Hitch for rear of trailer...

[Gone-Camping]

I'm going to start my mod today for the hitch on the back of the trailer. I've been tossing around different idea's and since I already have bike rack that fit's into a Class-II hitch (small square receiver) and an appropriate sized hitch, I'm going this route. I think all we need to do is build one brace out of angle iron and mount it to the trailers frame, and mount the other half of the hitch to the existing angle iron cross member...I think.

At any rate, this is going to be a freebie since I already have the old bike rack and a used hitch, the angle iron I got free from work (they have a stack of it there), about the only thing I'm going to have to buy is a can of black spray paint. :Z

I'm heading to the shop (my former employer...we're still on good terms) and put the angle iron in their horizontal ban saw and cut it to length, then cut a couple of short side brace pieces as well, and weld the side braces to the new cross member. They also have a drill press, so I'll bring along the hitch and the drill bits and pre-drill all the holes. :eyecrazy:

Once I get all this back home, the only thing I'm going to have to do is get under the rear of the trailer, match & mark the drill points, and drill six holes for mounting all this.

Pictures to follow!!! :-()

[Gone-Camping]

Well, things are coming along ok with this, it would actually be done except for one minor snafu...the rear cross member that I made was a hair too big, and won't quite slip into place. I've been grinding it down and it partially fits, but just little more work to do here. This cross member is critical, it'll hold the bulk of the weight!
 
On a good note, after I got under the trailer again and 're-engineered' for the sixth or seventh time, I decided that when it's all said and done, I'll have drill only two holes in the trailer frame, one for each side of the new cross member. The one in the back had square holes in it, and a pair of carriage bolts fit perfectly (good measuring helped too since I pre-drilled all the hardware at the shop on their drill press)...
 
I've got a jack holding the rear of the hitch up right now, but once that rear cross member is in place it'll be done. Here's what it'll look like...
(and note, I can change this later to a 2" receiver if I want, or remove it and mount on the next trailer with slight modifications)

 
Bigger picture of same here...
http://www.gonecamping.net/images/trailcruiser/hitchbig.jpg
 
In the big picture, you can actually see the rear cross member between the bumper and the trailer where it's not quite sliding down behind the bumper. It will by tonight though!!