Keeping my 23 year old car hauler trailer road worthy

I purchased this trailer in 1999 after losing a rear driveshaft at Truck Haven and being forced to drive back to Arizona with front wheel drive. I have performed regular maintenance of the wheel bearings and brakes, but never did anything to the suspension other than check the hardware to make sure it's tight.

The last time I did wheel bearings I noticed some gouges in the spindles which I felt could lead to them breaking, so I knew I was going to have to replace the axles soon. In preparation for our January Truck Haven trip I started working on the trailer early. I pulled the trailer out from the spot it's been sitting for the past three years and moved it next to the back garage so I could work on it. When I pulled the tires off I saw that one of the springs had broken.

The spring had barely been holding on. It got me home from my last trip and said that was all I could take. LOL

When I pulled the suspension apart I found massive wear to the equalizer, some bolts and some shackles. When I bought the new axles I learned that they come with plastic bushings which are considered replaceable wear items. I will be pulling checking them every couple years from here on.

I found a local distributor for Rockwell axles and was able to pick up two 5200# axles with brakes and hardware for $1300.00 out the door. I felt that was a very good price considering I had seen them go for between $1700 and $2300 when sold through trailer shops.

I plan on cleaning the spring mounts with a sand blaster and painting with POR 15 before reassembly. The whole trailer could use a paint job at some point.

If I get another 23 years from the new axles that will put me at 83 years old. It's hard to imagine loading the Pumpkin on the trailer at 83, but you never know!

 

[Rick]

Reminder to self... Wear earplugs when sand blasting!

 

[Rick]

 

[Rick]

I busted all my old tires off the rims. Come to find out I have mismatched rims. 3 15x5 and 3 15X6.

 

[donalds]

Good spare rim

 

[Paul]

Nice progress to date. Is that the same trailer to haul the Dart or do you have an enclosed one for Track days…

Paul

 

[Rick]

Nice progress to date. Is that the same trailer to haul the Dart or do you have an enclosed one for Track days…

Paul

That's a story in itself. This is the trailer I used for the Pumpkin, and to take the Dart to the track we moved close to. It literally took longer to put the car on the trailer than it did to drive to the track. They closed the track after just two and a half years of racing for me. A year later I bought an enclosed trailer to haul it to the next track down the line which is an hour and a half away with no traffic, and there is just about always traffic. I never even put the car in the enclosed trailer. I have wound up using it as a big shed and turned the red Dart into a street car.

My #1 issue is with the NHRA. They did nothing, didn't lift a finger to try and save our local track. When I talked to them about it at SEMA the year it was all going on they told me, "You will still have Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix". That was their answer as to why they allowed another NHRA track to close. No good answer, just lip service to promote their "big event" track.

Well fast forward a few years and the track they told me to go to in Phoenix is on the verge of closing. It is on Indian reservation land and they do not want to renew the lease, they want to develop the property. The next track is in Tucson and was converted from IHRA or AHRA to NHRA a few years ago

 

[Paul]

Well, that sucks. . . Wasn't even aware you "streeted" the Dart. . . Hopefully there will be enough of a grass-roots effort to keep that Phoenix track open or resurrect a track closer, but tougher likely with our present economy. I don't know squat about drag racing, but get the Buell out on the track a couple times each summer, and it's not an inexpensive hobby. . .

Time for shameless self-promotion:

Hope it gets sorted out.

Paul

 

[Rick]

This is what happens when a racecar turns street car

 

[Rick]

I went over the outside facing surfaces with Scotchbrite to knock down the surface rust and scuff the paint. Then I brushed on POR 15. Why is it the weather never cooperates when I'm painting? LOL First the wind kicked up making the paint spread very poorly and adding blowing sand to the mix. The wind also brought cooler temps which have barely brought us into the 70s. I know, I shouldn't complain while the East Coast is freezing, but I say we have two seasons here, summer and hell. I need to get as much work done as I can during our "summer".

New DOT tape makes it look good as new... From 10 feet.

 

[Brian1]

Nice work so far rehabing your trailer Rick! I need to pull my equalizer apart one of these days to check the bolt/bushings. Mine is a little different design that doesn't have shackles but would still wear out the pivot point.

Did you intentionally install the shackles pointing down from the equalizer? Seeing the last photo after paint really shows the 'lift kit' it has going on. They may eventually overcenter and flip the shackles pointing up by themselves like they are supposed to be but that could be violent especially with a load on it.