# Stidham Trailer Rebuild



## Thundering Hooves (Dec 16, 2019)

If its metal then use a heat gun, the slowly bend it back if it minor, OR if you can get the door shut, then do the bent areas. good luck!


----------



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

The age of your trailer means it is steel, not aluminum nor fiberglass.
Warped doors are a structural issue of often frame rotting. You need to remove the sheet metal to see the frame and rebuild the frame so it is straight to the trailer. Then make a new sheet metal skin to cover it.

Where you have the green "glass" you could try making a template of the bend and use thicker, HD plexiglass but it *is* temperamental to bend even a small amount...watched my husband make many a windshield for race cars so aerodynamic they must be.

You might find the side windows as replacements from a horse trailer manufacturer or camping store in the sizes approximate you need.
Consider changing the front window to a jalousie window so operational for ventilation if you seal the side windows...would also allow good light in where you may lose it from the bent glass if you lose it.

The floor on a trailer of this age I would completely rip out and apart to see the cross-members, the frame edges where they are secured, the axle housing and welds on all and everything.
Replace if in doubt with structural steel square tubing with stronger/thicker wall...don't skimp as your horse standing on the floor applies a tremendous PSI of force and you don't want the frame to buckle and drag your horse falling out the trailer floor bottom.

When you rewire the trailer encase all in conduit of some sort to protect the wires. Condensation is the death of many wiring jobs.
New lights used so they illuminate brighter makes you seen easier day or night.
You have a enormous job in front of you just because of trailer age, then some of what you describe tells me this trailer is in need of TLC. A diamond in the rough to be found...

A business that sells sheet metal, metal tubing products will be able to get you the steel products for replacing some of what you need.
A auto body supply business for all the bondo, primer, paint you are going to need to use to blend this back together...all steel and sheet metal needs painting or will rust in a short time.
Home Depot or Lowes for conduit and wire to wire the trailer together, they also have thicker plexiglass as would the auto body supply.
A welder capable of welding the kinds of metals you will be using making strong welds melding the pieces together as one....
A place to design and plan how to make cause finding replacement stuff sitting on a shelf, near impossible when your trailer is 45 years old and who knows how old the "design" was when it was new.
A place to buy P/T lumber better than eh quality for the flooring of the entire trailer.

The internet might be your friend for getting replacement hinges for every door or drop down window as some could be from a car door where others could use a exterior piano hinge and some something like gate hardware but remember that trailers have a huge amount of vibration so old and aged would not be what I would use as they rust and lose integrity.
You need car/truck/trailer replacement parts for some of this.

The internet and just googling where you can buy replacement things in your area or ship them to you is something you need to investigate.
I know places in the NY Metro area but they do you no good unless you are their or you pay large shipping costs. :frown_color:
You might be able to purchase some things from horse trailer manufacturers, but honestly trying to get things to work and fit a 45 year old model trailer is going to be tough.
Just like cars, trailers are built differently today to give our horses better ride and safety on the road....you will need to upgrade quite a bit.
Before you go to far with your project...can I offer caution that the horses you have will fit in a older trailer when designs then were common to be low head of 6' clearance and narrow of 5' wide horse stall area {2-horse}...
And the big one...make very sure the rear center divider is tied to a steel beam welded securely to the floor and roof line rear door opening with strong, strong, strong since everything else in your trailer literally hinges on the rear structure of this trailer being strong and square in dimensions...all those doors secure to a part of that center divider...be very aware your measurements and construction must be exacting.
I just googled, _"replacement horse trailer parts for a Stidham 1975 2 horse trailer"_ and a bunch of places where trailer parts are available came up...maybe some finds you can use in your project.

Good luck with your project and please, share pictures as you transform your project from the duckling to a swan!! :smile:
:runninghorse2:


----------



## chuckc197 (Mar 5, 2019)

Thanks thundering hooves and horselovingguy for sharing your thoughts and concerns. We had no doubt that the scope of this project would grow exponentially as we progressed or regressed. 😁 
I have been googling and found several trailer suppliers and I admit I have not contacted any as I am still unsure how we want to proceed. I did find some comments that, depending on the reconstruction required, it makes more sense to trade for a later model than burden yourself. I understand the thinking and if this trailer was in a rust bucket, holes in the floor, falling apart condition, I would more than agree. Then again, I like getting my hands dirty. 
Maybe I need to search the forum if anyone here has taken on a rebuild of this age. We are looking at pictures of other trailers trying to get some ideas of what we would like to accomplish.
Thanks again and please keep the suggestions coming.
🐴


----------



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

I think you need to evaluate how much cost you are going to put into a trailer of this age.
If this was me, it would be from the bare frame up as my horses lives depend on this being a safe vehicle to go in and down the road on...
Cut the entire trailer sheet metal off and literally start at the frame and work up...
You need to be positive every part of the frame front to back including the hitch area is solid...
If, if that is not at all compromised the proceed with extreme caution is advised and replace more than you save.
My husband does metal welding and fabrication work as a hobby...he raised his eyebrows at the age and restoration costs, forget the time you are going to invest in a trailer of this age.
He warned of panels looking good to only touch and find swiss-cheese and paint, primer and bondo holding it together...he cautioned to leave nothing uncovered.
Metal fatigues and weakens with age too. This is also the ages of massive issues with metal rusting used in all vehicles and trailers no matter the manufacturer or distinction...cancerous rust he said...beware.

If this trailer was used at all and not pristine cleaned after every use, the caustic of manure and urine splash is deadly in what it starts and feeds with corrosive enzymes.
A cost plan think needs done and how much are you willing to put into to make a road worthy vehicle safe for your animals to travel in. :|
Old trailers have a appeal, but when cost is to prohibitive sadly it can alter what we wish to do.
:runninghorse2:...


----------

