My little red wagon

We bought the trailer in Mexico, brand new (1999) from the local manufacturer, to move what we didn't sell or give away, before coming back to Canada. It's built to be licensed for 3,000 lbs - 16 inch, 6 bolt wheels. It's actually a Mexican Nissan truck box and frame. Well it really needed a refresh - new wood, new rustoleum under and over.

Got the floor and plank fasteners off, and the new floor boards Varathaned (Outdoor grade). Really surprised that's it's so Overbuilt, for such a small utility trailer.

I was debating whether to wait for the renos to be done, but the Rustoleum needs 12 hours to dry between coats, and over 50F (10C), and we're starting to it drop to 40F. I want to apply 4 coats - 2 per day!

Here's the progress, so far.

Old Floor:




After 10 years of snow and rain, it's stood up pretty well.

The uprights are for a second floor rack, with a 4X8 sheet of plywood.


The sides and rear gate are demountable:


Just repainting with stock rustoleum red on the box and rustoleum black on the axle and springs.

 

Reusable, but due for replacement. My trailer lights are showing their age.

The top one has a broken red lense and the housing is cracked. Crazy glue rescued it once. The thin ground strap is getting rusty too. Finding a replacement for both seems to be tougher than I thought.


This is where they go. They sit flush with the exterior sheetmetal ridge.


The trailer box is a modified Mexican Nissan truck box, but the light housings come from something else, probably a stock unit for Trailer manufacturers. No markings or part numbers on either one.

So I went looking and found some trailer light vendors, who often sell hitches too, like for wagons. :
http://www.easternmarine.com/em_store/lighting/

This one above also has the light and reflector placement regulations for the US and Canada, for any home-built Travel/Utility trailers. As well as Wiring diagrams.

This one offers really basic stuff, mainly for Semi-trailers.
http://www.defender.com/category.jsp?path=-1|215570|217469&id=320395

This site has some nice trailer-related stuff too!
http://www.etrailer.com/c-tlk-submersible.htm

And this one is for boaters. Nice gear!
http://www.boatersland.com/lights.html

Axles, Springs, Lights, wiring - simple assortment, but good lines.
http://www.championtrailers.com/index.html

Sheesh! Trailer Plans for Horse and Utility trailers:
http://www.southwestwheel.com/store/c-211-trailer-plans.aspx

Wheels and all things Trailer! It's a gateway site to different vendors.
http://www.trailerpart.com/

I like the wiring cables and the heavy duty connectors on this site. Canadian reseller too.
http://www.trailercanada.com/lightselectrical.htm

Manufacturer's site. LOTS OF GOODIES! Even head mounted troubleshooter lights!
http://www.optronicsinc.com/index.html

http://www.optronicsinc.com/headlamps.htm

Replacement Lenses and complete sets. Marine and Utility trailers.
http://www.jmsonline.net/TRAILER-LIGHTS.htm

Another MFR with a great range. Could modify one of theirs, maybe.
http://www.pmlights.com/index.cfm

Wesbar is part of the Cequent group, as is that one above. Not much different in product ranges:
http://www.wesbar.com/product/default.asp

Bingo! This fits!
http://www.bargman.com/product/details.asp?ProdID=3084005&cat=8280

Main Standard Lights page (Not LED)
http://www.bargman.com/product/accessory.asp?cat=8280&path=8201,8280&titulo=Taillight - Standard

Even local retailers!
http://www.bargman.com/product/dealers.asp?dstate=MB

Can't find an exact match, but that one is close enough. I like that they offer Replacement lenses. My trailer is only 10 years old, and I can't find any, for it. Until now.

Anyone making their own trailer (trailer queen throne or tear-drop) should look at the earlier links.

EDIT: This Trailer Parts site had links to name brand component manufacturers' sites:
http://www.bradstrailer.com/vendor_links.htm

 

If I was in a real bind, I could use the pair I've got, from a 1957 Mercury fender mounted taillights. But then one of you guys would shoot me.

 

Done!

Had a few small issues. The old floorboard fasteners had the 'torque head' countersunk bolts. Can't find them, so I used regular 1/4" Hexhead bolts and washers, and drove them down.

The taillight wires weren't soldered. They are now.

The Leafspring U-Bolts were sloppy by almost an 1/8" on one side and 1/16" on the other! Probably since the factory. All fixed now.

The wheels were in nice shape - no rust, just stone chips, so I cleaned them up and repainted stock grey on the outside and black in the inside (as well as the axle and springs.)

It was built in Mexico, so it had not rustproofing where all the mud and stuff collects, so I cleaned all that up, painted and then undercoated.

Came out nice, clean, and rustproofed.

Here's the pics:

Front to back:


Back to front:


3 Demountable side and tailgate panels all done and waiting:


New Outdoor Varathaned floorboards:


Finished and parked in the yard:


Floor from back to front:


And Front to Rear:


Finished last evening at about 7:30 PM CDT.

 

Now that I live in the country and have some land to take care of, it looks like I'll need some kind of open cargo-carrying capability to haul animals, brush and debris, fertilizer, wood, etc. We've got an Explorer, and I don't really want to put money into a pick-up right now. There's a lot of small utility trailers for sale, for as low as $300 used - looks like I'll have to get one.......

 

I got a little 4x8 at Harbor Freight for right around $300 but I had to put it together. Got the hitch for the Mustang for $8 at the junkyard. Usually do this stuff with the Eagle but the engine is still out of it. I'm making some stake sides for it tomorrow.

 

i like it!

 

Get something rated for 3,000 lbs. One cu. yard of garden soil is about 2,200, if it's not wet. Preferably, you want at least 49" between the wheel wells, but a flat deck with 61" is better. 5' X 10' plywood doesn't fly off as easily. (One of the aspects of being a gentleman-farmer.)

Amazing how these Fox frames are strong, eh? Sounds like a good deal. $8 for the hitch was a good deal, too.

Gracias compa.

 

Thought about it, and have decided I want to look for something about like that. Don't want a converted pick-up bed - the load surface is too high. Preferably one with removable sides and gate, so I can maybe haul some quads (there's sand dunes close by...)

 

If you're outside of town, maybe a local farmer could help you out with welding up yours, your way?

When I got mine, it had no second-floor rack, so I got a neighbour to make one up for about $200. Four hours later, I had it all done. The trailer has a wide enough axle that I knew it wouldn't tip, so I gained another 8 feet of length and 30" of height. Then drove from Guadalajara to Canada. Snug as a bug in a rug.

 

There's some great dunes near Florence, if I remember correctly. The wife and I went there 111 years ago...or maybe it was just 11 years ago...before the kiddos came along anyway. You can pay for a dunebuggy driver to run you around the dunes and do a few jumps and stuff. It's a blast! Now that the boys are a little older (10 and 7), I am thinking about taking them.

 

The trailer looks like new now. I'm surprised you didn't roll it to match the Fabulous Fairmont to match.

 

Registration says Red. My Tarp is white. If I travel to the US, I can throw on a blue stripe. If I go to Mexico, I can use a green stripe.

Nah, I bought the Red paint before rolling the wagon.

 

i dunno....norm, i normally prefer a red stripe!

hooray beer!

 

Ja Make a, eh?

Didn't know they had beer. Lager to boot! Go figure.