Slow Holiday Progress
Progress was slowed a little over the holidays. As you can imagine, part of this was due to normal holiday shenanigans and some of it to waiting on parts. During the teardown we somehow managed to break the adjustment spring on one of brake assemblies. This turned out to be a bit harder to find than I anticipated. I assumed, and was told, that you should be able to find these at your local NAPA or Advanced Auto type establishment. Well, the ones near me did not have a match. So, I finally found them on Amazon (cause they have everything ya know), but it was over a week to get them between the holiday delay and normal shipping. Another thing I was tracking down was a small piece of 1/8" steel diamond/tread plate. Turns out, surprisingly difficult to find if you only want a small piece. Aluminum plate is available everywhere it seems, but steel proved hard to find. Our local steel/scrap yard had it, but would only sell a full 4'x8' sheet for $120. This is actually a pretty good price for a full sheet, but all I needed was 12"x24". I eventually found Menards carries this in store ($26). The last thing I was debating about were the stabilizer jacks. For my taste the trailer without these is really too bouncy and unstable when moving about inside. I did some research as usual. For the price and intended use, I settled on some from Harbor Freight. I know the typical reaction to HF stuff is marginal, but the reviews are pretty good and the others I looked at on Amazon and the trailer equipment sites didn't appear much better and were reviewed harshly. Finally, I procured all the necessary primer, paint etc. for the frame from Eastwood. So with these things in hand and miscellaneous new bolts, nuts and washers for the axle mounts, I set to getting things put back together.
The brakes are now completely refreshed and re-assembled.
Before and After... (click to enlarge)
Diamond plate added to the tongue.
The jacks awaiting installation (HF item#96406).
Before I can get the jacks installed, I need to fab up some mounting plates that will get welded to the frame rails. I'll then weld the jacks to these plates.
Well, that's just a quick update for now, soon as the trailer is completely re-assembled I'll post again. Then again, once it's primed and painted.
Thanks for stopping back!