Monday, August 27, 2012
Another (sort-of) DIY trailer
The re-Cycles shop has received a few trailers this year. One of them was an older Chariot model that had been modified in a very familiar way. This design would originally have the wheels outside the frame using single-sided hubs (like a wheelchair). For whatever reason the previous owner decided to use double-sided bike wheels, which meant added more framework to hold them. And it looks like he was possibly inspired by my trailer webpage or the DIY trailer posts on this blog.
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2 comments:
I have to thank you for your previous posts and instructions on how to build a DIY bike trailer. They've been invaluable, since the commercial trailers out there aren't big enough for my application.
I need to carry 4 (SUP) Stand Up Paddleboards on a trailer. They're about 11 or 12 feet long and 32" wide and weigh about 30 lbs each. Most of the available carriers are under 30" wide.
I'm not quite finished yet, but I'll send you pics (along with further thanks)when it's done.
While my current design will work, I'd like to make 2 changes. First, I'd like to find out how to turn a regular bike wheel into one of those large-hub wheelchair style axles, if that's possible. It would reduce overall width by about 9".
Finally, I think I'm going to create a 'drop deck' trailer bed to get the centre of gravity below the axle to increase stability. As it stands the weight and height make it a bit unstable.
I welcome your input and appreciate your posts.
Cheers,
John
john@supsurf.ca
Thanks for the kind words, John. Retrofitting a single-sided axle into a rim is easy, though you'd of course have to completely rebuild the wheel, since the larger diameter hub would require shorter spokes. Not a big deal, just time consuming. And yes, the drop deck idea is a good plan. Please send pics or a link when you're done!
Mark
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