Trailer frame material wall thickness

[Chris C]

I'm still in the "mulling thoughts around" stage of this process. I'm planning, at this point, to build a Modernair syle tear using Andrew's drawings as a starting point. So a lightweight trailer is my plan. It looks to me that 2" square tubing is the way to go.............but what wall thickness will be satisfactory? I think 1/8", but wanting to go light makes me wonder about 14 Gauge (3/32"). The former weighs in at about 3# per foot, while the later is 2#. By rough calculations that means trailer frame weights of 141# and 94#..........not taking into consideration the weight of axel, wheels, tires and coupler, of course. Any suggestions from those who have actually built and used their trailers?

[type82e]

I think 3/32 is heaps I have just built my frame out of 2" * 1" 3/32 rhs and its plenty strong then I bolted the floor to it and and it stiffenend up even more then when i bolt and glue on the sides it will never move

I used to have a 4' *7' lawn mowing trailer made out of 2" 3/32 rhs and that thing got worked to death for 6 years hauling rubbish to the dump my mowers etc
once I accidently overfilled it with mulch I think it had like 1200 kg's of mulch in there as it was wet and didnt phase it at all
I think the key is a strong drawbar you could still go thinner all the frame does is give you somthing to attach the body to and the drawbar these days my dad who built my first trailer uses 1 1/2" 1/16 rhs for his trailer frames he says all the strength is in the bodies
marcel

[asianflava]

I have a minimal frame, almost exactly like the one Andrew has drawn out. I made it out of 2x2x1/8 square tubing.

[Psychohillbilly]

I believe the HF frame is 14 Gauge channel. There are alot of tears built on these frames. So I think that 14 Gauge tubing would be even stronger.

the Psychohillbilly

[Guest]

Chris,
People have just about drove themselves nuts on this one... I did.
I decided to not rely on the strength of the "box" of the wooden body and overbuild my frame just like I normally overbuild anything else.
(I know where I'm taking this puppy, the engineer doesn't)
I went with 2" x 2" x 1/8" wall on the frame and a 2" x 3" x 3/16" wall on the tounge.
I'd rather give up a little gas mileage, than worry about going beefy enough on the frame... That's just me.

[Chris C]

Dean, I've PM'd several people whose building experience I respect and have decided what I'm going to do is build the lightweight frame as shown in Andrew's pdf drawing. But I'm using a 2x3x 3/32 tube for the front and back tube, and 2x2x3/32 for both sides and the center cross-member. Then I'll use 2x2x1/8 tube for the tongue...........with 2x2x3/32 braces for the A-frame on the tongue.

As a custom furniture builder, I am a firm believer in the strength of an enclosed "pod" such as the tear body...............especially when the pod is built of a material as strong as plywood. So I think a properly built tear body on top of the frame I've decided to build will provide a trailer which will provide years of use.

Now that that's settled, I have the period of time between now and when I start building the trailer to change my mind about 50 more times!

[Guest]

I have the period of time between now and when I start building the trailer to change my mind about 50 more times!

Chris,
My avatar is from about five versions ago, all the images in my album are from at least three versions ago...
Start building ASAP, it only gets worse with time...
I'm picking up my steel this afternoon... Cut my workday short so I could go over the frame situation one more time and yes... I changed something.

[Chris C]

Oh thank God, I thought I was the only one! But seriously, (if that's possible on this site) I've yet to make the "pilgrimage" to Minden where I am sure I will find many new ideas and change my mind 50 times in one day. My girlfriend told me last night I'll probably be in hog heaven. I quickly corrected and reminded her to be politically correct it would have to be tear heaven!

[GregJ]

My girlfriend told me last night I'll probably be in hog heaven. I quickly corrected and reminded her to be politically correct it would have to be tear heaven!

In Minden Nb, you're probably both right