Haulmark Cargo Trailer
I got tired of renting U-Haul trailers so in October of 2004 I bought a cargo trailer of my own. It's a 6'x12' Haulmark. The trailer is black trimmed in aluminum diamond plate that nicely matched the truck. I hadn't planned on such color coordination, it's just what was on the lot. The trailer features a rear ramp, side door and more than 6' of head room.
I don't really have a pressing reason to own a trailer, but they do come in handy (particularly for furniture and pinball). It obviously has more cargo capacity than the truck and the low floor and ramp make it more convenient than the truck for some items. Even if I only use it a few times a year, I guess it'll eventually pay for itself.
First thing I did was buy a spare tire to hopefully pacify Murphy's Law. Next I installed an "E-Track" cargo restraining system (check your local trailer or RV supply store). I got four 10' sections. I mounted one high and one low on each side. I cut out 5" sections of the vertical battens so the E-Track fits flush along the wall. I used #12x1" self-tapping screws to secure the E-Track to the steel wall frame members, which are about 24" on center.
E-Track.
E-Track.
Here are a few of the E-Track accessories including rings and straps. Each part has a spring mechanism to lock it in the track. I only bought one strap. Otherwise I'll use the rings along with an assortment of conventional straps that I already own. The rings are what turned out to be most useful so I've collected a bunch of them.
E-Track accessories.
E-Track accessories.
When the ramp folds down there's a gap left between the ramp and the floor. I cut a piece of ¾" plywood to fill the gap. While I was at it I made a ramp extension using more ¾" plywood and a piano hinge. These modifications reduce tripping hazards and greatly ease the loading wheeled items.
Plywood filler.
Ramp extension with filler piece in place between the ramp and the floor.
Mostly I use the trailer for hauling pinball machines.
2012
In 2012 we built a large carport to store our RV and cargo trailers. And I got around to making some overdue repairs and upgrades to the now eight–year–old Haulmark. I finally replaced the defective front nose piece. Scroll further down the page for this project. I also added more E-Track. My original rows of E-Track always seemed too high or too low. So I added a middle row along each wall. The middle row is just right for strapping a pinball machine to the wall. While I was at it I made a pinball machine bumper from a pair of E-Track brackets, a piece of 2x4 and some carpet. The bumper allows me to firmly strap the body of a pinball machine against the wall without putting undue side pressure on the head.
Each side wall now has three rows of E-Track.
Pinball machine bumper.
Pinball machine bumper.
I replaced all red clearance lights because the originals had faded to pink/clear. As the trailer is now stored under roof, hopefully I won't have this problem again. The amber lights haven't faded much. Plus I now have a bunch of amber spares from the nose replacement project described below.
I don't recall where I bought the clearance lights. But I do recall they were somewhat uncommon. There's a far more common light that's almost, but not quite the right size. Measure carefully and check specs.
Old and new clearance lights.
In order to get both the Haulmark and Car Mate trailers under roof, I needed to tuck the back of the Car Mate under the tongue of the Haulmark. So I replaced the original tongue jack with one clamped closer to the trailer body.
New tongue jack.
The Defective Broken Nose Odyssey
The exterior of the trailer is mostly sheet metal, but the curved front wall is connected to the curved roof with a rounded plastic nose piece. Within about two years the nose developed three major cracks; one at each corner and one right down the middle.
Corner cracks covered with caulk.
Corner crack from inside.
Crack down the middle.
After going a few rounds with Haulmark they sent me a new nose. Apparently there was a known problem with the composition of the plastic used around the 2004 model year. The warranty on the part was extended, but labor was not. This was going to be a DIY project. The new nose (hopefully made from better plastic) came complete with pre-installed clearance lights as well as a bag of hardware and tubes of caulk. There were no instructions. As someone who likes straight lines and square corners, I wasn't looking forward to this project. I was content to just blob on more caulk as the original part continued to deteriorate.
But by 2012 the nose was developing many small cracks in addition to the three big ones. I was becoming concerned that the nose might collapse while out on the road. The time had come to get it fixed. All in all the project took about a day.
Note: I have received several emails about this project from people with similar problems. I have no Haulmark contact information beyond what you'll find on their website. I don't remember the name of the specific person I talked to at the time. And at this point I should think you're not going to get a no-cost replacement nose for such an old trailer.
I put the tongue all the way down and used the truck tailgate as a work platform.
I spent some time scraping away layers of caulk. Then I unscrewed the top and front molding. With the molding removed, the nose lifted right out. The picture below shows the top molding removed and the front molding partially removed.
Molding partially removed.
Detail of trailer structure with nose removed.
Old and new.
The new nose was delivered with a box of hardware including a roll and two tubes of caulk, a bag of self-tapping screws and pop rivets and a new Haulmark decal. I used the screws, but the original installation did not include any pop rivets. So I'm not sure what they were for. I only needed one tube of caulk. I skipped the roll caulk and the decal.
Hardware.
Done! Guess I should wash and wax the rest of it.
Over the years I've found the front of the trailer to be kind of useless since the front inside wall panel is curved and flimsy. In 2014 I decided to fill the space with a pair of shelves to vertically organize all my junk which includes blankets, straps, tools, a spare tire and a hand truck. The front wall is horizontally framed so I added a pair of vertical 1x4s to support the shelves. The 1x4s are secured to the framing with #10x1½" self-tapping screws. The 1x4s also include tie down rings to vertically strap the spare tire. The shelves are ½" plywood. They're contoured to fit the front wall and are about 17" wide at center. The shelves are faced with 1x6 boards and have a further pair of 1x4 legs. The hand truck fits between the tire and the legs.
Lower shelf detail.
Before.
After.