what to look for in buying a used reefer trailer

Braazooka · Apr 8, 2010

morph said: ↑

you should inspect it like you would a used vehicle, except put 3x the effort into the inspection.
EVERYTHING
i wouldnt want a trailer with floor problems, minor ones are signs of weakining floor. get under it and check EVERY floor I beam. take a rag and clean the grease off the king pin and see if its messed up and not smooth by getting banged in a loose 5th wheel. as another said get inside on a nice bright day and close up the doors, someone you can trust to shut you in , take your time, let eyes adjust and check the corners and seals, floor for any light. look at the tires and see if there are signs of wierd wear on them. run the reefer down to 0, depending on weather see how long it takes, after a hour or so shut it down, wait a few, check, motor, oil, look for leaks, smells inside the trailer and smells around the motor. then fire it back up. if you can test drive it, run it out on the road as the other guy said, check lights, have a friend follow you and watch to see if the lights blink on and off while drivin on a bumby road, signs of bad connection. have the person following you see how it looks as it trails behind, if its follows straight or runs off one way or the other. how does it look, does it look like someone had it took care of it? or was it treated like someone didnt care. inside and out. hows the air flow out the chute. chute condition. see if the hubs have oil or grease. if oil, after runnin it around the roads for a bit, get a flash light get under and look inside the wheel drums and look for oil leaking, if its grease your safe just have to have them packed a time or 2 a year.(thats what i do). conditions of the doors and the corners of them, do they feel flimsy or loose on the hinges. get up on the roof, see if anyones ran it under a low bridge. check the refer fuel tank, see if that has any tiny leaks, and if its attached good to the trailer with minimal corrosion to the trailer and its brackets. and when your all done doing this, come back the next day and check it over again. its like watching a movie the 2nd and 3rd time, you may catch something you overlooked the first time.
its a pain, i know, i just bought a 2001 great dane with a sbIII on it. and between researching prices, and vistiting different trailers and narrowing them down, i spent nearly 3 weeks to decide on the one i got, take a note pad and take notes. compare prices and dont settle. you dont want to buy something that you drive home, go out on the road and have to fix. it can happen, but better to try to have the upper hand on it. also. i called around to different states to check the upgrade for carb compliant thing for ##### hole cali. i found that thermo king with replace the motor in most refers for 7500-8500, if it passes. good luck
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That was great!! This is kind of people we need in this forum instead of people blaming and crying...thanks a lot...
Do you plan to replace your reefer engine soon to comply with #### hole California?

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