Pick up a copy of Military vehicle magazine and look through it, there are quite a few salvage places down south (lucky rebels). I've seen them for under $1000.00 and probably close enough for you to pick it up (us yankees have to pay freight). Be patient and follow all the leads, sooner or later "no but I know a guy that has one".
Anybody... how do I do multiple quotes in 1 post ?

 

The little black quotes tab on the bottom right corner of the dialog box.

 

Thank's for sharing those '57 pic's!!

Was that a friend stopping by in the '49 Ford Shoe box in the 1st pic?.....(ok, ok.....I'll stop...lol...)

You did a real nice job with the trailer, I like the dual jerry can set up.....it all looks like it belongs, nothing out of place...nice work!

 

Trailer came out great and love the 57. Huge fan of the classics. You def need the fatty WW back on the 57 though. The skinny ww's dont do it justice

 

Those Fatty WW are down right dangerous on wet roads. I dont know how our parents and grandparents drown around on Bias-plys in the rain. It's like dancing with a 350lb woman covered in baby-oil, dangerous!

I switched to the radials, again, due to handling in the rain (we get our fair share of rain in Virginia Beach) and they also last longer. I drive my 57. Meaning, I drive her everywhere i can.

 

Thanks, it was the first restoration project that I let my sons and daughter help out on. My two sons (16 & 11) learned how to weld on the trailer and my daughter (9) did the stenciling and taped out the star.

 

Still trying to get the image of the 350lb woman covered in baby oil out of my head, thanks for that. Wait til the kids get older and throw you out of the garage all to together (3 boys 24-28-30). This is the first winter in a while I've been able to work on anything bigger than a chain saw.

 

Holy Crap, you got ***** that klang raising 3 boys so close in age!! Let me guess, they were hell raisers weren't they?, each one in a different way, and not all at the same time.

I got 3 kids, and a Great Dane mix that acts like a pimply teenager!

 

How'd you guess, and we have 5 dogs, a horse.... it's like the animal rescue league around here. I don't mind I love dogs, my oldest son moved out and my middle son got married and his wife moved in (and brought her dog #6) and know I have a 10 month old grandson here too, he's the lite of my life though he'll be out in the garage soon enough (for real you couldn't make this stuff up). And I bet you thought the Army was tough, I think my son went to Afghanistan just to get some piece and quiet, he was probably safer in a war zone.

 

I bow to you Lee

 

Nice trailer...nicer Belair!

How solid are the side walls after cutting in the tailgate? I was always afraid of making that cut.

 

My bud's 416 that i tossed my gear onto for a trip couple years back. I have a few pics of this if you want something in particular..

 

To be honest, i didnt cut the tail gate. I rescued the trailer this way. However, in an effort to stiffen the side walls, i angled the dead bolts down a bit. This creates a wedge effect and locks the tail gate and sides together, they dont move. When the gate is open, there is some flex but its not too bad. I also comtemplated welding a solid bar up the outer sides at the rear to negate any weakness, but i really wanted the stock look.

Your buddies trailer is killer, looks mean just sittin there. Post up a few picks if you can.

 

Didn't older Toyota pickups have a buckle type affair that actually held the bed sides together when latched (if not Toyota I've seen it some where).

 

Good input, thanks. I'll post some more up for ya in a bit..



I think what your describing is called a trayback, common in AUS and similar.