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LETS TALK: TRAILER maintenance, setup, restraints, etc

26K views 135 replies 22 participants last post by  JFM GSXR 750 
#1 · (Edited)
LETS TALK TRAILERS.
post your pics, any maintenance you do to it, how you secure your bikes, your trailer size, how many bikes yours will carry, etc.
I want to have a good reference point for all the guys thinking of, or just getting onto the track.


I just bought a used 2008 Carry-On 4x7 open trailer and got all new bearings/racer's/grease/etc. Got a spare tire & rim,. Redid all the wiring on the side marker lights & installed brand new submersible tail lights- soldering every connection possible on every light. Installed 2 different hitch locks on it & removed the wheels for the time being to keep the rubber in the garage and out of the elements.

im going to be doing a pit-bull trailer restraint on mine, but mine has a mesh floor. so im thinking of buying a thick piece of 15"x 48" of plywood and bolting it to the trailer's cross beams & frame- and to that, attaching the floor plate of the restraint system. i dont want to do the whole floor in wood, as it will kill my grass(i park mine outside in the back of the house).

 
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#67 ·
If the smaller trailer tire has to make two revolutions to equal the distance your truck tire turns in one it is spinning twice as fast as the tire on your vehicle. It would be like if you were doing 170 MPH in your truck. That is why they get hot and fail so quickly.

I'm not touching the design or ability of the bearings to handle that, Trailer Pro may advise.
 
#69 · (Edited)
Damn it, I thought my trailer was the easiest thing I owned.
trailers are simple to the eyes.... but its actually pretty complex in the gear ratio to the towing vehicles wheels. its almost a 2:1/3:1 gear ratio

look how many times the little gear hits 12o'clock for every 1 time the big gear hit 12
so if the car is the big wheel, and its doing 60mph = the trailer wheels are doing 120/180mph in equivalence.
now you see why trailer bearings & grease need constant attention, and to be changed more often?
 
#70 ·
and dont forget: tire width increases with its rotation.
the faster a tire has to rotate = the more stress is placed on the rubber(binding) to remain in tact and not shred apart.

so if your doing 60mph = your car tires can handle that.
but the little trailer tires are doing 120mph. do you want to trust those little things to be doing the equivalence of 120? doubt it.
i highly doubt they can perform like H rated(130 mph) tires?

i dont trust the material the rubber is made form & its dry rotting stage from being used only a few times per year, nor the bearings over-heating.
 
#74 ·
I have had my trailer about a year and other then the modds I did to make it fit my bike/pit bull and redoing the lighting I have done NOTHING to it. Next week Im moving into a new place with a Garage that will house my bikes and trailer. First thing Im doing the week after on my vacation is trailer PM.


Ill start by following the write up given by Imstricken for my bearings and races. I think Im going to hold off on the new bigger tires till I need them and Ill just have to control my skinny pedal.

I was at lowes today for some stuff and was able to get a manual for my trailer, its made by the Cary-on trailer corp but I havent had a chance to dig through it and see who made the axle or anything.
 
#76 ·
OOPPSSS-Overdue

OK I am guilty of not changing or repacking my bearings on my trailer since I got it in 2009. I have used it so much that I wore out the original tires. I have new tires on there now. I have the 205 75/14 inch radials. The old ones wore on the insides and I was told this was normal on trailers. I shopped around when I brought my trailer new. I was told that my 5X8 enclosed weighs 700 lbs. It is made of alum. One of the reason why I brought this trailer. The payload says 1500 lbs. Even with 2 bikes and all my gear I am probably near 1000lbs. I never exceed the payload rate. Here is a pic of my tire and hub. I will attemp to change/repack the bearings myself. I will do that test to see if they are making any noise. I wish I lived closer to IMSTRICKEN, I would invite him over to supervise with a few brewskis!!!:thumbup:
 

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#78 ·
I wish I lived closer to IMSTRICKEN, I would invite him over to supervise with a few brewskis!!!:thumbup:
i promise you its, not hard at all. you will be amazed at how simple it all is. follow the write-up i did, and you will succeed.

just make sure to shove as much of the grease INTO the bearing before placing into the race/hub. just smothering the bearing is not enough.
 
#77 ·
You actually have EZ-Lube axles on there. It's a great idea to tear them down to check them since it's been so long, but after that, you can repack your bearings with a grease gun via the zerk on the end of your spindle. I would do this about every 6 months/6k miles. When you are adding grease, it will go through the spindle, then T out behind your inner bearing. As you add grease, it pushes it from the back side of the hub though your inner then outer bearing, and will come out around the spindle nut. First time you do it will take about 1/3 tube of grease per hub, as it will need to fill up the center of the hub before coming out around the spindle nut. If you use an air gun, keep the pressure down, as it can blow through the seal and come out the back side instead of going back through the hub where it's supposed to.

One more thing, I noticed you have a wheel weight from balancing the tires...no need to. There's not a trailer hub in the world that's balanced that I'm aware of. Most tire shops will just hammer a weight on the rim if they know it's going on a trailer anyways. Yes, I've seen it done in several shops.
 
#80 · (Edited)
You actually have EZ-Lube axles. you can repack your bearings with a grease gun via the zerk on the end of your spindle.
let me make it easier for you with this image

YOUR GOING TO HEAR POPPING AND FARTING, THATS JUST THE GREASE PUSHING OUT AIR POCKETS.
WHEN YOUR DONE, CHECK BEHIND TO MAKE SURE THE SEAL IS STILL SITTING RIGHT.
 
#81 · (Edited)
this is the update so far on my 4x7 trailer:
3/4 plywood that i stained black, and coated with many layers of polyurethane on all edges/sides. next will be the pit-bull restraint base plates

im thinking to add some nice graphics to the glossy piece of wood, and then adding another layer of clear on top to make a sick custom look. maybe a big hippo like my signature lol



i also added 4 tie-down loops with crush washers:
 
#82 ·
I hope Im wrong but...if you plan on doing the usual mount for the pit bull you more then likely have it back too far(if you look at my trailer pics earlier.

If your using the pit bull with the arms extending back away from the bike your tire will be the tail gate. Youll need to bring the wood u some. I did the same damn thing when setting mine up. Im a jack ass and did all my measurements gate down. If your setting up arms to the inside youll be fine, but I dont like it that way, felt less sturdy.
 
#84 ·
i discovered this stuff in HOME DEPOT for pretty cheap, and works well to refresh your trailer frame-work.

Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 32 oz. Gloss BLACK

worked very well! i applied it right out of the can with a foam brush. it ends up thinning out well, and the brush strokes blend in, and the paint dries amazingly fast! 20min drying time. i applied it to everything metal and my trailer looks brand spanking new!

from the home depot website:

Can be applied to a variety of surfaces including wood, wicker, metal, plaster, masonry and unglazed ceramic
Latex-based paint dries in as little as 30 minutes for your convenience.
Resists chipping and fading for durability
Cleans up easily with soap and water


 
#89 ·
I need this bad, part of my metal frame has ugly rust spots from being outside. I will do this as soon as I can and let it sit in my garage before we get SNOW again. I felt so bad last winter, my poor trailer was covered with snow for weeks at a time. This winter has been the opposite!!! I have been wanting to paint the inside for the longest. I have seen some crazy hooked up trailers at the track. Talk about trailer envy, LOL.
 
#87 ·
+1...I have trailer envy issues now.
 
#92 · (Edited)
i thought about mounting the spare on the trailer, but i dont think i will since its going to be stored outside. i dont want any more attention to it as it is.
i live in a really safe, quiet dead-end neighborhood. my next door neighbor is a local police Sergeant, and i have 7+yrs in the similar field, but you still never know. I have 2 coupler locks, the wheels chained around the axle: this my only defense, aside from being placed descretly on the side of the house between my house & SGT's house.
but leaving a spare tire to be simply unbolted is not in my best interest. so when i use the trailer i will just put the spare into my vehicle.
 
#94 · (Edited)
UPDATE on the 4x7 carry-on trailer. I added the Pit-Bull trailer restraint system for 1 of the bikes. It gives me room to install another one, since each plate is 2feet wide - and the whole trailer is just a hair over 4feet.





i also added grip-tape i got at Lowes for all the flat surfaces.
i figured its a simple way to stay safe while in track boots or while loading
and unloading the heavy bike.
 
#103 ·
You'll need the drill, the bristled head (Iwould recommend two since they're likely to gum up), a solid gallon maybe two of acetone, a plastic dropcloth of some kind, and two gallon cans of that stuff. I would use a heavy nap roller from home depot rather than the foam ones they give you. This will pull the texture up higher than the foam and allow for more traction when standing on a misty trailer unhooking your bike.

One coat won't be enough, it will be thin where the roller raises the texture, and may be thin enough for moisture to be an issue. Two coats are better, three is the shicken.

1) Strip the old paint off as much as possible with the drill and bristled heads. This is by far the hardest and longest step.
2) Brush the dust and loose dirt off with a broom
3) Use an old paintbrush and liberally apply the acetone. There is no such thing as too much, until there's a puddle under the trailer. Do this in the garage with a plastic tarp under the trailer to keep it from ruining anything it may touch (dropcloths are cool, too.)Take care for ventilation or you'll be in bad shape.
4) Apply the first coat of cover in the garage to prevent moisture from getting at it in the event of rain. Wait a little longer than the recommended cure times to ensure it's down hard.
5) Use air compressor or broom to remove any loose dirt that accumulated since the coat.
6) Apply next coat. Repeat to desired thickness.

Doing that, in my experience, was just as effective for my pickup as the spray in stuff costing way more. Plus you get to learn a new skill.

Good luck.
 
#106 ·
These are before I got the GSXR trackbike but this is my setup....





I usually haul a sport bike and one scooter for pit duty on the Kendon 2 rail. I have used many tie down methods but CycleCynch is by far the very very best. It does not pull your grips in and mess them up. Holds the bike strong and the car doesn't even know anything is back there.
 
#112 ·
I just bought the same exact trailer. Will be towing it with my Nissan Murano and was worried, but seeing you towing with the Subaru made me feel a lot better. I bought the new version of the canyon dancer but now I'm thinking I should have gotten cycle cynch.
 
#108 ·
I know this is an old thread

I just recently purchased two TRS systems. I want to install them on my open 5x8 mesh bottom trailler. I have 3 plates I want to install. One in the middle for one bike setup, and two on the outsides for two bike setup.

The issue it seems I will run into, the plate wholes don't line up the the holes in the mesh trailer floor. I wanted to use a 3/4" sheet of plywood to mount the plates to. But what steps can I take to get the holes to line up without cutting up the trailer floor?

Any help from those with mesh bottom trailers would be great.
 
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