86 GMC squarebody, my introduction to bodywork.

[Blmpkn]

That should weld like my Mig 170 or whatever on 110V, I'm sure you'll be happy. I haven't gotten a bottle for mine yet as I'm still on flux core (would recommend a bottle for body work) but it is butter smooth... I would check the settings on some scrap, might need more or less.

It's still in the box but I'm already more than happy big upgrade from my Chicago Flux unit lol.

Definitely getting a bottle for the body work, I know that if your super patient/delicate body stuff can be done with Flux... but... I'm not super patient or delicate

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, I was doing some sheet metal stuff a few months ago with flux core and got impatient, it worked but not ideal... luckily it was just fixing a 10 cubic foot garden tractor trailer floor skin...

 

[Blmpkn]

Made some decent "progress"..

Ordered most of the patch panels to fix the cab, ordered new body mounts, ordered a gallon + a quart of tintable monstaliner for a two tone paint scheme, and got some collectors to start rebuilding this thing an exhaust.

Oh yeah ordered a gallon of corroseal as well.

Headed out to the border of NH to snag myself a couple sweet axles in an hour or so

 

[Blmpkn]

Come to find out dana 60s by themselves usually go for around 1200$.. so getting both the 60 and a 14bff for 600 is making me super happy.

Turning my buddys trailer into the shape of a potato chip is not making me happy...

No tounge jack on the trailer, so to transfer it onto my wheeler to put it where it needed to go required a floor jack. As soon as I jack it high enough for the trailer come off the ball it immediately falls off the jack and onto the ground -__- so my 600$ axles are REALLY gonna cost me 1600.

Ugh. I feel so bad.. it could probably be straightened out and braced up... but.. I'll do that myself after I buy him a new one.

Dammit dammit dammit.

 

[Roert42]

Good news, now you don’t have to drag the axels off the trailer right away?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Gotta love an optimistic view point.

 

[Blmpkn]

Good news, now you don’t have to drag the axels off the trailer right away?

That AND I'm ending up with a bigger trailer haha.

Once it's fixed it'll be a big upgrade from my 4x8 hazard fraught folder. Crazy how flimsy these tractor supply trailers are built though.... this ones pretty much nothing but angle steel and expanded metal. Shouldn't take much to make this thing much sturdier.

 

[Roert42]

Crazy how flimsy these tractor supply trailers are built though

That's what I heard.

I ended up buying a Holmes car trailer to use as a utility trailer ( doubles as a car trailer), has stake pockets for if I wanted to put of walls. Way heavier duty. Can carry full 16' lumbar.

Only complaint is that it's wide, and I got the 18' one instead of the 16' one. So it can be a pain to maneuver in tight parking lots/ lumber yards. The ranger is short enough it's never been an actual issue though. I would have liked the aluminum one instead of the steel one, since it's almost half the weight, but it cost more then twice as much.

Think I paid a little over 3k for is in 2019 with spare tire, heavy D rings on the deck, ramps, powder coated frame, ect.

 

[bilbo]

I think I have that exact same trailer. I agree it's quite flimsy. I carried a few too many patio pavers on it once and it bent one of the cross bars the tongue is bolted to. I found out this winter it was actually cracked, no good. I was able to bend it mostly back and weld it, and added some metal to tie the tongue into a couple more of the cross braces. I also had a few too many bags of sackrete on it last summer and the edge of the fender was cutting the tire. So I bent the lip of the fender up and made it home. It has carried thing it never should have and has never let me down. All things said, it's been a good trailer for the $600 I paid for it.

I just bought a 7X16' enclosed trailer and went all Aluminum. It was slightly more than steel, about 10% so not too bad, and gets me about 500 lb. of additional capacity. Plus it shouldn't have corrosion issues like steel does. Hooked up with the ramp down, there's about a foot to spare to the road at the end of my driveway. Glad I didn't go bigger!

 

[Roert42]

I carried a few too many patio pavers on it once and it bent one of the cross bars the tongue is bolted to. I found out this winter it was actually cracked, no good. I was able to bend it mostly back and weld it, and added some metal to tie the tongue into a couple more of the cross braces.

I think @sgtsandman had similar issues with his dump trailer he uses for camping. With all the modification he has made to it, you can hardly say it's the same trailer anymore.

 

[Blmpkn]

That's what I heard.

I ended up buying a Holmes car trailer to use as a utility trailer ( doubles as a car trailer), has stake pockets for if I wanted to put of walls. Way heavier duty. Can carry full 16' lumbar.

