How to fix Harbor Freight’s 48 x 96″ 1150lb trailer with 12″ wheels
james January 13th, 2010
I purchased a cheap Harbor Freight (HF) 1195 Lb. Capacity 48″ x 96″ Heavy Duty Foldable Utility Trailer with 12″ Wheels, pn 90154 several years ago. It has served my needs over the years but after many failures, I would have been better off buying a nicer trailer in the beginning. Being fresh out of college at the time, I had little money hence the choice.
So, here are the issues and resolutions:
1. Constant bulb burnouts - Solution: LED submersible lights from Northern tool for $60 as well as new crimps, adhesive heat shrink and weatherproof connectors on the lights.
2. Weak frame - Solution: 1/8″ diamond plate steel top instead of plywood - $100 - 200. Reduces capacity by about 200 lbs (1450 GVWR - 262 for trailer - 197 for plate = 991 lb payload which is still fine for two sportbikes). I also put thin shims under the middle framing so that there would be a flat deck for the steel sheet for additional structure.
3. Dust cap falling off - Solution: $2.99 Revised design dust cap from HF, pn 93833 or bearing buddy pn 2047 with cap / protector pn 19b ( I chose the bearing buddy at around $30 shipped for both parts)
4. Bearing Failure - Solution: $4.99 bearing from HF, pn 93834 or pn 30205 from bearingsdirect.com at $11 ( I chose the later, hoping for a better quality part)
5. Bearing Oil Seal - Solution: 30×52x7TC from bearingsdirect.com at $6 (not offered by HF)
6. Sticking Ball Coupler - Solution: 1-7/8″ x 2-1/2″ Ball Coupler from almost anywhere. The new HF ones are nicer than the older design which was sticky from day 1
7. No trailer jack - Solution: Wheeled trailer jack from many sources. I welded a plate on the inner frame for more support for the wheeled type jack.
8. No sides or ramp - Solution: Lots of options, basic instructions are in the manual now (I don’t think they were years ago) HF Trailer Manual
9. Electrical faults - Solution: Find the fault and fix it or replace the whole harness as it is of very poor quality
10. 4 pin connector length - Solution: Get an extension or adapter with some length if your truck doesn’t have a 4 pin connector
11. No spare wheel - Solution: Spare wheel carrier from HF, pn 93341 or other companies. 12″ wheel from HF or Northern Tool.
12. Not many tie down points - Solution: Lots but I chose removable ancra tie-downs in for the flooring, you can also use bed bolts. Then large fixed, circular bits for the sides.
I had to search for a while for some of the parts like bearings, oil seals, etc. Hopefully this list will help others out there with similar issues and bring together a lot of the information required to own and operate one of these trailers for thousands of miles.
- Uncategorized
- Comments(19)
Greatly enjoyed your improvement suggestions for your HF trailer. Just sold my old pickup truck with an eight foot bed, so I need something to replace it for the occasional hauling job. The 1720 lb capacity HF trailer is on sale for $340 - minus 20% coupons floating around, putting the pre-tax and registration cost at $272 - tough to resist. My use for it is very varied: from hauling a 14″ kayak (don’t care to heft it on top of my new Nissan Murano) to the usual home/lawn maintenance stuff from Lowes/Home Depot. I have a friend who has an auto shop, so I hope to weld the trailer instead of using bolts to hold it together.
James, Thanks for the tips. I have the same trailer. Very happy with it but now I have my first issue. I have an inner bearing failure on one wheel. Is HF PN 93834 for both inner & outer? I believe it is just outer. What is “5. Bearing Oil Seal”? I’m thinking this may be the inner bearing since the parts diagram for the trailer lists part #30 as “seal”. If so, does the “seal” include the bearing because I have no inner bearing as it was torn to shreds on my last trip. Thanks for your Time. Drew.
On my Grease seal the number printed on it is 30 52 10. I have the 4×8 folding HF trailer. You say your grease seal is 30×52x7. Do you think they changed the size?
Thanks so much for doing the seal and bearing research. you cannot get these at the local parts store since most of the catalogs they use are in inches instead of mm.
DUDE, you ROCK, been serching for days for the best bearing replacements and dust caps since i disenegrated mine last weekend coming back from the track. One thing though. where did you order the bearing buddy pn 20407 with cap / protector pn 19b i googled it and cant find. Thanks.
