With the bed squared up, I now turned my attention to the gooseneck towers. The passenger side tower was pushed back while the drivers side tower was pulled forward. I reused the diamond pulling rig to pull the passenger side tower forward. The drivers side wasn’t as easy because there was nothing to attach to. My wife suggested I use the skidsteer as the anchor point and it worked wonderfully!
Gooseneck trailer repair project
- Thread starter Cord
- Start date
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bindian
Super Member
Wow, you are rebuilding it. If it was me, I would replace the whole neck and not piece it back together. I sure hope, after all this time and money, it tracks straight. What are you gonna haul on it? Never saw a trailer that long that wasn't dual tandem axle.
hugs, Brandi
hugs, Brandi
plastikosmd
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2006
- Messages
- 1,102
Wow
I’m impressed
I would have cut it up for a loss! Nice work
I’m impressed
I would have cut it up for a loss! Nice work
Buppies
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2011
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- 12,195
- Location
- SouthWestern Virginia
- Tractor
- Kubota L5240 EX mark 60 in 29 hp Toro 60inch Z Master 21 inch walk behind Polaris 900 hunter edition 30in toro walk behind
Great job enjoyed pictures you are going about it right. I own a 15900 pound load trail 24 foot flat deck six foot dovetail. Well built in my opinion
sandman2234
Super Member
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- Dec 4, 2005
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- Jacksonville, Florida
- Tractor
- JD2555 and a few Allis Chalmers and now one Kubota
I bought a truck, and the gooseneck trailer came with it, kind of a package deal. The previous owner, (a friend) bought the trailer "out in a field" only to find mis-matched hubs and a bent tongue. He did as you did, cut it off and built a new one. He also ordered new axles to make them match, but you didn't need it. I have seen what it takes to do the kind of work straightening a trailer, and I hope you got a really good deal on the one you bought. You deserve it!! Jumping into a project like that isn't for the faint of heart (*or light in the wallet, lol)
David from jax
David from jax
bindian
Super Member
I bet the previous owner's insurance wrote it off as a complete loss.
hugs, Brandi
He was commercial and told me that he ate the cost so his rates wouldn’t go up. I have a 2015 GMC 2500 D-Max that I’ll be pulling it with. That truck isn’t rated for the trailers capacity, but ratings keep going up. Thanks for the complements guys!
Once we got the trailer flipped over, we built some cribbing towers under it. I then set a house jack under each corner and used them to get the trailer level. Doing this means I shouldn’t be introducing a permanent twist when the torque tubes are welded in.
Once we got the trailer flipped over, we built some cribbing towers under it. I then set a house jack under each corner and used them to get the trailer level. Doing this means I shouldn’t be introducing a permanent twist when the torque tubes are welded in.
Attachments
With the trailer supported on the jacks, I found the tail end to be rather shaky. It just didn’t feel solid. My wife didn’t like walking down there and I was worried it might tip over. I put two ratchet straps on it, they helped, but it still was unnerving.
I knew from my research that trailers of this length were using a 6” sch 40 pipe for the torque tube. Pipe is ideal for controlling the twist because it’s torsionally stable. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit a 6” pipe under the axles and I didn’t want to get into cutting the floor channels. I found some 1/4x4x4 tubes on Market Place that would fit under the axles, but the tubes were only 10’ lengths. They were used as guard rails in a factory so each tube had a stand and baseplate welded to it. The price was right so I bought all that he had. Instead of using a single pipe, I thought I’d use two tubes instead.
I spent a day torching off the legs and grinding the slag so the tubes would fit into the band saw. When it came to splicing the tubes, I decided to make the cuts at a 20 degree angle in the hope the splice would be stronger. I also cut the tubes so there wouldn’t be any splices across from each other.
I knew from my research that trailers of this length were using a 6” sch 40 pipe for the torque tube. Pipe is ideal for controlling the twist because it’s torsionally stable. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit a 6” pipe under the axles and I didn’t want to get into cutting the floor channels. I found some 1/4x4x4 tubes on Market Place that would fit under the axles, but the tubes were only 10’ lengths. They were used as guard rails in a factory so each tube had a stand and baseplate welded to it. The price was right so I bought all that he had. Instead of using a single pipe, I thought I’d use two tubes instead.
I spent a day torching off the legs and grinding the slag so the tubes would fit into the band saw. When it came to splicing the tubes, I decided to make the cuts at a 20 degree angle in the hope the splice would be stronger. I also cut the tubes so there wouldn’t be any splices across from each other.