New guy, just bought a military trailer

VanIsle_Greg

I think I need a bigger truck!
I woke up yesterday to pouring rain so I decided that today would be a good day to locate the tubing I need for my tongue modification. I tried a couple of local shops and no go, apparently 2" round tubing is not so common. As long as I was out and about I traveled a bit out of town to a small welding shop. The guy was a fabricator for sure,he had the framework of a monster truck in his shop that was looking pretty sweet. I explained to him what I wanted to do and not only did he have the tubing, in about 10 minutes he fabbed,welded and drilled my new tongue; for 25 bucks:Wow1:

Now this is a good guy to have on speed dial!
 

Tooner

Observer
I spent the day today trying to track down a pair of matching steel wheels for my trailer but all I accomplished was to move the entire pile from right to left. On a positive note I managed to locate the wheel seals; no easy task. Both of the seals were pretty used up but I managed to find a number to cross reference and a few short hours later I had them on order. Last but not least the new tongue will slip right into the tube on the trailer just as soon as I de-burr the opening, its a little banged up after all these years. All in all not a bad day, i'm not too worried about the wheels, we have plenty of boneyards around to try. some even catalog their stuff, unlike the guy that just pointed me to the pile this morning.
 

Mark Harley

Expedition Leader
I am very Blessed. I work at a large Sign shop and have several certified welders on hand when I need them.
Cash is king and lunches work wonders too.
 

Tooner

Observer
I spent most of yesterday filling and sanding all the countersinks, thank goodness that job is done!! My wheel bearing seals should be arriving on Monday or Tuesday;happy, happy!!! I located a set of wheels for the trailer yesterday as well, I'm just waiting for the guy to respond. If everything falls together I could have my trailer back up on wheels by Wednesday:wings:
 

Tooner

Observer
Today my wheel bearing seals arrived. I am especially pleased about this because I had to spend hours cross-referencing the part number to the modern version. The fit looks perfect however my schedule is a bit behind. Tomorrow I have to do an install for one of my contractors so no work on the trailer tomorrow. Then it's off to visit my daughter for a week so the next opportunity for work will be the end of the month. Now that I have all the mechanicals lined up and ready for install I am confident I can still be "road worthy" by the fall, all the wood work is being finished, camp stove arrives next week, camp kitchen design on the board and I am even feeling confident enough to fit my OasisII for my Southern trip. My brother is our resident electrician so I'm trading off helping him with his "honey-do" list for help with the lights.:costumed-smiley-007
 

Tooner

Observer
Wheel bearing time

When re-packing wheel bearings does the inside of the hub get packed with grease ? When I took the hubs off the trailer there was some grease in them but the seals were shot so I'm not sure how much is enough. The last time I did work like this I was a kid working on my Henry J. Some hints would be most appreciated. Thanks.
 

scramfan01

Adventurer
Great build thread!

Great craftsmanship! I'm thinking of doing something similar with a Bantam Tc-3, I bought last week. Love your vision, planning, and craftsmanship, on your trailer.
 

Scrapdaddy

Adventurer
Tooner,

No, it doesn't need to be filled with grease. I always put some in, but not full. The seals should keep out the and grit, not the grease.
 

Tooner

Observer
Tooner,

No, it doesn't need to be filled with grease. I always put some in, but not full. The seals should keep out the and grit, not the grease.
OK thanks. I'm getting anxious to get this thing back on wheels. I managed to install the new tongue extension and cut the fenders off so I could work on them in my shop. Time allocation is an issue. For a retired guy I seem to have less free time.
 

Tooner

Observer
I found my wheels

Today I finally located and purchased the wheels for my build. It turns out the perfect fit was 14" wheels from a 68 Plymouth satellite. I got 4 wheels and two near new tires for $150.00. Now all I gotta do is clean & paint the wheels & snap on the moons. This was a major holdup in the project, I was set on going with the 50's look for the trailer and these simple steel wheels will work just fine, the pace of progress should improve greatly now and not a moment too soon, it's starting to get cold here.:victory:
 

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