Rehabbing a gooseneck Car hauler. Trailer Gods....

[Joey-D]

That would be even better at 20%.

I was looking around on good ol craigslist and found some steals on steel.
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/mat/1026884935.html
So I was thinking 6" channel with 3" angle crossmembers. A stick of 5" at the yard was $112 for a 20fter. 6" from this guy was $60 before haggling. By the way if you ever need a quick steel quote use this website
http://www.metalsdepot.com/index.phtml?aident=
Shipping is crazy but I have ordered small quantities from them before.

[vin-man welding]

thats a nice project, but if your adding channel to the inside it's going make it narrower yes? if you plan on hauling a truck your just asking for trouble. you might want to consider just giving it a good clean up and fresh paint. and selling it put the money toward the right size trailer. you didn't give the dementions or what your using to haul with. but you sould have a 10,000 pound trailer for a 7000 pound truck. and i hope your pulling with a dually or it's going to push you down the road.

[Joey-D]

The trailer is 82" between fenders. If I put channel inside the angle and run the wood under the channel "leg" it will be almost even with the top of the channel. So not really narrowing it at all. Plus I plan on having removable fenders also. As far as my tow rig, I have a 2001 Chevy K3500 Duramax Dually 4x4 extended cab longbed. Why a 10K trailer for a 7K load? I understanding not overloading a trailer, but a 7k truck on a 7k trailer should be fine. Since 1400 lb will be on the truck and the trailer should weight 1400lbs then I will be at max load. But still at load limit.

[Farmer Boy]

Adding the channel will not give one much more strength as the depth of the sides is what is giving the trailer strength, and since the depth of the side is greater than what your adding it will not do much besides, add weight, IMO

and to increase it weight carrying capacity add a new Axel to the existing two, that would be the easiest way to increase it weight capacity,

but then your "goose neck hitch" is not much heavier than what the trailer is built for currently.

[Portable Welder]

Sanora, Your probably right about the Gooseneck having 20% of the load on the truck.

I'm used to bumper hitch type which is 10-15%.

Thanks for the correction.

[FusionKing]

Heck I think your idea is pretty well thought out myself, and don't see any reason why it would not be a whole bunch stronger, as long as you do a good job welding and fitting it together. The existing set-up looked to be pretty flimsy and also overloaded at some point in it's lifetime. The existing frame (on the sides) with the expanded metal is carrying a good bit of the load, so replacing that with the channel will help a bunch. Some kind of diagonal brace replacing that area up front sure wouldn't hurt. That is if I understood your planning to remove all of that correctly. And a couple more stringers run down the middle would be a good idea as well. Using the size channel that fits the tightest makes the most sense to me.

Getting it clean enuff to make strong enuff welds will be one of your bigger challenges.

What type of welding machine are you going to use (and don't say some 115v mig machine) Chances are the underneath or overhead welds will be the ones that give you the most trouble. If you do plan on using a weak mig then re-think this and either get a bigger mig or stick weld it. If you are a good welder with a powerful machine then please excuse me...we have a quite a history here of people posting trailer projects and wanting to weld them with machine that will not provide safe welds. Safety is your biggest concern in a project of this magnitude.
One thing you might think about is the angle has a web in the inside corner and the outside corner of the channel is sharp so they will not fit entirely perfect.
Great job on the pics(IMO) and can't wait to see how you progress with this project

BTW...for those who have dificulty reading the text with the larger pics I'll tell you how I read them...I simply click the "quote" and then read it and then go back and review the pics. Not perfect but it allows me to read and move on instead of getting away from the real questions

[Joey-D]

I will be welding it with my millermatic 251.

What is the math for the axle location? If I add 2' dovetail to the back I think I will be in the right location but now would be the time to move them. Isn't it something like 1' back from center? And center would be the over all length of the trailer. Dovetail to gooseneck.

And also on the goosneck hitch, you have the 2 verticals coming up from the front of the deck. Then there is a horizontal that is just a piece of angle iron. Should I replace that? I plan on gusseting the 30* miter but was wondering if I should do more.

Here are some pictures from yesterday. I got a late start as I was waiting on my consumables from hong kong for my plasma. And also had to make an extension cord for the welder and plasma.

[Joey-D]

[Sonora Iron]

what is the math for the axle location?

60 40 %.......

Here this might help.

http://www.trailerplans.com/index.ph...d=40&Itemid=29

[Joey-D]