Burley 2 Wheel Stroller Hack

I bought a Burley bike trailer off of Craigslist and love it.  It came with a handlebar, but no stroller kit.  When I went to buy a stroller kit, I was pretty disappointed by what Burley sold.  Their wheels are plastic!  Based on the overwhelmingly negative reviews on Amazon, I decided to see if I could replicate the same basic design for about the same amount of money, but with much higher quality materials.   Here's what I came up with. 
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Materials, Cost and Time:

1   Aluminum 6063 square tubing 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 36" ($15.73 from Amazon)
2   6" Threaded Stem Casters, black pneumatic wheel, 1/2 - 13 x 1 1/2/ ( $62.83 incl shipping from Access Casters)
2   Black plastic furniture end caps ($2.00 at the hardware store)
2   1/2 - 13 Flange nuts ($.20)

Total Cost of the hack:  $80.76
Cost of Burley's stroller kit: $89.00
Time: One long baby nap (~2 hours)

Step 1: Rounding over the aluminum square tubing

The bar that connects the trailer to your bike is 1 1/8" wide.  I looked all over for 1 1/8" aluminum tubing, but I could only find 1" or 1 1/4."  I noticed though, that if you remove the plastic inserts in the housings (seen in the lower one), a piece of 1 1/4" tubing would fit nicely...except for the roundover.  The roundover is a 3/16."  I didn't have a 3/16" roundover bit, so instead I took an old table saw blade I didn't care about anymore and chamfered an 1/8" off the edges and rounded them over with a file.

When you start fitting them, it helps to adjust the housings' by loosening their screws until they align better.  Once they fit nicely, clean up your roundovers with some medium sandpaper 

Comments

[jongscx]

The pneumatic tires also make the stroller a lot more "Burly"...