Allstate single wheel service parts list / set up tips

[Mark Evans]

As I stated before, this is FOR trailers. As quoted from the Home Depot site ad: For utility and boat trailers, mfg to exceed DOT requirements for highway use, load rated 590 lbs @ 60 psi.
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'63 Ragtop

[CaLiBus]

Thanks Mark for posting their quote now. This is good news.

Can you post a part number for us?

[Mike Fisher]

DOT approved for highway use on utility & boat trailers.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Martin-Wheel-480-400-8-.../205714587
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https://imgur.com/user/FisherSquareback/posts
69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey

[Mark Evans]

I just received the wheel from Home Depot. All looks good except the outer rim lip is slightly too wide to fit between the caster fork assembly. You can see in the ad pic that the rim lip sticks out past the bead almost 1/4" too much so there is some extra material that could safely be removed. I will probably have a buddy turn down the lips slightly approx. 1/8" on both sides. Kind of a hassle but there aren't a lot of other options for wheels that I have found. I did come across another Allstate trailer frame/caster assembly that did have the wheel but I still plan to have the Home Depot wheel for a spare.
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'63 Ragtop

[[email protected]]

A better than original Allstate rubber puck.

I bought an Allstate trailer, the previous owner had used a weak spring in place of the rubber puck. I doubted the weak spring provided much shock absorption so went looking for an appropriate rubber puck. Ordered one online, but several months and a couple of irritated emails and no puck, spring was arriving much sooner than the parts for my trailer. Luckily my son was rebuilding a 1965 stepside pickup and I walked past the radiator hose sitting in the trash. So I cut the radiator hose into a bunch of somewhat square squares and cut a round hole in the middle with a piece of sharpened copper pipe. A stack of them makes a nice cushy rubber puck. I stacked enough so the strike plate is roughly parallel to the bolt attachment and I have achieved rubber puck.

Now here is why it is better. I can add or subtract one or two layers and it will lower or raise the trailer so I can dial it in to the hitch height.

I also added a hole and a cover plate to the trailer bed right above the bolt holding the spring and the rubber puck. In just a few minutes I can pull the bolt and adjust my trailer height.

I also welded a bit of heavy steel pipe on the bolt that holds the spring. It can now tilt with a lot less effort and wear. This makes it super simple to take the nut off the other end because the bolt is not spinning in the holder.

[MrBusCo]

Picked this really nice Allstate trailer up today, original wood and everything. Can anyone point me in the right direction to determine the year?

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Josh The Bus Guy formerly known as JOGR
BlazeCutUSA.com MrBusCo.com

[Suboval]

Have you tried here?

http://singlewheel.com/
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It all works on paper.

There's two things we learn from history:
1.) History repeats itself.
2.) We don't learn from history.

[MrBusCo]

Yes, of course. I did not see a listing of years by serial number or any other way to ID the year.
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Josh The Bus Guy formerly known as JOGR
BlazeCutUSA.com MrBusCo.com

[panel]

What size tire are you guys using? It seems like those pics on the first few pages are 4.00-8 and I see some talk of the 4.80-8 ? What's the difference and why choose one over the other etc?
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My '65-Subaru EJ20 Turbo conversion

[[email protected]]

[panel]

So is the 4.80 tire just taller (O.D. larger) than the 4.00 then ?
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My '65-Subaru EJ20 Turbo conversion

[MonkeySee]

Picked up a new toy with the Allstate.

[deanomont]

I have a fork/spring assembly but no wheel. I'm curious what a good alternative replacement would be? Any suggestions?

[CanStan]

I just picked up this Allstate Box trailer. It's incredibly solid but needs a few things before I get it on the road. I believe it is somewhere between '61 and '71 according to JLT's amazingly helpful Allstate History Page, because it has steel tongues rather than cast, the later style wheel swivel set-up, and I can see what appears to be original blue paint as opposed to brown paint for '72 and newer. When I first saw photos of it, I thought it was a wood box, but was pleasantly surprised to find out it's metal.

