Trailer modding

Working on the trailer today! Kind of rushing through it, I want to at least make sure I can drive it this weekend. I planned to do some welding work for this, but ended up with about 100' of solid 1 5/8" unistrut and like 25 of the 4 hole 90's. Figured it made more sense to use unistrut since I had so much of it.

The unistrut is galvanized and we use them outside a lot in HVAC. I'm trying to decide whether it's worth painting it with rust-proof coating before I lay the deck down. Any input would be appreciated.

So far I've made the base platform. I need to put two more beams inside towards the front of the trailer since that area needs the most stabilization. I think it's a bit overkill but I don't mind being extra-sure.

The wood is just a test fit to see how it'll go together. as it is, it'll give me 7' x 42" x 12" tall of space. Plenty of space for matt and I to store our crap in plano boxes and put a yeti cooler in there to keep the fish out of the truck as much as possible.

Anyway just sharing my progress, if anyone has input on how I could improve things I'm always interested.





More work will be done tomorrow and I'll post the progress. Tomorrow I'm going to finish the reinforcers for the base, bolt it into the trailer with 3/8 x 1" bolts, then possibly paint it if it sounds like it's necessary for galvanized metal.

Dang you've been busy!

Just touch up the unistrut at the cut ends with some galvanized rattle can paint.  Touch up from road debris, rocks etc is easy peasy as well.

Keep in mind that breathing fumes while welding galvanized metal is not good for a long life.

Continuing work...

Bolted down the frame, added one more reinforcement strut and decided further reinforcement wasn't needed. Stood on the corner that's hanging off the trailer and it didn't budge. Took it for a drive around the city then on the highway, nothing loosened up.

Started cutting the 2x12's and laying it down. Put up the walls on 3 sides. Gate will be done later. Secured the floor boards to the base frame. Next I need to secure the walls. It's starting to look like it could hold stuff!

At this stage I'm trying to decide how to do further reinforcement. The floorboards are fine, and I think the walls are relatively secure. But I'd like it to be more than relatively secure. I just don't know what that means as far as what I'm going to do to reinforce it. Maybe this is the stage where I should have someone weld on 2x2's in two corners, and two 1.25" square bars all the way around and secure the wall into it. Or maybe some more unistrut along the top secured from top to base.

I'll figure that out tomorrow when I've had some sleep! Last pic is a bonus pic of a smoker my dad left me when he went to live in St. Croix USVI. Finally unearthed it from the garage with all my work. Spent a hour scrubbing it because my dad believes that leaving them dirty just adds taste. Except only the smoker tower is supposed to be left alone, not the pans and racks. Decided to scrub the tower anyway because it's been sitting in a garage for years. I'll just start it over fresh.

While under there I checked the condition of the axle and the weight capacity. Looks like 1500#. All my mods should only get the weight up to 700# fully loaded so I should be good. But as this is my first trailer, I know nothing about maintenance on them. So I'll be looking into how to best maintain the wheels and axle. It looks quite rusted, haven't decided how I should handle that yet.

I think red locktite would be a good idea on those bolts on the strut connections, if you havent already.  They'll see a lot of vibration. 

I think red locktite would be a good idea on those bolts on the strut connections, if you havent already.  They'll see a lot of vibration.

Thanks, I added that to most of them!


Did some more work today, I'd say the trailer is 95% done. I got the top frame secured and reinforced, aligned everything, then reinforced the walls (those two vertical struts on both sides). Everything is super solid now. The remaining work is a little bit more bolting the front wall to the existing rack. I have to fill the holes I made to secure the wood to the frame.

Those will be done tomorrow (ran out of material to do them) then it's time for the last, pain in the butt part... the rear gate. I found a few issues that I'll need to tackle (rear lights in the way of letting it fully drop down, 2x12 isn't tall enough so I'll need to add a 6" to it to make it 18" tall. Then I'll have to figure out how to secure the gate. Probably two more days of work at this rate.

Tomorrow I'll finish everything except the gate then take it for another drive around the area and on the highway to see how it fares. Then I'll have to fully load it with both kayaks and take it out one more time. If both trips go well, it'll be time to add the gate.

Good job!  Looks great!  I just finished a rack for a utility trailer I have.  Felt good to get something completed thats been on my mind for a long time.  Enjoy!

Nice hauler,off the subject,how many yaks do you have?

Nice hauler,off the subject,how many yaks do you have?

4, Adventure Island, Predator XL Minn Kota, Trident 13, and Predator 13.



Today's work was all about the rear gate. I finally got it installed! I think it's good enough. Came out differently than I envisioned but it'll work. I had to put a 1.25" square steel tube on the bottom, bolt it in, paint it and add the hinge to it in order to get the gate to fit and open/close properly. It's hard when the rack isn't level.

Going to take it on a test drive tomorrow. Functionally I feel that it's completed. It could use touch up work, painting, and I could seal the wood so it doesn't get heavy from absorbing water. But none of these are high priority. If the test drive works, I'm going to move on to my next project.

Took it for a test drive fully loaded, it worked out perfect. Very happy with how it turned out. The way it's set up is super nice for transporting two AI's with all gear and fishing gear underneath protected by the ama's acting like a lid. Still some stuff to do, like putting lock boxes in there and such but I'm happy with how it's turning out.

Ur trailer looks great!!
Looks like the hard work has paid off [emoji1360]


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Did some more....








When I bought the trailer, the back top rack was welded on poorly. While I was driving, the welds broke and it tipped over. Fortunately I managed to pull over in time before it fully broke off.

It's back up and totally secure now. 

I also put another wall rack above the kayak one for the AI's ama and sail. I need to locate a source of about 10-20 pool noodles. Dollar Tree is out until spring, Lowes appears to have some but for $2.10 each, and the home depot pipe insulation is more expensive. Gotta put it on the unistrut so it doesn't scratch everything up.

There's only two things left to do on the trailer. Adding some 90 angles to the front top rack to prevent it from breaking off on the road. Then painting everything / brushing rust off with wire brush.

Getting there....