STEP 5. Selecting Components

Selecting the axles, hubs, springs, fenders and coupler is not all there is to building a trailer-although it is a major part … and lots of trailer projects are started with the visualization of just these parts. These and several other individual components combine with raw steel, wood and/or aluminum of the frame to round out your trailer and bring it to a complete product. To be sure your system is adequate and appropriate, each component must be thoroughly investigated. This includes the determination of capacities, sizes, dimensions, fit with adjacent parts and appropriateness for its duty. Chapter 3, 4 and 5 of this Volume describe most of the components you need to complete the trailer and provide guidelines for their selection. With the guidance in these chapters, supplier’s catalogs will make a lot more sense and you’ll be able to ask more knowledgeable questions.

Many trailer components require expensive specialized equipment to manufacture. For small quantities of trailers – like one only- a n outright purchase from someone who has already invested the time and money in equipment is the easiest solution. Items such as hubs, couplers, axles, wheels and spindles obviously fall into this category. Even less major specialized accessories for design improvements – such as jacks, fenders, tie down hardware, tongue stiffeners, Step Neck TM and light brackets – can be added to this list of better or certainly easier to purchase components outright. In many instances these products provide much better solutions than you are likely to devise yourself. You may find that because of cost or maybe even, “I’d just rather do it myself,” you’ll be tempted to fabricate your own parts or components. Just beware! The design and fabrication effort may be more than you bargained for. A few major components are shown in Figure 1.9.