My new trailer (restoration photos included)

Howdy everyone, haven't posted in a while but I added a pretty big addition to my scrap hustle that was in the works for a while. Back in around October, one of the employees at the scrap yard was talking to me about trailers and said he has two that he was looking to sell. One was a tandem axle trailer, and the other was a single axle. He said he had some work to do on it before he could sell it, but he would let me know. Anyway, in January he finally said they were for sale and found the ad the posted. The next day, I owned a tandem axle trailer, paid $300. Here is what it looked like when I bought it:

Original Ad:


What it actually looked like after I picked it up:


He put OSB as the floor, that had to go immediately:


Rattle Can paint job (total cost: $7, looks decent for the time being) He painted the tongue with latex paint for some reason, it just peeled off.


Finished paint job before new flooring, put on a new harbor freight A frame jack, rewired the taillights, new pins, etc. Starting to look decent.



Installed new pressure treated 2x10's, ran me about $100, and was the most expensive part other than the trailer itself.


Replaced the 235/75/15 car tires with 225/75/15 ST trailer tires for safety and hauling capacity reasons. $400 out the door, and I traded 3 aluminum wheels in exchange for the disposal costs. My tire guy hooks it up.

Trailer came with 3500lb Dayton/Fayette axles with the old style hubs. Forgot what they are called but they are impossible for find parts for now.


Finished product (For now, still need to weld on some D rings and new sides. Thats a project for the summer)


Transported the trailer to San Antonio, and the drum brake shoes were dragging on the drums, so I just deleted everything. Greased the wheel bearings and added new dust caps. Trailer drives smoothly now, not having brakes sucks but what can you do.

Trashed parts that went to scrap


Its now in storage, waiting for me to be able to actually use it over the summer for my job. Going to make a lot of money with this thing in the future. I think I got a really good deal. All USA steel, and it will outlast me. Overall cost at this point is around $1000, still cheaper than comparable trailers for sale. I can always sell it and make a profit.

I also have two videos over the project if you want to watch them,



Thanks for checking it out, let me know what yall think about it! Gig Em Aggies!

Next thing I'd go for would be fenders- it's likely illegal without them. That should be a pretty cheap and easy addon to do. That should last you a LONG time though- I own three trailers, and I can't see needing to replace any of them any time soon. Those things last forever if you take care of them

Originally Posted by matador

Next thing I'd go for would be fenders- it's likely illegal without them. That should be a pretty cheap and easy addon to do. That should last you a LONG time though- I own three trailers, and I can't see needing to replace any of them any time soon. Those things last forever if you take care of them

Absolutely, it rooster tails pretty bad in the rain. The really thin tin can fenders cost around $150-$200 a piece, so going to get them custom fabbed with thin diamond plate and angle iron, I figure that option will be a lot more durable. I'm planning on welding on 2x4 stake holes so I can easily make it a flat bed if I need to. Also going to weld on a 4"x4" square tube on the rear end to make a makeshift bumper. I'm trying to make this thing as universal and durable as possible, I'm planning on keeping this thing for a long time. Only problem is its only 5.5' wide so its not wide enough to haul cars.