Frame material question

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Frame material question

Postby Spicy McHaggis » Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:07 pm

All you custom trailer/frame builders, got a question for ya.

I'm going to be building a trailer for light duty (2-track, dirt roads, etc) hauling of camping gear. Looking at 4' wide and 5' long and 3500# leaf spring axle.

I'm looking at using 2"x2", 3/16" (.1875) wall square steel for everything except for the vertical box, which will be 1"x1" square steel. Reason for the 3/16" steel is that it's the easiest for me to get here in Kodiak, Alaska.

Does that sound stout enough for basic road hauling and some light off-road use? I'll be running no larger than 32" tires on 16" rims on it (to match the JK).

Thanks!
Andy
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Postby jss06 » Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:12 pm

I used 2x2x3/16 for the main part of my frame. It will see the same type of use you are looking at. It should be more than strong enough for what you are doing.
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Postby Spicy McHaggis » Sun Oct 24, 2010 2:22 am

jss06 wrote:I used 2x2x3/16 for the main part of my frame. It will see the same type of use you are looking at. It should be more than strong enough for what you are doing.


Cool, thanks John for the reply.

Andy
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Re: Frame material question

Postby stomperxj » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:49 pm

Spicy McHaggis wrote:All you custom trailer/frame builders, got a question for ya.

I'm going to be building a trailer for light duty (2-track, dirt roads, etc) hauling of camping gear. Looking at 4' wide and 5' long and 3500# leaf spring axle.

I'm looking at using 2"x2", 3/16" (.1875) wall square steel for everything except for the vertical box, which will be 1"x1" square steel. Reason for the 3/16" steel is that it's the easiest for me to get here in Kodiak, Alaska.

Does that sound stout enough for basic road hauling and some light off-road use? I'll be running no larger than 32" tires on 16" rims on it (to match the JK).

Thanks!
Andy


In my personal opinion it sounds way too heavy for what you are going to use it for. My frame on the Sawtooth is made from .120 wall tube and for your application it should be more than enough. Save yourself some $$ and weight and go with .120....
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Re: Frame material question

Postby Spicy McHaggis » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:53 pm

stomperxj wrote:
In my personal opinion it sounds way too heavy for what you are going to use it for. My frame on the Sawtooth is made from .120 wall tube and for your application it should be more than enough. Save yourself some $$ and weight and go with .120....


If I could get .120 I would, but that's part of the problem - there's only one steel dealer here on Kodiak, and I'll have to pay extra for "special order" - and it takes the price up to even more than using the .1875 stuff!

Ahhhh the joys of living on a remote island in the Gulf of Alaska... :x
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Postby boxcar » Sat Dec 04, 2010 8:27 am

3/16th's is a bit heavy for road use . Look at it this way. You will never have to worry about your trailer frame failing. Yack can be a tough place to procure anything not marine related . I have a good friend in the Guard on Kodiak who owns a wrangler. Used to live here in Astoria , Got transfered a fuew years ago. Sure miss the guy. Any way back to the trailer: What design are you planning to base your trailer on? If I knew I might be able to design a frame that will shave a little weight off the frame.
Do you intend to go solid axle or independent? Brakes? Etc. Good luck with the build...Great winter project........Boxcar
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Postby Scott Hightower » Sun Feb 06, 2011 9:50 am

I agree that the 3/16" is a bit heavy for the application however if you are a novice welder the 3/16" material will be allot easier to weld. You can get full penetration without blow outs.

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