Three months later... I'd add a 2nd interior light closer to the rear. If you pack high you'll be glad to have more than one.

As I age I find that more light is good pretty much always...

Has anyone painted the floor of a cargo trailer?
The 20footer I bought last year is big enough to haul my old step-side pickup and will be used to haul project cars once we get the Barndominium done.
Since typically a project car will be leaking oil, I need something that is rough enough for the tires to grip, but will clean up oil spills without soaking into the wood floor.
Thinking a wood deck refurbishment paint may be a good idea
This one is a concrete cover, but would it work on wood?
Deck sealer
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I painted the floor of my race car hauler with garage floor paint and it held up well. With soft race tires traction was never an issue, but you could always sprinkle sand on the first coat and vacuum it off after it dried. A couple more coats would lock in the sand and you would have plenty of traction.

How about truck bed coating? Tuff, oil resistant and good traction. I have never applied the stuff, but a lot of people sure have, both commercially and as a home project.

I have painted garage shelves (plywood) with Sherwin Willians "decksacpes" porch stain with good results. I have had various things leak onto the shelves, including grease and oil, never had any issue.


https://www.sherwin-williams.com/ho...acrylic-solid-color-deck-stain-pcp-27256

Check out BTBRV on youtube as he just did a floor install on a cargo trailer. The video was uploaded yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUVUo47PcWo

I towed a Roadrunner single axle cargo trailer for my son's boy scout troop about 10 years ago, it towed very easily because of the torsion axle, but one thing with these single axle trailers is that they are spec'd to just come to 3,000 lbs so most don't have brakes installed. When they are loaded, they can weigh enough that you'd probably want a pair of 10" electric drum brakes. Fully loaded packed with scout stuff I was able to stop it with my '07 Grand Cherokee but I still think any trailer over 1500-2000 lbs should have brakes.

Here is my experience on a new 1989 boat/trailer purchase.

Our 17-foot Eliminator and trailer weighed 3250 pounds loaded with gear and gas (no people). The trailer had no brakes, but I assumed the trailer builder knew what he was doing. Then, soon after purchase, my family took a bunch of kids to the lake for the day. Approaching the lake, there was a very long steep, but straight downhill road. I literally had to push on the brake pedal so hard, that my back was pressing hard against the seatback. I almost rear-ended the car in front of me.
After this experience, I weighed the boat and trailer at 3250 pounds, which was more than 1500 pounds heavier than the California brakes requirement. . I decided to have brakes installed, which were very effective and safe, with barely a difference in drivability without trailer. During my research, I referenced the tow vehicle user's guide and found the manufacturer's trailer brake requirement is 1500 pounds or more.

In my opinion, there is no excuse to have insufficient or no brakes where needed or required by law. Do your homework so you know something about brakes on trailers and be comfortable enough to ask questions.

I found this introductory info at the following website. If anything else, if someone is asking questions like “How much can it tow?”, they need to do their homework, hopefully with a professional.

https://www.rvandplaya.com/how-much-can-you-tow-without-trailer-brakes/

The amount that you can tow without trailer brakes will actually vary from state to state. However, on average you can expect from 1,500lbs in California up to 5,000lbs in Alaska.

Many other factors will determine the amount that you can tow without trailer brakes. Here below you can find the most common:

1. Pull weight
2. Weight Of Your Vehicle
3. Age of trailer
4. Speed vehicle is traveling at
5. Items Being Hauled
6. Hitch Type
7. Number of Wheels

Agreed when I bought our present boat in 2002 the trailer did not have brakes. Many people around here think you can "get away" without brakes because in salt water they can be troublesome. I disagreed and I replaced the old axle with a 3500 lb unit with 10" surge drum brakes and that made a big difference, without brakes our '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee could hardly stop it. This was fine for years, but I got to thinking that when Four Winns spec'd their single axle trailers for the 20' Horizons and Sundowners (both boats had the option of a tandem or heavy duty single axle) they used a heavier axle and larger brakes. So this past month I finally upgraded to a 6,000 drop axle with 12" surge drum brakes (drums work well in my application) with this it stops very well, feeling no push at all behind me.
Both axles I had made to my specs by Champion Trailers in Slidell, Louisana, highly recommended, they do GREAT work.

Update: This trailer has worked out great for us. We made 3 trips from WI to FL and back and about a dozen trips between Northern IL and SE W. Never a problem and it always tracked true, regardless of load. However, with our housing moves completed, it is now time to sell this little bugger. We have it listed on FB for more than what we paid and got a ton of interest and is sold quickly. We are actually a bit sad about selling and will miss this darn thing. Never thought I would get attached to a trailer.

Glad you got good use out of the trailer and I'm sure the new owner will appreciate it almost as much as you did.
You made me realize I need to finish up the floor painting project on ours.


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I tried two different floor paints to see which I preferred.
The light gray is a deck Paint by Behr, while the darker gray is their concrete floor painting
I much prefer the texture and coverage of the Deck repair paint and need to do a second coat using the second gallon I've got over the entire floor of the trailer.
One thing that is really important when applying these paints is the proper roller. Unfortunately, I didn't read the directions properly when applying the first coating and used a 1/4 in nap instead of the 1/4 inch adhesive roller as called for.

World of difference in application and proper texture.