ever since i bought a utility trailer i've come to appreciate how handy it has become
and wondered why i went so long without one
however giving a few simple mods the utility trailer had the potential to be more than what
was already asked hello i'm radha socenda and in this video i'll take you along my process
and show you what i did to my utility trailer to get the most from it when shopping for a
utility trailer i'm always on a hunt to look for something well designed and highly functional
i chose to go with the caravan 6x10 because it had checked off a lot of my boxes
the main ones that it was large enough to transport my new cnc plasma table
and have rails that fold down or can be completely removed
this would help when it comes time to forklift the steel 4x8 sheets onto the trailer bed
while i did most of what i asked i knew with some customization they could do more
that being said the goal of this video is to show you how i outfitted my
utility trailer and to share my experience along the way
the first thing i knew i wanted to do was build sides for the trailer for me adding sides would
help increase carrying volume and i wouldn't have to worry about smaller items falling out
because this trailer was brand new i had one requirement that i couldn't drill into it or
weld on anything to the trailer frame this meant i had to come up with a way to bolt up the sides
to get a better idea how tall i want on my sides i use some clamps to hold them temporarily in place
i also did this to check for clearances and to see if i can still easily climb over
i went with 22 inch tall sides to work best for me each side assembly is constructed using four five
and a quarter by six pressure treated decking boards that i picked up from home depot and
is supported with pressure treated 2x4 for the verticals to get the two by fours to sit
flush with the trailer rails i ripped out a piece that would fill in the gap
then use some deck screws to attach the verticals
i also added a chamfer to the ends to give it a more finished look
then with my little helpers attach the first set of decking board
starting with the front side first
to attach it to the rails of the trailer i initially thought about using 4x7 square u-bolts
however i end up fabricating something similar but made it more robust to fit snug
while i was welding up the custom bracket i thought it'd be a good idea to weld some
scrap square ends to be used as a tie-down point by the way i'm using 3 8 hardware with
uh 1 8 inch thick plate steel okay bring the screws bring the screws up here aria
yeah for the install i pre-drilled the holes here as it would be the most secure spot
then repeated the process for the left and right sides making sure each board butts up to the front
boards here i'm checking to make sure the crown side of the boards are facing up when installed
thank you that's it
to get the ramp to close i trimmed a few inches off the ends
to make the front corner connections i looked into a few options
initially i was just going to get these off the shelf brackets but after reading the reviews they
don't seem to work with 2x4 corner connections and my corner setup was a little unique
instead i used some toggle latches the cool thing is that you can adjust this over time
if the connection becomes loose here is a breakdown of the install
time will tell on how they hold up to get a feel on how the sides work i got a yard of bark loaded
it seemed to work out okay as long as i laid out some tarp on the ramp side
and depending on what i'm hauling i may just temporarily add a thin board
to the back to prevent smaller things from falling out but for now tarts need to do the work
next was to get some wheel chocks to keep the trailer from wandering when parked
to make them convenient to carry i added a bungee with a carabiner
foreign
next was to have a place to store and organize all my trailer gear
i got a trailer tongue box and did a quick dry fit i wanted it as far as the back as
possible to clear my tongue jack and also clear my hitch mounted spare tire
i also didn't want to drill into the frame so i ended up using some off-the-shelf
square u-bolts that worked out great
after loading up my gear one other thing i will eventually want to do
is create separate compartments to stay more organized
when i hitch to my 4runner i end up getting these stabilizer jacks to keep the trailer
from being tippy
these also might come in handy for if or when i need to change out a wheel i chose
this particular one because it's a low profile design and i like the range of adjustability and
i can appreciate how well this was designed and how simple it had worked but they needed a minor
tweak to make it mount up to my specific trailer because i had the tools to do it i modified it
and as much as i didn't want to this was the one exception that i made to drill into the trailer
here's actually a quick demo of me over exaggerating on trying to rock the trailer
previously it was quite tippy before i added the sides and the tongue box
now with the stabilizer jacks it was rock solid
i can definitely see this come in handy when driving up something heavier like an atv
especially when the trailer is not hitched up next i added some simple reflective decals
this will help make my trailer more visible for other drivers when in low light conditions
when it comes time to storing the trailer i think adding a cover can be helpful to protect it from
the elements currently i'm just using a tarp as a cover and using my 10 foot john bolt as the
frame piece to hold the tarp in place but down the road i do plan on getting a custom size waterproof
canvas cover i actually got the idea from remackel trailers they use two removable aluminum bows
to help keep the canvas tight from flapping in the wind while driving on the highway because
mine has a ramp i plan on reaching out to heavy duty tarps to get one custom-made for my trailer
this will definitely come in handy since i store my trailer outside and since we're on the topic
of storing to slow down thieves i keep the trailer parked between the street sign and my bigger boat
then i move the boat back to narrow the opening
in addition i do use the proven industry trailer coupler lock
then a padlock for the tongue latch
and then chain up one of the wheels
it's funny i even used a post of the street sign to chain it up and i've also thought about
using my boat as well i know it seems a little bit overkill i'm hoping this will at least slow
thieves down or somewhat detour them i do have cameras and the trailer is insured
but if i can i'd like to do my part to keep my trailer jack wheel from sinking into the
soft ground i use the wheel dock this also prevents my trailer from rolling on pavement
i found that i use this often whenever i need to unhitch my trailer and leave it somewhere
in the near future here are some things i plan to do install some hard rubber pads at the end of my
ramp where it makes contact with the ground to help reduce the amount of paint chipping
next install a spare tire mount and have a dedicated spare for my utility trailer
luckily my boat trailer spec wheels are the same so now i'm just using that spare i also plan on
redoing my custom square u-bolts to make them flush and i may add a second u-bolt to the base
this will help make each bullet point even sturdier as i plan to use these points to
add the x track rails to help make tying down easier also at a later date i plan on removing
the two by fours up front and using some angle or flat bar as a replacement this in turn will
help free up some space and give me the clearance i need to lay my 10-foot john boat completely flat
then once i'm content with all the tweaks i've made i'll spec out a custom waterproof canvas
cover as mentioned earlier that completes what i've done or planned to do to my utility thus far
i've had it for only a few months and i've got to say with the setup it's done so much for me
it's helped me bring my cnc plasma table home and something for my kids to enjoy playing on
has helped me hauled my building supplies for my fence now i'm able to load or haul landscape
material away and it's been something that i've used to store now and trailer my little john belt
if you're interested in what you've seen here i've left links to resources
in the description below if you have any questions ask and i'll do my best to answer
if you'd like to see more videos like this leave me a comment and subscribe if you haven't already
with that out of the way it's time to go load up some more stuff