[oifla]

hello all, how's everyone doing?

i'm reaching out for some help with my trailer project. i picked up a bolt-together trailer from Harbor Freight (i know, i know...) and i'm wanting to strengthen the frame and, while i'm at it, also modifying the design to better suit my needs.

this is what the underside of the frame looks like:

any tips on strengthening the layout? i found this on another forum:

i will probably (at least) do that much to mine to give it a little more strength but is there something else i can do to complement?

also, like i said above, i'm modifying the trailer in two ways. 1) i'm going to add a central draw tube

running all the way down the trailer (which shouldn't be too complicated) and 2) i'm swapping the leaf suspension to a torsion bar (IRS) setup i got from an old subaru to copy this trailer:

i picked up the same torsion bar set up but haven't started fabbing up mounts for my trailer frame. any ideas as to what the best way to do it would be? my frame is slightly wider than the mounting points for the suspension (by about 6") so i will have to supplement the frame somehow to create a solid mounting
point.

this is the what the subie suspension looks like:

i don't have a MIG but i'm decent with an ARC welder (miller 230V machine).


to sum up, i'm looking for input/ideas with 1) strengthening the frame and 2) adapting the subie suspension/fabbing mounting points for it. i understand this is a crappy platform to build on but it suits my needs in terms of payload and size. i want to mess with it to adapt the subie suspension so that it will better match my truck's height and wheels and also because its IRS.

i would appreciate any ideas with this, thanks!

 

[deereboy55]

If you have a suspension ,,and know how to weld,, build what you want from scratch, the only reason I could see to start with a HF frame ,,,is if registering a home built trailer is very difficult in indiana.

 

[TUDOR]

If you have a suspension ,,and know how to weld,, build what you want from scratch, the only reason I could see to start with a HF frame ,,,is if registering a home built trailer is very difficult in indiana.

:ditto:

For the price of the HF trailer, you can buy all the materials for a homebuilt to make exactly what you want.

 

[FTG-05]

I can't tell the size of the frame, but one thing to strengthen the frame would be to install (weld) stake pockets on the side, then add a rub rail to the outside of the stake pockets.

Like this: