Monday, April 6, 2020

12000 lb Car Trailer Rebuild

Located a milling machine in Ohmaha NE.   Have not ID'ed it so I don't have a weight.  But it has a 48x10 or so table so it will be a bit of a load.  Only senseable way to go after it is with the car trailer.  But it has a broken spring.  So I looked into new ones.

The places on the net say to measure between the eyes.  Well it came out to 27" and such springs exist but are not plentiful.   Meaning they are a bit more money.

But after a bit of thinking I realized that he center pivoting bit is pivoted due to the  flattening of the old springs.   So I am guessing that the more common 25 1/4" springs are the ticket.

But having gone out and looked again I realized these are 5 leaf springs!  Good and bad.  Means its like a beefier trailer but springs are $$$.  Not quite too bad found 3000lb 5 leaf springs for $35.50 a Libra Trailer Parts. so $142 for the set.  And maybe no tax.  That means I get 12K lbs of springs.  Should be able to haul any lathe or mill on that.

Hit the suspension bolts with PB Blaster.  And rechecked that 25 1/4 springs will fit. Looks like it would.  The rear shackle moves back and forth to accommodate change in spring length.  Need to get pictures of that.

Discovered the bolts are welded to the spring perches and shackles on the back side.  Need to raise the trailer on blocks to gain access to the welds and grind them off.  One of the equalizers is hosed.  But it and the shackles are made from 1/8" plate so I should be able to make new ones.  This will also allow me to make adjustment to the shackle length if needed.

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Cut off a few bolts to remove the old suspension.

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1/8 is too thick for the press to bend.  Ordered an entire suspension kit.   Have the axles and fenders off the trailer.  Too windy to flip it over.  Put 2 car tires from the green town car on trailer wheels and mounted them on an axle.  Plan is to flip over the trailer and move it on this axle.

Found cheap trailer on simplyTire.com.  $63.96 each
Called them and they said the tires can be up to 3 years old.   But returns without question are on them.

https://simpletire.com/trailer-king-st225-75r15-rst53t-tires

Maybe it would be a good idea to fix up the engine power compressor and mount it to the pickup bed.  That way I could mount tires on the road.  Have several 15 in tires but all old.


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Saturday


Did the trailer flip.  Working from the bottom will make it easier to remove and replace the spring perches.


This bolt is typical of the worn out trailer suspension.

Removed the two rear spring perches.  They were looks which connected to shackles.   The new setup has both shackles on the equalizer with the front of the front and back of the back spring eyes in perches.

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Sunday April 12th

Too cold just above freezing.   I have acclimated to warmer temperatures.

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Monday was too cold to be out.  Today, Tuesday was cold too but I did remove one of the front spring perches.   Still have the other side front and both center perches.   The centers maybe more difficult because they have a side support.  If possible I would like to retain that.

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Thursday April 16

Found this site has suggestions for welding on the spring perches.
Best to weld them to a strip of metal welded to the frame to reduce stress.
https://mechanicalelements.com/mounting-trailer-axle-springs/

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