ok been posting under water trailer done.. but no help started new post.. looking to use an adjustable coupler looks like 3 inch channel with holes to move ball cup up and down. dealer said it is weld on. showed me 2 pictures 2 day.. both had center draw bar and the sides welded to the draw bar.. i was planning to just bend the 5 inch channel into a V point and weld it directly to the back?. other trailers have the channel blunted V to a backing plate then this coupler.. what is the best way

If you ever have to change the hitch......
I have run over a few during my time on earth.

It would be better to cut the to tongue parts to length and make a plate to weld your hitch adapter onto, the problem with bending the channel is that you can never get both legs to be plumb with each other and also parallel to each other.
One leg will always be higher than the other.
Dan

well I think its a tossup no matter what you do,MD.the channel will have exposed edges for you to weld to if you connect to a plate,giving you increased area to weld on,making for a better joint with the coupler.If you just bend the channel together,you'll have an area in the center that is hard to get to when welding and maybe not be welded as good as if you can get to it.I'd go with a flat plate,3/4"thick or better,bring the channel together onto the flat plate and weld both sides.Use 70K+ rod or ER70 wire for a good joint.Drill a few holes in the back side of the coupler channel and plug weld it to the plate as well as in front.Don't undercut the weld either,it's a critical area with a lot of stress on it.I follow up on trailers with another plate behind the plate the channels are welded to,a plate that covers the bottoms of the channel just behind the coupler plate.

hey MD here's a pic of what I'm talkin about,you can move the plate thats behind the front plate(with d-ring on it)-right up to in back of the front plate and cross-weld right to it.This trailer has 6"channel frame + pintle ring coupler but you can build yours the same way.I had to notch the bottom channel to clear the coupler bolt holes but you can leave yours butt against the front plate and have more area to weld to.Your front plate wouldn't be as wide but you get the idea.

ok i see said the blind man...
didn't get to do any bending.. had estimates and to drive to easton 1/2 way to ocean city.. pick up my son.. surprisingly alot of moving traffic comming west bound all night..
the coupler the guy is selling (factory made) is 3/16 or 1/4 steel.. guessing that is is strong enough..

well bent up the tounge and soon will weld it up.. apparently my welder doesn't like thick steel.. hobart 140.. that was why the bubbles etc. had the steel very clean.. my other friend a professional welder told me my machine is good for 1/8 steel may be alittle heavier. not 5/16.. told me to grind down the welds and he will cover them with his 200 amp miller gas machine with 7018.. and we will be adding a 4x4 tube down the middle to help support & distribute the tounge weight through out the trailer. then attach the new hitch 15k coupler and if i can get the axle guys to email me the attachment specs for the 7k per axle slipper tandum spring hangers i ordered last week $125 shipped.
they were supposed to have sent a copy with them

o and when i bent the tounge up i got it with in a inch.. and floor jack evened it out..

finally got the guy to email me the mounting point dimentions for the spring hangers.. hoping to mount next weekend

ok here are the pictures i hope... well didnt work

ok trying this page [img][/img] still didnt work

ok trying to add pictures now

no did not work.,. i have them on the camera/ kodak easy share.. and trying to add according to the directions.. but still no luck

now i know why my ex kept the good camera... it was alot easier to set up pictures

This probabaly won't help but you can look at it anyway. I ordered axles and tires from them a couple years back for the trailer I built. Located in Moulton Alabama. Best prices I could find at the time.

This has dimensions for trailer springs.

http://abctrailerparts.com/

http://abctrailerparts.com/traileraxlekits12k.html

ok trying again to add pictures again says that the file pictures are too big

well the 5 pictures are 12.5 mb and i have been trying to shrink them.

Put your bigger pictures on Flicr.com

md:I had that problem to it will take 50mb Hit browse,pick picture you want to post then hit the button next to browse and the pictures name will come up in the lines above the box. after you get all the pictures selected you hit the add to file. the picture will not show till you do your post.

still trying.. to add pic's but it will not allow me to add pictures at all says error.. file too large. i was able to email to my self