Trailer Tool Box necessities......?
 

Ok.......Finally decided on my trailer purchase and will be taking delivery in a few weeks after she is built.......let's hear from the experts, a list of what tools I should have in my Trailers Tool Box...... I want to leave nothing out........thanks in advance guys........and any maintenance tips you have are welcome too..........

Besides the usual hand tools in my box I carry some spare parts for the trailer. Understanding that your trailer is new and shouldn't have any problems. I carry 2 sets of axel bearings( the old sets that I took out when I changed them all). grease gun and spare tube of grease. Wheel chocks, bottle jack, light bulbs, small box of misc. screws and small bolts, some spare bilge plugs. and bungy cords. I also saved 2 of the axel springs and bolted them to the inside of the trailer frame. What I noticed is that when I see a trailer broken down on the side of the road it is usually due to a bad bearing, or broken spring, hard to find the right ones while on the road. Also if a cop pulls you over for a bad light, always good to carry some spare bulbs. Hope that helps?

good list......Thanks.....getting started on it now........

I just redid lots of stuff on my trailer, im going to add boxes as well. I have an old hub that I took off and it is still in usable shape, I am going to put new races and bearings in it and keep it in there in a plastic bag as insurance, for about 25 buks I have a hub ready to bolt right on.

I have a cell phone and a BoatUS trailering club card. :D

That part is true :D, but I also carry a big bottle jack, spare hub and tire, flares, tire chalks, tiedown straps, etc.
As long as you are prepared, nothing usually happens!

Some trailers, like a Myco torsion axle trailer; are difficult if not impossible to use a bottle jack on the back of the spindle.

For this reason, try jacking up your new trailer when you get it. You may have to carry a bunch of 2x6s to build as ramps.

I also carry a 12"x12" steel plate that is 1/4" thick. It is great for placing a jack on soft ground, and/or under the tongue jack when on soft ground.

This thread makes for an educational read!
Thanks!

good spot for a spare battery...

In addition to the list above:
A few wood 2x6 and 4x4 for blocking, chocking,etc.
A good 1/2" or 3/4" breaker bar and cheater bar and I like to have impact or high quality sockets matched to the wheel lugs of both the truck and trailer on top of a standard socket set and basic tools.
WD40 or a penetrating oil.
For basic tools, I bought three of these sets. I keep one in each truck (dually and company work truck) and the boat.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...3524_200223524

One other neat gadget to have is a small inverter that plugs into your cigarette lighter. It is not enough to run an electric impact gun but it works great to plug a spotlight into or to recharge cordless tool bateries.

I carry a complete hub assembly also. One thing that alot of folks forget abouit is to make certain that you have some wind in the spare tire.

I also carry some chain, and bolts just in case I need to chain up an axle to get off the road.

And buy a Laser Pyrometer (Laser Temperature Gun). But keep that in the glovebox of the truck. PRICELESS tool & you use it with the trailer looking for temp uniformity across calipers, rotors, drums, hubs, and tires when towing. Anything outside of 10-15% difference is a problem!

+1. All the spare tires in the world won't do you any good if you can't break the lug nuts loose. As someone else mentioned I always carry extra rachet straps and some chain in case I need to limp in on 5 wheels.

Couple of other things: Hand cleaner wipes for after you finish fixing the trailer on the side of the interstate. A rubber mallet in case you have to do some redneck fender repairs.

And bungee straps which can hold that banged up fender on for a few miles as well.

I keep a breaker bar in the truck at all times with an impact wrench set of sockets. I never trust any vehicle's tire iron/wrench.

Also, some aluminum wheels have pockets/tubes that the lugs cinch down into. Make sure your socket has thin enough walls that it will slip onto your lugs and into the pocket of the wheel.

I usually leave the socket that fits the trailer on the breaker bar, and at easy access when filling up the truck. It only takes a couple minutes to check the trailer lugs when filling-up; along with the temps. Aluminum wheels will expand and contract with heat; which tends to loosen lug nuts. It sucks when a wheel comes off at speed. Ask me how I know that.


Also, it sucks when you end up having the put the truck/trailer so far in the water due to a crappy ramp that your toolbox(es) get wet. Straight bottom boat owners probably are not as liable to this as step bottom boat owners. Regardless, make sure the trailer boxes are mounted up high.

I also like how Myco sometimes mounts two spares to the trailer, one on either side of the bow stop. They act as an extra set of hands/guides when loading in a current/breeze. Noticed this on Jassby's trailer, and wish I had it on mine. My last trailer came with a fixed spindle as part of the spare with a full set of packed bearings/hub all ready to go.

Good info, thanks for bringing it up

All great information......thanks so much guys !!!!! I am sure this thread helped a few other people along with myself.......

Absolutely!!! Good stuff. Kind of a quick reference for us all:coolcowboy:

A midget in the tool box in case he needs to change a flat.

Brian,
That's exactly why I went with the "Manning" torsion axle, my bottle jack lifts up "both" axles at once :eek:! How's it going, the seasons getting close!
Steve

How big of a bottle jack do you have......I don't want to go over kill........

Depends on what you are trying to jack up...

I carry two bottle jacks, and can jack up a whole side of my trailer. I don't remember what capacity they are, but I'll look when I get chance.

But if you get a smaller bottle jack and and can sneak it in directly behind the tire and lift the back of the torsion axle spindle housing directly up, all you need is capacity enough to lift up 1/2 half of your axle's capacity. Go overkill here though. If you have 4000 lbs. axles, get a 2-ton jack and try to jack up just one wheel/tire. If the jack's base is too big though, it's going to put the piston portion of the jack too far away from the spindle housing.

Also remember, if you have a flat, the spindle will be closer to the ground. You will need a short enough jack, and maybe the 2x6s to drive up on with the other good tires--to get the spindle jacked up.

My truck box includes the following for trailer purposes:

• 2.5 ton Summit aluminum "racing" floor jack - ~25# and well worth it
• "star" lug wrench
• 10-19mm deep sockets
• 3/8"-7/8" deep sockets
• combo wrench kit 5/16"-1" and 8mm-22mm
• Ratchet and basic shallow sockets
• 1/2" drive torque wrench with 3/8" adapter
• 2 spare bearing buddies
• 4 bearing buddy caps
• grease gun
• tub of grease
• brake fluid
• several feet of high-strength 3/8" chain for chaining up an axle - also 3/8" grade 8 bolt/washers/nyloc nuts
• 6 - 12" long 2 x 6's
• 10 spare lug nuts

That should get you out of most jams that are trailer related.

Great list DynoJet !!!.......now I think I need a much bigger tool box for the truck.......lol......

Actually, you'd be suprised how compact all that stuff really is, other than the jack handle. It takes up about 1/3 of my tool box, or less. I've got one of the units that sits flush with the bed rails, so it's virtually hidden from the side of the truck.

How about a Trunkmonkey:drink:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8avOiTUcD4Y&feature=player_detailpage[/YOUTUBE]

I only ever had to work on my trailer along the road one time, and that is when we moved from Ohio to North Carolina. I always take very good (maybe to the point of excessive) care of the trailer bearings/brakes/coupler/lights, etc. Trailer had surge disc brakes. One caliper/hub overheated going down the big mountains in Virginia on I-77. I limped into one of the rest areas at the bottom of the mountain where I was going to just swap out the entire hub. I was rather proud of myself because I had everything I needed all ready to go (spare hub with pre-packed bearings, bottle jack, hand cleaner, plenty of wipes, all of the tools necessary to change out the hub in a pre-planned "package") in the truck ... except the allen wrench that fit into the brake caliper bolt :eek:. The caliper bolts did not have the external hex heads such that you could use a socket or wrench or an allen wrench ... they were round with an interal hex. Could not pull the hub off without first removing, or rotating, the caliper. I got very lucky that one of the truckers at the rest stop happened to have an allen wrench that fit the GM caliper bolts. I now have two of those in my tool box!

Someone already mentioned about having a thin wall socket to fit the lug nuts for aluminum wheels - the wheels on my Myco require a really thin wall, deep well socket!