I enjoyed your video and think your trailer is a real mack daddy version of the HF trailer. I tell you, I certainly can't complain about these trailers. They are inexpensive, simple to build and come in pretty handy. I'm currently refurbishing my 12 year old Harbor Freight trailer. It was tweaked by my Wife while backing when it was only a few months old. A year later a guy in a lifted 4x4 pick-up hit me at a red light tweaking it even more. And then a couple of years ago a guy in a Mercedes smashed into me and tore his whole grille off and made a significant dent in the rear cross member. He told the cops that I backed into him and the cop said it was my word against his. My Wife wanted me to sell it because the red paint was faded to pink, the plywood decking was rotted and the whole trailer had several rusty areas in addition to sitting all caddy womped. I took it all apart and soaked it in vinegar to remove the rust, including the bolts (you may laugh, but vinegar is one of the BEST rust removers ever!). I welded the front portion of the frame into one square and then I welded the back portion of the frame into another square (using Harbor freight's flux core welder). I swapped the badly dented rear cross member to the center where it wouldn't be as visible or be in a position to take the trailer out of level/square. I also used a sledge-o-matic to make the tongue sit level and square again. And to keep it straight, I used the piece of the angle iron for the casters to reinforce the tongue area under the front frame. I'm taking a different route with the decking this time than most people do. I added pieces of angle iron across the width 4" away from the back and front cross members. I did this so I can replace the plywood decking with 5/4 decking. The bolts would have been too close to the edge had I just bolted them to the frame. Also, I made a spare tire holder that mounts underneath the trailer in the front box part of the frame ahead of the axle so it won't drag in the rear. If you run a 24" piece of 1 1/2" flat stock and then put a 4" long 7/16 bolt down through it, it makes a really good spare tire holder. This too is welded, but I guess it could have been done without welding. The bolt heads on the top of the frame should not be any issue now that it's been welded, but I will run some treated strips across the top of the cross members to make everything level. I'd rather not notch any of the boards. I'm still working on getting the welds cleaned up, painting the pieces and moving onto the wiring. Man, your wiring looks really clean and professional running down both sides. I wish I would have seen this before I did what I did. For the wiring, I got a piece of metal conduit from a "junk peddler" and ran it through one side of the frame (not worrying about it folding anymore). My old wiring did have rub marks in a few places going through the holes and I figured this would prevent that. But, I'm telling you one thing, I'm deleting that tail light mounted license plate and adding a license plate mount/light to the center/rear of the trailer. I can't tell you how many times I've knocked my shins on the stupid license plate mounted on the side! You also have a good idea with the ground, but I might just run the wiring grounding everything to the frame first. Maybe I'll do a continuity check first? You made a good point about the added weight with the tongue box. This is one reason I might add some Harbor Freight metal ammo cans to the sides just in front of the fenders for storage instead of a tongue box. I'm adding some of the eyelet hooks like you did for tie downs and I drilled out the pivot bolt on the "hinge" and I'm using it as a tie down point. It should be pretty stout. Take care and thanks for posing your video. You have a lot of good ideas...
Yeah, there are a few different ways to skin that cat, and the length of wire supplied with the trailer is more than sufficient to do the method you picked (e.g., excluding the extra length of wire I bought separately/added to the factory stuff for use as a stand-alone ground). I was looking for a way to keep all the wiring as close to the framing as possible, with no slack/loose sections anywhere, so rather than looping or backtracking wire, I just cut it where the tongue arms meet the trailer frame, and added/inserted a three-point marine plug/socket on both sides, which I can easily disconnect when I need to fold the trailer/tongue assembly. I show one of the disconnected plugs in the last, "4 of 4" video in this buildout series ...
My whole life I have seen trailers with flickering lights, lights out, dim lights, ...... and wonder why someone doesn't spend a little more money and a little more time and run the ground wire independently to each light based off the towing vehicle wired-ground and not the ball and coupler making ground. You did and I am copying what you did. I also especially like the rewiring of the tail light wires to the side and through the groumet. I'm doing that too. Thanks for posting all this as you are making it so much easier for those of us that are following on behind you.
