10,000 Miles Later: The Hidden Dangers of Harbor Freight Folding Trailers
Three mistakes I made Building this Harbor Freight Trailer. A deep dive into my personal experience building and using the renowned Harbor Freight folding trailer. While the overall performance of this versatile trailer has been exceptional, I'll be sharing three mistakes I made during its construction.
I recount the lessons learned and discuss how these hiccups affected my overall experience. Despite these regrets, it's important to note that the trailer has proven to be incredibly reliable, clocking in over 10,000 miles on the road without ever leaving me stranded.
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My dad bought a used harbor freight folding trailer a few years ago and used it as a yard trailer. It wasn’t long after he bought it that he noticed a lot of rust showing up. In which case all he was going to do was remove the rust/chipping paint, and then replace the taillights. But he asked me to do it. As I was going to, I looked at it and there was a lot more to it than just doing all that work so, I took it home and rebuilt the whole thing. Cleaned and removed as much of the rust as I could get. Then welded the whole thing back together. Minus the front part where the trailer sits on the ball. He can use as a dump trailer for the yard. New coat of paint and taillights. Looks better than new
Regarding mounting the license plate: Mount the plate on a wide Gate Hinge. The hinge will allow the plate to flex when needed.
My HF trailer is a lot more than 5 years old. It’s the 1190 lb. folder with 4 bolt 12” wheels. First mod was to install a 2” coupler. My first deck was 3/4” marine plywood, first 4’ sideboards were quick and dirty plywood with 2x2 corners, 2x4 posts. By the time I stripped it, spot blasted and repainted, I decided to weld it solid (I never folded it) and deck with an uncut sheet of 3/4” marine plywood. Current sideboards & tailgate were a lot more work, much stronger, and built after I made spacers for the stake pockets so I have a true 4x8’ inside the trailer. When I rewired, I went with good Peterson LED tail lights. Current tires (except spare) are Carlisle 145SR12 radials (made in China, despite Amazon’s claim they’re American). Sideboards include 6 pan fittings for ties, and are stained dark. Trailer is currently Hunter Green. I have a matching .50 cal ammo box on headboard, to hold tie straps, small wheel chocks, etc. Yes, take time squaring up on assembly (I’ve assembled 2 in the last 25 years). My State allows the choice of small license plate (like motorcycle plates), and that helps with damage. Yes, these are cheap, paint will fade and fall off, some hardware will be replaced. But with a little care you’ll get your money’s worth.
I didn't know I needed to watch a video about harbor freight folding trailers, but here I am for some reason. It was very well put together and clear and concise.
I have one that I bought in 2002. It is still in good shape. I have replaced the decking several times and last year I decided I wanted a metal grate deck (so the leaves would fall thru). I ended up buying two pieces of pallet rack wire decking that fit right over the frame and bolted it down. No more rotted wood deck and plenty of tie down points.
The best upgrade I made to my trailer was to remove the cheap furniture casters and replace them with ones that are rated for 750 pounds each
If the tires are 8”, you can change them to 12” and reduce the amount the bearing’s speed. Also use marine grade plywood to reduce the moisture damage. MSB needs to be sealed or painted.
I fixed the license plate issue by cutting a square of a truck mud flap and drilling out the holes to make it fit. It's stiffer than using a hinge, yet flexible enough to bend and not break when bending is required.
I recently picked up the aluminum version of this trailer from northern tool. I used pywood as the deck, rabbeted the bottom so the plywood was flat, painted 8t both sides for some moisture protection, and counter sunk hex bolts to hold it on. I have yet to take it out on the road, but I'm glad to see yours geld up so well.
Regarding this trailer, I used one for about four years and it worked well for the price, but the trailer flexes like crazy, which causes things on it to bounce around, and straps to come loose. I replaced most bolts using aircraft type lock nuts. I used it to carry a 500# atv, and towed it many miles on rough dirt roads, and the frame started cracking in a few places near the bolt together points. I later bought a HD welded frame, 2x4 decking trailer and the difference was amazing. The harbor freight trailer worked fine around town and on road trips, although I twice had a leaf spring break on the road, so I always carried a spare spring and a spare tire.
Both OSB and plywood will absorb moisture, split, rot etc. It's the nature of wood. I picked up some plywood for a trailer and the guy recommended a small can of roll on or spray bed liner. You can get small cans for touch ups. Drill the holes, treat both sides of the board and holes. That should keep the wood nice and dry.
I bolted the center crossmembers together so it wouldn’t fold, then welded all the joints. I have over 60,000 miles on mine now. Been across America quite a few times
As for the back end, I'd look for a way to prevent the back end from going all the way to the ground - maybe a rope, sawhorse, pole, temporarily attach a sacraficial 2x4 to one of the stakes on the back end (cheap to replace when needed), etc.
Great review. I have an older version of the same trailer, and agree with your assessment. I always keep mine folded in the garage unless I'm using it, so I've never had a rust issue. I used 1/2" ply for weight savings, which has been sturdy enough, and I used self-drilling screws for the deck, like they use on semi-trailer floors. The frame on mine rattled like hell all the time, so I welded up all the non-moving parts with flux core, and I'm happy with that. One thing I'll add is that those pivot bolts are all in sheer. I've had a couple of them almost slice all the way through from vibration. Keep an eye on them and be prepared to swap them out. License plate is an issue. I just put mine on each time fresh, with nylocks (learned that the hard way). Eventually I'll weld up a channel for it to sit in so it doesn't get bent. I try never to tow the thing at night, because the lights on my are filament and hard to see...but I did put reflective striping on the back to help a bit. Oh, and tires? Keep them out of the sun and I think they'll be fine. But if you store them outside, and they aren't being used, they'll get weak and fail on you. Same as lawn tractor tires.
I upgraded my wiring harnesses to run in convoluted tubing with p clamps for attachment. Also added connectors to the lamps and harnesses. Also, put a piano hinge on the plate bracket and use elevator bolts instead of carriage bolts. Essentially, the are the same thing, but the heads are flat.
I have an older tilt bed, non-folding, 1-ton Harbor freight trailer. I had the same thing with the license plate, I reversed the taillights from one side to the other, that mounted my plate above the taillight, I had to move the plate out a bit, but no more bent up license plate. On my Trailer I used an uncut full sheet of 3/4" plywood that I double coated with Polyurethane on all sides, then I installed it with carriage bolts, like you did, then I coated the whole top with bed liner. My tailer has set outside up here in snow country for 15 years with a lot less rust than yours, every couple of years I wire brush any rust or bubbled paint & repaint the spots, about a 30-minuet job, less time than it takes to check the bearings & tire pressure.
I bolted mine together. Threw away the hinges and the casters. I have a Ram 2500 Diesel and I also have a 26' trailer. This trailer is great when running to Home depot. It is much easier to park than the long trailer and load than climbing into the bed. Im sure people laugh at me pulling such a tiny trailer behind such a big truck but it a real back saver. I live in the southwest and it has not rusted or thrown grease.
Great information! I also put a lot of miles on my 20 year old trailer that still has the original tires on it, with no problems. The longest trip was about 2,800 miles. On my flatbed I put plastic bed on it. It sits outside year around in Minnesota, It should last about 30 years with no problems.
A great VIDEO! We have this trailer, got it for free and then I put a 3/4" thick plywood deck on it and soaked that with Thompson water seal. Put about 20 miles on it years ago and it has been in the barn ever since standing up waiting for the next use. Karl in Michigan
I had the same problem with my plate getting bent, so I mounted the license plate bracket to a hinge which allows the plate to fold against the trailer frame so it doesn't get bent.