Yea ... I'm doubting that is gonna be in the cards ... at least two extra days driving, and a couple days there ... I'm already pushing my luck leaving my 85 year old mom alone that long ... might have to drop the ark as well ... maybe DK too, although I'm really trying to make that happen.
Not like I have a lot of plans now that I'm retired ....
So I decided to remove the little leaf from both springs on the axle. First I had to remove the U bolts, then the centering bolt in the middle of the plate:
Next I pulled the little leaf from the stack:
Put them back together and voila ... instead of 1090# springs, they are 600# springs.
Don stopped by this morning, he's coming over tomorrow to wire the lights ... ... I( really do hate tricity. He took one look at the trailer and was instantly talking about running wires through tubes to keep it from drooping and coming apart ... I just love a guy that gets into what he does ...
Cool project.
We used a cargo trailer for years...tons of great memories...this pic is from around 15 years ago.
Here's another blast from the past-
Kevin
Yeah, it's a great awning. We've had it up during windy storms...all around us those new-fangled metal scissor frame ones were bending and collapsing...this one just keep trucking.
Have made a lot of friends under it when it was raining hard and it was the only nearby shelter. lol
Kevin
I do indeed hete tricity ... no mater how simple I think it should be, it's always a pain ... today was no exception.
Before Don got here I drilled holes for the mounting of the foot ...
Basically I made a plate the size of the top of the foot, drilled two holes in it to match the mounting on the foot, sanded and painted it. The tongue of the trailer is U channel, and has 4 plates welded equidistant along it's length. I mounted the foot across one of those plates ... works well.
Next, Don came an stated with the electrical. Don is a bit of a perfectionist, which is why I seek his help. He brought a hunk of pic drip piping to run down the tongue of the trailer and to the rear. There he bolted it to the frame o the trailer. He ran the wires to the rear and then along the sides to the lights. I like the connectors he used, they have dielectric grease in them.
Letting me do pics now?????
I'll explain the missing light in a minute.
So basically we wired it up and went to test it on the Tri ... oops ... a problem, the PO, had wired the Tri for a 5 wire connection. Right turn, left turn, ground, running, brake. Of course the little trailer is wired for 4. where the brake light, basically light with the turn signals. We pulled the seat and there it was ... a plug and play 4-5 converter, we removed that, tested the Tri's lights and they worked fine. Don put a meter to the trailer harness on the tri and the white, brown, yellow and green wires all had the correct functions. The blue one (brake lights) no longer had power. The brake lights did work on the green and yellow wire. Since the little trailer came with a male connection, we just swapped out the plugs and plugged in the trailer. We just dead headed the blue wire incase.
Here's the plug and play 4-5 adapter:
We tested all the functions of the lights and everything worked fine ... almost. The right side tail light did not work, the right turn signal and clearance light did work. Hmmm ... pulled the lens off and it is a sealed LED so no way to fix it. Don went home and I went to harbor freight wirth the bad light and the trailer paperwork. They replaced the light, no charge, didn't even look at the paperwork.
It was getting warm, so I'll put the light on tomorrow.
The Magic Garage comes through again ...
I had just finished wiring the new replacement tail light and was backing the tri out to test it.
In the headlight beam I saw a pile of "Owner's Manuals" ... thought I'd better get them inside and scanned before they rot. So after I tested the tail light (test was good), I went to get the manuals. I decided to go through them and get rid of any that I don't need.
Lo and Behold, there was an Owner's Manual for a car luggage carrier. Not the sears thing that is cracked, but a metal basket thing you mount on a car luggage rack. I sat and let my memory catch up to my thought process and I couldn't remember selling or throwing that away, so it is either in my garage or my shed. This thing is big ... 40" by 48" by 6" (those measurements sound familiar?)... so it should stick out like a sore thumb. But, alas I didn't see it. Went and checked out the shed ... nada.
Then my memory finally caught up with me and I remembered that it was put in the rafters under the garage door when it's up. So I got in the garage, shut the door and there it was.
I put it on the trailer and it fits like it was made for it.
I looked through my screw and bolt box and found 4 "J" bolts. Had to cut two of them because they where too long. You can see how I mounted it with the "J" Bolts in this pic. It is right by the back of the wheel.