Nice video. I installed the wiring last. To make the plywood deck lie flat, I just dog-eared the corners to take the bolt head issue out of play. So if you were to diagonally cut off the drill holes on your plywood pieces, you would have what I have. I also cut thin shims to fill in the 1/8" space on top of the frame crossbeams. Regarding the wiring, I too ran a ground wire to all the lights. The kit provides clips for attaching the wires to the frame, but they are worthless, and the barbs on the clips actually pierce the wire insulation. So I didn't use the clips. Instead, I used hot glue globs to mount the wires along the inside of the channel steel of the tongue. I found it works best to encase the wire in glue at each mounting point (stronger bond). If you think things through, and with a little trial and error, the minimum slack can be determined which allows the tongue hinge to swing without pinching the wires. Hot glue helps make sure the wire slack does the right thing. Also only a small amount of wire slack is required between the front and rear sections to allow the middle folding hinge to function correctly. Rule for that is: there should be no slack when the trailer is folded (at least routing the wires the way I did it). Because the plywood deck was installed, I used staples into it to do some routing of the wires (I got that idea from another UA-cam video). Like you, I also drilled holes to route the taillight wires through the frame. I also used rubber grommets everywhere wires went through holes in the frame, and used shrink tubing to protect wires that would be exposed to sunlight. Your wires are well-protected, but I'm sure you know that the tape is not going to last. Because the hot glue and wires are on mine are tucked away in the channels of the frame, I expect that sunlight damage should not be much of a factor. I store my trailer outside in the folded upright position with a tarp cover. I removed the wheel bearings, cleaned them, and repacked them with grease. I probably should do a video showing and explaining everything I did.
Saw a couple of videos with the notched cutouts on deck you mentioned/used ... opted for the bored holes, because I wanted the edges of the deck to be intact all the way round, and for the deck material to protect/cover the tops of the frame bolts. It's easy to match the depth of the holes to the bolt heads ... you just drill slowly, and use one of the manufacturer's bolts as a depth guide ... when the hole is deep enough to cover the whole head, you're there. Couldn't agree with you more on the wiring clips supplied with the trailer, not only totally worthless, but actually scratch up/through the OEM enamel in the last place you want that to happen ... the underside framing. The gaffers tape I used to attach the conduit to the framing runs is pretty amazing/durable stuff (3M 6910); it's all hidden from sunlight on the underside of the trailer, and is still holding up fine after months/thousands of miles of road use. Same with the electrical tape on the taillight leads ... it doesn't need to do much other than cover the factory wires/insulation in this exposed spot, and since the ends are buried in the light fixture on one side and the frame interior on the other side, not likely to unravel any time soon, even if the adhesive starts to fail. I don't worry about slack or pinching at either the trailer tongue disconnect, or the center deck hinge points ... I cut the wiring in both locations and installed 3-point marine socket/plugs (total of 4 plugs). When it's time for folding, I just disconnect the plugs. Removing/cleaning/repacking the OE wheel bearings (outer AND inner) with a high-speed farming/industrial grease (e.g., Valvoline Cerulean) is probably one of the most important mods I've done. I routinely check the hubs at travel stops for any sign of overheating and have found/seen NONE, even when I was traveling fully loaded in 100+ degree heat, at normal highway towing speeds (55-65 mph). Thanks for viewing/contributing your ideas ...
You could make waterproof quick disconnects where the trailer folds. Simply disconnect them before you fold the trailer and plug them back in when in use.
Been there ... done that. I ended up putting the marine (e.g., waterproof) plug/socket connectors at both: 1) the spot where the tongue assembly disconnects from the trailer frame, and 2) where the wiring crosses the center (folding) seam of the frame. Only down side is you have to route the wires around the cross members instead of through them in this location, and measure the lengths carefully to ensure the connection doesn't flop around too far away from the framing. I got one of 'em perfect, but the other one ended up a bit longer/more slack that I would have preferred. No problems though ... everything has worked great, in all kinds of road conditions ... dry, rain, snow/ice, etc.
@@dmrtechnology6033 I just built mine today. The only two things I haven't done is the plywood and lights. I'm not using mine as a folding trailer so I won't have to worry about that part of the wiring. However, I do appreciate your insight for simply running two ground wires off the pigtail all the way back to cover the grounding issues many have with these trailers. I will be doing that for sure! Thanks!
Another good reason to ground the lights with added leads split off from the vehicle plug ground lead: the LED lights draw very little current in comparison to incandescent bulbs, so there's practically zero chance the trailer lights will ever cause an overload of your vehicle wiring/fuses (unless there's a short somewhere in one of your lines). When I have the trailer hooked up to an older SUV with incandescent lights, the trailer lights actually light up/respond faster than the vehicle lights. The "ground" on the 4-lead vehicle plug is the white one ...
I just mounted my plywood decking inside the lengthwise rails to avoid dealing with the protruding bolt heads and 1/8" rail height difference. It sits flat and still really stiffens up the frame.
I've seen a few different options for dealing with the variances in the deck "plane" caused by the framing bolts and drop in height from the outer rails to the inner cross-members. I even thought about adding a 1/8th" masonite strip/shim to the tops of the cross members to make the entire deck plane perfectly even with the tops of the outer rails, but that thought occurred to me AFTER I'd already finished the assembly you see in vid "2 of 4" of this series, and didn't want to bother with the issue after that. Your solution probably "works," but it wouldn't have been my choice, for two reasons ... 1) if you're going to be adding a fence system, the longer/side panels will still have to deal with the framing bolts and a lower base than the shorter/front/back panels (if you don't plan to add fences, no problem), and 2) by limiting your deck bolt points to the cross-members, you're omitting a total of eight OEM bolt points on the side rails, and thus, increasing the likelihood that normal operating vibration and torque-ing of the trailer frame (especially when loaded) will start loosening both your deck bolts and your exposed framing bolts.
The bottom horizontals of my "fence" sit a few inches above the frame base, so no problem with bolts or height differences. I have FIFTEEN 3/8" carriage bolts w/locknuts holding my solid 3/4" 4x8' plywood deck onto the frame. They will never losen up. Ever. I also bolted the two frame halves together for added stiffness. This method is not only easier, but it allows the decking to lay daed-flat instead of curling up on the edges. And it is still way stiffer than any folding two-piece decking method. @@dmrtechnology6033
@@herbmanning8348 ... 1) one-piece deck + 2) gap at bottom of fences = sure, it'll probably work as you believe. Using a solid deck was never an option for me, as the folding feature of the trailer, and resulting ability to store it in a relatively small space, was one of the main reasons I purchased this particular utility trailer. Enjoy, and safe hauling/travels.
I used diamond plate for my deck. Secured it via the same hardware used to hold the frame rails together. It's lighter than ply and won't rot. We'll see how it holds up for the long haul.
For the price and the folding features, yes they are. You can easily end up spending what the trailer cost in the first place on upgrades/additions ... I know I did (e.g., deck, fences/hardware, tarp/cargo anchors, tongue box, tongue jack, spare tire/enclosure, electrical add-ons, wheel-bearing enhancements, paint/finishing, etc.), but in the end, the finished trailer I ended up with was well worth it. Couldn't have touched anything like it in the "new" market for anything close to what I actually spent.
There are a total of four connection points on the blade socket that connects to whatever electrical plug/socket/adapter you're using on the vehicle side ... three male, and one female which is connected to the white wire coming out the back of the socket. The white wire is your ground, "negative," or "return" connector, which, on a vehicle, can be connected to pretty much any bare metal spot on the vehicle frame. (The idea here is to connect the ground to a spot with the longest available run/spread of contiguous metal, which there isn't much of anywhere on the frame of this trailer because of the way it's designed/assembled). There are two, same color wires coming out of this socket (both of these are connected to one contact inside the socket) that send "positive" current to the marker lights on the trailer (one wire for each side), and two different color wires (one socket connector each), one for your left blinker/brake light, and one for your right. You just have to test them to see which is which. All these "positive" wires have to be run all the way to the lights they feed. All your lights have to be grounded in order to work ... either separately (at/near the connection points of the lights), or to a single ground source/wire they're all connected to. Improper/inadequate grounding will lead to problems like uneven, flickering lights, and/or overloads/blown bulbs/fuses. I did the latter ground method, by separately buying enough spare wire to run the full length of the trailer on both sides, splitting the single ground wire (white) that comes out of the OE blade socket into two leads (that split section is hidden in the hitch assembly ... goes in the front as one wire, comes out the back as two), and then running each of those leads along with the other wires down the length of the trailer on both sides, grounding all the lights on that lead instead of the trailer frame. That's how the trailer lights end up being grounded through the electrical connection to the vehicle, rather than anywhere on the frame of the trailer itself. It's been working perfect for me ... all the lights are equally bright and consistent, day and night. With conventional incandescent bulbs, this set up could conceivably (but not likely) cause overload issues on the vehicle side, but because these trailers all now come equipped with LED lights, which need far less power to operate, grounding all the trailer lights on a single lead from the vehicle is no problem at all. Does that about cover it?
