My New Trailer

[Markviiiedrea]

My Mom and I have a 1914 model T, but some of the tours we go on are far away and would take a long time. Who knows what would brake on that long of a drive. So allot of the times the other T people trailer their cars to a destination and the drive around there for a day. Up until now we couldn’t bring our car so we have been looking for a solution until now.

We bought a fish house trailer back in February to haul the Model T around on. The reason for a fish house trailer and not a car trailer is the cost. All of this was done for less than a couple hundred bucks. The trailer is lighter than a standard car hauler and so the Town Car can pull it, plus the way the trailer works with the back end dropping to the ground allows for easy access for the under powered car. If we are having a real hard time, the front end can also drop all the way to the ground. Having this trailer keeps the center of gravity low and has a uniqueness too it just like the “T”! Plus it can also haul lawn mowers and motorcycles too if the need arises.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

This is when I brought it home from some guy up in northern MN, half of it is new steel welded onto an older fish house 6x8 frame. The guy was going to finish it but had too many other projects so I picked it up cheap.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

New hubs, fenders, and wheel/ tires all attached to the arm which pivots in the tube that is welded on the left. The hubs and the arm pivots have grease zerks.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

The front pin gets pulled and you can slowly lower the front end while it is still attached to the car.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

This is how it looks with the arms up and the back end lowered to the ground. We added 2 10'x6" "C" channel beams for the tires to ride on. They also help keep the car from sliding and provide the ramps when loading the "T". Also because the "T" is 4" longer then the trailer we had to come up with an easy way to elongate the frame and someday be able to return it to a fish house once we get an actual car trailer.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Side view of the hub and arm. The arms are simply raised/lowered by hand. A future add on will be a powered winch to pull the arm down via cable and pulleys. A pin in the front slides in and secures the wheel/arm assemble for transport.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

3/4" Treated plywood added for strength and to haul other loads. fits perfectly between the two beams. The plywood also protects the T from rocks and other FOD. Plus makes a great lawn mower/ motorcycle hauler!

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Had to add lights to the frame since most people attach the light to the houses.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Here you can see how easy it will be to get the car on there.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

After drilling a few dozen holes we took it apart and I started to brush paint it with gloss black lacquer paint. It went on easy and covered every square inch of the trailer. Allot easier and cheaper then rattle caning it. Plus it will hold up to rock chips better.

Had to prop it up to get under neath. A little sand got in the paint from doing it out side but its a trailer..... who cares it still looks good and last a long time!

 

[Markviiiedrea]

More drilling and bolting! I have 4 5/16 carrage bolts in each beam and 20 in the plywood.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Added the hook so that a come-along can be attached if we ever brake down and have to manually get it on the trailer.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Added "D" rings to strap the axels down to the trailer for a nice and secure load. One bolt goes through the plywood with a fender washer and the other goes throught the plywood and the steel with a washer. All the nuts used on the traler were Nylocks. Dont need anything comeing loose!

 

[Markviiiedrea]

All done!! lights and everything works perfectly! Added some reflective tape so when the arms are up at night some idiot hopfully wont walk in to them. This was all done in about a weeks time, around 25-30 hours with plenty of food breaks! Cant wait to go on the tours now!!!

 

[chris2523]

very cool stuff! i've been thinking of making my own little atv trailer. i'm inspired by this.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

One thing not pictured is the hitch on the trailer, it is removable to prevent theft, that’s the way I got it but I just had to add some safety chains, I plan on adding a few lock’s to the trailer also to prevent theft.

 

[SoonerLS]

Cool trailer, story, and Tin Lizzie, but you know, you're not going to catch Pepperman in a single thread...

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Thanks!! I was too impatient to include it all on one post, and I don't know how. There is no way I will see 16,000 post within the next 20 years.

It was fairly easy after some head scratching. Now that, that's done I can tare into the mark!

 

[slowmkviii]

your best write up yet sir

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Thanks!

 

[Markviiiedrea]

So we finally went and picked the car up! After re clearanceing the bearings and tighten up the bands in the transmissionm, we took it around the block and realized the radiator has a good leak in it. Luckily a little JB weld can fix that!

So we got it on the trailer and it fit perfectly but I underestimated how heavy the car was and it took a little man power to pull the arms down and lock em. Live and learn i guess. I wanted to see if it was too heavy before I go and blow another $100 on parts.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

I bought two boat cranks, 20ft of 3/8 cable and miscellaneous hardware last night. Got home and started by re drilling a few holes in one crank to move the arm to the other side of the crank so I can have a left and right crank. Got to be astatically appeasing! Then I drilled 3 holes all the way through each arm (two for mounting the crank and one for the cable to thread through).

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Next I crimped the end of the cables after mounting the crank and threading the cables. Spun her down and now I have a useable trailer again! Just gota fix the water leak and I will be ready for the first car show next weekend!

 

[cammerfe]

Just one question.

Is that your Mother in the driver's seat in that first pic??

KS
(Nice trailer and an even nicer write-up!)

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Nope... here and her boyfriend were admiring it and I asked if I could take her for a ride. After that we never saw him again......at least I wish that was true. She was cute so I let her hop up there.

Thanks!