Snowmobile Trailer

We picked up some new to us sleds this past winter; 2001 Panther 440 and a 2002 Z570. Both with electric start and reverse. Ice upgrades from our 1996 machines. Part of the deal was this trailer.

The previous owner thinks it’s a Chilton trailer. It’s certainly an older trailer as it has a straight tongue and it’s a steel frame. It’s been recently painted and has a new deck. The clamshell is in good shape with no dents and it opens and closes easily. The trailer also tilts for loading and unloading.

I’d like to paint the front here as it has a few areas where the paint has worn off. I have some self etching primer, regular primer and some low gloss black.

My janky wiring setup. 4 pin from the tow vehicle to 4 pin to 7 pin adapter to 7 pin on the trailer. I used this to get the trailer back from VT and it worked well.

The trailer has bearing buddies….but they’ve been tack welded to the hub?!?!? I’m worried about accessing the hub nut. I believe removing that c clip will allow removal of the spring and cap with the zerk and then the hub nut? New hubs may be in order here.

Two thing here: see the duct tape on the valve stem? I was doing a pre trip inspection a few weeks back and heard a clicking when I jacked up that side of the trailer and spun the wheel. Turns out, the wheel was on backwards and the valve stem was hitting part of the axle. I promptly flipped the wheel around.

Also of note, these tires are a little dry rotted for my my comfort. I’ll most likely order a new set of tires/wheels from e-trailer.com.
LEDs all around. These things pop during the day and are bright at night. I’m going to replace that light bar on the “bumper”. It’s cracked and replacements are cheap enough. I’ve been trying to make out that old lettering on the trailer for months. No luck as of yet.

Inside of the trailer with our two 1996’s that I’m going to sell. Inside of the trailer has been insulated. That actually makes quite a difference. The trailer was in our driveway in VT for a few months in direct sunlight. The inside got warm, it never really hot.

I need to investigate some leaks and replace those insulation panels. The trailer has three interior incandescent lights that can be switched on with a switch near the front hatch. They do a pretty good job lighting up the inside. I was going to get some LED light strips to supplement, but the current setup works rather well considering.

The two upper rear clearance lights had some water enter them. This one unfortunately has a bit of a flicker. I’m thinking of drilling a small weep hole on the underside to prevent this from happening. I’m not sure how these typically drain. Does the water usually drain behind the unit? If so, wondering of the top trailer lip and glob of silicone on these two lights prevented that.

So, looking forward to tinkering around with this. I’ll probably use this for hauling brush to the compost center and other random jobs around the house. It may be a way for me to make some room up north by brining the 4 wheeler back to the flatlands in the winter and storing it in the trailer.

I’ll be sure to keep,this thread updated and welcome any suggestions as many of you have much more experience than I.

 

Can it haul firewood?

 

Get 2 spare wheels/tires. Have EVERYTHING you need to change a flat/blown tire along the interstate!
The 18.5x8.5x8 tires blow out often! Run them at max psi (probably 50).
Spray the lug nuts often to keep the rust off. Never Seize the studs.
Add a 7pin RV style plug to your tow vehicle to help keep the plug clean/corrosion free. Grease the plug with dielectric grease. Check to make sure the light fixtures are grounded through the plug and not just grounded to the trailer frame.

 

Some really good tips right here TurboDiesel ... could save a whole lot of grief out on the road.

 

Yes, yes they do.
Fairly small diameter tire, so only 65 mph speed rating (if even that high) but how many people only go 65?
Overloading is pretty easy to do with these small tires, and as you mentioned, often not run at max pressure...add it all up and it makes for a not so reliable tire.

 

Iv'e blown 7-8 of those tires.
Last one i changed took 12 minutes to change along i95 near Biddeford, Me.
Looked like a nascar stop.

 

Great advice! I’m going to get the higher load rated tires as well. Better safe than sorry. And I’ll probably get new lug nuts too. Those look a bit crusty.

Quick story on the ground. My buddy helped me haul these sleds up from CT when we bought them in late Feb/early March. He’s got a newer Ram, so no problem towing this trailer. We took a sharp corner before getting on the highway and lost running lights. Long story short, the ground wire to the frame had come undone at a butt connector. Wasn’t visible at the time. I replaced it with a new wire this past spring.

 

Oh yeah! But probably wouldn’t want to stack it high!

 

Believe it or not, that was me Wednesday evening. I towed it home with a 2013 RX350 that does not have the tow package; larger radiator and aux trans cooler. I installed the hitch and wiring myself. It towed wonderfully and I wanted to take it slow and keep temps cool. I kept the speed between 60-65 and stayed in the right lane. I had a few instances where I went to 70 just to get a little extra speed before a longer highway incline. When you tow at a “lower” highway speed, you really get a sense of how fast most people drive.

 

I'm glad they post speed limits. So i know how fast i should be driving.

