questions about an older trixale lowboy trailer

[thomastractorsvc]

After my wifes' chemo appointment today, (last official chemo treatment after more than 12 months, but she still has to get shots monthly) I took her by to see the trailer and what they have done.

Frame is all straight now and they are working on alignment. I am having them replace anything on the suspension that might be questionable and after inspection they said the equalizers and front hangers were the only thing that was in need of replacement, plus three radius rods as the bushings were worn out. Looks like when the previous owner did work to it, the others radius rods were replaced with the brakes and seals.

[mrsmackpaul]

good news all round

dont you just love it when plans come together well done to the your wife and the lads fixing your trailer

Paul

[thomastractorsvc]

yep pretty happy!

[Timmyb]

Looks fantastic! And very straight! Guess you have to start think of a paint job soon?

I love seeing old equipment given another chance.

[j hancock]

Wishing continued good reports for your wife.

[thomastractorsvc]

Thanks for the well wishes.

The trailer should be ready in the morning, but so is the bill, they did end up going a little over budget keeping my fingers crossed.

[HarryS]

Good job on the trailer. A little over budget seems to be the norm. Best wishes to your wife, a lot to be happy for.

[mrsmackpaul]

Thanks for the well wishes.

The trailer should be ready in the morning, but so is the bill, they did end up going a little over budget keeping my fingers crossed.

Life has taught me I forget about something going going over budget if the job is good a lot quicker than if the job is crap and within budget even if things go a real longway over budget

As my grandfather always said "it's only money and you cant take it with you. Because the worms will eat holes in it "

Paul

[hatcity]

1st) good wishes for the Mrs. My wife had to go thru it too.

2nd) trailer looks good. Nice black paint and don't worry about the $$. you can earn it back

[Joe Ditchkus]

Best of luck to your wife. I hope they did not sting you too bad. Joe D.

[thomastractorsvc]

Thanks all for the thoughts.

I just got this today from the UPS man looks like I have some work to do (6 tires) but hopefully it will be a little easier with this stuff.

I normally use a 4 ton floor jack to lift 98% of the stuff I work on and a 12 or 20 ton bottle jack for what that wouldn't lift. The old floor jack didn't want to lift the trailer or Superliner for that matter and I crawled under that old trailer to take the wheels off the other day to chain them up and that sucked as it is hard to shimmy under so I treated myself to new 22 ton jack and tire dolly. Yea, I know they are Chinese but I went and looked at the OTC and Omega and the ones on line and they were all north of $500 for a jack. I got this from ebay and it comes with a 90 money back and was only $180 with free shipping. I put it together and lifted the Superliner several times this afternoon and let it set to see if it would leak down and it seems to work fine. The quality doesn't seem to be any better than the ones I looked at in person in fact other than the color they look the same. I figure when it craps out I will just replace the bottle jack portion with a new one. The wheel dolly seem to be the same as the OTC that they use at the Speedco and petro

[Superdog]

My back has been wanting me to buy one of those wheel dollies for a few years ,just too stubborn to admit I'm getting old.

[thomastractorsvc]

I will admit it I am getting to old to jack around with all that heavy stuff and I dyed my beard!

[keg1]

I bought one of those jacks awhile back. First one wouldn't go up sent it back second one leaked so far third ones been good. Probably had it for two years now. Saves a lot of work.

[Ezrider]

that style equalizer seems to be problematic. my belly dump uses the same style. i cant tell from the pictures witch ones you put in. but i have been having a little better luck with the cast ones vrs the fabricated steel ones. if you have any crooked leaf springs it helps to straighten them out when you are doing equalizers witch most the time means new u bolts. looks like they they did a nice job on the trailer though, should serve you well.

[thomastractorsvc]

They are the fabricated ones. I think for my use they will hold up well hauling trucks and tractors around. They called last night said it was ready but did not have my bill ready, called a little bit ago and they are still figuring it out, hopefully they are still trying to figure in a discount!

[RedBullDog]

I never get a discount when I send something through a shop. I think they get it backwards, they "count-dis" and "count-dis" and even count-dat.....

