John's Utility Trailer Makeover

My wife's uncle retired from doing stone work full time several years ago and this 6.5x16 foot trailer has been sitting since maybe 2015. When he heard we needed a trailer to haul our recently purchased 4 seat SXS he gave it to us but it needed a lot of work. Although I haven't towed it with my Tundra yet, I've been busting my butt since January whenever the northeast weather cooperated to get it ready for the 10 hour trip to WV next week. While the frame was solid pretty much everything else was shot. Tires, leaf springs, lights, wiring, breakaway system, bearings, brakes, and more. Here's some pics from the day I got it home. I'll add more as time allows. I had a bunch more added and typed up but one accidental press of the back button forced me to start over. Ugh.



Here's what it's going to haul most of the time.



I removed all the suspension and installed new leaf springs, shackles, and equalizers. Most of the hardware got cut out with the angle grinder as it was seized up.




With a lot of sanding of the shoe surfaces I was able to save the drums but got new "loaded" backing plates, replaced several wheel studs, all the lug nuts, and installed new Timken bearings all around.



Finally got it back on the ground with new tires on the old wheels.



After much wire wheeling a fresh coat of primer and paint.




Started doing the wiring by installing a new breakaway kit and a junction box to distribute all the wiring from. I upgraded the wires feeding the brakes to 12 gauge marine wire and ran a wire for the reverse lights that are getting mounted on the back.

 

I just redid a single axle wiring harness (no brakes). I ran the wires through a piece of 3/8" Pex tubing and secured that to the bottom of the trailer. My specific issue is I'm about 10.4 miles of rough dirt road, I kept patching the harness due to rocks or mud and snow gathering on the wires and ripping them apart. I have minimal wire exposure now and where I do break from the main run for marker lights, etc I run split loom for added strength.

 

This one has pipe tack welded along the inside of the driver's side frame rail and across several of the cross beams. If it didn't I'd have done something similar to you. I did put split loom on the exposed bits of wire that come from the lights though.