simple frame

[del]

i am building a ten foot tear. much effort is going into keeping this build lite (not quite ultralite). would like to use the a frame similar to mike's ultralite design(page 10 of the ultralite info). would 2 x 2 x 1/4 angle be over kill or can i survive with less?


1.would like 36" tounge.
2.brakes?
3.leaf springs.
4.i likely forgot important info, so please ask.

is this a doable arangement doable or do i need to change something?

thank you
del

[SteveH]

I built mine from 2 X 2 X 1/4" angle and there are no problems, but if you want it light, go for 1/8" angle....that's what the CampInns are built from. There are pictures of mine in my album.

[angib]

Del,

2"x2"x1/4" angle needs to have a reason to be used, because 2"x2"x1/8" square tube is a touch lighter but much, much stronger - 2.4 times as strong.

In the Ultralight, Mike was proposing to use 2"x2"x1/8" angle, which is about half the weight of either those two.

Andrew

[madjack]

yep...I would say go with the 2x2x1/8th...no more than that is needed...I would however reinforce the tongue if using the 1/8th
madjack

[del]

madjack

when you say reenforce do you mean where the front of the body meets the a frame (i planed on this but have not desided how)

thank you
del

[madjack]

yes Del. With a 3' tongue it may not be as critical as it is with a longer tongue or with an off-roader.............

[Gerdo]

Don't skimp on the material used for the tongue! Mine is probavly overkill but I don't have to wory about it. Mine is an "A" frame tongue made out of 2x3x3/16" sq tube.

[angib]

del,

I forgot to mention that I have a web page that shows what tongue strength is required to pass the Australian small trailer rules.

The maximum weight of a trailer with a 36" A-frame tongue according to these rules is:
2" x 2" x 1/8" angles: 380 pounds
2" x 2" x 3/16" angles: 560 pounds
2" x 2" x 1/4" angles: 710 pounds
2" x 2" x 1/8" square tubes: 1,730 pounds (corrected 29-Oct-06)

These Aussie rules are very harsh and it would seem that it's safe to have a trailer weight of double these values.

Gerdo's twin 2" x 3" x 3/16" rectangular tubes are good to 4,300 pounds according to the Aussie rule, so they'd do for a 8,000 pound trailer!

Andrew

[Jiminsav]

man..you frame people have just one frame of mind..myself, I believe in frame freedom, so I did it like this with one stick of 2X3X1/8th galvinized tubing.

[Juneaudave]

man..you frame people have just one frame of mind..myself, I believe in frame freedom, so I did it like this with one stick of 2X3X1/8th galvinized tubing.

Jim..your scary..very, very scary....How's it working anyway???

[Jiminsav]

Dave, I've dragged it behind me for 1500 miles without a problem.
seems to work pretty good for me.

[dwgriff1]

A lot of the early trailers, both tears and travel trailers, used a diagonal brace that went from the tongue to the body of the tear, giving the tongue a lot of extra strength.

No one does that any longer (except me, I guess).

Wouldn't such a brace allow for a very light frame?

dave

[del]

would putting braces like the litewieght trailer be benifical (old tinytears scans of mags). or would the added wieght be more than the wieght savings on the lighter toung? would this work for 1000# trailer? or would it only work on a much lighter trailer? (still have no idea how much this thing will wiegh, but trying to keep wieght down.)

thank you
del




http://www.tinytears.cc/scans.html

[doug hodder]

Del...I just finished up a frame for a 10' x 4'6" tear...I used 16 ga. tubing 2x2, leaf springs, 15" automotive wheels and 2x3 .120 tongue 4' long....257#, and according to Andrew, that's right where the Harbor Freight 1100# trailer weighs in, but I've got a lot more running gear under it...When it is all said and done, the trailer body is going to provide a lot of stiffness/ strength in the whole project...it's the whole sum of the parts that do it, you don't need to build the frame that heavily from the get go...but that's just my opinion. First one was 2x2 1/8", second was 2x2 .120, this one is so much lighter and the strength is still there...Doug

[del]

my thoughts are to build an "a" frame tongue. at the end of the "a" frame use 2" x 2" x 1/8" (same as tongue) to mount the leaf springs. mount two braces such as the litewieght trailer(1" x1/8" flat stock?) would this hold (safely) up lets say a 1000# trailer? (on this frame mount my tear.) now shoot this down or modify it, thank you.

del