HF Tag Along or bare frame to start my build?

[dacheedah]

I just went to the scrap yard, they also sell new steel, found a piece of 2" square tubing and it is thicker walled because I wanted to weld on it, went about 20" longer than stock. For the cost of one solid piece I would not even try to piece something together. They did have steel in stock the same size as the original size but most of my trailers use 2" so. . .

 

I unbolted the stock piece, and used it as a template, drilled the new and it bolted right on. I did change the coupler for one designed for 2" tubing. After welding on the cooler rack and painting the new tongue and Undrilled the rivets holding the VIN plate and riveted it on the new tongue.

 

The length may not be required but it pulls very nice with it. Worst thing when pulling a trailer is a tail heavy trailer will wag. The faster you go the worse it will get. The cooler rack helps offset this but it is also something to be mindfull of when loading, keep the tongue at about 20#. Pulling this you will forget it is even there and thats another reminder to swing wider just like pulling any other trailer.

[cabreco]

As an added note

I have found that Rustolium red is a perfect match to the HF red on the trailer.

 

 

Man you weren't kidding. Rustoleum Red is spot on. I bought a can to paint the frame for the time being where I welded the cooler rack. Perfect match. Now to see if everything is water tight. I am leaving the trailer on my deck for the duration of the up coming hurricane Sandy. That will be a good indicator if both boxes are sealed!

[Flyinfool]

Man you weren't kidding. Rustoleum Red is spot on. I bought a can to paint the frame for the time being where I welded the cooler rack. Perfect match. Now to see if everything is water tight. I am leaving the trailer on my deck for the duration of the up coming hurricane Sandy. That will be a good indicator if both boxes are sealed!

 

I hope it is still on the deck once Sandy leaves........

Hang on tight out there

[cabreco]

I hope it is still on the deck once Sandy leaves........

Hang on tight out there

 

She's cabled & strapped down

[fgrimes636]

You mention greasing up the 8 inch wheels to make them work better. Is there the same problems with the 12 inch wheel kit?

I went to the bearing buddy website. It did not give me very much info. Do the just attach to the wheels to make greasing easier?

[Squidley]

You mention greasing up the 8 inch wheels to make them work better. Is there the same problems with the 12 inch wheel kit?

I went to the bearing buddy website. It did not give me very much info. Do the just attach to the wheels to make greasing easier?

 

Frank,

 

When most of us mention about re-greasing the bearings, we say that with this in mind. The bearings dont come greased very well from the factory, and I have had a couple of axles that the bearings weren't adjusted correctly. So I just usually start right from scratch, and clean all the old grease out. It doesn't make a difference if they are 8" or 12" wheels, I just like having the piece of mind knowing that it is done correctly with good quality grease.

 

The bearing buddies go on in place of the bearing caps. They are spring loaded and keep plenty of grease into the bearings and races so you dont have issues. They make the greasing very easy as I mentioned in the top of this thread of how I grease them. I have a set of the trailer I use to haul bikes around and usually about once every 6 months, or before I plan on going on a long trip, I have a grease gun thats filled with the wheel bearing grease I use (Kendall Super Blu) and add some grease to it. Grease breaks down over time and this keeps it topped off good.

 

The bearing buddies were originally made for boat trailers as when folks would pull their boats to the lake the hubs would get warm. When they would back the trailer into the water, it would immediately cool the hubs causing contraction of the grease. This would allow water to get sucked into a standard hub cover and break down the grease inside.

 

If you have any other questions, my # is in my profile.

[Flyinfool]

HF does not know what grease is.

You must clean and grease all bearings.

 

Bearing Buddies replace the dust cap and have a grease fitting in the middle. There is a spring loaded diaphragm to take up sudden expansion and contraction do to the sudden temperature change when the hubs of a boat trailer get submerged in water.

IMHO Bearing Buddies are only needed on boat trailers. The HF trailer already has a grease fitting if you want to use it. But for the first time you still want to take it apart clean the factory goo out of there and grease the bearings with a good grease.