You may have noticed in the second pic that I moved the license plate light and hanger to the luggage rack in the center ... I am gonna run the wires through the luggage rack, But, it needs to get inspected tomorrow. ...
I may pull the luggage rack off and mount a 1/4" piece of UV protected plastic under it and bolt it back down. After the inspection. When I do that, I'll protect everything that needs protecting and paint everything satin black ... or maybe satin white ... so it doesn't absorb as much heat. If I thought I could get it painted gloss black without any runs ... I'd do that to get it to match the trike ... maybe do some silver pin stripping ... LOL.
P.S. Sorry about the picture quality ... it was very dark out because of the black clouds coming over head. I just barely got everything put away and inside before it poured ... only for about 5 minutes ... but I was glad I was inside ... I might melt ...
Alan, so much fun reading about your 'activities' and pics, not that I do them, just read them. Dang, is there anything you can't do, I mean anything except electrical stuff? That magic garage, everything must be in that garage....
Had an idea and moved the license plate light down to the trailer, this way, when I need to take the luggage rack off, I can. Like to paint the trailer and the rack. I did take the luggage rack off because I went and got a hunk of that UV stabilized marine plastic for the trailer floor ordered. Stuff is pricy, but, it is literally maintenance free. Ordered it in black. They just need to get me in their que to get it cut. I could have done plywood for about 20%, but I would need to replace it every two years. Wood dry rots so bad here. I will probably paint the rack side rails when I do the trailer. Part of me likes it red .. LOL. Maybe leave the bottom Red and paint the luggage rack sides gloss black .. Like Trump says, we'll see what happens.
In this picture you can see the light centered in the rear, I plan to mount the plate with self tapping screws just above it:
As you can also see, I cleaned up my 4 action packers. They weren't gross, just dusty, so they cleaned up nicely. I also cleaned up my 12 lock, keyed alike set .. they were dusty too. It takes 8 locks for the action packers, one for the receiver, two for the cable that locks all the packers to the trailer frame. That leaves me one spare ... .. they are not great locks, but, they keep honest people honest, and meet the requirements of my insurance company, so if someone does steal something ... no worries.
Here's the fit:
I will probably put then the other way ... they fit just as well with the length going fore and aft (front to back for the land lubbers ... LOL). If I do the fore to aft, I have a 4' long gap that will fit a lawn chair, tent (I'm not sleeping in a tent ... no power for the CPAP ) or whatever. Can't believe I didn't get a pic with them that way.
I also took the spare off my "used to be work trailer", never used. It mounted really nice under the front of the trailer.
So, until Wednesday, when the DMV inspects the trailer and I get my plates ... I'm done with this.
Nice looking setup Alan.
“Come and Take It!” “Remember the Alamo!” “Remember Goliad!”
I think it will be very functional ... and versatile.
Vintage 09' Vivid Black, Boyesen X force intake, DK Customs DIY external breather, PV tuner, Mighty Mite love Jugs,Titanium Wrapped Header pipe, Khrome Werks 2+2 Wide Sweepers, DK 2" tank lift deluxe, Air Deflectors, Rear Bumper, Fender Chrome trim, Kuri. Rear lights, 9" LRS recurve flat top wind screen, LED headlight and spots, Hubcaps rear wheels
I hooked the trailer to the trike, drove to my DMV appointment and was told that I needed to have the state police inspect it before they can inspect it. The state police charge $20 to do the inspection, and the first appointment is 7/5/19, and they don't do walk ins. Glad I'm not in a hurry.
The next thing I learned is that if the trailer shows up at the state police with no plate, I will be ticketed. So of course, I asked how do I get a plate without the inspection? I have to go to the DMV, 1-2 days before the state police inspection ad they will issue a temp plate for $6.95. Then I will have to make a new appointment with the DMV.
I gotta say, this is a great system ... ... might be more to register it than the trailer cost me.
I think I'll be lucky if the trailer is ready for the September trip ...
Crazy Co law IMO
Sounds like they are smoking too much pot
Nuff Said," Were Burnin Daylight, Lets Ride"(Sober 37 years)
Current ride : 2021 FREEWHEELER M8, oldest ride 1960 FL
No tag No inspection No problem here in Tn No Pot