@@dmrtechnology6033 That makes sense, I did understand it correctly after all. I wasn't sure at first about splitting the single ground into two. I don't have any experience with trailers or wiring. I was browsing yt for reviews and ideas as I'm looking to get one of these this week. Yours is the cleanest and most professional I've found, I really enjoyed watching your videos on it and will be following in your steps setting mine up. I really appreciate you sharing your experience and ideas, and taking the time to reply to explain and clarify that for me. 👍
@@ZOMSOC1 Glad you found the videos helpful ... that's why I made/posted 'em. See my corrections/edits to the original reply, above, on the configuration of OE wiring socket/wires. I previously built a much larger service trailer for a fraternal org I belong to, and had to engineer most of the lighting/wiring system from scratch, so I had a bit of a "head start" on the wiring principles, but as you've noted, most people buying these trailers are probably dealing with 12VDC vehicle wiring for the first time, and it can be confusing, especially with the crappy instructions provided by the OEM on this issue. Once I had completed the basic frame assembly (but before I had run the wiring as shown in the "1 of 4" video from the initial build), I literally just sat there for HOURS staring at the trailer, trying to figure out the best way to run/attach the wiring. I think the configuration I ultimately came up with is a good one for this trailer. Just do it the way I suggested, and I'm sure you'll be happy with the results.
@@dmrtechnology6033Just wanted to say thanks again! I picked up and put my trailer together this past weekend. This evening I wired everything as you explained and it's working great. I routed the wires through split loom along the inside of the frame also, and soldered the connections. I'm confident I've got something going that's going to work well and last.
@@ZOMSOC1 ... good on ya. I'm also sure it'll serve you well for a very long time. Every bit of effort/thought put in on the little details of your build will pay dividends in, e.g., longevity/reliability out there on the road. That's what I wanted, and definitely what I got. It was all worth it.
There are lots of potential ways to do it. I just wanted to ensure: maximum durability; minimum slack, but still allowing full R/L movement of the tongue with no strain points on the harness/wiring.
Yes, that is the normal configuration for tow safety chains. The idea is, if the hitch somehow pops off the tow ball while you're driving, the safety chains have a better chance of catching/holding the hitch if they're criss-crossed.
Sorry ... don't really remember ... just take a bit of the OE wiring with you to the hardware store and get the length you need in a gauge that most closely matches the OE stuff.
16 gage is what I bought. It works great. Now just have to figure out the best way of fastening the wiring to the frame, since I'm also using the protective wire wrap. Don't really want to drill any new holes in the frame.
@@stevewormlight4815 ... and the little clips that come with the OE package suck, which you can't use if you're using the plastic conduit anyway. I just left the gaffers tape (the good 3M stuff) on that you see in the video (except for the tongue section, which I ran inside the tongue arms). The wiring runs underneath are covered by the deck, and the tape is still holding up fine for me after a full year, and thousands of road miles. If/when it starts falling apart, I'll just take off the old stuff and put some new strips on.
Adaptability/control of the build is kind of the whole point of this trailer, which is cheap for a reason. Without a little ingenuity, elbow grease and extra parts supplied by the builder, the thing is basically an "entry-level" hauler that shouldn't be used for anything but the lightest, local jobs. The quality of the end product is only as good as the thought/effort/time (and additional expense/parts) the owner puts into his/her build, and the more you customize/add-on, the longer the build takes to "complete," and the more it costs. I gave up counting the hours I put into my end product ... I just knew what I wanted/needed it to do for me, and made the additions I had to in order to get it there. The "skeleton" that comes in the HF boxes (what you see in this video, less the plastic conduit and extra ground wiring I added) can be assembled in a day ... I've seen some guys do it in just a few hours, but they're more experienced with such assemblies, and had better tools available than me. Rookies should allow at least a day to get it done. Allow at least another few hours or a day to prep the plywood deck and properly bolt it to the frame. Plywood and hardware for that operation are not included with the kit. At that point, the trailer can be registered and used on the road, e.g., as an open 4x8' flatbed, but you're going to have some trouble securing cargo on the deck until you add some anchors/tie points to the deck and/or frame. All the anchors shown in my "Part 4 of 4" video on this trailer/build are my custom add-ons. If all this sounds too intimidating/time-consuming for you, my guess is you should be looking into buying a finished trailer that has all the features you want/need from the get-go, and is "road-ready" the day you get it.
I enjoyed your video and think your trailer is a real mack daddy version of the HF trailer. I tell you, I certainly can't complain about these trailers. They are inexpensive, simple to build and come in pretty handy.
I'm currently refurbishing my 12 year old Harbor Freight trailer. It was tweaked by my Wife while backing when it was only a few months old. A year later a guy in a lifted 4x4 pick-up hit me at a red light tweaking it even more. And then a couple of years ago a guy in a Mercedes smashed into me and tore his whole grille off and made a significant dent in the rear cross member. He told the cops that I backed into him and the cop said it was my word against his. My Wife wanted me to sell it because the red paint was faded to pink, the plywood decking was rotted and the whole trailer had several rusty areas in addition to sitting all caddy womped.
