DIY side guide repair

[Home Cookin']

I have the PVC post guides, and one of the arm/brackets rusted through (from the inside of course). Trailer stores don't sell just the arm, and want $80 for the arm and PVC pipe; not much cheaper on line.

All I want is the 1x1 galvanized arm with a 90* bend. Besides going to the welder and getting one copied, any DIY shortcuts?

I may be able to stuff something in there to reinforce the square tube; it did not break at the corner. I guess whatever i do will be temporary anyway, but I only use the trailer a few times a year. it's a roller trailer so the guides aren't that important for straightening but they are nice to have.

 

[Bondo]

Re: DIY side guide repair

All I want is the 1x1 galvanized arm with a 90* bend. Besides going to the welder and getting one copied, any DIY shortcuts?

Ayuh,... Go to an Electrical Supply house, 'n get a conduit 90? Sweep, in Emt...
It's round instead of square though...

 

[Slow Ride]

Re: DIY side guide repair

I had gone through several sets of the "off the shelf" galvanized steel arms when I finally decided to have my local welder bend (noo welding required) a couple of pieces of ALUMINUM for me. They were around $100.00 for the set but they have been with me for about 7 years now. I have moved them from one trailer to another when I purchased a new boat. In my opinion, they were worth the extra $25 and I will never use the old steel ones again!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: DIY side guide repair

good idea--maybe I'll see if a local awning company has any scrap aluminum frame pieces. Conduit is a good idea but being round may be hard to secure.

 

[nlain]

Re: DIY side guide repair

Home Cookin', take a couple blocks of wood and a precision alignment tool, (Big Hammer), and flatten the tube a little where it will mate to the frame, then you can secure with no problem.

 

[coFLounder]

Re: DIY side guide repair

You can try Unistrut. www.unistrut.com Comes in lots of materials and coatings, easily adjustable. assortment of fittings to build it the way you want. Basic hand tools are all that is required to put it together.

 

[BRICH1260]

Re: DIY side guide repair

I added two aluminum guides to my trailer last summer. I bought mine off Ebay for around $50.00/ea. It did not come with the pvc cover, but I picked up a section at Lowes cheap.

 

[Bondo]

Re: DIY side guide repair

good idea--maybe I'll see if a local awning company has any scrap aluminum frame pieces. Conduit is a good idea but being round may be hard to secure.

Ayuh,... U-bolts won't care what the shape of the stock is....

 

[cyclops2]

Re: DIY side guide repair

The electrical supply places sell SOLID Aluminum PIPE. They also have pre bent 90 degree sweeps. Stop in 1 or 2 of them with a paper drawing of size & lengths needed. You can get the curved clamps there or at a auto place. The 90 sweeps are threaded on both ends. You can cut the straight Aluminum pipe to any height you want. When you have a test setup of all the pieces on the trailer you can glue the threaded parts together. I used a little EPOXY ...only on the INSIDE threads. That way to have no drips running down somewhere.

Always keep the Aluminum setup for yourself. I put thin walled plastic pipe.. Home Depot stuff.. on my vertical guide pipes. Mine are 5' high to make backing up easier at night.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: DIY side guide repair

Fixed it.

I went with a repair route: the stay was rusted through and almost broken through on the horizontal part about 10 inched from the bend. My horizontal piece is about 2' long; the vertical about 3'.

So I flipped it, bolting the vertical piece horizontal. Then I stuffed a heavy piece of 1" pipe about 2' long into the vertical; the break hits about at the center. Very strong at that, but then when I slid my PVC down all the way it's super solid.

I know it won't last forever like that, but I only use the trailer a couple times a year, short hauls, and when I retrieve, I don't need the guides to me more that just that: they don't have side current on them, etc.

I'm sure I'll gt a couple more years out of it. But I'll keep the suggestions in mind, especially the solid aluminum pipe/sweep, and pick one up if I come across it.