Only complaint is that it's wide, and I got the 18' one instead of the 16' one. So it can be a pain to maneuver in tight parking lots/ lumber yards. The ranger is short enough it's never been an actual issue though. I would have liked the aluminum one instead of the steel one, since it's almost half the weight, but it cost more then twice as much.

Think I paid a little over 3k for is in 2019 with spare tire, heavy D rings on the deck, ramps, powder coated frame, ect.

3k isn't bad at all... probably cost a good bit more nowadays though.

My buddy bought this one probably 4-5 years ago for 700 bucks, same trailer now is 1k.

I think I have that exact same trailer. I agree it's quite flimsy. I carried a few too many patio pavers on it once and it bent one of the cross bars the tongue is bolted to. I found out this winter it was actually cracked, no good. I was able to bend it mostly back and weld it, and added some metal to tie the tongue into a couple more of the cross braces. I also had a few too many bags of sackrete on it last summer and the edge of the fender was cutting the tire. So I bent the lip of the fender up and made it home. It has carried thing it never should have and has never let me down. All things said, it's been a good trailer for the $600 I paid for it.

I just bought a 7X16' enclosed trailer and went all Aluminum. It was slightly more than steel, about 10% so not too bad, and gets me about 500 lb. of additional capacity. Plus it shouldn't have corrosion issues like steel does. Hooked up with the ramp down, there's about a foot to spare to the road at the end of my driveway. Glad I didn't go bigger!

I noticed that there's little to no triangulation on the trailer. All the joints are 90°... certainly doesn't help. Damage wouldn't of been as bad if things were even mildly triangulated.

 

[sgtsandman]

I think @sgtsandman had similar issues with his dump trailer he uses for camping. With all the modification he has made to it, you can hardly say it's the same trailer anymore.

Mine straight up broke right at a weld point. Bilbo's trailer sounds like a Harbor Freight trailer, the tongue setup is different with them. Good points and bad points to both setups.

In any case, the issue was fixed by using 2"X2"X 0.25" square tubing. The main frame will fail before the tongue ever does now. I am still working on getting the center of balance back to where it was as I have time. Life keeps getting in the way.

 

[gw33gp]

One of my nephews bought my dads square body Chevy that was used as a farm truck for many years. I don't know what year it is. It was rusted out pretty bad. My dad was not able to drive anymore. My nephew put a good bed on it and fixed the rest of the rust, rebuilt the running gear, painted it, put on some nice wheels and tires and gave it a little lift. He gets many compliments and has gotten offered way more than what he has into it.

He does not want to let it go out of respect for my dad and prefers to keep it in the family. It was one of the first vehicles in the procession after the Hearst for my dads funeral.

 

[Blmpkn]

One of my nephews bought my dads square body Chevy that was used as a farm truck for many years. I don't know what year it is. It was rusted out pretty bad. My dad was not able to drive anymore. My nephew put a good bed on it and fixed the rest of the rust, rebuilt the running gear, painted it, put on some nice wheels and tires and gave it a little lift. He gets many compliments and has gotten offered way more than what he has into it.

He does not want to let it go out of respect for my dad and prefers to keep it in the family. It was one of the first vehicles in the procession after the Hearst for my dads funeral.

Love stories like this, thank you for sharing.

Squarebodies are getting up there in price as of late. Lots of money to be made flipping them if someone is willing to do a little wrenching/bodywork.

I'm about 3500$ invested in mine so far, including purchase of the truck. I'm expecting to have around 6k in it by the time it's road ready. With how the market is up here I'd definitely be able to turn it for a profit.

 

[bilbo]

Mine straight up broke right at a weld point. Bilbo's trailer sounds like a Harbor Freight trailer, the tongue setup is different with them. Good points and bad points to both setups.

In any case, the issue was fixed by using 2"X2"X 0.25" square tubing. The main frame will fail before the tongue ever does now. I am still working on getting the center of balance back to where it was as I have time. Life keeps getting in the way.

I got it from Menards, which is kind of the Harbor Freight of construction I suppose. The tongue is a piece of 2X3Xthin rectangular tube, and is bolted between two pieces of angle iron welded across the first two cross braces. So when loaded, it's pulling down on the second cross brace, and pulled the vertical leg of the angle iron apart. I never did like the way that was set up and vowed to change it, but other things always took higher priority. I found the crack when re-wiring the lights and figured I'd better fix it sooner than later. I did notice it welded weird. It was kind of inconsistent and would burn through in places, using my usual settings for 1/8" steel. I wonder if they make them from bed frames?