 

Sealed up some leaks with Flexseal. Stuff seems to work pretty well. The roof leak stained the insulation, so I’ll probably replace a few panels. That spot I sealed by the vertical support actually wasn’t leaking. It looks like when installing the outside aluminum panel, the installer missed the support. So two screws not anchored to anything. Sealed them off just to be safe.

Sold the two older sleds recently, so I have more room to get in the trailer and start interior work. May clean up some wiring too.

 

Yeah, v that said looks like a Chilton trailer. I've seen a few of them, considering that they are made about 45 minutes north of where I live.

I will say that the size of tires hasn't been an issue for me. We've put tons of miles on them. Only had 1 of these types fail. Then again, I always check air pressure I on smaller tires, and I don't speed when trailering. Typically at least regarding speeding.

This size tire is kind of the only tire for sled trailers. Anything taller raises the center of gravity on the wide sled trailers.

 

Thanks for confirming! Unfortunately, the ID tag is long gone. Good to know what I have. Overall, it’s a solid trailer.

 

I sold the older sleds back in the fall to a nice younger couple locally in CT. They were going to use them at their family place in Maine. It was nice to see the machines go to a good home; vs. some kid who would put bar risers and Monster Energy stickers on them. ; )

The trailer has been parked in the backyard (tires on some extra cement pavers I had) since I bought it back from VT.

I picked up a needle scaler from Harbor Freight and started working on the frame.



Brushed on some primer:



Removed a mouse house from the rear section:

Found this with the scaler. Luckily, the only weak spot on the trailer. I did a lot of priming and painting underneath. I scaled, primed and painted the entire axle.


The prior pain was a gloss black which I believe was just painted over without any prep. I went with satin which looks better IMHO.



I call this setup “The Decapatator” I had removed the shell lift pistons to gain access to that area of the frame. Installing them is a challenge. I’m going to need a second set of hands to install them while I hold the shell up. And that thing is pretty heavy!



I’ve made some good progress on the inside replacing some of the foam panels that were damaged, moldy or crusty. I also found two more leaks and Flexsealed those from the inside and outside.




And after having the Ridgeline since October, finally a test tow!

So a little funny story here…. The RL towed no problem at all. But the trailer was making quite a racket any time there was a small road imperfection. Granted, the trailer was unloaded, bit it’s not exactly “light”. I had a 1 7/8” ball for the 2” hitch. Not correct, but shouldn’t be making that much noise. I also had an anti rattle plate installed on the hitch/drawbar.

Once I got back home, I realized the issue. Unloaded, the area where the pin is for the tilt feature moves about 1/4”+. So that gives a nice metal to metal “CLUNK” from time to time. I’ll fix that with some rubber.

I test fitted the new LED light bar in the bumper and it works well. I’ll install that when the paint dries.

Next up: Tires and wheels. Current setup are 8” wheels. I’m looking to go 10” to help with highway towing. Should only raise the trailer 1”. Galvanized wheels as well. Also, looking to get some galvanized hubs. Current ones are pretty crusty.

 

That looks like some kind of Wile E Coyote trap....

Lotta work there, lookin

 

LOL! I knew I should have put that bag of “Acme Bird Seed” in there!

 

Hi, a couple of things, first i would only wire for a 4 prong plug, unless it has brakes if it does that starts more work to update. without brake as I said you only need the 4 prong plug, to add the interior light just tap into the tail light wire, the inside light should have its own switch. Second, the trailer with the sleds will likely be about 2200#, the trailer is likely rated for 2500#, back in the day it was very common that trailer under 2500# only had a 1,7/8 coupler even on a 2" sq tong, and trailers small wheels need grease more, and air checked, tire life is max 7 yrs. I live on a major hwy to snowmobile country in central Ontario, lots of trailers going by all the time, by the mid/end of Febuary I start seeing quit a few trailers on the side of the road, with blown tires and wheel bearing issues. I'm sure I've just shared with you stuff you already know, and good job on refurbishing your trailer! enjoy your Adventures!

 

Thank you Sir! Good point on the wiring. The interior lights are on a switch, so that’s handy. It does have a 7 prong on it currently. Unfortunately, whoever rewired it, just used some generic black wiring. So every wire on the trailer is black. Should be “fun” to chase down a wiring issue going forward!

Appreciate the info on the wheels. The setup on there now is over 7 years old based on my best guess. I should look for date codes on the tires. There’s some dry rot on both unfortunately. I just need to order that new set. And I’ll have to pull the hubs to measure for new ones.

Good to know about the weight rating! With no ID tag, it’s nice to have a baseline of info.

 

Are the wires numbered? Often times when they are all the same color there is a number printed right on each wire.. Heavy trucks are often that way...all the same wire colors!

 

And VW’s, entire vehicle harness of white wires. Had a Golf GTI for a hot minute. When the electrical gremlins started popping up it went down the road.