Flatbed Trailer Home Build

[79vette]

So, I just wrapped up my 8 month long, on-again off-again flatbed trailer build and decided I'd post it up here in case anyone is planning something similar and might find the photos useful.
I dont see how to have more than 5 images in a single post. If theres a way to do this, let me know! Also go ahead and move this if there is a more appropriate forum for it. I was going to post in the 73-87 forum since thats mostly where I go, but I guess this isn't really a truck...

The trailer started life as a 70s camper trailer that someone cut the body off of. I bought it to get the axles and 2x 4" C channel frame sections and scrapped the rest. As you can see, the front crossmember is stamped sheet metal and the tongue is pierced through it. This is a particularly cheap and crappy way to build a trailer and does not really provide much support for the tongue.


Step 1 was to cut that junk out and weld in a 4" C channel front crossmember, and increase the deck width from 5.5' to 7'.


There was some twist to the existing old channel pieces, so I used some straps to square them up before welding the new crossmember in. Also cut the axles off and moved them back 2'. They were previously centered under the deck, and I reinstalled them with a 60/40 bias to the rear of the trailer for better tongue weight. I assume the RV trailer was super nose heavy (water/propane), justifying the forward axle position.