Tip one ... Buy a better trailer then I did. Haha.

Tip two .... If you bought one with tin foil fenders that keep falling off and developing stress fractures ... Here's how to keep them going.



The key is how to get back against the trailer to install the mounting screws that fell out onto the road and how to add more. I woke up with the solution one night. It had been worrying me that I was going to have to jack up the trailer and remove the wheels for access. It came to me that I could "super glue" a self drilling screw onto a nut driver and extension. Feed it back over the wheel and attach. It worked.

I found this really well made extension by Irwin tools at Lowes for about $10. Nicely made.



After the screws are run up tight, a little side snap will release the screw head from the nut driver. This extension has a quick release that grabs the groove on the nut driver shank.

I also backed the splits in the fender lip (4) of them; by dollying some aluminum backer plates and pop riveting them into place with 3/16" dia alum. pop rivets. So; my brand new trailer has a chance of getting back to Maryland without a parking lot fender rebuild stop every few hundred miles. Yeah!!!!

Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2013 10:50PM by barnespneumatic.

I've got that extension and it works great.
It gives a lot of reach with hex bit drills in spots where your drills chuck gets in the way.
Put it on my Yankee screwdriver and you can reach anywhere.
If you've still got an old style Yankee there are adapters to hex tips.
Ck out Lee Valley .com

Joe

Just a small thing. But - to close the loop on this thread .... here's the pic of how I fixed the fenders. They had vibration cracks clear thru atop each wheel. Four cracks winding their way across the cheap fenders. I dolly formed aluminum plates with a rolled lip - drilled and pop riveted them into place.
Last tip - use similar metals. Aluminum fender - use aluminum plate - aluminum rivets. Dissimilar metals will set up a galvanic reaction and corrode faster.

Gary



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2013 02:35AM by barnespneumatic.

That is using your noggin.....

Hopefully they'll stay fixed long enough to get the rest of the critical stuff down south. It truly does suck trying to fix stuff in parking lots and rest areas along the way.

The aluminum diamond plate that I've worked with (from the big-box hardware stores) most often turns out to be on the brittle side. Where a similar thickness of 6061 would bend right over in a radius, the diamond plate will crack and snap. The trailer guys use a ton of it for the looks, but sometimes when you dig into it further it's almost beer-can thin other than the diamonds.

Probably another case where the original idea was sound and they used to be built of quality material, but the WallyworldMart version made with materials sourced from China has been optimized for initial good looks at the expense of long term durability. I've certainly run into that issue on RV camping trailers, they put diamond plate where the rocks are likely to hit and sure enough, they do. The unfortunate part is that it's so thin that you don't get much more protection that the basic trailer skin would give. Funny that way, isn't it? It's almost like they WANT your trailer to self destruct in a year or two so you have to buy another one...coincidence I suppose.

Hi Sean,
Gee - someone needs a HUG! What a realistic view of modern life!
They will roll the diamond plate - inducing a work hardened stress. Therefore - something the better grades of aluminum wouldn't want to bend. Personally I never find that 6061 wants to bend for me at all. The lesser grades are much softer.
Sure - everything today "looks like" something that used to be tough. They found a way to sell the image of what used to be.
So; guess I'll have to string up a yaupon and see if it shoots!
Gary

I'm not even certain those fenders are made of metal. They "felt" like the equivelent of pot metal plastic to me.... All kidding aside, I bet you could have replaced them in less time than you'll ultimately spend on them.

Seriously, I think Jerry might be right. When you finally get fed up fixing it, juust go to a Sixrobblees or similar and buy a steel or a plastic fender to replace those fugitive beer cans that they stuck on the sides of your box.

Probably won't be but two or three solid days work to fix it up to the point where it ought to be right now.

Sorry - I don't know of a "Fenders R Us" place here abouts. And, I still had some thoughts of having the guys that sold me the trailer stand up for it. We'll see. I'm sure I'll be too busy to feel like a fight over the obvious.

Yeah, driving at interstate speeds might be outside the warranty! Wish i were kidding....

Like with the huge reverse-print warnings they put on U-haul trailer for rent "Do not exceed 45mph when towing this trailer of loss of control may occur". yeah...right.... People are driving thousand of miles across the nation and they're gonna do it at 45mph...sure...