I took it all apart and soaked it in vinegar to remove the rust, including the bolts (you may laugh, but vinegar is one of the BEST rust removers ever!). I welded the front portion of the frame into one square and then I welded the back portion of the frame into another square (using Harbor freight's flux core welder). I swapped the badly dented rear cross member to the center where it wouldn't be as visible or be in a position to take the trailer out of level/square. I also used a sledge-o-matic to make the tongue sit level and square again. And to keep it straight, I used the piece of the angle iron for the casters to reinforce the tongue area under the front frame.
I'm taking a different route with the decking this time than most people do. I added pieces of angle iron across the width 4" away from the back and front cross members. I did this so I can replace the plywood decking with 5/4 decking. The bolts would have been too close to the edge had I just bolted them to the frame. Also, I made a spare tire holder that mounts underneath the trailer in the front box part of the frame ahead of the axle so it won't drag in the rear. If you run a 24" piece of 1 1/2" flat stock and then put a 4" long 7/16 bolt down through it, it makes a really good spare tire holder. This too is welded, but I guess it could have been done without welding. The bolt heads on the top of the frame should not be any issue now that it's been welded, but I will run some treated strips across the top of the cross members to make everything level. I'd rather not notch any of the boards.
I'm still working on getting the welds cleaned up, painting the pieces and moving onto the wiring. Man, your wiring looks really clean and professional running down both sides. I wish I would have seen this before I did what I did. For the wiring, I got a piece of metal conduit from a "junk peddler" and ran it through one side of the frame (not worrying about it folding anymore). My old wiring did have rub marks in a few places going through the holes and I figured this would prevent that. But, I'm telling you one thing, I'm deleting that tail light mounted license plate and adding a license plate mount/light to the center/rear of the trailer. I can't tell you how many times I've knocked my shins on the stupid license plate mounted on the side! You also have a good idea with the ground, but I might just run the wiring grounding everything to the frame first. Maybe I'll do a continuity check first?
You made a good point about the added weight with the tongue box. This is one reason I might add some Harbor Freight metal ammo cans to the sides just in front of the fenders for storage instead of a tongue box.
I'm adding some of the eyelet hooks like you did for tie downs and I drilled out the pivot bolt on the "hinge" and I'm using it as a tie down point. It should be pretty stout.
Take care and thanks for posing your video. You have a lot of good ideas...
Thanks ... glad you found the videos useful. Sounds like your rehab job would have made a good video too ...
I ended up wiring around the pivot point and back tracking to the front markers before heading to the rear. Worked well and allows it to pivot.
Yeah, there are a few different ways to skin that cat, and the length of wire supplied with the trailer is more than sufficient to do the method you picked (e.g., excluding the extra length of wire I bought separately/added to the factory stuff for use as a stand-alone ground). I was looking for a way to keep all the wiring as close to the framing as possible, with no slack/loose sections anywhere, so rather than looping or backtracking wire, I just cut it where the tongue arms meet the trailer frame, and added/inserted a three-point marine plug/socket on both sides, which I can easily disconnect when I need to fold the trailer/tongue assembly. I show one of the disconnected plugs in the last, "4 of 4" video in this buildout series ...
My whole life I have seen trailers with flickering lights, lights out, dim lights, ...... and wonder why someone doesn't spend a little more money and a little more time and run the ground wire independently to each light based off the towing vehicle wired-ground and not the ball and coupler making ground. You did and I am copying what you did. I also especially like the rewiring of the tail light wires to the side and through the groumet. I'm doing that too. Thanks for posting all this as you are making it so much easier for those of us that are following on behind you.