Found it at bearingbuddy.com DUH. lol question did you mean pn 2047 not 20407?
2047 is correct, I will fix it in the original post, thank you for catching the typo!
Just thought I’d leave a note thanking you for the information above.
The seals worked perfectly and the bearings were the same part number as what was already in the hubs of my trailer. Just a suggestion for people, like me, who didn’t think this through very well. Make a note that both the inner and outer bearing are the same part number and you need 2 bearings per hub.
Did you have a problem going over 50mph with it? last trailer was a cheap one from china in London UK and i took that over 100 to the motocross tracks and it never bogged down. Dont want to get a lead foot with this one and it fails on me.
Cheers
I regularly took the trailer to highway speeds which means 75mph or so here in the US without notable issue. The larger 12inch wheel/tire should be a strong consideration if you are looking at taking the trailer up to higher speeds as compared to the 8inch wheel/tire offered on some inexpensive trailers.
Thanks for the tip on sourcing seals.
Bought my trailer a few months back and made a couple of 1,800 mile round trips with it recently. Works good. I got it to haul a couple motorcycles one at a time, so it was not loaded heavily…about 400# for the heavier one. didn’t even know it was there. Did 60-65 mph mostly. Some notes:
Lights:
1. Bought the cheap HF LED lights. Used the steel license plate bracket included with the trailer; not the plastic one came with the LED lights.
2. They designed the lights to ground thru the trailer frame. You’d have to rig a bonding cable between each section for that to work good enough. I just ran a white 14 Ga ground wires along side the other wire.
Strength: I didn’t challenge it, but the 1/2 ” plywood deck seemed to work OK to keep the fasteners from loosening. I didn’t find any loose fasteners at all after either trip.
Wheels/bearings: No problems. It came with the bearings greased and installed in the hubs. Before the first use, I just pried the seals out and wiped the grease off/out as best I could and repacked and adjusted just like the instructions for my ‘72 Plymouth. Used “Pennzoil” marine grease (green) from WallyWorld. It rained heavily much of the way both of my trips, and some moisture got in, but the bearings and races are perfect. I’m waiting on some new seals before I repack and store it away for winter. Comes with a zerk fitting to grease the hubs. I prefer to pack ‘em like front wheel bearings on a car; waste grease using the zerks and might blow the seal out.
One thing about the axle: the surface where the seals run is rough “as turned”, not a smooth ground finish. I didn’t have a lot of time to mess with it, but I took some progressively finer abrasive cloth like a shoe shine rag finishing with crocus cloth, and smoothed it up a bit. It will eat seals pretty quick.
Torqued lugs like the instructions say, and they stayed tight no problem.
Trailer Jack: got cheapest one from Northern Supply, cheaper than HF and works fine.
Spare wheel: bought one from HF. My trailer included a mount for the spare. Mounts flat on the tongue.
Tiedown points: I just trimmed the plywood to leave an inch or so gap between the rails and the plywood so I could slip a link through some holes on the top side of the side rails. Worked fine for me to strap the bike down. Thought about using cheap eyebolts, but they aren’t good in this kind of application unless they are the expensive shouldered kind.
I just read this post and had some more info to add. (JAN ‘11) The grease seals are available through HF but you have to call the 1-800 number on the website. I got a very helpful guy on the phone who went through the DIY assembly manual that comes with the trailer. The seals were labeled #99 in the parts list with no part number. The SKU for the seals is 27737 and the cost $1.00 a piece.
James, thanks for the information on the seals. I don’t know how long I looked for the part number for those seals. I figured the bearings and seals were probably metric, but I couldn’t find the right ones. I just ordered two seals from BearingsDirect.com. Same number as you gave, 30×52x7TC. How did you get the number? Did you cross reference it with a number that HF gave you? I also have the Bearing Buddy caps installed on mine. They work great. I haven’t gone on very long trips with the trailer yet, but I plan to carry my Harley to Sturgis on it this August. I did do a few things to mine that nobody else mentioned. First, I put 13 inch tires on it. I figured that way I could haul a heavier load and the bearings would not get as hot because they would be spinning slower. The 13 inch tires are rated at about twice the weight rating as the 12 inch. I purchased them through Northern Tool for less than $200.00 with the shipping. I also use a grease that I’ve been using forever, Royal Purple. If you haven’t tried this stuff, you’re missing out on the best grease in the entire world. Everything runs cooler. The stuff is fantastic. Check out their website, it gives some great information. Anyway, thanks again.
