a little bit of math at this. Joints and connections can come under almost unbelievable pressure when the system is stressed.

I assume you have experience welding and have access to all the appropriate tools

Have you checked with the local DMV to see if you can register a self built trailer? Out here in the sticks no one cares but maybe where you are they do.

When you buy an expensive trailer you are buying the reputation that the manufacturer has which hopefully comes with some expensive R&D and top notch construction. I'm not saying a home built trailer will be any worse but rather that you should treat it like a $10,000+ project because it will be carrying $10,000+ objects. Take your time, mooch from others, and don't cut corners.

My $0.02. Plus the joke.

 

also, make sure that thing is solid. i'm actually a liability determining claims adjuster. i had a claim where a piece of a home made trailer flew off and landed in the road, causing a collision. the trailer owner was liable for the damages. make sure you build that think solid bro.

 

Don, I work in shops building/modifying all sorts of things, trailers included.

Don't know how low you're wanting to get, but the lowest you'll be able to go is the top of the axles, so you'll have to have some small tires that can hold the weight of the trailer plus the car to get really low, or notch out the axle in the middle, or drop the middle section.

As far as the trailer itself, measure, measure, and measure. Make sure the axle is straight, make sure the tongue is centered, make sure your bracing is good, and you should be set.

I'd recommend nothing under 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/4" angle or tubing.

Don't know really what kind of info you're looking for, so hope this helps. If not, ask away.

 

Be very careful with tire size. The smaller the outside diameter of the wheel/tire combo, the slower the maximum safe speed will be. This is not because of the quality or safety of the wheels or tires, but because the smaller tire diameter requires the wheels to spin faster (as compared to a larger tire diameter) on the hubs and can smoke the bearings in no time. I found this out the hard way 28 years ago when I borrowed a friends light weight motorcycle trailer to transport a bike 400 miles. The trailer said "max speed 50 mph", but I had to drive 65 just to keep from getting run over by semi trucks. Upon reaching my destination, the bearings were completely toasted.

 

Yeah, I understand the engineering behind it and Im having a friend draw it up for me, Also Im going to be using the rear axles from a Silverado 1500 for two reasons... 1. The with is wide enough to clear the xB.2 I can get them with the leaf springs still attached cheap. 3 I can take out the spider gears and they will be spin freely forward or back. 4 they are cheap as hell to rebuild (bearing wise) and parts are easy as hell to come by. Plus with 6x120 it will be very easy for me to find trailer wheels and tires

Yes Im very competent with a welder and I know to build this thing secure, thanks though

For me to license it in Florida I just need to stamp a 16 digit vin on it, and as long as it is a series of letters/numbers that they dont have on file it can be whatever I want...

I do have to get it weighed and inspected by FDOT, if its over 600lbs it has to have a tag