[thomastractorsvc]

I never get a discount when I send something through a shop. I think they get it backwards, they "count-dis" and "count-dis" and even count-dat.....

Nice!

[Ezrider]

I never get a discount when I send something through a shop. I think they get it backwards, they "count-dis" and "count-dis" and even count-dat.....

lol i got a chuckle out of that one....hahaha

[thomastractorsvc]

Well just got home with it and although it is not new it is straight with new suspension components.

Now it is my turn to work some magic, need to get the s cams freed up, 6 new slack adjusters and couple brake cans. Rewire with new lights and replace the rear bumper and make some new ramps and cover the wheel wells add some planks and paint and it will be all done.

pulling up to get her

Hooked up had to find some dunage laying around to chock the wheels

Checking lights

ready to go

Headed out the gate

I would recommend this trailer repair company / shop (Jim Hawk Trailer), they stayed on budget, did quality work and when I asked about fixing a couple extra things they did. They also had no problem with me stopping by and seeing what they had done. I also was impressed that I did this as an individual and not a trucking company and they treated like I was there largest account. I have done business with a few truck part places around KC that have different prices and treat you different weather you have an account or not, usually with higher prices and less service..

[mrsmackpaul]

Mate thats great news and we should give companys a plug when they do a good job and provide service we top job fellas and a happy customer

Paul

[thomastractorsvc]

Update on progress

Weather turned cold, than I went to Ohio via West Virginia the first of the week, then rain so yesterday was the first day it was warm enough outside for me to try and tackle working on the trailer, I was hoping to finish cutting off the other side this afternoon after today's events. Also had to pick up two new packages of Bee's and get them moved in.

Found some 3/16th tread plate in the local steel yard and got a steal at $0.22 per pound about $80 sheet (4 x10)

I think they got me on some angle drops though $0.78 a lb.. Picked up 4 sticks of 3 inch channel and 8" channel for the bumper

[thomastractorsvc]

I was able to do some more work on the old trailer in between planting 10 fruit trees, cutting grass, moving most of everything out of the way to hook up the backhoe and a bunch more stuff. Stayed out to the shop until around 9:30. I wanted to get everything put on to do some finish welding of the frame I am building. If the weather hold for tomorrow I would like to mount the bumper and finish the cross members on the dovetail paint the inside before sealing it up with some tread plate.

[mrsmackpaul]

Looking good there

[thomastractorsvc]

Update on Trailer Restoration

I spent some more time hunched over with a welding stick in my hand. The weather was hit or miss last few days but I did find time to work on the trailer some. Sure seems to be taking forever, I guess if I would have been doing this for someone else I would have been keeping better track of the time. I figured before I started the project it would take around 50 to 60 hours labor by myself. I thought about putting it inside this weekend to work on but would have had to move stuff around and then climb around it and pull cords as my welding hook up is in the corner close to the door, instead I just cut the bracing to size and I mounted two trailer tires.

I did not really have a plan but an idea of what I wanted. I did pencil it out to get a an estimate of the original materials list. Since I was working from an idea the design changed and instead of using less I decided that I should use more material and that caused some delay as I pondered how to make it work and what I wanted to do next. Working that way is not how I normally go about building something. I typically have everything cost accounted for time and materials and stick to the budget/plan/time. I did add more cost and time but I think in the long run I will have a better looking and stronger trailer. Instead of just bridging the wheels with the least amount of structure needed to allow the trucks to pass over it is going to be better with the added support in that I should no problem loading heavy equipment over the wheels and I will not get waviness in the steel decking. The waviness was a concern for me as I don't want the trailer when I am done to look like I never restored it as the steel decking becomes wavy as the trucks and tractors get loaded. I want the trailer to get used for its intended purpose but not look worn out.

I did get the bumper on and the lights cut out.

I cut and placed the rear deck on

Yesterday I bent the ramps to the deck side and cut the pieces out.

Cut and welded in all the bracing and the ramp supports

Cut and welded in the plates in front of the ramps.

Got the dove tail within an 1/8" to the other side. I was thinking about plating in the ends with some of the left over material as it is only about 16 inches wide