Tom
I have similar experiences as most and think these trailers are great for those of us that don’t haul with a large SUV or truck. Sure I would use a bigger trailer with a bigger car - but my VW Jetta and Pontiac Vibe tow these trailers very well. If you keep your wheels bearings greased I don’t think you will have any trouble with bearings at highway speeds with either the 8″ or 12″ wheels.
I bought a used COLEMAN trailer that was made in 1986 and it is the same trailer that Harbor Freight now sells as the Haul Master 40×48 with the 4.80×8 wheels. I have only owned it a year - the previous owner hauled a Harley Sportster back from Main to Ohio with this trailer. I also bought a used Harbor Freight 40×48 trailer and just used the running gear to make a motorcycle trailer and I just made an 800 mile round trip to Atlanta to pick up a motorcycle and I drove 70 - 75 mph on the 12″ wheels and had no problems.
I just recently bought a brand new Harbor Freight 40×48 trailer for a friend and I am making it into a motorcycle trailer for him. Modifications will include mounting a center rail for the bike. I also welded a small plate on the bottom of the axle and drilled a hole in the plate to accept the bolt that holds the springs together and I am mounting the springs below the axle to allow the trailer to be a couple of inches lower for a better center of gravity. I think you could probably do this without welding by grinding off a little bit of the round portion of the axle that protrudes below the channel - just enough that the axle will have a flat bottom that sits firmly on the springs - then drill enough of a recessed hole for the locating pin on the springs. (You will have to remove this pin and install it upside down from the original direction). I also drilled a small hole in the back of the hub that is located between the bearing race and the rear grease seal. I have threaded this hole and installed a small allen screw and O-ring. This will allow me to remove the screw and pump grease into the hub zerk fitting and when the grease comes out the hole I will know the rear bearing is greased - I will then replace the screw and O-ring and take off the dust cap and add more grease until the grease comes out the front bearing. This will allow me to grease both the rear and front bearings completely without having to take the hub off. I have a friend with a metal fabrication company that is going to bend some rails with a V-shaped front wheel chalk that will hold the front tire better than the rails that are available for these trailers, and make a longer ramp so the bike is not so hard to load as it is with the short little ramp they make.
I’ve used this trailer many times to take 1-2 sportbikes to the racetrack and my favorite options at this stage are using either a Baxley chock with straps through the swingarms for the rear or to use a pitbull trailer restraint system and a single strap at the front wheel. The pitbull system is more expensive and motorcycle specific but prevents the motorcycle from moving around the vertical or z axis. The Baxley is a little more universal and you can put quick releases on the mounts so that you can take it off the trailer and use it during a track day or in your shop when you are done. Both methods largely avoid motorcycle suspension compression to get everything solidly mounted on the trailer.
Has anyone ever checked the round-ness and true-ness of the 12″ wheels on their new HF 4×8′ trailer? I just finished assembling my new HF 4×8′ trailer (p/n 90154) and found the wheels are a bit off when I spin them. One side seems to wobble side to side a bit (camber?) when spun. It wobbles about 1/4″ at most. The other side seems to wobble about 1/8 - 1/4″. The metal wheels themselves also seem a bit out of round, by maybe 1/8 to 1/4″. Has anyone ever tried contacting HF to get replacements?
I never checked the wheels for dimensional symmetry but that is a good idea. The manufacturing techniques are not exactly high precision and this would not surprise me at all and would certainly lead to premature failures. If you have an HF store nearby that might be an option and it can’t hurt to ask for a replacement.
I have the HF 4X8′ trailer with 12″ wheels. I have put 2,000 miles (90% highway). Everything is working fine so far. I would like to know at what mileage should I inspect and re-pack the bearings? Trailer is stored in garage when not in use. Load capacity for the above 2,000 miles traveled was <75% of name plate recommendation. Few episodes of driving through heavy rain. North Carolina climate.
James…GREAT POST!!!
