Weehooo trailer bodge / adaptation fun

Bought a single wheel weehoo trailer. Very disapointed to find it was too short for my big toolbox, which was the main reason I got it. Anyway I had to somehow get my box and the trailer to the workshop to see if I could adapt it.

I'm sure this will be fine...

I gave up on bungee cords and just screwed straight through the plastic box into the platform

Turns out it was fine, got the ten miles to woolwich in one piece on very quiet roads. Then I realised I just needed to turn the box round, put the wheels at the back, and it would just about fit

Tighter clearance than my road bike! I needed somtheing structural to stop the box hitting the wheel. Being a carpenter not a metal worker, I found a bit of treated C24 four by two that could help

This is all screwed in from underneath, I might drill out the steel and bolt it through the Weehoo frame, but I dont want to void the warranty. Pretty strong with just screws though. Next stage is some hardware on top of this to receive the axle of the toolbox. I'd like something that will hold the box down securely, but can be quickly released. Hmm, maybe a QR. Or it could be something that requires a socket or an allen wrench, which I keep accessible in the toolkit.

A bigger problem with this trailer is that it doesn't sit level. All the weight on every bump will be pushing backwards. It's also higher than it needs to be. I'd really like to lower the centre of gravity and have it run level, like this

But anything I do to fix this would again void the warranty. It would mean removing a fair amount of material, retaining some of the sleeve, and putting a big M10 bolt through the join, drilling out the existing hole that receives the cotter pin.

The top section sleeves over the bottom section, here they are fixed together side by side.

What do you think? Should I butcher it? It Cost £280...

Have you tried ... a smaller wheel?

edit; or raising the clamp height on the bike.

Both a smaller wheel, and raising the pick-up on the seat tube, would tilt it back even more. The clamp is as low on the bike as it will go, I've stared at it but cant see a way of dropping it further to help with the level.

Ah, the opposite problem of what I understood, sorry.

How is the platform attached to the frame? Seems a wedge on the rear fixing point solve this.

Yes that could straighten it, but I think I want to lower the front, rather than raise the back. Another issue is the high center of gravity making it a little unstable.

William, hi,

From what I understand, you're trying to lower the center of gravity and also lengthen the bed of the trailer to make room for your tool box.

With those two parameters, looking at your trailer, the two thoughts that come to mind are as folllows:

For the front I would sleeve the square tube on the trailer. You could use a smaller size aluminum or steel square tube, or, as you mentioned, you work with wood, cut a piece of wood to fit inside the sloped tube. Put a bolt through the existing hole to lock it in and drill a hole for the quick release. It's up to you to figure out how low you want to drop the front of the trailer.

In the back, I can't really see very well how the rear axle is attached, but I'm guessing that it's pretty much just an axle through a hole. If that's the case, what I'm thinking about is a triangular piece of aluminum, maybe square for more stiffness, that you would mount to the side of the rear frame. You would have to drill perhaps one, two, or three holes in the frame, depending if the aluminum piece is going to rock or not. I would suggest that the aluminum piece be rather thick. At the top of the triangle you would drill a hole to mount the axle. Also, you can move this hole back, giving you more bed length for your tool box.

One other thought, instead of using aluminum, perhaps you could use a significant piece of 5 quarter plywood with large washers to fabricate your triangle.

The purpose I'm trying to illustrate is to lower the bed by changing the rear axle mounting position, and to extending the length of the front quick release position.

Am I making sense?

Liz

Hi Liz, for the back end I found these little brackets, and did this. The axle slots in perfectly and removes the need for a bungee chord at the back. Might replace with something stronger later, but this works pretty well for now.

For the angle and front end adjustment, Yes, it will be better to add material than remove it. Ideally I'd like to use steel rather than timber so it lasts and takes abuse. I was planning something similar to your idea with some box section steel, though of course it still involves making holes in the structure and voiding the warranty. I Might just ride around with it at an angle for a while :)