Nice video. I installed the wiring last. To make the plywood deck lie flat, I just dog-eared the corners to take the bolt head issue out of play. So if you were to diagonally cut off the drill holes on your plywood pieces, you would have what I have. I also cut thin shims to fill in the 1/8" space on top of the frame crossbeams. Regarding the wiring, I too ran a ground wire to all the lights. The kit provides clips for attaching the wires to the frame, but they are worthless, and the barbs on the clips actually pierce the wire insulation. So I didn't use the clips. Instead, I used hot glue globs to mount the wires along the inside of the channel steel of the tongue. I found it works best to encase the wire in glue at each mounting point (stronger bond). If you think things through, and with a little trial and error, the minimum slack can be determined which allows the tongue hinge to swing without pinching the wires. Hot glue helps make sure the wire slack does the right thing. Also only a small amount of wire slack is required between the front and rear sections to allow the middle folding hinge to function correctly. Rule for that is: there should be no slack when the trailer is folded (at least routing the wires the way I did it). Because the plywood deck was installed, I used staples into it to do some routing of the wires (I got that idea from another UA-cam video). Like you, I also drilled holes to route the taillight wires through the frame. I also used rubber grommets everywhere wires went through holes in the frame, and used shrink tubing to protect wires that would be exposed to sunlight. Your wires are well-protected, but I'm sure you know that the tape is not going to last. Because the hot glue and wires are on mine are tucked away in the channels of the frame, I expect that sunlight damage should not be much of a factor. I store my trailer outside in the folded upright position with a tarp cover. I removed the wheel bearings, cleaned them, and repacked them with grease. I probably should do a video showing and explaining everything I did.
Saw a couple of videos with the notched cutouts on deck you mentioned/used ... opted for the bored holes, because I wanted the edges of the deck to be intact all the way round, and for the deck material to protect/cover the tops of the frame bolts. It's easy to match the depth of the holes to the bolt heads ... you just drill slowly, and use one of the manufacturer's bolts as a depth guide ... when the hole is deep enough to cover the whole head, you're there.
Couldn't agree with you more on the wiring clips supplied with the trailer, not only totally worthless, but actually scratch up/through the OEM enamel in the last place you want that to happen ... the underside framing.
The gaffers tape I used to attach the conduit to the framing runs is pretty amazing/durable stuff (3M 6910); it's all hidden from sunlight on the underside of the trailer, and is still holding up fine after months/thousands of miles of road use. Same with the electrical tape on the taillight leads ... it doesn't need to do much other than cover the factory wires/insulation in this exposed spot, and since the ends are buried in the light fixture on one side and the frame interior on the other side, not likely to unravel any time soon, even if the adhesive starts to fail. I don't worry about slack or pinching at either the trailer tongue disconnect, or the center deck hinge points ... I cut the wiring in both locations and installed 3-point marine socket/plugs (total of 4 plugs). When it's time for folding, I just disconnect the plugs.
Removing/cleaning/repacking the OE wheel bearings (outer AND inner) with a high-speed farming/industrial grease (e.g., Valvoline Cerulean) is probably one of the most important mods I've done. I routinely check the hubs at travel stops for any sign of overheating and have found/seen NONE, even when I was traveling fully loaded in 100+ degree heat, at normal highway towing speeds (55-65 mph).
Thanks for viewing/contributing your ideas ...
You could make waterproof quick disconnects where the trailer folds. Simply disconnect them before you fold the trailer and plug them back in when in use.
Been there ... done that. I ended up putting the marine (e.g., waterproof) plug/socket connectors at both: 1) the spot where the tongue assembly disconnects from the trailer frame, and 2) where the wiring crosses the center (folding) seam of the frame. Only down side is you have to route the wires around the cross members instead of through them in this location, and measure the lengths carefully to ensure the connection doesn't flop around too far away from the framing. I got one of 'em perfect, but the other one ended up a bit longer/more slack that I would have preferred. No problems though ... everything has worked great, in all kinds of road conditions ... dry, rain, snow/ice, etc.
@@dmrtechnology6033 I just built mine today. The only two things I haven't done is the plywood and lights. I'm not using mine as a folding trailer so I won't have to worry about that part of the wiring. However, I do appreciate your insight for simply running two ground wires off the pigtail all the way back to cover the grounding issues many have with these trailers. I will be doing that for sure! Thanks!
@@da324 ... I enjoyed the build, and doing the videos ...glad to hear you found them useful.
Another good reason to ground the lights with added leads split off from the vehicle plug ground lead: the LED lights draw very little current in comparison to incandescent bulbs, so there's practically zero chance the trailer lights will ever cause an overload of your vehicle wiring/fuses (unless there's a short somewhere in one of your lines). When I have the trailer hooked up to an older SUV with incandescent lights, the trailer lights actually light up/respond faster than the vehicle lights. The "ground" on the 4-lead vehicle plug is the white one ...
I just mounted my plywood decking inside the lengthwise rails to avoid dealing with the protruding bolt heads and 1/8" rail height difference. It sits flat and still really stiffens up the frame.
I've seen a few different options for dealing with the variances in the deck "plane" caused by the framing bolts and drop in height from the outer rails to the inner cross-members. I even thought about adding a 1/8th" masonite strip/shim to the tops of the cross members to make the entire deck plane perfectly even with the tops of the outer rails, but that thought occurred to me AFTER I'd already finished the assembly you see in vid "2 of 4" of this series, and didn't want to bother with the issue after that.
