Trailer Repair in Austin, TX

Trailers we work on

• Dry vans — brakes, running gear, doors, lighting, floors, and structure
• Refrigerated trailers — the trailer and its running gear (not the reefer unit — see below)
• Flatbeds and step decks — decks, rub rails, tie-downs, suspension
• Dump trailers — hydraulics, hoists, tailgates, and the frames that take the abuse
• Goosenecks and bumper-pull — including livestock and stock trailers
• Equipment and utility trailers — ramps, winches, decks, and axles

We don't service reefer refrigeration units. Thermo King and Carrier units are a separate trade with their own dealer network, and we'd rather say so than have you haul a trailer across town for nothing. We do service everything the unit is bolted to — brakes, suspension, axles, wiring, and structure.

What we repair

• Air brakes — chambers, slack adjusters, S-cams, drums and shoes, valves, glad hands, air lines
• Trailer ABS — fault diagnosis and repair, including the lamp that never goes out
• Suspension — spring, air ride, airbags, hangers, bushings, and torque arms
• Axles, hubs, and bearings — including seals and the wheel-end leaks that ruin brakes
• Lighting and wiring — harnesses, seven-way connectors, grounds, and corrosion
• Landing gear — legs, gearboxes, and cranks
• King pins, upper couplers, and fifth-wheel fit
• Tires and wheels — repair, mounting, and replacement
• Doors, hardware, floors, and crossmembers
• Welding and fabrication — frames, mounts, and brackets
• Dump hydraulics — cylinders, pumps, hoses, and controls

Your trailer needs its own DOT inspection

This is the one operators miss most. Every commercial trailer requires its own annual FMCSA inspection, separate from the tractor pulling it, with its own sticker. A perfectly current truck coupled to an out-of-date trailer will still put you out of service at the scale.

We do annual DOT/FMCSA inspections on trucks and trailers, and we'll tell you what would fail before the inspection does — so you're fixing a brake, not arguing with an inspector on the shoulder of I-35.

What actually fails on trailers

Trailers wear differently from trucks, because nothing about them complains. There's no dash, no check-engine light, and no driver who sits with them all day — so problems announce themselves at an inspection or on the shoulder.

• Brakes — the most-cited category in roadside inspections, every year
• Lighting — usually corrosion in the connector or a bad ground, not the bulbs
• Tires — they carry the load and sit for weeks; most flat repairs we see are trailer tires
• Wheel ends — a seal leak that soaks a brake turns cheap into expensive fast
• Suspension and airbags — bushings and hangers go quietly, then all at once
• Landing gear — bent legs and stripped gearboxes from being dropped hard

Bring it in loaded or empty?

Depends on the job. Lighting, some hydraulic work, and inspections can often be done loaded; brake, suspension, axle, and wheel-end work generally can't. Tell us what's on it when you call and we'll tell you straight, rather than having you make the trip twice.

Fleet trailer programs

Trailers are the units fleets forget, precisely because they don't have a dash to light up. Then an inspection comes due on six of them in the same month, or a wheel end lets go on a loaded run.

On a fleet account we schedule trailer PM and annual DOT inspections alongside the trucks so they never bunch up, and we can do much of it at your yard instead of shuttling trailers across town one at a time. Preventive maintenance on a trailer is cheap; an out-of-service sticker on a loaded one is not.

Related services

• Truck & trailer repair — the tractor side
• Truck & trailer tires
• Brakes & suspension
• Annual DOT/FMCSA inspections
• Livestock & gooseneck trailers
• Heavy-duty alignment

Warranty coverage is set with your service advisor at the time of service.

Bring it in

2900 N FM 973, Austin, TX 78725, serving the Greater Austin Area (Travis, Bastrop, Williamson, Hays) — with room to get a trailer in and out without threading it through downtown. Call 512-717-2777 with the trailer type and what it's doing, or fleet sales at 512-273-7351 if you're running several. Directions: open in Google Maps.

Common questions

What kinds of trailers do you repair?

Dry vans, flatbeds, dumps, goosenecks, equipment and utility trailers, and the running gear on refrigerated trailers. We handle the trailer itself — brakes, suspension, axles, lights and wiring, landing gear, structure, and DOT inspections. We do not service reefer refrigeration units; Thermo King and Carrier are a separate trade with their own dealer network.

Does a trailer need its own DOT inspection?

Yes. Every commercial trailer needs its own annual FMCSA inspection, separate from the truck pulling it, and it needs the sticker to prove it. This is the single most common thing operators overlook — a current tractor with an out-of-date trailer will still put you out of service at a roadside inspection.

Can you repair trailer brakes and air systems?

Yes — air brake service, chambers, slack adjusters, S-cams, drums and shoes, air lines, glad hands, valves, and trailer ABS faults. Brakes are the most-cited category in roadside inspections and the fastest way to be put out of service, so it is worth having them looked at before an inspector does it for you.

My trailer lights keep failing — can you fix the wiring?

Yes, and lighting is worth chasing properly rather than replacing bulbs repeatedly. Most recurring trailer light faults are corrosion in the seven-way connector, a chafed harness, or a bad ground rather than the lamps themselves. We trace the circuit and fix the cause, because lighting violations are among the most commonly written at roadside.

Do you replace trailer tires?

Yes — repair, mounting, balancing, and replacement for trailer tires, in bays set up for full-size commercial vehicles rather than at the curb. Trailer tires are most of the flat-repair work we see, because they carry the load and sit for long stretches. See our truck and trailer tire page for detail.

Can you work on a loaded trailer?

It depends on the load and the work. Some jobs are fine loaded; brake, suspension, and axle work generally is not, for safety and access reasons. Tell us what is on it when you call and we will tell you straight whether it needs to come in empty rather than having you make the trip twice.

Do you do trailer floors, doors, and structural repair?

We handle mechanical and structural work — crossmembers, floor sections, doors and hardware, landing gear, and welding and fabrication. Full collision rebuilds and body panel replacement on a van trailer are usually better served by a dedicated trailer body shop, and we will point you at one rather than take on work that belongs elsewhere.

Can you service our whole trailer fleet?

Yes. Trailers are the units fleets most often forget until an inspection or a breakdown, because they have no dash to light up and nobody drives them daily. On a fleet account we schedule trailer PM and annual DOT inspections alongside the trucks, and can do much of it at your yard so trailers are not shuttled in one at a time.