Here are a few questions:

Has anyone come up with a replacement for the lid latch assembly? As you can see, mine is long gone. I actually found that a stake pocket (used on flat deck trailers for inserting a 2x4 and building walls) will fit almost perfectly and give a very similar look to the stock stand. But I've searched all over looking for a latch of some sort without success. Ideally, I'd like something that looks original, but I'll take just about anything right now to get it functioning. I'm thinking twist clamps or something similar, but haven't found anything that will work with the existing catch on the lid.

Next, the metal lid 'props' are missing. Does anyone have a source / solution for those? I'm thinking possibly using hydraulic hatch struts, but again, would prefer originality over function for some reason.

I also need to come up with a source for an ID tag (it sounds like the repro's were all sold out long ago) and I haven't seen any originals come up, and build some sort of hitch set-up. It looks like everyone has just come up with their own solution for that. I don't think I've seen a definitive answer other than to find the impossible to find original attachments?

[/img]

[CanStan]

A little bit of an update with some solutions I've come up with. Hopefully these will help someone else in the future. The box trailers with the lid seem to be pretty rare, so there wasn't much info to go on when I started.

My first task was to get the lid latch functioning properly. I mentioned in my previous post about using a stake pocket for the latch stand. It worked great. It took a crazy amount of searching to find a proper latch though. None of the usual suppliers had anything that would work, especially since the end that grabs the lid needed a solid hook on the end rather than the open loop which isn't very common I discovered. In the end, a specialty industrial supply shop had the correct part for less than $2. I'd eventually like to replace it with something a little more heavy duty and lockable, but it should work for now. It's sitting a bit crooked in the picture because of a warp in the lid, but that will be easy enough to sort out.

Next, I picked up some gas hatch struts to hold the lid open. They were cheap- about $12 each. The lid itself weighs 64 lbs, and although I'm sure some propeller head out there can figure out the exact forces and mounting angles to come up with the required strengths for the struts, I'm not that guy. So I winged it. First I tried a pair of 47 lb struts, but they wouldn't hold the lid up. I swapped those for some 85 lb ones, and they worked perfectly. I was able to use the original hinge mounts on the lid, and some strut brackets to mount them on the box.

The lid is actually able to open all the way while the trailer is attached to the Bus, with about an inch to spare, and the back hatch of the Bus is able to open when the trailer lid is closed.

I couldn't find any good info on building bumper brackets, so after a bunch of measuring I came up with this:

And Had these built:

[CanStan]

I was able to mount the brackets using one of the original bumper bolt holes on each side, so it attaches straight through the actual bumper bracket on the back. The other bolts use large fender washers on the back for some extra strength, and everything feels rock solid. I picked up some clevis pins and hooked the trailer up.

I tracked down some NOS Hella trailer lights from the early '60s that look good and could pass for being original to most people. I still need to finish the wiring from the Bus to the trailer, but the trailer wiring is done.

I took a late night run around the block just to see how it pulls. With my 1600 in the Bus, I couldn't even tell there was anything behind me. I do, however, need to tighten up the wheel swivel a bit. It gets the violent wheel wobble once it gets up to any sort of speed. But that should be an easy enough fix.

Hopefully just a little bit more playing around and it will be ready to go. The plan is to make a small kitchen in the back, with a propane stove, sink, and swing out countertop for our small BBQ, and still have lots of storage for camp chairs, the cooler, and all the other crap that comes with camping with 2 small kids.

[CanStan]

My trailer has a large spring where the wheel assembly attaches to the frame of the trailer. Most styles seem to use the spring to control the amount of suspension travel because the wheel forks are rigid. However, mine has leaf spring type forks and that is where the suspension flex happens. I'm trying to figure out how tight/ compressed the spring needs to be on mine. I've had it quite loose, then extremely tight, without much difference in the handling or stiffness of the pivot.
The trailer tows pretty nice. I still need to play around with adding weight and adjusting tire pressure because it can bounce quite a bit on bumps.
Has anyone else with this style come up with the right torque for this castle nut and spring?

[panel]

CanStan.......I saw these somewhere

And liked them so much I had them made in a one piece for my build.(below)

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My '65-Subaru EJ20 Turbo conversion

[CanStan]

[panel]