I have gone through many trial and error runs to improve or modify my trailer. Thanks go to both you as well as Devin for information regarding the seals. I have done all the mods you have with the addition of a couple more that I will list below.
Here are the things I have done to my trailer. It’s pseudo ghetto-fabulous but I am really happy. The modifications I have done were to cater to carry one or two motorcyles as well as have multiple set ups for different motorcyles and such. I had the biggest problem with electrical ground, wires getting ripped, and my trailer licence plate getting ripped.
Lighting/Electrical Ground/Wires getting ripped–
I completely scrapped the trailer lights that came with it and bought magnetic towing lights from Harbor Freight (part # 67455 or 66186 for the LED option). I took off the lights and the L brackets. I simply put the lights on the trailer (since they are magnetic) and routed the wires that connects both lights together underneath the trailer frame/beam. I bunched the wires together by wrapping them in electrical tape. I then used the metal clips that came with trailer originally to hold the wires in place as it runs underneath the trailer frame/beams. The magnets alone will not be enough to move the lights, so I wrapped many loops safety wire to go in between the outer holes that were there originally there. Ive had this setup for almost 2 years not and it has never failed me yet!!! The rest of the long wires from the magnetic towing lights that will connect to the car I bunch them up together in electrical tape also all the way to the 4 pin connector. I made hanging loops for the now bunched wire to come in and out of easily by using zip ties that went around the existing drilled holes underneath the trailer. I also mounted additional hanging loops on the side of the trailer by using rubber insulated clamps (Item Item #67657 at Harbor Freight) and attached them by using self tapping screws. NOTE: Do not close the loop. Just mount one end so the clamps are open. So now all I have to do when guiding the wires is feed them through my cable tie loops, existing stake clamps and rubber insulated clamps so it runs on the right side of the trailer. So now instead of feeding and fumbling the wires to give it slack when folding the trailer–I just simply unplug the connector from my car and just coil the wire up and velcro loop it secure and fold it. Hopefully I didnt confuse anyone too much. Its a lot easier than it sounds. This was the best mod that fixed a majority of my problems.
Trailer Licence Plate getting ripped off–
Ive had to replace my trailer plates too many times because it would just get ripped off from the wind or get folded because after a tiring day at the track I forget to bungie or use a tie town to secure the trailer when folded before bringing it upright. I found some piano hinge or door hinge in my garage and just bolted it to the bottom section of the trailer. I then drilled holes on my trailer licence plate and bolted them together. NOTE–make sure you mount the trailer plate IN FRONT of the piano hinge so you are not concealing any of the numbers or letters of your plate! Now my plate will pivot on a hinge whenever it gets windy. As for lighintg the plate at night, I found a small LED stick on light at Harbor Freight (sorry, cant find the part # online) that uses a magnet to turn on and off. They say its good for cabinets. I simply keep the magnet in my car and when its time to turn on the lights I just stick the magnet close to the light (its a small and strong magnet) close to the light to turn it on. (I also use this chance to check the hubs by touching them to make sure my bearings are not overheating).
Now I want to find a way to somehow make my aluminum bi-fold and tri-fold ramps (Item #90018 and Item #90799 at Harbor Freight) also act as fencing/sides) but can also be used to load and unload my bike. The latest idea is to have 2×4 stakes and drill holes on aluminum ramps and 2×4 stakes and use possibly cotter pins so I can secure the ramp to the stakes—and easily remove the ramp without the use of tools.
Those were the biggest things I’ve done. Here are the rest.
Tie Down Points–
I put as many eye bolts as I could on the sides of the trailer. But the best thing I did was adding E-track on the deck of my trailer. It runs along the edge of the deck on the rear half. I have a small section of e track on the middle of the deck on the front half. I may add more E-track when I may need more
Weak Frame–
This is something I took care of from the get-go. I installed the trailer at a friend’s place that also welds. We loosely assembled it and tried to make the trailer as true as possibly. (that took over an hour of loosening, tightening, pushing, pulling, etc) Once we did that I had him weld it up. Then I just removed the bolts. So now my trailer frame is more robust.
Decking–
Another thing I took care of from the get-go…GET DIAMOND PLATING!!! The cheapest source for me was at diamondlifegear.com