Two pieces of 4" channel and a welder and you will never break another taillight. Period. Mine got hit by an S10 square in the taillight and hit hard enough that it bent my leaf spring perches. Lights still worked.
No hardcore science behind this... just put them in a steel housing.
Seriously. If you put them in something like this, you can probably use the light housing as a winch mount, and it would still survive a 60mph impact with a concrete wall.
Seriously... a few million ways to protect your trailer lights.
For one of those “drop” trailers look on Craigslist for a ditch witch trailer, they come up from time to time and are designed in a similar manner. Not big enough for a car but the suspension could be adapted to a car size trailer.
I can't help with your design, but maybe I can with the budget. Friend of mine bought a 28ft. camper that rolled over in a ditch, he removed the glass and some chatchkas he wanted for his camper (same model) and I bought the frame for $200.
Yeah, it's not as beefy as a car trailer, but I was hauling a small car. I ran four pieces of 2" angle iron front to back and placed aluminum diamond plate between them; plate on each side and open center. I don't think the whole thing cot me $500.
Dan
Truth. There are a few dozen old RVs on my local CL for $100. The older the better. One of them is a 73 Shasta known for its beefy frames. In college we took one like it to the dump with a sawzall and about 10 blades. Drove in with a complete travel trailer, drove out with a bare frame. Decked it with some PT and used it to haul a tractor. Free trailer, $56 at the dump, $10 worth of sawzall blades, borrowed a friend's generator, and $100 worth of PT and screws.
We were even able to sell a couple things like the stove and fridge to get a little money back.
In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :
I'm kinda scared, but I think I want one. Lol
it must be pretty heavy ......
Speechless, don't know what to say. Just glad my wife and grandkids don't drive around Elk Grove CA.
Faulty lights, bumper hitches, no trailer brakes, over loaded running gear... nightmare scenarios. Knowing of innocent people killed by faulty trailers causes me to worry.
YMMV
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