On Jun 5, 2001 "Arthur Emerson" wrote:
> There's a web page online somewhere that shows how the Miata
> owners are building on top of this kit. Unfortunately,
There's pics of mine at http://www.codrus.com/trailer/, plus links to
a few others.
> and stack two tires over each spindle. If you put them
> both next to each other on the front half of the trailer,
> there's plenty of space on the back half for a plastic
> (or diamond plate aluminum) pickup truck cargo box.
I'd suggest putting the tires on the back and the box on the front.
Once you load the box full of heavy pieces of metal like tools, jack,
jackstands, etc, it weighs more than the tires do. If you put it on
the back, you end up with a negative tongue weight, which will tend to
lift the back end of the car up. Tongue weight is "supposed" to be
10% of the trailer's weight, but IMHO with a ~ 300 pound trailer, it's
better to have too much than too little.
I've thought about buying three bathroom scales and cornerweighting
my trailer, by drilling new holes to move the axle mounts forward and
backward. :)
Some people have recommended welding the frame rails on the harbor
freight trailer together. If you decide to do this, make sure it's
square first. With no decking, there's very little diagonal rigidity
in the frame, and it will move.
> If I were doing it all over again, I'd probably start
> with the "new" LCI-832TA kit on the page above. It's
> got the 12" wheels already. Spend the $15 for the
> TS-68F trailer tongue stand, and the $45 TS-32SB steel
I find that a spare jackstand works OK as a tongue stand, this
trailer is so light that you can easily pick the front end up. Having
a fixed stand would be more convenient, though.
One accessory you will definitely want is the trailer spare, though.
Mine has the 8" wheels, which have worked OK. I'd feel more
comfortable with the 12s though.
As far as cost goes, I probably have $400 into my trailer, a lot of it
in fasteners for the add-on bits. Plan on a lot of trips to the
hardware store if you decide to build one. :)
--Ian
'99 Miata LP -- CSP on a short road to E Mod
'01 Audi S4 -- AS
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