Don't post much but gained a lot of information from this section of the board. Bought this 16' BigTex with a rotten deck, faded paint, and bad lights for $400. Two 3500 lb Axles, one with brakes.

Before:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o235/rock_macaque/DSC01703.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o235/rock_macaque/DSC01702.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o235/rock_macaque/DSC01707.jpg

After:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o235/rock_macaque/DSC01847.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o235/rock_macaque/DSC01841.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o235/rock_macaque/DSC01842.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o235/rock_macaque/DSC01844.jpg

Specs are as follows:

Used 2" x 10" x 16' Pressure Treated Pine
Soaked it with a combination of Olypic deck treatment and Linseed Oil using the "bug sprayer" method (thanks TrailerGuy)
Attached deck with 3/8" - 2.5" long Carriage bolts

First coat of paint was POR-15 - pricey but coated very well. It did EXACTLY what you guys said it would do and chalked up in the sun after about 2 weeks. After that we threw on a coat of gloss black farm and implement paint (Valspar) and that has held up well.

Pulled her for over 600 miles last weekend and did great. Brakes were redone before I got it and we're pretty grabby, especially with the rig off but they stopped well. Needs a few small things like reflective tape and a winch but other than that seems to be doing well. In total I have close to $950 including paints, light, bolts, etc.

Thanks for all the info - hope this helps someone else.

That looks great, you really got a deal there. Good work.

That looks good. Looks like a Big Tex trailer.

Definately a good deal, especially for what I have in my trailer!

Great deal! I have about $1000 into my trailer ($600 + $400 in parts), and it doesn't look that nice!

Nice work. It's hard to know without seeing/feeling it myself but I wonder if a top notch brake controller would make the trailer brakes seem less "grabby".

Thanks for the kind words. We worked hard on it and my wife helped alot. Luckily she likes to paint because I hate it. It was painted entirely by hand.

As far as the brakes go I'm fairly new to the towing scene so I may need some advice. The controller came with my truck and it is a Kelsey. I set it at the lowest sensitivity on the dial. With the rig on it seemed okay. With it off and the slightest tap on the brakes it would lock up.

On the deck I initially thought I would order some of those self-tapping torx head screws that the deck was originally attached with. Once somebody mentioned carriage bolts though I decided to go that route. I think there are close to 50 (qty.) in the deck. 2 per board. Lots of drilling but I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon.

I ordered the self-tapping deck screws to redeck mine... but I underguesstimated. I ordered 200 and some quick math shows that I will need 290 if I want to put two per board on every crossmember. I'll either have to go with every other crossmember or order 100 more screws.

Nice work. It's hard to know without seeing/feeling it myself but I wonder if a top notch brake controller would make the trailer brakes seem less "grabby".

Thanks for the kind words. We worked hard on it and my wife helped alot. Luckily she likes to paint because I hate it. It was painted entirely by hand.

As far as the brakes go I'm fairly new to the towing scene so I may need some advice. The controller came with my truck and it is a Kelsey. I set it at the lowest sensitivity on the dial. With the rig on it seemed okay. With it off and the slightest tap on the brakes it would lock up.

On the deck I initially thought I would order some of those self-tapping torx head screws that the deck was originally attached with. Once somebody mentioned carriage bolts though I decided to go that route. I think there are close to 50 (qty.) in the deck. 2 per board. Lots of drilling but I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon.

As the previous owner of the trailer, I want the damn thing back :D. Just kidding. The lights are pimp :grinpimp:

I had a cheapo drawtite controller in my Dodge and with it turned down when empty the brakes would work fine, turned up they sure liked to grab!! :laughing::laughing: Not to insult you but are you sure you have the sensitivity turned the right way? If you want we can play around with it this w/e

BTW, I like how you posted a pic of me working on the trailer but none of your beautiful wife working on it, your right, you don't post here enough to know pirate etiquette :flipoff2:

As the previous owner of the trailer......

