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Homemade Utility Trailer Uses Rear Suspension Off A Front-Wheel Drive Volkswagen Rabbit
Most home-made utility trailers are designed with leaf springs but do not have shocks. So, being high off the ground, they have a tendency to bounce around a lot.
I avoided the problem when I built a trailer using the rear suspension off a front-wheel drive Volkswagen Rabbit. It was fitted with shock absorbers mounted inside the coil springs.
The trailer has an 8 by 4-ft. wooden box. The great thing about using a rear axle off a FWD car is that they usually come off by re-moving a few bolts. And you can make them wider or narrower as needed.
This trailer has been used to haul over 1,300 lbs. of steel and I regularly haul 1/2 cu. yd. loads of topsoil with it. It's very stable. If something should fail, the wheels, tires, bearings, springs and shocks are easy to buy either new or used. (Keith Berglind, Box 268, Sandy Hook, Manitoba, Canada R0C 2W0; ph 204 642-4757)


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1998 - Volume #22, Issue #6