Team Trailer Ideas?

[Andrew Schreiber]

I cannot agree more with the standardized sizes for things, as a college student I move A LOT (I move every three months) One of my roommates packs all our dishes into standard Rubbermaid containers, they then pack all their stuff into more of the containers, loading their van with these (while heavy) is not that difficult because it just means making sure the heavy stuff is on bottom (color coded!)

[ChuckDickerson]

Thank you all for the great ideas and suggestions. We are currently working on mounting brackets to weld two tongue type trailer jacks at each back corner (one on each side) so we can stablize the trailer when it isn't connected to a vehicle. This way we can load/unload and just go in an out through the back without the front flipping up when not connected. We are going to make an aluminum floor pan to cover the whole bottom underneath the plywood floor to keep road splash, etc. of the bottom of the wood. We have located the HDO plywood so the floor should be done soon. We plan to install one of those triangular trailer tongue tool boxes on the front to store a tire tool, jacks, wheel chocks, cargo ratchet straps, etc. as well. The tires that are on it are OK for local use but I wouldn't feel comfortable making a long road trip on them so we are going to get two new tires and rims and put the old ones on tire carriers in the tongue as well for spairs.

Mark, thank you especially for the advice on the E-Track. The site you linked to was one of the places we were looking. Can you provide more information on how you would install the E-Track flush please? We were planning to screw plywood back to the inside walls and then attach the E-Track to the plywood but that would leave the E-Track raised on top of the plywood. Are you suggesting we attach the E-Track directly to the metal wall substructure first and then fit horizontal strips of plywood between the E-Track to make the metal surface of the E-Track more or less flush with the plywood? We like the idea of several strips of horizontal E-Track better than verticle as well.

We are thinking some strategically placed D-Rings flush mounted in the floor for certain things like our pit lift cart might work well also. Sort of box/crate/tub like items around the sides stacked and secured to the walls with E-Track and rolling cart like items positioned down the middle and secured to floor with chocks and ratchet straps the D-rings in the floor. Is this how others do it? We certainly understand the need for securing the load and want to plan well and do it right!

We also have a nice aluminum ramp to help roll stuff in and out that will work perfectly with either the double back door or single side door.

I guess our "standard" tub size right now are the tubs we all get with the KoP simply because we have collected quite a few of them over the years. We will have to measure and see how well they work in the trailer and may decide to standardize on something else in the future.

Good stuff! Please keep the ideas coming!

Thanks!
-Chuck

[kramarczyk]

Originally Posted by DeepWater

Can you provide more information on how you would install the E-Track flush please? We were planning to screw plywood back to the inside walls and then attach the E-Track to the plywood but that would leave the E-Track raised on top of the plywood. Are you suggesting we attach the E-Track directly to the metal wall substructure first and then fit horizontal strips of plywood between the E-Track to make the metal surface of the E-Track more or less flush with the plywood?

While I haven't done any install myself, if I had my options open like you do I, I would install the track first to the trailer structure (as seen here) and then put up the plywood. I would probably attach the plywood to the e-track sections with some rivets. Of course, I don't actually know what the wall construction of your trailer is either. The guys at etrailer can probably provide better guidance.

Is this how others do it? We certainly understand the need for securing the load and want to plan well and do it right!

How you pack is dependent on a lot of things such as, how full your trailer will be, weight of items, and what order you need to use things when they come off the trailer. e.g. don’t put the legs for your pit workbenches in nose of the trailer.

If the trailer is not going to be too full, you can flat pack (everything on the floor) and group items to the side walls if you like. If it is not an obvious easy pack, start wall to wall, floor to ceiling, from the very beginning. Heavy stuff low... high efficiency stuff first (no sailboat fuel)... the case dimensions from earlier help out a lot. Even knowing 2 of these + 1 of those goes across the trailer helps. It is really easy to pack less efficiently if the situation looks good; starting over because you left air in the nose is painful.

As far as load control goes, in my experience items shift in two ways. Towards the nose during decel and towards the ground due to vibration. My advice is get stuff as close to the nose and group it as a monolith. If the item is already strapped as far forward as it can go then slamming on the breaks is a non-event. (not that I recommend it) Likewise if things are in a single large pile, then if they happen to fall it is not as far to the next item. Before you strap the pile down, look for items likely to shift... and what they may shift into.

