I have an old home made trailer. I believe it was made from an old pop up camper of just from scratch, my dad's friend made it probably more than 8 years ago by now. It is basicly plywood on bottom and 3 sides with a plywood slide in gate. The hitch is a tubular steal. It has like 12" or 13" tires solid square axle and some low weight springs. The last time it was loaded I found one side had at least one broken or weak spring. I was hauling it full of bark multch and the tire rubbed on the under side of the bed on one side.

The traler has sat for a few years and I have sence aquired some parts.

My question is this. Should I replace the weak springs with a set from an 81 F150 or a set from a 70ish(69-71) F250? Also should I use the current axle or take the matching axle from the truck and block off the 3rd member?

I will be mainly using a 4cyl 4x4 1/4 ton truck to haul this with and might(but probably not) use my 72 F250 2x4(after its total resto) to haul this also.

I would like to be able to put a riding lawn mower or 4 wheeler in it. My thoughts are the current square axle with the 150 springs will get the job done.

 

I think that either of those truck springs will be way too stiff. It would be about the same as welding the axle solid. I would bet that with those springs it would bounce terribly going down the road. Your best bet would be to just get a new set of springs.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...=31988&R=31988

 

I agree, the deflection distance is too much for a basic trailer, and new replacement springs for the trailer are cheap. There is a good reason it had those short springs for the trailer, and why they still use the short springs. Actually, the short springs have a real good capacity to them, and not nearly as much bounce.

 

I'm glad I asked this question. I didn't even think of it being too stiff. I also didn't think they were so cheap (a set for under $100). I just knew the springs needed fixing and figured I'd use what I had kicking around.

So what would I look into getting. 1500lb or 2000lb springs. A ride on tractor or 4 wheeler would only be in the 600lb range correct??

 

I would go by the rating of the axle, which is probably 2000 or 2500. Remember, you also have to consider the weight of the trailer as well.