I know there are a few of these on here put thought I'd post it up anyways. I've heard other people complain about the directions being hard to follow. I disagree. Everything in the build so far has gone where it's supposed too, down to the very last nuts and bolts. I sat and read the directions a few times through for two days before I even lined up the pieces. I found in the past this helps me build stuff. To visualize with the directions and a couple beers for a couple days before I get started. I have not got to the wiring harness yet. I've read the lights are crap and will prob put some LEDs on there right off the bat. I've not repacked the wheel bearings yet with real grease. A friendly member of the STT family who lives close to me offered me some grease as he bought a huge tub of it. That will come later this week. I bought the 3/4" plywood for the deck but didn't get to that just yet either. I'd love a Pitbull TRS. I missed out on the WERA classifieds the other day where that guy had 6 to sell at $150 each. The trailer was $250 on sale. The TRS is $289 new... :wtf: Here are the pics of where I'm at: lay those pieces out, make sure everything is facing the right way based on the directions assemble the front and rear bed. pay attention to where the A screws (3/8" long) and the B (1" long) screws go. put the tongue on there. its best to attach the individual pieces of the tongue to the bed first, then connect the tongue at the end where the coupler would go. i did it the other way, and I had to disassemble the coupler in order to get the end of the tongue to attach to the trailer bed. fold it up and put the casters on there. careful as to which caster support goes on which side. the directions here look a little confusing but they are written properly. put the fenders on there. i've read other build threads where they say they left the fenders off because they are flimsy. this is my first ever trailer so I don't know any better, but they seem just fine to me. then put the suspension and the axle on there. there are little nubs on the axle and the leaf springs where they are supposed to line up. pay attention to that. i also tightened this down improperly without the nubs in the correct position. easy to fix, just annoying that i did it wrong the first time. then i put the coupler on and attached the safety chain. I'm saving the wheels until I get the grease from my neighbor. waiting for the tongue jack in the mail. once the wheels and the tongue jack are on, I'll get to the wiring harness and lights. then the bed. I'll update as I move along. FYI as much work as is posted here took about 3 hours, and my hands and back got a little worn out double checking everything was as tight as possible. :rawk:
I couldn't agree more with ya, I bought mine two seasons ago. Has worked very fine and it seems like you're doing a good job. I have a trailer restraint from pit bull. Solid set up!!! Good job
Nice write up! I love my HFT trailer. Just some "lessons learned" I may be able to offer up. - Definitely run a ground wire to each light. Don't rely on a frame ground, the continuity on a bolted together painted frame is questionable. - If you intend to fold it for storage, leave some slack when you do the harness at all the pivot points. I went over these areas with spiral wrap just to be safe. - Repack with real grease - The grease fittings on the hubs WILL snap eventually. I went to autozone and picked up some nicer grease fittings. You definitely don't want the original fitting to snap off at the threads. Luckily for me I had enough to grab onto with some channel locks and was able to thread it out. I consider myself a cautious gentle person, and I was surprised by how easily the fittings snapped off. Good luck!
+1 to better casters. I think HF sells some but I bought mine off McMaster Carr that are rated for 500 lbs or something. Unless you roll the casters on a glass smooth surface every time you will see why they are not the best The zerk fittings will snap off. Replace them now or later. Repack the front and rear bearings. If you can save the rear seal good for you but I had to destroy mine to get it out. They are not a common size so you have to order them (it's a metric size). I use the TRS but also had a Condor chock. The HF version is supposedly just as good. Either one is almost required on an open trailer. The fenders will rattle off eventually. Both of mine are somewhere on the interstate. The metal brackets that hold them up can't take the rattling (just flex them by hand to see what i mean). It helps keep road debris off the bikes so if you want them you have to make 1 or 2 more attachment points so they don't bounce much or at all. The coupler is 2 1/4" or something like that. They sell the ball everywhere but just be aware it's not the common 2". It might have been my vehicle but I needed longer safety chains. I also got hooks that have screw closures to replace the S hooks HF gives you. I put a piece of wood at the tounge (behind the cross support) which is the perfect size square to store gas cans.
Nice job. I have built the trailer last year. If you want to fold and store it, 3/4" plywood won't work...it wont fully fold. I cannot recall what size I got...but if you need I can measure it...
LOL. I lost mine driving home from Putnam. I did walk back and get them. I have yet to put them back on, and that was like 2 years ago.
Do you mean where the bracket mounts to the frame? Or where the fender mounts to the bracket? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Where the bracket mounts to the frame. It's a silver colored (zinc I think) bracket. For me the tear was just above where the two bolts mount the bracket to the trailer frame. If you wiggle the fender by hand you will see where the stress is on the bracket.
Thanks! Shes a 2002 Half German Shepherd/Half Black Lab with custom rear left knee. She tore her ACL years ago and I had some Ohlins rear suspension put in, geometry set up for 67 pound rider. Paid top dollar. Shes got custom body work. A few years ago she got cancer on her rib cage, so the mechanic cut it off and put the Sharkskinz on with Dzus fastners. Shes never been scared of motorcycles in her life. But after one day of camping at Grattan last season, shes even scared of motorcycles on the tv. Im not sure how well she'll handle camping this season. I have either all 3 days for Memorial Day or Labor Day and Trackfest penciled in.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
What about these extra holes in the fenders? Drill the frame and bolt them here? They'd need a spacer so the trailer can still fold at the hinge. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Cant be that hard to put together, if I can build it. ( I did have help with the wiring and greasing and anything involving powertools (the deck) safer for everyone else). But I will agree on the fairings, lost the first one driving back from Grattan to MD. It swung down and punctured the tired. Glad I had a spare and it was the passenger side!!! Had to change it on the OH turnbike. Then lost the other fairing last season. So either reinforce them or leave them off.
Did anyone who's built one of these have their wheels balanced? I came across a suggestion that unbalanced wheels contribute to the fender mount tearing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk