Thinking of turning a 67-72 bed into a trailer

[markedgar5]

Is it wrong to turn a bed into a trailer? Want it to match my 72 blazer. Has anyone done it here and can post up some pics?
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[wreckedchevy]

I know of one that they used a rear coil spring truck and turned it into a trailer and it bounces all over hell and back and they absolutely hate it.

[White70C20]

I've seen a few of them around my area. If you have access to a torch and a welder it's not very hard to make one.
I'd really like to have one to match my truck too.

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by wreckedchevy

I know of one that they used a rear coil spring truck and turned it into a trailer and it bounces all over hell and back and they absolutely hate it.

I did one and it works good, just put new shocks in it and have a long enough tongue. Its also from a C20 so the stiffer frame and springs probably helps.

Here is one i did from another C20 with a leaf suspension but it was before we figured out the storable tongue trick.

The longer tongue allows sway free high speed operation.

[BruthaMan]

Originally Posted by markedgar5

Is it wrong to turn a bed into a trailer?

Better to get another 20 years out of it, as a trailer, than to see it sitting and rusting in a junk yard. Even worse, sold to China as scrap metal.

[WIDESIDE72]

I have one made from a c20 with leaf springs. I put a freebie fiberglass camper shell on it and use it for swap meets. It cruises at 70 all day behind my duramax like its not even there. The p.o. Cut the frame under the cab and lost interest(?) i bought it for the bed for a truck i was working on but sold the teuck and the new owner hada good bed, so i decided to do something with it. i bought a harbor freight hitch with one of the 20% off coupons so it was less than $30. We madepie cuts in the frame rails and heated it up and bent the rails together. I tacked the hitch on but had my dad (retired welder) weld it up along with safety chains and a spare tire mount against the bed front. I put a beat up tailgate on it and an old bent dealer bumper. I have about $100 not counting labor. It can be sen i the backgrou d of some of my for sale ads. Not pretty but definitely useful! Photos tomorrow
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[WIDESIDE72]

Originally Posted by Vintage Windmills

I did one and it works good, just put new shocks in it and have a long enough tongue. Its also from a C20 so the stiffer frame and springs probably helps.

Here is one i did from another C20 with a leaf suspension but it was before we figured out the storable tongue trick.

The longer tongue allows sway free high speed operation.

How does it pull fully loaded at highway speeds? I would be afraid that the longer tongue, which results in less tongue weight, would make it sway.

When i first built it, it wasnt hooked to my truck and when i went to climb on the tailgate the trailer rared up in fron as it was almost perfectly balanced.

I welded my hitch directly to the frame rails after they were pulled together (about where yours are) and still load all the heavy stuff up front, which is kind of a pain. I am considering bolting a toolbox in font to carry junk in to add tongue weight.
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[WIDESIDE72]

Originally Posted by wreckedchevy

I know of one that they used a rear coil spring truck and turned it into a trailer and it bounces all over hell and back and they absolutely hate it.

Probably needs new shocks
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[wreckedchevy]

my folks bought a 69 fleetside for $50 and were going to turn it into a trailer until the people who already did it told them how much they hated pulling there's. probably right just needed new shocks but it did save a good truck from getting cut in two. now I just need to find somebody to buy the truck before it turns into dust....

[kwmech]

I've done several as they were being parted out, both coil and leaf. Put a good set of shocks on the coils and call it good. Any weight at all will flatten it out and it will tow like a dream. I have one that I still use to pick up dirt for the yard (leaf sprung). Between my truck and the trailer I can get 5 yards at a time. Made a scrap metal run about 2 years ago and had 3125# of metal in the trailer alone. Went over the scales at close to 12k with truck and trailer. Don't want to do that again.

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by WIDESIDE72

How does it pull fully loaded at highway speeds? I would be afraid that the longer tongue, which results in less tongue weight, would make it sway.

When i first built it, it wasnt hooked to my truck and when i went to climb on the tailgate the trailer rared up in fron as it was almost perfectly balanced.

I welded my hitch directly to the frame rails after they were pulled together (about where yours are) and still load all the heavy stuff up front, which is kind of a pain. I am considering bolting a toolbox in font to carry junk in to add tongue weight.
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I put a toolbox on it as shown below. It pulls good. The longer tongue makes it more stable, but if you went real long, longer than this, it may be an issue with too little tongue weight.

[PanelDeland]

I see trailer sway comments all the time on single axle trailers.Almost every time I see a pic of said trailer the trailer is at an angle.The hitch needs to be set to keep the trailer level or nearly so to tow well.Tongue weight should be 10-15% of total trailer weight.