Who works for trailer building company here?

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I have an interview and test and a trailer company. Just wondering if anyone here works for any companies who build trailers, specifically end/side dumps, quad wagons, hoppers or lowbeds.  Just trying to get a look into the process ahead of time so I know what to expect. I've been applying at this company for some time, and they've finally given me a call so I'm trying to get an idea of what to expect.  I only have about a year experience in fabricating and production welding so I've been around for a little bit and with some good companies already.
Reply:mostly all mig.      Most of the quality lowbeds will be FCAW-S  the remainder will be mig,   tons and tons of boring mig,  weather aluminum or steel.   A lot of modern trailer manufacturers that build in aluminum have embraced pulsed mig with push pull setups.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Brush up on your Spanish.HammerFile Big Hammer------------------------------Here, let me Google that for you...
Reply:I worked for a trailer mfg. I talked to the guys took a bend test  one root pass and what ever it took to cap it they didn't care asking as the welds looked good and I didn't have any slag inclusion. It was boring ....same welds day in and day out in our shop we had chain flippers meaning 98% of all our welds were dual shielded mig flat you will be fine ......I could put my 11 year old daughter on one of those lines and aside from lifting the skid plate in she would do fine1979 sa 200victor 100several bfh's several pitbulls (for holding down the floor)
Reply:Dualie,  You're almost right, the guy said they almost always use MCAW processes for everything that they do, which is great because I have 4 MCAW tickets, but they also sometimes use .035 for the lighter gauge materials.  I don't understand why I should brush up on some spanish? You got me there dude, lol.  Also, he said that they most of the welds are done in the flat position, and downhand on the lighter stuff as well. I was really quite impressed with the facility, and I'm hoping that they offer me the job. If a company calls you in for a weld test, then they obviously are most likely going to hire you if you do good, right? I hope so, lol.
Reply:Two places I get trailer parts have very informative catalogs. I haven't checked their websites, but you can learn a lot from those books about the terminology and common measurements.Quality Trailer Productswww.qtrailer.com877 787 2453TCF813 621 6968
Reply:Originally Posted by Tat2dHandz I don't understand why I should brush up on some spanish? You got me there dude, lol.  .
Reply:especially with that kind of work....1979 sa 200victor 100several bfh's several pitbulls (for holding down the floor)
Reply:I'm still waiting to hear if I got the job or not, but they're checking my references, and I've got solid references so I'm pretty confident with that part of it.  Yeah, I'm from Canada. I noticed it's majority english when I went for my test, so I don't think I'll have any language barriers there. But thanks for the tip, if I ever end up working down south I will remember that.  I'm checking out that Rockwell website, thanks blackbart  Will update this as I get more information. Anybody else who has actual experience with the process of fabricating dumps, quad wagons or lowbeds? I'd be more than happy to listen to your stories/advice/tips etc.
Reply:Even though you will probably be making trailers, you will probably get many in for bearing repairs, because nobody services the axles like they are supposed to. Often the bearing is siezed on the shaft.  One trick to removing it is with an OA torch.  It will cut the first layer of metal, but won't dig into the second, so the bearing just falls off.  I think there was another thread earlier on removing inner bearing races from brake drums by welding small beads on them then letting them shrink as they cool so they just fall out also. You may see many home built trailers on mobile home axles with odd bearings and seals.  I have found it is often cheaper to buy an entire new axle than replace ones with those.  Then the next time he will be payin $3.00 per bearing instead of $20 from an automotive store. I am doing an odd one now, the bearings and seals were $275 and brand new axles with hubs and bearings are $172 each. Also if you search those catalogs you will find it is often cheaper to buy an entire backing plate preassembled with brakes than replacing shoes like you would on a car.
Reply:I didn't fully read your first post.  Large semi trailers are going to be a different ballgame. I don't know at what size they go from standard electric or hydraulic brake setups to commercial air brakes. I don't have a lot of experience with semi trailers.
Reply:My first welding job was at a trailer manufacturing shop. It is the one of the biggest names in trailers around. Aside from the pay it was one of the best jobs Ive ever had. It was a great place to gain experience but there was alot more I needed to learn and with using strictly GMAW spray in the flat and vertical down, I wasn't going to get it there. I learned so much about fabricating, lay out, fitting and production welding, and i had to accept alto of the stuff i learned in school didn't apply to real world welding. What an employer asks might be quite different, he is paying you after all. I figured it was a good place to start out and it would have been a good place to go back to once u gained experience in at other jobs in the field. low stress, everything made to accommodate you the welder, Ill explain as I tell the story.This company was really super smart. They had a little over 2 years worth of work they were behind on, building highboys and logging trailers. They needed a plan to fill these orders. They wanted to push out 40 trailers per month, and they did. They are a company from Saskatchewan and at the time the government in BC was giving out huge money to company's who were supplying work in the province. This company saw the opportunity so they did their homework. They went over seas to see how Toyota and other companies were able to build high quality products at a low cost and high efficiency.So what they did is came to BC and built a brand new shop. Put the best of the best equipment, welders, CNC brake, CNC shear, CNC plasma, the list goes on and on. In the middle of the building they had a huge jig for building frame rails, and beside that i believe 5 booths for welding parts and sub-assemblies, later to be installed into the trailers. lots of jigs to be found here. they had a fab area where guys would cut and press parts. they had a huge inventory of parts on pallets and people who would put packages together into boxes and put it into the bays where the traillers where being assembled.  At the far end of the building there was 3 bays with 2 stages in each bay. 2 welding machines in stage one and 3 in stage 2. We would stage one had huge jigs where we would put the fame rails into and square them up and it used mini air pots to clamp the frame rails into position. But before we would lay them into the jig we would lay out all the mesurements for stiffeners and crossmembers and everything like that, weld the stiffeners in the flat, then move the rails into the jig. all the crossmembers would be installed, fifth wheel and axle hangers, bumpers. The trailer is upside down at this point. after all the welds were done that could be done in the flat or minor thin stuff downhill were finished it got pulled out and set up on its side on saw horses in stage 2. all flat welds were done, couple downhands. trailer was flipped and set on its other side and flat welds were done. Then back upside down to install axles and what not. then it was flipped back right side up and after a good inspection all spatter was scraped off, it was rolled down the street to get painted.Once back from paint there was another crew that would install all the brake pots air lines, decals, wiring and lights. the finishing crew were really the stars when i look back at it, they had to make it pass DOT specs and the company standards. I was lucky because I got to work in the parts crew, when we were caught up with parts id help put boxes together for the production guys, and then i got to go to production and assemble the trailers. i also spent some time helping with shearing and brake work. By the time I left I was an important player on the team, If I was waiting on a part to be built i could whip it up myself and keep us on schedule. I started at 12 an hour left at 16.50 for 30 bucks an hour with as much overtime i wanted up north.When the 2 years worth of work was finished and money from the government dried up they packed up all the brand new tools and updated the main shop in Saskatchewan. Put 40 or 50 or more people out of work and bobs your uncle.I now work for a company that maintains chip trailers, flat decks and a few others on the fleet, lots of welding and mechanical. No matter what way you look at it, its all experince. I have been lucky, Ive worked in sawmills, on the water setting up marinas and building docks, building houseboats, did some carpentry for fill in, machine shop, and on and on. Its all experince and you aint goin to learn it all in one place usually.Last edited by Doug247; 03-24-2013 at 02:22 PM.Nothing Ever Got Done By Quitting, Never Give Up.