Trailer chassis axle end caps.

[Maddog]

Hi guys,

A while ago I bought a nasty old wooden trailer that was totally rotten, but turned out to have a heavy steel motorcycle trailer chassis underneath.

I binned all the wood, welded a new body frame in and skinned it in ally, replaced wheels, mudguards, etc..

The main axle or whatever it's called that the indespension unit are bolted to is some odd sized box section steel ( seems to have an ID of 115mm x 50mm) the ends of which have just been cut off with a grinder and are open to the elements. I was wondering I anyone had any ideas how to seal them?
I have been trying to find some plastic plugs I could hammer in but due to the odd size this is proving difficult.
My other option is to weld some steel over the ends (which I could do, but would be a bit of an ****). The box is about 3mm wall thickness so really I could do with something easy to work with if I'm welding it, but if it is to get a good weld to the 3mm it would need to be around 2mm plate.

Was just wondering if anyone had any easier solutions?

Thanks.

 

[cumbriasteve]

I have always managed to find end caps but I have seen the following done before with a similar axle on a boat trailer.

He cut a couple of blocks of hardwood slightly oversized, hammered one in flush..poured in a jar of engine oil and then hammered the other block in place, sealed with oil coating the box inners, all stayed in place and never leaked the oil so I suppose it worked for him.

 

[drivewasher]

expanding foam?

 

[Maddog]

Thanks gents.

The only prob I have with the wood idea is that I only have about 3/4" from the end to the indespension unit bolts.

Cheers. Maybe a few plastic caps sealed with silicone? Not pretty tho.

 

[KemppiFrog]

Not silicone, try Sikaflex 11FC.It is a PU adhesive and will stick to anything. Trim some contiboard or similar, then tack in place with a few blobs just inside the tube. Come back a bit later and run a smooth bead.

Nice job on the trailer, BTW.

 

[Maddog]

Thanks for that.

I've got some of that stuff I used to seal the ally from the uprights.

Incidentally, the trailer started off as this: