Enclosed Trailer Project

Ingersoll444 · Jan 28, 2007

Looks professinal thats for sure!!!!! Looks great!

Dan Lovell · Jan 28, 2007

Ain't it fun. Excellent job

jechrist2 · Jan 28, 2007

Nice Job Mark.
What do you plan on hauling? Are you going to put bunks in so you can use it to haul "stuff" to a show and then sleep in it?

Jerry

DrBailey · Jan 28, 2007

Mark and Hillbilly , You guys got serious ! good looking job :fing32:

mbkerk · Jan 29, 2007

jechrist2 said:
Nice Job Mark.
What do you plan on hauling? Are you going to put bunks in so you can use it to haul "stuff" to a show and then sleep in it?

Jerry

I did suggest that Katy... Didn't get very far! :tsk:

jechrist2 · Jan 29, 2007

Tell her I have a vented heater that would fit in there very nicely. A 12V battery and a couple lights, what eles could a person want?

Jerry

boatfixer · Feb 5, 2007

We need an update on this.

tooldad · Feb 5, 2007

Why not put a little more effort into it and make it v-nose? I am going to try and make one for my trailer this weekend using 3/4 square tube and sheet metal. Taking 24ft trailer to VA from St Louie to help a friend move back.

By the way, anybody need anything hauled east? I am going out empty.

tractor@tooldad.com if you do.

Tooldad

mbkerk · Feb 5, 2007

I am going to try to get it buttoned up this week. I have a job for it this coming weekend. All that is left, at least for now, is the wiring and that is not progressing as fast as it could be, as I have been too busy with other things.

tooldad said:
Why not put a little more effort into it and make it v-nose?

That was considered tooldad, and I could have done it, but I thought about the dozens of trailers I see a week on the interstate in my travels, and very few are v-nose, except for the snowmobile trailers. I also figured that if I ever pulled it any distance, it would be behind my pickup, and my pickup doesn't care. It would not make any significant difference on fuel mileage. This coupled with the fact that this trailer has been sitting around incomplete for some 12 or 14 years, and I only seem to use it about once a year, led to the decision to make it a flat front trailer.

Excellent question though, and if one were building from the ground up, and planned on a lot of miles with it, v-nose should be considered.

jechrist2 · Feb 5, 2007

Mark,

Are you using conventional lights or LEDs? I replaced all the conventional lights on my red trailer with LEDs. They use less electricity, have less corrosion problems and last forever.

Jerry

mbkerk · Feb 5, 2007

jechrist2 said:
Mark,

Are you using conventional lights or LEDs? I replaced all the conventional lights on my red trailer with LEDs. They use less electricity, have less corrosion problems and last forever.

Jerry

Power consumption has not been an issue on my trailers Jerry, but I do use sealed beam incandescents whenever I replace one (that I have to buy!) The trailer has sealed beam tail lights already, but the clearance lamps are the same old junk. Hillbilly came up with dozens of them for nothing, so I will replace the bad ones with them.

I do agree that sealed beams are the way to go. We have them on all of our equipment at they very seldom give any trouble.

BTW... NWTT has LED tail lamps for $14 now! That is an excellent price! The Peterson LED's are over $35! I can't remember the brand, but they have a lifetime warranty. By contrast, I can buy a regular sealed beam for $3.50! I have never had one of them fail on any of my other trailers.

tooldad · Feb 6, 2007

Being a shop teacher, I tinker a little. I too have replaced all my trailer lights with LEDs, added a few along the way. IE my 24ft enclosed trailer has 43 LED light fixtures. I have a little OTR trucker in me too. They are brighter and come on faster. I got my marker lights for about $4 each and the tails for about $15-20 each on ebay. Just watch and a cheap one will come about.

As for V-nose or not. I gained 2+mpg pulling that 24ft enclosed just by putting a "wind scoop" on the top of my pickup. I currently get 10-12 depending on load and wind. My goal is to get 15. Don't know if I will get there. However, I used to pull a gooseneck horsetrailer with 12" radius corners and a roof. Got 12mpg without any thing extra. Both trailers weighed in at about 4k empty. Shows that the radius helped. If I still had that trailer today, I would have taken the center flat area and made it v-nosed with 18gauge sheet metal and painted to match trailer.

However if you are only going to go across town once a month or so, then flat is easier. New trailers only cost $500-1000 more to have V-nose. I looked at new before finding my trailer used.

pigsitter · Feb 6, 2007

Great finished results!!As I said earlier I never dreamed on old bread truck could be put to such great use. :fing32:

Full O' Case · Feb 6, 2007

That is really cool! Good job guys! I think you need to paint it like a loaf of bread though.

bontai Joe · Feb 6, 2007

I can't seem to see the photos today. I was watching this thread with great enthusiasm, but now can't see the final product. I'll check back later.

mbkerk · Feb 6, 2007

bontai Joe said:
I can't seem to see the photos today. I was watching this thread with great enthusiasm, but now can't see the final product. I'll check back later.

I can't either Joe... I am sure my brothers server is down. It won't be for long... it runs his business! (This is where I host my photos.)

mbkerk · Feb 10, 2007

This weeks update...

Mike and I are nearing the end of this project for a while. I want to get it painted, but we will have to wait for the weather to warm up a little.

Mike insisted we put new lights on it all the way around, rather than replacing the bad ones. I agreed, as this way we have the same bulbs in all of the clearance lamps. These take the 194 bulb, instead of the bayonet type, and I like those better anyway.

So here is a picture of the rear... The tail lights are sealed beams and they have been there for years. I plan on adding two more.

Note the door handle for the right door. I had to take the original off and make that one for one big reason! The door liked to come open going down the road! The new handle slides in and out, and when in, it slides over a hasp ring to keep it from flipping open, and also gives me a way to lock it up.

Front view... I have all my trailers wired with 7 pin (round) plugs no matter how big or small they are. Gives me a ton of options (charge lines, back up lights, brakes) and I don't have any wiring exposed to the elements. Must me the semi-driver in me. I use coiled semi cords with plugs on both ends between the tow vehicle and the trailer. The trailer is plugged into my wifes Chrysler van for this test.

The only thing left is the dome lights inside, and I have kind of a cool idea for them. I was going to get to that today, but I didn't. More on that later...

Dan Lovell · Feb 10, 2007

Two words. LOOKING GOOD.

Dan :congrats: :congrats:

john_deere_kid · Feb 10, 2007

That looks awesome!!! Are we going to see some amber lights running down the side any time soon? You mentioned changing hte fenders. Are you going to do that or keep those one?

Tooldad:
I really like your truck and trailer combo, especially how its lit up @ night.

Argee · Feb 11, 2007

Looks great Mark. :fing32: I know you probably mentioned this somewhere else, but what is the ultimate use for this trailer?

Enclosed Trailer Project

Ingersoll444

Dan Lovell

jechrist2

DrBailey

mbkerk

jechrist2

boatfixer

tooldad

mbkerk

jechrist2

mbkerk

tooldad

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