Redneck Innovation - What have you done?

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Nick1994

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Have you cobbled something together, through redneck innovation, and made it great? Doesn't have to be a car it can be anything, a tool, house repair, beater car etc. Post a picture of it!

Below I'll post the trailer I put together. It once was a boat trailer but somebody made it a utility trailer. I then chopped off the fenders and mounted a 2012 Dodge Ram 8' bed on it. Works perfect for what I use it for, for hauling my quad around and Home Depot trips. Also had 2,200 pounds of concrete in it a couple months ago... Picture doesn't show the toolbox on the front.

Then there's a picture of my dad's previous trailer. He used a forklift and mounted his camper onto his triple axle gooseneck trailer. Then he ran plumbing underneath, a power inverter and 2-6V golf cart batteries, an air compressor and hose reel, it had a fold out barbecue, a custom fold out step ladder, and he welded angle-iron and tracks to put his Arctic Cat on there and my quad fit in front of it. He made it so a small Bobcat skid steer on there. He's a great redneck engineer. I don't have much more pictures of his Arctic Cat (he sold it). It had mounts all over it, it was his prospecting machine that was fully customized. I helped him build the Arctic Cat and trailer.

So let's see what you've cobbled together!

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I've made a bunch of shorty wrenches by cutting old cheap wrenches in half, really come in handy on some power steering lines. If I'm ever taking something apart where all the bolts are different and it's going to be awhile putting them back together, I take a piece of cardboard and place the bolts in the the cardboard as I pulled them loose.
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
They look interesting however the poor neighbors....


That amount of s p a c e they'd be rich neighbours in most countries.
 
The previous owners of my camper dragged it into a guardrail. I can't find a fender for it, so I fond some color matched duct tape!

After a year, it has turned from it's original tan to brown.
 
Didn't make it but has been passed down through the family a few times. It's heavy but a great trailer. Alot of miles on it. Probably should replace the axle with an actual trailer axle but I'm too cheap. Grew up a on farm with carpenters in the family, redneckery is everywhere!

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Originally Posted By: madRiver
They look interesting however the poor neighbors....


Amen
 
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Originally Posted By: madRiver
They look interesting however the poor neighbors....
As you can see, there's an RV gate there where it was parked behind.
 
Originally Posted By: Red91
I've made a bunch of shorty wrenches by cutting old cheap wrenches in half, really come in handy on some power steering lines. If I'm ever taking something apart where all the bolts are different and it's going to be awhile putting them back together, I take a piece of cardboard and place the bolts in the the cardboard as I pulled them loose.
My grandpa did that all the time (owned a collision repair shop from 1959-2005). He sometimes welded a socket to a piece of scrap metal for that perfect size and angle.

Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Didn't make it but has been passed down through the family a few times. It's heavy but a great trailer. Alot of miles on it. Probably should replace the axle with an actual trailer axle but I'm too cheap. Grew up a on farm with carpenters in the family, redneckery is everywhere!

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The previous owner of my trailer apparently made the axle. Turns out, the spindles are off a 1950s Oldsmobile... Has old style ball bearings I just had replaced.

Originally Posted By: Miller88
You guys with those rust free bed trailers could make a killing by selling the bed ...


I got the bed for free. My dad works at a body shop and the Dodge truck was rear ended, so the tailgate is dented in the back and the bed is slightly twisted, with a 2" hump in the rear.
 
I've had tires that were unbalancable via the usual route. Put them on the drive wheel and jack up the car. Trial and error with stick on weights cured the problem.
 
Not mine, but my step-father's:
-he built from scratch many of the tools needed on a construction site (table-saw,...); he also lost 2 fingers from them
-most of his tools where never home but on the construction site...
-to expedite his painting, he put together some jar contraption to use a vacuum output to spray paint
-he built/repaired houses/apartments for all his brothers/sisters/kids, not himself
-he could get a door to close so tight/precise, it would make the same "vault" sound like the luxury auto brands..

i'll drink a double distilled shot tonight in his honor, Bless His Soul!
 
Nothing like building my own trailers, but I did a "temporary" fix on our old Civic that lasted for years. The distributor cap (Honda still used 'em in 2000!) was held in place by three bolts, two of which sheared off at the head when replacing the cap. Couldn't figure out how to get the stuck stumps out of the housing, so I put the one back in and held the whole thing together with a worm drive hose clamp. Worked fine for years.

jeff
 
Originally Posted By: greenjp
Nothing like building my own trailers, but I did a "temporary" fix on our old Civic that lasted for years. The distributor cap (Honda still used 'em in 2000!) was held in place by three bolts, two of which sheared off at the head when replacing the cap. Couldn't figure out how to get the stuck stumps out of the housing, so I put the one back in and held the whole thing together with a worm drive hose clamp. Worked fine for years.

jeff
Similar to yours, forgot to post this one. After I was rear ended earlier this year, I ordered a junk yard brake light off eBay. It is supposed to be held on by 3 nuts. I used a sledge hammer and was able to get 1 in. Holds nice and tight!

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I did an oil change on an '84 Chevy C20 today, and the valve cover breather and grommet were missing, so I just got a Mr. Gasket breather and grommet...well...that breather is for aftermarket chrome valve covers, and the hole in the stock valve cover is too small....so...I got a pcv valve grommet, a large to smaller size plastic heater hose adapter, and a short piece of 1" heater hose and stuck it all together, then popped it in the valve cover. Works like a charm.
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Broke the brittle plastic vacuum connector to my brake servo ("booster" in American?) while removing the battery. Brakes still worked, just required more pedal effort.

That evening, a [censored] rice racer ahead of me aimed for a gap, chickened-out, panic braked, and spun.

I panic-braked too and would probably have locked-up and hit him, (or lost control and spun) but I couldn't press the pedal hard enough.

Poor man's ABS?

Thought I should fix it anyway, and found part of a Japanese ball point pen that fitted nicely.

It says something for my confidence in Ford part quality that I was happier with the Japanese ball point pen than I would have been with a Ford OEM replacement.
 
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