GregB wrote:Do you think that this latest frame design with the tongue not attached to the axle structure is robust enough for a full weight, (i.e., 1000 lbs. dry) trailer?
Greg,
I don't think so - you're talking about a trailer that's three times heavier. It isn't fixing the tongue to the body that I have a problem with, as the trailer gets heavier, but using a single tongue that ends in the middle of the floor.
I hope Mike will now add a post showing the alternative A-frame tongue that I sent him for the Ultralight, as his 3D lighting skills (or software!) are much better than mine. I believe this could be scaled up to a heavier trailer, using 2" square tube, rather than the 2" angle that is sufficient for the Ultralight. By using an A-frame, the back end of the tongue(s) can now lie right under the sidewall which is as solid a mount as you could want. However on the Ultralight this point is right at the front of the axle mount angles, so the length without a chassis drops to zero.
I should stress that all this talk of fixing the axle and tongue separately to the trailer body assumes several things:
- The trailer body is strongly constructed with proper glued joints onto fillets - no screws into the end grain of ply or such like.
- The door openings have decent-sized frames above and below (say, at least 3-4" deep).
- The roof/front panel meets the floor at an angle of at least 45deg to the horizontal - vertical is best.
- The attachment points for the axle and tongue are properly reinforced, either by bolting through plates inside the trailer or by using both horizontal and vertical fasteners (I would allow lag screws here, but I'm probably alone in that).
I don't want anyone to get the idea that I'm suggesting that bolting the tongue to a 3/4" ply floor is enough!
Andrew