Minimalist Torsion Axle Frame

[alaska teardrop]

Dexter #8 - 1100# - 22 1/2* up start angle

Dexter #8 axle w/7" brakes

Adjustable forward or back for final balance before fender installation

195/70/14 Radial tires

Steel wheels w/moons

Edit:

Weights: Frame & floor steel = 83#, Axle w/brakes = 82#, 2 Steel wheels/tires/caps = 70#, Jack w/o wheel = 7#, Chain/links/bolts & nuts/coupler = 7#

Total chassis weight = 249#.

Fred

[aggie79]

I love your trailer designs and am envious of your skills.

Could you answer a question for me please? For your adjustable axle mount, how do you get the bolts in (and have room for a wrench)?

[alaska teardrop]

That's good of you to say. Thank you, Tom.

I'll return the compliment & say that your classic & classy teardrop design is really cool!

To answer your question, this picture probably shows the axle attachment the best.

The tubing is 2" & the bolts are 1-1/4". After the cabin is finished the axle is lifted in place. The bolts are dropped in place through the open ends of the tube with a long nose plier. The head of the bolt is held with a box wrench while the heavy washer & locking nut are secured with a socket wrench.

Fred

[KCStudly]

Not exactly on topic, but interesting just the same: the trailer hitch kit that I got for my Ford Escape TV (with unit body) included a fine spring wire fish tool that had a cork screw like curl (a spiral wound end that gripped the treads of the bolts) on one end that was used to pull the bolts up through the channel in the unit body frame rail and out through the existing holes. I don't recall at the moment what kept the bolts from turning while securing the nuts, but it worked very well.

[angib]

I don't recall at the moment what kept the bolts from turning while securing the nuts, but it worked very well.

What I've seen elsewhere is using a carriage bolt and fitting a big square/rectangular washer under the head of the carriage bolt - a square hole for the bolt locks the bolt and washer together and if the washer is big enough, it can't turn inside the tube/chassis member.

[Bogo]

If you need them, carriage bolts are available in grade 8 strength. Some farm implements use them. BTW, it isn't that hard to square a round hole in a piece of steel. Use a square file, and the job is a bit easier. There are also plow bolts which go into a squared or keyed bevelled hole. I'm not sure how you'd make the bevelled hole on the inside of a tube.... The strongest grade of T-slot bolts would also work, you want 150,000 psi or stronger strength. You would need to file your initial round hole into a slot to use them.

Wow, Fastenall only has one grade 8 carriage bolt. McMaster-Carr didn't have them, only up to grade 5. Hum, looks like Fastenall has them under "Shaker Screen Bolts". Very slightly different head shape than a typical carriage bolt, but they still have the square shank for locking into a square hole. Hum, I don't see any anti-rust coatings, so thread lock them to keep the moisture out of the threads, and then paint over them.

If I had reasonable access for a box end wrench to access the bolt head from the tube end, I'm not sure I'd use a carriage bolt. If for some reason the square hole gets stripped it could be very hard to remove the bolt. Grinding through a grade 8 nut and bolt is hard work. I bet most frames are only mild steel and not hardened steel or high tensile steel which I think would be a minimum for use of a grade 8 carriage bolt. That square shank is small and the area it bites against is also small.

[rowerwet]

I don't recall at the moment what kept the bolts from turning while securing the nuts, but it worked very well.

What I've seen elsewhere is using a carriage bolt and fitting a big square/rectangular washer under the head of the carriage bolt - a square hole for the bolt locks the bolt and washer together and if the washer is big enough, it can't turn inside the tube/chassis member.

the hitch for my '12 focus (same car underneath now) went on the same way, before you threaded the bolt onto the helicoil looking end of the wire you put the wire through the square hole in rectangular plate, this kept the bolt from turning, (this works better if the hole you drilled in the frame was slightly off center in the frame channel)

[alaska teardrop]

Thanks guys for your ideas. In order to avoid complicated assembly when the original concept came to mind, I went out to the shop & tried it first before keeping with the idea. A couple of pictures that may show better of how simple it is to drop the bolt in place & hold it with the wrench:

If the body where not welded on the tow bar, but made of aluminum, wood or fiberglass, those same 2" tubes would be used to mount the body. The body bolts would go through the top of the tube in the same fashion as the axle bolts. This drawing is the genesis of the design showing the mounting bolt locations:

Fred

[alaska teardrop]

These two pictures are of Stacie Tamakis' trailer with the steel portion of the cabin framing welded to the minimalist chassis.

In order not to get off topic, I won't go further with the building of her trailer in this thread. Stacie blogs about her trailer here: http://theflirtyguide.blogspot.com/sear ... 0-%20Build

Fred

[KCStudly]

Oooh, that looks nice. I'm sure that Stacie is going to be very happy, and that things are going to work out best for her in the end.

Great design and, IIRC, it really does look like what Stacie said she wanted!

[deleted]

It is just what I wanted! So lucky to have met Fred here on the forum. Every email update with photos he's sent me is like Christmas morning. And not only will my trailer be fantastic, I get to see what the country is like east of WA, OR, and CA. It's going to be a great adventure driving out to Michigan to pick it up.

[alaska teardrop]

Oooh, that looks nice. I'm sure that Stacie is going to be very happy, and that things are going to work out best for her in the end.

Great design and, IIRC, it really does look like what Stacie said she wanted!

Hey, as Red Green says " If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy".

[Fishingtomatoseed]

Both trailers look really nice.

[alaska teardrop]

Thanks, Clint.

Fred

[alaska teardrop]

Except for some cabinetry that Stacie plans to install, her trailer is completed. It weighs 554# with a tongue weight of 82#.

More pictures in Stacie's album. gallery/album.php?album_id=2983

Fred