# Homemade Trailers



## mungo45

Hi, I am looking to buy a homemade trailer from an independent seller.  He does not know what the trailers GVW is.  How to you determine what the GVW is of a perticular trailer.  It is a dual axel 8x16 deckover.  

any help is appreciated


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## bczoom

Are you going to register it for road use?

If so, check with your DMV.  They normally require a couple inspections to determine the GVWR as well as road-worthiness.

At 16', you're right on the cusp of what needs to be inspected.  In PA (where I am), any homemade trailer _over_ 16' needs inspection by either the Sheriff's department or State Police.

I don't know where you are but in PA


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## Melensdad

Even with a homemade trailer the trailer needs to be registered, to obtain a registration it would need to have a declared GVW.  There is no way to license a homemade trailer (that I know of) without it being registered.  

The GVW of the trailer will depend on the axles, 2 3500# axles would be a 7000# GVW, 2 5000# axles yield a 10,000# GVW.  Subtract the weight of the trailer to determine the load capacity.  A 16' trailer will likely weigh 1500# to 1800#.  Tires also determin the weight capacity, check those!  One fairly common trick is to use cheap tires, so you may think you have a 10,000# GVW trailer but only have tires that can hold 7000#.  Each tire will have a capacity molded near the bead.


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## bczoom

B_Skurka said:
			
		

> The GVW of the trailer will depend on the axles...
> Tires also determin the weight capacity


Also, the frame and coupler size will be checked to determine capacity.

If it has a 2" coupler, they probably won't give you more than 5000#.  A 2 5/16" will be required for the 7-10K# rating.

I don't the specs on the frame but I'm thinking the main beams on a 7K# trailer are 6" and they're 8" for a 10K# trailer.


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