Project Choose Your Own Adventure

[WRXtranceformed]

This may be a dumb question but I've never had to do it...since I see you have an inspection sticker, do you have to get trailers inspected yearly in GA? Do you also have to pay property tax on them?

[ScottyB]

yeah well, fuck the state.

OK! i guess?

This may be a dumb question but I've never had to do it...since I see you have an inspection sticker, do you have to get trailers inspected yearly in GA? Do you also have to pay property tax on them?

GA is hilariously lax. for a trailer there is no inspection, and no longer any tax on cars purchased after 2013, they do ad-valorum tax paid up front as a lump sum at the time of first registration. registration renewal fee yearly is all that's required.

said it before, will say it again...if your car isn't currently on fire or has dead limbs hanging off of it, you can basically drive anything in any condition here....and people certainly do.

[ScottyB]

welp.

got it on the ground, tested the lights, adjusted the hitch, checked the tires. plate is on, i'm ready to go to home depot and pick up some wood and get this show on the road.

checked the tires again....thought i saw something....hmmm? !@#$%#@. the wheels aren't pointing straight. one wheel toed in, the other toed out. the damn axle is bent.

went back and double, triple checked my measurements. surely when i relocated the leaf springs 6 inches aft i probably was 1/4" off on one side or something? i could just notch the holes and slide one side forward and straighten it out. nope, the axle itself is dead perpendicular on the chassis. survey says: the actual hubs were welded on crooked. totally imperceptible to see without a big plane of reference bolted to it, i.e. the side of a tire lined up with the side of the trailer, so unfortunately i never would have noticed until this point in the build.

immediately i'm in worst-case scenario land. gotta get a new axle, what's that cost, oh btw nobody sells and axle in these dimensions off the shelf without going custom so now my $60 hen's-teeth u-bolts are garbage, would my bearings still work with a different axle, etc etc....but thankfully it looks like a new axle is coming my way out of another kit.

bad news: this is bullshit and now i'm delayed, and i just finished beautifully filling, coating, and painting the "U" of the axle to weatherproof it, which took like 4 days.

good news: local Northern Tool is being a boss and will order in a new axle free of charge and just swap out my old one, but that means another 2.5hrs out and back to Columbia to pick the stupid thing up, then more days of filling, coating, sanding and painting the new axle and of course hoping this one's actually straight.

that's a project being projecty i guess. autumn deadline ain't happenin but it'll get there.

[JPolen01]

Can't they ship it you for their fuck up? That's a whole lotta' windshield time for you.

[ScottyB]

no, they need to see the original axle to confirm and officially swap out. not that they could ever see that its bent just eyeballing it, but policy and all that.

[ScottyB]

well, wish me luck. gonna find out tomorrow if the 2nd time's the charm, and then its time to build a floor on this beotch.

[ScottyB]

things got dumb, then they got better.

back to Columbia SC to pirate a bunch of parts out of another trailer kit that i bought. after i ravaged it, NT would refund me on the second one for my trouble, and they'd make whatever they could off the remains. wake up Saturday, endure an hour of South Carolina's Most Paint Huffing Assclowns on I-20 and upon getting to the store we tear open the boxes for the second time.

new axle is also bent.

same deal...the axle beam is fine, the stubs point wherever "not straight" is. like, bad enough i can see how far they're off just eyeballing it from 2 feet away. i make sure the manager sees this, he tries "yeah i don't know man, why don't you try it out and see if it really is..." nah chief i'm good, get me some phone numbers. i leave with 2 wheel/tire/hub combos (that i'll flip as soon as i can) and the borked axle.

what a bunch of ass. shame, cause the rest of the kit is good.


nice paint too. check that whack stub.


soon as i got home, rang up NT corp and they get shit done. final results: pending some credit cards getting refunded right now, i basically got my current assembled trailer for free plus the second trailer's value on top. i'm annoyed due to lost time and parts i didn't need to buy, but i'm happy considering they could have made it super painful.

getting my "dream" bombproof axle setup now with the "profit" from the second refund; a Dexter 3500lb unit.


I don't need the capacity but wanted the bigger bearings for lots of highway running and my bigger 15 inch wheel/tire combo. the width will let me run without hub spacers too. should be here in a week.

so howd'yah like that shit?

[WRXtranceformed]

Wow what a pain but well done, that worked out better than can be expected! I also just worked my way through a really complicated returns process and good customer service goes a long way to maintaining your sanity. This is such an ambitious build and I for one can't wait to see the final product!

[ScottyB]

maiden voyage last night on the 12in "kit" wheels! just a quick hop over to the local Home Despot for a couple miles to pick up some lumber for a buddy, maybe 200 pounds.



great success. tracked straight, lights functioned without issue, ball hitch was adjusted perfect, no sparks or explosions. towing it with the xterra was effortless and i think once its built and loaded it'll balance out almost totally level on the road.
love the Dexter axle. just so damn easy to set up and grease.

off to the tire shop today, the 15in radials go on the old school steelies today and then off to Atlanta in a couple weeks to gather the first stage of lumber for the floor build :thumbup:

[ispoonwithmugen]

^I approve of this. It's coming along great! I haven't read through it all but what wheels/tires are you going to run?

[ScottyB]

^I approve of this. It's coming along great! I haven't read through it all but what wheels/tires are you going to run?

175/65-15 Kuhmos on some vintage steelies. they'll ride much better for such a light trailer and they should be much more reliable at highway speeds than the tiny cheapass china tires. i'm going to keep the wheels/tires in that picture as spares under the floor of the trailer.

[BLINGMW]

Good work!

65 profile tires though? Nah bro

[ispoonwithmugen]

^I approve of this. It's coming along great! I haven't read through it all but what wheels/tires are you going to run?

175/65-15 Kuhmos on some vintage steelies. they'll ride much better for such a light trailer and they should be much more reliable at highway speeds than the tiny cheapass china tires. i'm going to keep the wheels/tires in that picture as spares under the floor of the trailer.

Moar tire pls.

[ScottyB]

flipped the extra wheels w/hubs for $120 within 24 hrs. win :thumbup:

grabbed some ball hitch and receiver locks as well, stupid me forgot all the points where someone could detach this thing and take of with it.

tires are mounted up. tomorrow i should be headed to ATL to grab 11 sheets of the 5x5', 1/8" baltic birch sheets that will make up the inside walls, inside hatch, and outside skin (under the aluminum top skin). after that, last stop is the hardware store for some plywood and insulation, and the raw materials will pretty much be piled up and ready to build the cabin frame. just a matter of time until i can get to it while i get some other "real" work out of the way.

clearance is great even without spacers, proving i only suck at math about 95% of the time. 2.5" tire to frame rail, and figure the wall will stick out about 3/4" (it covers the frame rail on the outside so you can't see it) leaving me a good amount of remaining breathing room.







the wheel paint is deceptive. it looks nice but i think i messed up a bit on prep. its been kind of easy to chip so i may need to recoat the lip especially, or just throw a chrome trim ring on and forget about it.

[.RJ]

I love this

[JPolen01]

The wheel color is all kinds of win

[EclipseTurbno93]

Wheels need more chrome lip decor then perfect

[Beej]

Not to criticize, as this project is awesome, but...do they make trailer tires in whitewall?

[ScottyB]

Not to criticize, as this project is awesome, but...do they make trailer tires in whitewall?

no i completely understand...i actually tried to find whitewalls. trailer tires are a no-go, and the only tire suppliers that i could find my size tire in were specialty dealers like Coker tire who make vintage stuff....and its $$$. these rubbers were like $65 a pop so i just decided to save some moolah on that end of the build.

Wheels need more chrome lip decor then perfect

i'm feeling it too. the wheels are built for trim rings along with a chrome dish over the lugs. i may have to make that happen, especially since the whitewall thing won't work.

ultimately i definitely want the vintage feel, and it'll get there eventually.

[Sully]

Although it will stain and I'm not sure how hard it'll be to clean or how fast it stains (and it may have only stained from brake dust so may be a non issue) but several people have plastidipped their sidewalls with good results. And if it stains, peel it off. I always over spray a ring onto the rubber when I dip wheels. Peels off fine granted it's still fresh. I make no guarantee it will be as easy once it is fully set. But I heard no issues when people were doing it in the early days of dip

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