Your solution probably "works," but it wouldn't have been my choice, for two reasons ... 1) if you're going to be adding a fence system, the longer/side panels will still have to deal with the framing bolts and a lower base than the shorter/front/back panels (if you don't plan to add fences, no problem), and 2) by limiting your deck bolt points to the cross-members, you're omitting a total of eight OEM bolt points on the side rails, and thus, increasing the likelihood that normal operating vibration and torque-ing of the trailer frame (especially when loaded) will start loosening both your deck bolts and your exposed framing bolts.
The bottom horizontals of my "fence" sit a few inches above the frame base, so no problem with bolts or height differences.
I have FIFTEEN 3/8" carriage bolts w/locknuts holding my solid 3/4" 4x8' plywood deck onto the frame. They will never losen up. Ever. I also bolted the two frame halves together for added stiffness.
This method is not only easier, but it allows the decking to lay daed-flat instead of curling up on the edges. And it is still way stiffer than any folding two-piece decking method. @@dmrtechnology6033
@@herbmanning8348 ... 1) one-piece deck + 2) gap at bottom of fences = sure, it'll probably work as you believe. Using a solid deck was never an option for me, as the folding feature of the trailer, and resulting ability to store it in a relatively small space, was one of the main reasons I purchased this particular utility trailer. Enjoy, and safe hauling/travels.
I used diamond plate for my deck. Secured it via the same hardware used to hold the frame rails together. It's lighter than ply and won't rot. We'll see how it holds up for the long haul.
Those are pretty good trailers!
For the price and the folding features, yes they are. You can easily end up spending what the trailer cost in the first place on upgrades/additions ... I know I did (e.g., deck, fences/hardware, tarp/cargo anchors, tongue box, tongue jack, spare tire/enclosure, electrical add-ons, wheel-bearing enhancements, paint/finishing, etc.), but in the end, the finished trailer I ended up with was well worth it. Couldn't have touched anything like it in the "new" market for anything close to what I actually spent.
I have plans to get this trailer. Thanks for the videos!
Could you show how to wire the ground the way you did?
See my extended discussion with ZOMSOC1 on this subject, below.
Reading it now, cheers man!
Could you elaborate about how you set up the wiring to be grounded from the vehicle instead of the trailer? I think I'm misunderstanding something.
There are a total of four connection points on the blade socket that connects to whatever electrical plug/socket/adapter you're using on the vehicle side ... three male, and one female which is connected to the white wire coming out the back of the socket. The white wire is your ground, "negative," or "return" connector, which, on a vehicle, can be connected to pretty much any bare metal spot on the vehicle frame. (The idea here is to connect the ground to a spot with the longest available run/spread of contiguous metal, which there isn't much of anywhere on the frame of this trailer because of the way it's designed/assembled). There are two, same color wires coming out of this socket (both of these are connected to one contact inside the socket) that send "positive" current to the marker lights on the trailer (one wire for each side), and two different color wires (one socket connector each), one for your left blinker/brake light, and one for your right. You just have to test them to see which is which. All these "positive" wires have to be run all the way to the lights they feed.
All your lights have to be grounded in order to work ... either separately (at/near the connection points of the lights), or to a single ground source/wire they're all connected to. Improper/inadequate grounding will lead to problems like uneven, flickering lights, and/or overloads/blown bulbs/fuses. I did the latter ground method, by separately buying enough spare wire to run the full length of the trailer on both sides, splitting the single ground wire (white) that comes out of the OE blade socket into two leads (that split section is hidden in the hitch assembly ... goes in the front as one wire, comes out the back as two), and then running each of those leads along with the other wires down the length of the trailer on both sides, grounding all the lights on that lead instead of the trailer frame. That's how the trailer lights end up being grounded through the electrical connection to the vehicle, rather than anywhere on the frame of the trailer itself. It's been working perfect for me ... all the lights are equally bright and consistent, day and night. With conventional incandescent bulbs, this set up could conceivably (but not likely) cause overload issues on the vehicle side, but because these trailers all now come equipped with LED lights, which need far less power to operate, grounding all the trailer lights on a single lead from the vehicle is no problem at all.
Does that about cover it?
