Yes, we all shake our heads and laugh when we see a dilapidated homemade trailer on an old front axle from a car or pickup. But I’m an incurable scrounger and jerry-rigger ;-) Recently, I made a utility trailer out of the back half of a 1971 Ford F250. Now I’m wondering what to do with the front axles. These are the split I beam axles -- the right axle pivots near the left frame rail and vice versa. I even have almost new 16” eight lug wheels and tires. I’m thinking the big question is whether the axles and spindles are forged steel. If they are cast, I wouldn’t dream of welding them. But if they are forged, I’m thinking I could weld the two “half”-axles together with a few inches overlap, and weld the spindles. These axles are on coils springs, but I bet I can adapt them to leaves. It would be for a light duty utility trailer. Anybody have experience with this sort of thing?
