[Chromo]

Trying to decide what PSI I want in my tires on a heavier trailer.

25psi seems fine for now. I did about 500+ miles, tires never got hot and trailer pulled well with out bouncing around.
I will probably do the paint trick, paint the tires and see how they wear, even across, sides, or center and adjust from there as needed.

Wondering though what others run for around 200-300lb trailer.
Do you vary the air much as yo load heavier or run empty, or just have a set PSI you always use?

Going to tow this little monster about 4K miles and don't want the tires wearing out too fast or running low eating fuel etc...
12" tires on it.

 

[Chromo]

Just cobbled together from stuff I had on hand, but put together solidly!
Has a 5gal boat tank in the box, a tank meant to be transported, even has a carry handle built in, so is legal! LOL
Tank is held in place with a 2x2 cross bar that sits in a recess in the tank.
I could roll this trailer and that tank will not move an inch!

Bed is 3/4 4x7.6" odd size as it was part of a shelf at a lumber yard and I bought it cheap with other materials used.
It is bolted to a 40"x48" trailer frame, so rather than rip off a few inches each side I just notched for the fenders. There was already notches cut in each side from when it was shelving and they fell correctly into the cutouts for the fenders.
Bottom lights are stock trailer lights of course, wired for tail and turns.
Top round lights are for brakes only and were magnetic tow lights, I removed the magnet base and screwed them on.
Sides are about 10" high, again stuff I had from old shelves.
I did put spacers between the plywood bed and tongue then bolted it all tight for extra strength on the tongue.

I expect to take it all apart again when I return back home anyway so mostly only matters it's strong and safe and does not fall apart LOL
I used just existing holes on the trailer so as to not weaken anything drilling any new holes.

I was going to go ahead and paint it, but it's been raining far too much and everything is wet so I don't want to seal in the water.

 

[jobe05]

I like it!!

Does it tow well? I would center that gas storage unit, that way it's not tilting the trailer one way when full, the other way if emptied.

I am adding a 2 gallon gas can to my trailer when I go out for Diggers Run. May not need it but Id sure feel better having it if I run out of gas versus running out of gas and remembering where I left that can in the shed at home.......

Is the wooden front going to catch a lot of wind? Would it be hard to do a wire mesh front and sides?

I run 22 PSI in my trailer tires. I didn't see any difference between 15 and 25....... so I settled on 22, not sure why but it seems to work ok

 

[Chromo]

Well I plan to take it apart again after the California trip so only used what I had available at the house to work with. I did buy bolts as needed but that was all.

I pulled it 200+ miles 1 day empty and it pulled well and not really much effect on MPG. I could not check real MPG though as I had not reset the counter last I had got gas. But I did do some good miles on that tank with the trailer and some gas left when I filled.

Next day I did 300+ with mixed results. The boat tank full, 5gal. Trailer did great but I only got 30.5MPG on that tank. 156 miles and my low fuel light came on and I hit the first station with in 1/4-1/2 mile. 5.12gal to fill.
I rode home and still have 1/4 tank showing at 148miles now. Not filled yet, but I know I did far better coming home!
I make that trip often enough with the 88 and 95 no trailer to know I normally do same MPG both ways. Not much difference in the road, not like uphill one way then down the other LOL
Weather was about the same both ways, gloom and rain and not much wind at all.
Worse weather on way home than up, and I rode a bit harder also at 65mph near all the way but last 12miles which was 55-60mph.
I rode easier on way up though as it was 4:30 am, deer country where the deer got me last year about same time of morning. LOL
Some fog etc.. so 12miles of 45-50mph and about 35miles of 55-60mph, then the sun was up and 65mph the rest of the way.
So unless bad gas I can't really figure why I got so bad MPG on way there than way home.
Also I had a little more weight on way home, not much but more, but I can see I got better MPG on way home. Go figure LOL

I had thought of mounting the tank different but like where it is. It needs to be out of the way when I want to haul a large item like engine (or a bike) which would need the center of the trailer and be far heavier. Also I may just layout and sleep on the trailer as is for a nap if I want, the tank would be in my way near middle. Thinking here at times I may not want to go to trouble of setting up a camp if weather is nice.

I rather expect the tank to be full all the time anyway. I will only use the gas in it if I have to, and then refill soon as I can. Most likely I will take MO. gas to CA. and back LOL
Course if I hit one of those places where gas is $0.50 gal higher I may use the boat tank to get to cheaper gas LOL

Just got my electric fuel pump today. I expected not to have it till after I was gone.
Crappy auto stores do not sell a decent cheap pump! Cheapest they have is about $50, I paid $16 shipped! It arrived today, I expected around Wednesday.
Went to parts store (just got back) and took in the pump and asked about lines to connect it. Made a point to mention it just came in since they did not sell anything of a decent price when I asked last week. One store said they sold that pump, I said I was told not. YA, $50 for similar pump at that store, sorry I said, I paid $16 to my door and would not buy a $50 pump even if that was all I could get! LOL

Now to figure how I want to connect stuff. Probably just do it on the road somewhere maybe. Rubber line $1.25- $1.50 a foot, and 5' steel tubing is $7.50-$8.00.
I may just strip a line off a junk car here and call it good enough! I can't see spending $20 for gas line to pump 5gal of gas maybe 1 time LOL

Going to carry a loaded Ice chest, and all that gear I normally pack on rear of bike, and maybe a 12V battery for ACC power at night also. Not sure yet.
I do have a good battery box if I can find it that I can just screw down and toss the battery in it and be done.

Depending when I get back from CA. (provided I ever get away from the house to begin with) I may build this into a tear drop camp trailer. I have everything I need except time.

Seems something is going wrong every 3 days here. Weather is rain 3-4 days in a row and 2 days nice!
Now tonight I just found a large wet spot in my trailer house I bought to use as a shop.
Don't know if roof leaked bad from all this rain or if a cat got in there and peed LOL
I just found the spot tonight, not smelled it or tasted yet. HA HA.

Anyway, trailer is as it is for now, will be much different later.
I am planning to grab some PVC pipe and caps soon. Screw caps to bed centered in front and rear, cut pipe to about 3' or so high, just a push fit together, then if I need shelter just toss it together and stretch a tarp over for a make shift tent on wheels.

 

[jobe05]

Are you going to use the fuel pump just to pump gas if needed, or are you going to mount it so you can pump on the fly?

I like the sleeping on it idea, need to find a way to keep everything dry while driving down the road however........ Wet sleeping bags are no fun to sleep in.....

 

[Chromo]

I hate laptops! Type a full detailed reply and last 2 keystrokes got DINK sound and all gone! Half the time I type stuff it jumps back two or 3 lines into middle of stuff I already typed and done with!

Anyway,
I wanted on the fly and not hard to do but I can not get parts local that I want. What I can get is not correct and way over priced! Just like no $16 fuel pumps here and could only find $50 or more local!

If I find the parts somewhere on the road I'll go with on the fly pumping, if not I'll fill a 1 gal can if needed and dump into bike as needed.

The plan originally was to have a steel line from bikes tank to hitch with a shut off, rubber line with shut off to steel line along trailer tongue up to pump and tank.
With the shut offs easy disconnect with minimal leak or drip when removing the trailer.
Rubber line of course for flex near coupler when towing.
Then just need a switched power line to the pump to make it run when needed.

Pump is supposed to be about 30gal per hour, so maybe 10 minutes to pump 5gal? Not sure the PSI since I only really care about volume, not pressure. I think this pump was supposed to be about 6psi though.

 

[Chromo]

You know how I pack John, on the bike it all stays dry, it will all stay dry on the trailer too when not in use.
I own stock in garbage bag companies LOL
Or least I ought to anyway!!

 

[justayooper]

Chromo, I run 24 psi in my trailer and when traveling I usually load to about 300 pounds or so. Not having a problem after a couple thousand miles. I did take out one leaf on each side to settle down the bouncing. Tires are not showing any wear yet.

 

[newday777]

Now all you need is Granny in her rocker on that rig! You'll want a dry floor to stretch out on too.
A teardrop, you're goin hog wild! Or is it Razorback wild?!!!
Dean was asking if you had left yet just yesterday, or maybe it was Sunday. GM,JS
Let me know when you plan on leaving and being here as I'm going to buy a plane ticket to NH to pickup an 1800, was planning on @ 2 weeks from now, also need to know when you'll be here to give the folks a heads up here that a room will be available, it's a retreat center and they asked for a little notice ahead of time.

 

[Halfling]

I hate laptops! Type a full detailed reply and last 2 keystrokes got DINK sound and all gone! Half the time I type stuff it jumps back two or 3 lines into middle of stuff I already typed and done with!

Hey Chromo, if I'm going to be writing what I know is going to be a long detailed post, I usually write it in notepad or word and then copy and paste it into a reply when I'm ready. Saves a LOT of aggravation!

In addition, if your cursor jumps around on you then you may want to disable your touch pad or at the least reduce its sensitivity...that is usually the culprit!

 

[Chromo]

Now all you need is Granny in her rocker on that rig! You'll want a dry floor to stretch out on too.
A teardrop, you're goin hog wild! Or is it Razorback wild?!!!
Dean was asking if you had left yet just yesterday, or maybe it was Sunday. GM,JS
Let me know when you plan on leaving and being here as I'm going to buy a plane ticket to NH to pickup an 1800, was planning on @ 2 weeks from now, also need to know when you'll be here to give the folks a heads up here that a room will be available, it's a retreat center and they asked for a little notice ahead of time.

Funny, I told the wife I was going to put a rocker on there for her since she won't ride on the bike.
If nothing else goes wrong around here I plan to head out tomorrow early. I'll send you a pm in a couple minutes

 

[puum]

Hey Chromo, if I'm going to be writing what I know is going to be a long detailed post, I usually write it in notepad or word and then copy and paste it into a reply when I'm ready. Saves a LOT of aggravation!

In addition, if your cursor jumps around on you then you may want to disable your touch pad or at the least reduce its sensitivity...that is usually the culprit!

Halfling speaks the truth! I do that often. I don't have the cursor jump issue but I frequently compose longer posts in Notepad or some word processor first.