Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hello, being a newbie, I was wondering about constructing a trailer frame of aluminum. I was wondering instead of making a frame then attaching the teardrop to it, could the who thing be made as a one piece aluminum frame? Thoughts anyone?

flashkb wrote:Hello, being a newbie, I was wondering about constructing a trailer frame of aluminum. I was wondering instead of making a frame then attaching the teardrop to it, could the who thing be made as a one piece aluminum frame? Thoughts anyone?

Pretty much anything "could" be done, especially if you are willing to throw lots of money at it. Outside of a large sheet stamped into shape(massive tooling and equipment cost) I can't picture how you would do it though. What are you thinking?

You need to define what you mean as "one piece". I have trouble envisioning anything other than welding together pieces. Done right that can be very strong.

Aluminum frames take a lot more thought than a steel frame as aluminum fatigues and breaks if there is any flexing. You'll want to have someone look at your design that knows how thick the stock should be, span ratings, etc. And it will likely be a lot more expensive than steel to build.

Bruce

I think I wouldnt necessarily make the frame out of aluminum I could use steel. Im just imaging automobiles. Since cars and some SUVs are made as a unibody, I was thinking it would save weight if the trailers whole frame was welded as one unit.

There used to be a trailer frame building tutorial in the Design Resources link above but the link is bad, I think the website was maintained by Doug Hodder who passed on a couple of years ago. I have a copy of the tutorial if you want it.

Bruce

Since cars and some SUVs are made as a unibody...

Aren't all unibody cars made from steel? Tesla's new electric truck is unibody but uses stainless steel. There has to be a reseason Elon's engineers chose not to go with aluminum.



As Musk himself might say, "why not?"

I think it's possible for someone that is experienced in designing monocoque aircraft. But for sure, it's way above my pay grade. We do tow these thousand-pound creations at 60 miles per hour or more against opposing traffic. (What could possibly go wrong?)



Tony