One last thing, not that this is much of an issue in a 6x10 trailer, but don't make your pile any larger than the people in the trailer can handle shifting as it is loaded/unloaded. I find that to be about every 8'. Once you hit that size, it is advisable to strap the load and install a flat surface to start packing against. I like load bars for this purpose. It should be noted that these are clipped into the e-track and have essentially no outward load on the trailer walls unlike the compression installed bars referred to earlier in this thread. Once these are in, start the packing logic all over again just like in the nose.

With all of this being said it should also be noted that my wife does not like how I pack the car for family trips.

I guess our "standard" tub size right now are the tubs we all get with the KoP simply because we have collected quite a few of them over the years.

A bird in the hand...

[ChuckDickerson]

Originally Posted by kramarczyk

While I haven't done any install myself, if I had my options open like you do I, I would install the track first to the trailer structure (as seen here) and then put up the plywood.

The plan was to install it exactly as shown in the video. In the video the walls are already covered in plywood and the E-Track is installed on top of the plywood which would leave the E-Track raised. Are you suggesting two layers of plywood? The first as in the video and then piece in sections between the horizontal E-Track strips to flush up the wall flat with the outermost surface of the E-Track? While I can see the advantage to this I am wondering about how much extra weight that might add to the trailer that could take away from the carrying capacity.

[kramarczyk]

Originally Posted by DeepWater

The plan was to install it exactly as shown in the video. In the video the walls are already covered in plywood and the E-Track is installed on top of the plywood which would leave the E-Track raised. Are you suggesting two layers of plywood? The first as in the video and then piece in sections between the horizontal E-Track strips to flush up the wall flat with the outermost surface of the E-Track? While I can see the advantage to this I am wondering about how much extra weight that might add to the trailer that could take away from the carrying capacity.

In the video he was retrofitting the trailer, so the plywood was already there. The mechanics would be the same without the plywood, in fact, he never actually attaches to the plywood, just the trailer 'stud'. I would not put on two layers of plywood. I also would probably not go to the effort of stripping off existing plywood just to make it flush. I'm sure that you can install the e-track over the plywood and be satisfied with the result; it's not like you will be loading/unloading every day. I only suggested the flush mount since you already planned to put up new plywood. e.g. install e-track, then install plywood of a thickness to make it flush. Perhaps I am, once again, making the simple complicated.

[ChuckDickerson]

Originally Posted by kramarczyk

In the video he was retrofitting the trailer, so the plywood was already there. The mechanics would be the same without the plywood, in fact, he never actually attaches to the plywood, just the trailer 'stud'. I would not put on two layers of plywood. I also would probably not go to the effort of stripping off existing plywood just to make it flush. I'm sure that you can install the e-track over the plywood and be satisfied with the result; it's not like you will be loading/unloading every day. I only suggested the flush mount since you already planned to put up new plywood. e.g. install e-track, then install plywood of a thickness to make it flush. Perhaps I am, once again, making the simple complicated.

No, you are being extreamly helpful! I like the idea of the plywood being flush or even a bit raised above the top of the E-Track so that the wood makes first contact rather than the item being carried rubbing on the metal track. Since the inside of the trailer has been stripped we could go either way but I am now leaning toward a layer of plywood first then the E-Track installed as in the video and then adding some strategically placed 1x4 or 2x4 "rub rails" horizontally between the strips of E-Track. I'm not sure the exact thickness of E-Track but I would think some pine 1x4s might be about right and if/when they get damaged they would be easier to replace as needed than whole sheets of plywood. This page seems to have all the E-Track dimensions except what I need (the thickness).

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by DeepWater

We were planning to screw plywood back to the inside walls and then attach the E-Track to the plywood but that would leave the E-Track raised on top of the plywood. Are you suggesting we attach the E-Track directly to the metal wall substructure first and then fit horizontal strips of plywood between the E-Track to make the metal surface of the E-Track more or less flush with the plywood?

I wouldn't worry about trying to make things flush with the walls. I think it would only be the floor that could give you issues with raised track getting in the way. (Note: I'm a programmer. What do I know about loading trailers?)

[Bertman]

Keep the design flexible with lots of tie downs, both high and low. Interior lights are a great help. Carry a good spare with jack & lug wrench. Remember, if you are loading or working in the trailer and it is not attached to a vehicle, it will pivot around the axle and gravity will take over (don't ask how I know this)