David Bradley Trailer Build

[Casey]

Pulled the trigger on a trailer finally, it was very cheap! But it is gonna need some work!

For those of you that don't know this is a Sears David Bradley trailer, made in the 1940-1950ish, This particular one is a 1951 model. There is a little bit of information on them online but not a ton. They are not nearly as popular M-416 or M100's.

Plans aren't set in stone yet, but lots of ideas! My goals are to be as nice as the black one with the green rack below. I do know I want a rooftop tent for it eventually.

[Casey]

First order of business, I will be taking everything apart to sandblast, it is pretty rusty. Plan is to get the new tongue done, put it back together enough to get it rolling again and take it in to get any panels/sections replaced that need be. Any recommendations on a metal/fabrication shop that would be fit for this job? It is pretty significant rust but I felt obligated to try and get it back to life since its technically an antique right?!

[SPR]

Check with American Wheel in east Kennewick for sand blasting. They can also powder coat large objects. Consider posting pictures after sand blasting so folks can see the rust issues. The metal work maybe pretty simple after the crud has been removed.

[Casey]

I work in agriculture and a farmer friend has a cheap sandblaster I can use, american wheel said $150 so they are my next option

I will definitely take lots of pictures!

[SPR]

$150 sounds like a good deal. Big sand blasting jobs are not fun. I would rather run a wire wheel on an angle grinder vs cheap blaster and mess.

[Casey]

Hmm, I'll keep that in mind

[OldGreen]

That is super cool. Can't wait to see what you do with it!

[Casey]

It will probably be a slow process, I'm starting my career up in alaska and about half my time will be spent up there! I am excited to see how it comes out as well!

[OldGreen]

For inspiration, head over to the trailer forum on Expedition Portal.

[pascoscout]

Rust repair on those flat panels shouldn't be too hard. Depending on how bad they are it may be easier to just cut complete new pieces and spot weld them in. Happy to give you some guidance when you get that far.

[Roman]

Any chance you bought it in Walla Walla?

There's another one JUST LIKE your's on CL. The guy says it sold, but the ad keeps coming up.

[Casey]

Most of the metal work will be done at my work, our mechanic is a pretty good fabricator! like really good! And he is liking the project idea so he said he would help me, I will post picks once its is sandblasted. The tongue setup it has now is pretty hideous, and can be completely taken off with just bolts, I am thinking the easiest thing to do is build a frame for it and bolt the box down, and this has led me to more and more ideas/plans.... haha

And yes I did buy it in Walla Walla, and I have noticed it still on craiglist. I have found a few here and there on craigslist over the past couple months, but the big thing was getting one in washington that is registered. In Idaho they don't have to register trailers under a certain weight so it would need to be inspected by the state patrol to get registered here

[Roman]

It's not really that big of a deal to get one registered. I was given a trailer years ago, no title, never been registered (that anyone involved knew of) and the State Patrol was easy...

[Casey]

Oh, well either way this one was pretty cheap!

[Casey]

Haven't done a ton of work yet, been gone and busy when I am home. Sprayed a lot of nuts and bolts hoping they loosen up! And I did take the boards off, which turned out to be a huge pain since the previous owner really didn't want them to come out Hoping to do some more work soon!