somebody made this trailer, has an old 10 bolt truck axle under it.
9 feet by 51 inches.

my dad hauled 3500lb of gravel in it already, so it's durable.
locust wood bed & sides, channel iron frame.

only problem is the tongue is just about too short. prolly cost a mint to have that cut off, repositioned, and reinforced.

how is the OEM axle lubed?
and should i put a 3500 or 5200lb axle under it so i could lube it using a typical bearing buddy?

he put car tires on it, should i scrap those and put trailer tires on it?

what would be gained?

 

The axle uses gear lube, so as long as the level is kept up the bearings will be okay. I had a trailer with a Chevy 14-bolt axle for years and never had a problem with it. As far as tires, I think you'll be okay as long as the tires are rated heavy enough. I just used the 16.5" bias plys normally used on a 3/4-ton pickup. I'm guessing you have 15" wheels, so look for "LT" tires with a load range of at least "C." I don't think I'd trust any of the "P" tires for a heavy load.

I hauled several loads of fill dirt with my old trailer - don't know the weight but the truck bed (FS chevy long bed) was full to the top rails. There were a few times I thought I'd have to put my old Cherokee in 4-low to get up some of the hills dragging it home.

 

If its a full floating axle just overfill it a little. You can hook a lever up to the park brake cable to hold the trailer in place when you park if the brakes are still on it. On mine I cut the axles off, took the carrier off and the brakes and drums off to lighten it up. It had the 9.75 16.5 tires and I carried a yard of gravel at a time many times. As far as the tongue goes it isn't hard to make an extension, You could weld channel to the top of the frame if the coupler is too low, or in the center if height is ok. It could probably be made to bolt together also.

 

The worse part about that type of trailer is there are no brakes. Not sure about DOT laws in your area but many areas require trailer brakes over 2,000 lbs. Ours is 3500 lbs up requires brakes.