What? I thought I was the former owner?


Looks better than it did when I sold it to Joe all those years ago. Glad you were able to get the title straightened out.

Duke

That looks really good. I've been looking at trailers and that encourages me to look at some in worse shape.

Thanks for posting.

Looks good.. I did the same with my big tex trailer.. In fact, my trailer looks pretty similar, but mines a 20' deck... and I used 2x6's...
Sweet!
Scott

I ordered the self-tapping deck screws to redeck mine... but I underguesstimated. I ordered 200 and some quick math shows that I will need 290 if I want to put two per board on every crossmember. I'll either have to go with every other crossmember or order 100 more screws.

Damn dude - that thing is going to be stout as hell. I thought about it for a second but then decided I wanted to something relatively easy to pull off when the time comes (hopefully not for a while). But definitely post pics when you get it done. I attached the carriage bolts on the some cross-members that the self tappers were previously on.


What? I thought I was the former owner?


Looks better than it did when I sold it to Joe all those years ago. Glad you were able to get the title straightened out.

Duke

Yeah so am I. I swear it would have been easier to adopt a child than the hassle they put me through at TxDOT because THEY f*cked up entering previous owner information. But we got it done and it is all good.

Now look at me - I got a Zuk too - I'm turning out like you! (not a bad thing).

That looks really good. I've been looking at trailers and that encourages me to look at some in worse shape.

Thanks for posting.

You should go for it - this was definitely my first time and PBB and Joe_W helped alot with the info. Look for a stout frame and get after it. The rest can be done easily.

My father in law helped with the battery box as he's the electrician in the family. We had some 3/16" plate laying around that we covered the tongue with. It was all done very cheaply. Lights came from harbor freight on sale were like $7, battery box from walmart for $10. The battery itself was free and is out of an '07 Tundra that a co-worker replaced with an optima. It's stamped at 710 amps so we'll see how it holds up. We ran a 12 volt out of the RV plug to charge it and there is a small fuse panel inside the battery box.

After I save a little more $ I'll get a locking box so we can put an inverter in there for 110. I'll get pics the more it progresses.

Now that is a deal there! Good find.

good find. nice, simple, clean....good work

What is the ratio of Olypic deck treatment to linseed oil?
About how much did you use? Both sides?

Looks Good.

Scout Dork

Do you have a sync adjustment on your controller? Mine has both power and sync and the sync controls how fast the brakes come on

What is the ratio of Olypic deck treatment to linseed oil?
About how much did you use? Both sides?

Looks Good.

Scout Dork

Thanks. I used two quarts of the "Premium" olypic deck treatment (blue can) and one quart of boiled linseed oil. Simply poured it into a gallon bug sprayer and it was just enough to cover both sides - took every last drop. The wood was still pretty green so it took it a few days to soak in. There is another product made by Flood recommended in another thread but I couldn't find it at Lowes so I just grabbed this stuff.

Do you have a sync adjustment on your controller? Mine has both power and sync and the sync controls how fast the brakes come on

Hmmm...not sure. I'll take pics and post them up. I don't think so though. It's got a dial on the right side which seems to adjust for intensity and a small white lever on the left side which I was told adjusted for the pitch of the roadway (i.e., going down or up a steep grade). I may just need a new controller but maybe we can make this one work adequately and safely I'll keep it.

Thanks. I used two quarts of the "Premium" olypic deck treatment (blue can) and one quart of boiled linseed oil. Simply poured it into a gallon bug sprayer and it was just enough to cover both sides - took every last drop. The wood was still pretty green so it took it a few days to soak in. There is another product made by Flood recommended in another thread but I couldn't find it at Lowes so I just grabbed this stuff.
I'm planning on using plain old kiln dried SPF when I redeck mine. Since it's kiln dried (11% moisture), it won't shrink and warp much, if any. It'll also readily accept the sealer since it's already dry. I'm going to use a deck oil product called CWF-UV on the recommendation from TrailerGuy.
Hmmm...not sure. I'll take pics and post them up. I don't think so though. It's got a dial on the right side which seems to adjust for intensity and a small white lever on the left side which I was told adjusted for the pitch of the roadway (i.e., going down or up a steep grade). I may just need a new controller but maybe we can make this one work adequately and safely I'll keep it.
That lever is not so much meant to adjust for the pitch of the road... it's really there to adjust for mounting angle. That type of controller is an inertia style and has a pendulum inside it that swings fore and aft with deceleration and controls the amount of braking applied. The pendulum need to hang vertically inside the unit to work properly, so after it's installed, you adjust the lever so that it's pointing straight down.

Dang Dave! What happened to you at Gilmer last week? You were there then you were gone! Zuki looks good though!

Nice trailer too. ;)

Hmmm...not sure. I'll take pics and post them up. I don't think so though. It's got a dial on the right side which seems to adjust for intensity and a small white lever on the left side which I was told adjusted for the pitch of the roadway (i.e., going down or up a steep grade). I may just need a new controller but maybe we can make this one work adequately and safely I'll keep it.

Is it this controller?

http://i1.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/c3/43/e60b_1.JPG

I used that in my F-250; not the greatest thing, especially as the wires out the back used to lose contact inside the box so every once in a while the brakes wouldn't work unless you jiggled it. And when it did work, it didn't seem to work very-well. Around town, it invariably would lock up the trailer-brakes when the trailer was empty, even at the lowest setting.

I replaced it with a P3, which is a whole different universe.

But your renovations have inspired me to redeck my trailer. Looks great! :)

Dang Dave! What happened to you at Gilmer last week? You were there then you were gone! Zuki looks good though!

Nice trailer too. ;)

Thanks! Man I apologize. We went off to run a few trails and ended up just playing around and exploring with the new rig. I didn't want to slow you guys down since it was our first time out with the Zuk and the K-tex guys seemed to have much bigger rigs. We will definitely make it up to you and run together next time. We also ended up having to make a run to Arlington late in the afternoon so we didn't even camp the second night - Mel's grandma is not in good health so we figured we'd pay a visit.

Is it this controller?

http://i1.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/c3/43/e60b_1.JPG

I used that in my F-250; not the greatest thing, especially as the wires out the back used to lose contact inside the box so every once in a while the brakes wouldn't work unless you jiggled it. And when it did work, it didn't seem to work very-well. Around town, it invariably would lock up the trailer-brakes when the trailer was empty, even at the lowest setting.

I replaced it with a P3, which is a whole different universe.

But your renovations have inspired me to redeck my trailer. Looks great! :)

That looks almost exactly like it so it is good to hear someone with a similar experience. It honestly was fine on the highway but you are right around town it loved to lock up. Who makes the P3? I'll have to look into it.

Good to hear that you're gonna redeck your trailer. It almost was to our benefit that this one was just falling apart because it made it that much easier to take off. Post up some pics when you do yours.

talk to Trailer guy here on the board, he's not local to you, but he is a great supporter of the groups that help keep our trails open.

I think there is another guywho sells trailers & accessories on here that is in TX also, if you want to stay local, anyone know who he is?

That looks almost exactly like it so it is good to hear someone with a similar experience. It honestly was fine on the highway but you are right around town it loved to lock up. Who makes the P3? I'll have to look into it.


It's a Tekonsha; here are a couple threads about it:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=611457

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=605238

That looks almost exactly like it so it is good to hear someone with a similar experience. It honestly was fine on the highway but you are right around town it loved to lock up. Who makes the P3? I'll have to look into it.


Most pendulum based controllers will do that. I would definitely switch to a Prodigy or a P3, both made by Tekonsha. In the meantime, you may try taking that level adjustment and move it forward a bit. It will slow the response if the pendulum.