trailer body to hitchball spacing

[bobhenry]

on the tongue bar, would the 2x2 you mentioned be a good substitute for the 2x3 14 guage that is on there now?

What size body is going on that little trailer.
The 2x2x3/16 has a wall thickness of .188 where your current tube is .083
that not quite 2 1/2 time more material I see no reason it would be a problem.

[Trackstriper]

William,

The question about the 2"x2" tubing is not easy to answer. You're building a small trailer as I recall and that may allow you to get away with a tongue that is not as strong as what is needed on a full-sized (oxymoron!) teardrop. You need to determine how long the tongue will be and how much the trailer will weigh, loaded. Compare these numbers to a typical teardrop and take a good guess. Recent thread had lots of good info on this subject:

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=22913&start=0

Also check out Andrew's tongue design page:

http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/teardrop/tear84.htm

That's a lot of info to digest, but you're the one that has to make the call. I think if it were me, I'd stay with the 2X3 14 gage tubing. Many on the forum have used 2x2 11 gage successfully, but it weighs more that the 2x3 14 gage, has less vertical strength, and won't "bolt-up" as well since your trailer is already set up for the 2x3. (edit: the 2x2x3/16 wall tube that bobhenry just mentioned is as strong vertically as your 2x3 14 gage)

Other options might include extending the aft portion of the tongue all the way to the rear cross member as the tongue is only going to be about as strong as the longitudinal frame member it is currently bolted to. With a 2x3 tongue you might not have enough clearance above the axle to allow for suspension movement, so you might still consider the 2x2 stock. Lots of options and things to consider. I think a lot of this will depend upon the anticipated loaded weight of your trailer.

J.B.

[looped]

Thanks for that info.. im going to go with th 2x3 since this trailer is designed around it.. called a local metal place today and without knowing what the exact length is going to be needed i just got a quote for the full 10' piece even though a shorter length will cost less.. 26 bucks and change not near as bad as i thought it would be.

[brian_bp]

Can someone find William a link to the spreadsheet ?

Up at the top of the page, in the list of links under the "Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers" title, is the Design Library.

In there is a page called Trailer Balance, which includes links to dowload the spreadsheet in your preferred format.

[Wos]

Something else you may want to consider when building a trailer like that is visibility while backing it. I had a 4x8 utility trailer with 1' sides when towing with my full size truck I could see it through the mirrors. when backing it up my driveway (120' or so) I could not see it because of the tailgate of the truck got in the way and the mirrors were only useful after it was way out of line. My solution was to place a tall flag(2' above the box) in the rear corner that gave me something visible through the window.

[looped]

Okay i am about to go get the new tongue for the trailer.. with clearance to jackknife i will be needing one that is just shy of 6 feet.

so im thinking with the price of this being cheap i could get a little extra on there to put a coolershelf on there.. for those who have put a shelf (angle iron and expanded metal) for their coolers did it get use or just become a "what was i thinking?" thing on there?