Why is the market for used Ironhorse trailers so hot? A lot of time was spent trying to figure that out and here’s the best guess. Apparently we were so busy improving the trailers that the superiority (and differences) of the newer ones were never mentioned!
Today’s ONE bike, TWO bike and WIDEBODY Ironhorse trailers look just like yesterday’s—as long as you don’t look too closely. If you study today’s Ironhorse Trailers, you will recognize that they are far superior to yesterday’s.
Still, there seems to be a belief that an Ironhorse is an Ironhorse is an Ironhorse! In the absence of a good understanding of the differences, many buyers still opt for or even prefer the older, cheaper ones found on the used market. Read on…
Powder Coated Steel to Aluminum – Converting every Ironhorse model from a powder-coated steel chassis to an aluminum chassis was the biggest single improvement ever made. The potential payoffs—longer life, lower weight, better gas mileage, are obvious. Three little lines to describe months of research, trial and error and finally, success!
The Electrical System – Although the conversion from steel to aluminum is known by now, there was more to the change than meets the eye. Specifically, the electrical system was overhauled. The old Ironhorse-assembled umbilical cord was replaced with a heavy duty umbilical cord with the seven or four pin “plugs” wired and molded to the end of the cord. At the other end are color coded wires. The cable is threaded through the tongue to a junction box mounted on the side of the tongue and colored wires are connected to color-coded terminals. Two bundles of wires, one for each side of the trailer, exit the junction box and are routed through plastic conduit well protected by the ¼ thick aluminum c-channel frame member on each side–with drops for lights and electric brakes along the way.
All brake lights, turn lights and interior lights on newer trailers are LED’s and all are Made in the USA! No more Chinese lights! We have optional LED back up lights too. Sadly, we often forget to mention the availability of backup lights. Not very smart!
Making the Tops So Much Better – One of the more obvious improvements is the use of rubber hold downs to keep rough roads from tossing the tops up and down so much that they break the alignment shear pins in the lower fiberglass flange on the rear of the top.
In anticipation of problems with the one and two bike tops coming open in high winds, we warned owners to stay or get off the road and shelter in winds above 40 mph. So only a couple owners who were unable to find shelter in unusually high side winds had problems. Despite the tops flapping in the wind, once the wind settled the tops were as good as new. After experimenting, a pair of “horns” were developed that effectively cut the sideways force on the top in half. Since “horns” are now stock on all one and two bike Ironhorses, there haven’t been any further problems.
The WideBody Top – For the first 7 years, a WIDEBODY had a complex hinged top system. A horizontal metal bar across the front had a lengthwise triangular metal structure to support each end of a metal bar. Each of two hinges were attached on one end to a wood block fiberglassed to the top and on the other end to wood blocks fiberglassed to the inside front of the body. Rethinking led to eliminating the crossbar and triangles. The result is a cleaner and more workable hinge that yields a huge improvement in the visual impact. When you open the tailgate/top of a new WideBody, it seems much larger and more usable!
The Tailgate – We tried many ways to cushion the shock when a tailgate closed too sharply (was allowed to slam shut), but it took a while to decide that the bumpers used in the bottom front of auto hoods were perfect.
What else? A huge and important project was a total structural and cosmetic tailgate redesign. The tailgate on an early Ironhorse was highly conventional and inset into the back of the trailer with a door casing, door faces, etc. Leaks were common even after a lot of time and money was spent to find ideal rubber gaskets. Determined to waterproof the tailgate, we embraced a new design that widened the tailgate so the tailgate cover matches the rear profile of the trailer body. The new tailgate is not inset and it looks much better too!
The real magic of the redesign is that the new tailgates don’t need gaskets. Instead, the hidden part of the tailgate that matches the two rear fenders channel air and water downward and outward away from the ride-on portion of the tailgate. Are the new tailgates totally water and air-tight? Not quite, but then again would you really want to haul bikes with gasoline sloshing around in their tanks in an air and water-tight trailer? If you can’t wait for a sunny day, keep in mind that plastic tubs or upside down plastic crates will keep your “stuff” off a little water on the floor.
Structural Support – We had to completely redesign the already multipurpose rear corner posts to also serve several more purposes and provide: 1) vertical stability for the rearmost fender and upper side of the body, and horizontal stability for the rear of the top; 2) an -anchor point for the gas spring that provides the opening and closing power for the top; 3) somewhere to mount the new auto-type hood bumper on each side; and 4) a place on the bottom few inches of the vertical piece of aluminum angle a way to attach it to the frame. Each model has to have its own fully configured pieces of thick aluminum angle corner posts. So, it wasn’t redesigning one new “corner”, but rather six–two each for the one bike, two bike, and WideBody respectively.
Tailgate Assist Cables – It eventually became obvious that the bare steel cable that was the primary component of the tailgate opening and closing system had a tendency to fray and eventually break. So we stopped using bare steel cable and changed to plastic covered steel cable.
Fiberglass 101 – Most people reading this know that fiberglass is flexible. That presents a challenge when trying to design something without “give” to it. Gelcoat is there to “look
pretty and shed water”. But, everything behind the gelcoat is there to make it stronger. One way to make it stronger is to spray/roll more resin on the backside of the gelcoat. But there’s a limit to how much thickness and strength you can add that way since the resin can run off. So “bulkers” are used. They are sponge-like material that soaks up resin and keeps it from running off.
Then there’s mat/biax—rolls of sheets of fiberglass in various widths and thicknesses which when wet out with resin conform multi-dimensionally. There’s more, but that’s enough to talk about how it is used to strengthen large areas like the side walls and the curved area up front. Longitudinal areas are strengthened by attaching a material like a pipe insulation to the inside surface you want to stiffen, then applying a couple of layers of resin and catalyst-soaked-mat to the curved surface. Once that dries, it’s stiff as can be. Check the inside of the top of an Ironhorse trailer!
Decorating! Last but not least, from 2006 to 2013, there was a talented decal and pin striping contractor who was unafraid to tackle even the most ambitious request. He designed, the customer approved, then after “building” the graphics, he brought them to the factory to install them. Sadly, his untimely death took him away from us and our customers. Despite efforts to replace him, there is no one in our area either interested or capable of performing to our customers’ expectations.
Likewise, we relied on a nearby painting contractor for many years. But rising paint prices and the reliance of body/paint shops on the whims of the collision repair industry eliminated custom paint from our available options. That leaves those who want and are willing to pay for custom paint out of luck unless they have a body shop skilled at painting fiberglass or they can find a used Ironhorse with the kind of paint job they want.
In conclusion – This description of improvements and changes means that while an Ironhorse still (mostly) looks like an Ironhorse, and all Ironhorse Trailers are easy to tow, aerodynamic and light weight, there truly is more to it than meets the eye.
Look closely! Check the year! Call 931-668-8860 with questions! Make sure you get the right paperwork to register (and resell) in your state! Some used Ironhorse prices look so