@@dmrtechnology6033 That makes sense, I did understand it correctly after all. I wasn't sure at first about splitting the single ground into two. I don't have any experience with trailers or wiring. I was browsing yt for reviews and ideas as I'm looking to get one of these this week. Yours is the cleanest and most professional I've found, I really enjoyed watching your videos on it and will be following in your steps setting mine up. I really appreciate you sharing your experience and ideas, and taking the time to reply to explain and clarify that for me. 👍
@@ZOMSOC1 Glad you found the videos helpful ... that's why I made/posted 'em. See my corrections/edits to the original reply, above, on the configuration of OE wiring socket/wires. I previously built a much larger service trailer for a fraternal org I belong to, and had to engineer most of the lighting/wiring system from scratch, so I had a bit of a "head start" on the wiring principles, but as you've noted, most people buying these trailers are probably dealing with 12VDC vehicle wiring for the first time, and it can be confusing, especially with the crappy instructions provided by the OEM on this issue. Once I had completed the basic frame assembly (but before I had run the wiring as shown in the "1 of 4" video from the initial build), I literally just sat there for HOURS staring at the trailer, trying to figure out the best way to run/attach the wiring. I think the configuration I ultimately came up with is a good one for this trailer. Just do it the way I suggested, and I'm sure you'll be happy with the results.
@@dmrtechnology6033Just wanted to say thanks again! I picked up and put my trailer together this past weekend. This evening I wired everything as you explained and it's working great. I routed the wires through split loom along the inside of the frame also, and soldered the connections. I'm confident I've got something going that's going to work well and last.
@@ZOMSOC1 ... good on ya. I'm also sure it'll serve you well for a very long time. Every bit of effort/thought put in on the little details of your build will pay dividends in, e.g., longevity/reliability out there on the road. That's what I wanted, and definitely what I got. It was all worth it.
i was thinking two short emt1" bell ends not glued so you can stow the harness away from the hinge
There are lots of potential ways to do it. I just wanted to ensure: maximum durability; minimum slack, but still allowing full R/L movement of the tongue with no strain points on the harness/wiring.
hi when riding are your chain cross ,on your trailer in your state ,in my i have to cross them
Yes, that is the normal configuration for tow safety chains. The idea is, if the hitch somehow pops off the tow ball while you're driving, the safety chains have a better chance of catching/holding the hitch if they're criss-crossed.
What size ball do you use
The hitch supplied with the HF "super-duty" trailer shown in this video uses a 2" ball.
What gauge is the wiring Sir ??
Sorry ... don't really remember ... just take a bit of the OE wiring with you to the hardware store and get the length you need in a gauge that most closely matches the OE stuff.
16 gage is what I bought. It works great. Now just have to figure out the best way of fastening the wiring to the frame, since I'm also using the protective wire wrap. Don't really want to drill any new holes in the frame.
@@stevewormlight4815 ... and the little clips that come with the OE package suck, which you can't use if you're using the plastic conduit anyway. I just left the gaffers tape (the good 3M stuff) on that you see in the video (except for the tongue section, which I ran inside the tongue arms). The wiring runs underneath are covered by the deck, and the tape is still holding up fine for me after a full year, and thousands of road miles. If/when it starts falling apart, I'll just take off the old stuff and put some new strips on.
Thank you for responding.
when u start towing look like alot of work
Adaptability/control of the build is kind of the whole point of this trailer, which is cheap for a reason. Without a little ingenuity, elbow grease and extra parts supplied by the builder, the thing is basically an "entry-level" hauler that shouldn't be used for anything but the lightest, local jobs. The quality of the end product is only as good as the thought/effort/time (and additional expense/parts) the owner puts into his/her build, and the more you customize/add-on, the longer the build takes to "complete," and the more it costs. I gave up counting the hours I put into my end product ... I just knew what I wanted/needed it to do for me, and made the additions I had to in order to get it there.
The "skeleton" that comes in the HF boxes (what you see in this video, less the plastic conduit and extra ground wiring I added) can be assembled in a day ... I've seen some guys do it in just a few hours, but they're more experienced with such assemblies, and had better tools available than me. Rookies should allow at least a day to get it done. Allow at least another few hours or a day to prep the plywood deck and properly bolt it to the frame. Plywood and hardware for that operation are not included with the kit. At that point, the trailer can be registered and used on the road, e.g., as an open 4x8' flatbed, but you're going to have some trouble securing cargo on the deck until you add some anchors/tie points to the deck and/or frame. All the anchors shown in my "Part 4 of 4" video on this trailer/build are my custom add-ons.
If all this sounds too intimidating/time-consuming for you, my guess is you should be looking into buying a finished trailer that has all the features you want/need from the get-go, and is "road-ready" the day you get it.