I'm continuing to work on the trailer frame, bit by bit. I got the front and rear bumpers mounted on Sunday and assembled and attached the tongue yesterday. The only minor issue I ran into is that the instructions are unclear where to start subs of the measurements, which made the tongue mounts a tight fit without moving things, but it all went together in the end.
As I was wrapping up last night it occurred to me that the cross member attachments didn't look like I expected. I had assumed that the cross members would sit flush at the top with the upper side rails. Instead, they seem to be about an inch lower (I didn't measure yet). Also, the span between cross members will be anywhere during 2-3 feet. Lastly, with the brackets, washers, and bolt heads, I think I'll want to built 1"-2" wider than 5'. The frame is 5' from outside of one rail to the outside of the other.
All that to say, my first big decision is going to be how to build, support, and attach my floor. I'd like to avoid adding any extra height above the side rails, so want build weight on the frame. I feel like 2" foam sandwiched between 2 layers of 1/8" plywood should be plenty strong for the spans but don't have wood or foam purchased to give that a try yet. I'll either need to fill the gap between the to of the cross members and to off the side rails, or raise the cross members.
I'm lean towards the later. I think that I could flip the cross member brackets, drill new holes I'm those and that should make it level, I'm just not sure how much of be undermining those brackets by flipping them.
I'll have a bunch of time to think because I found a guy seeking scratch and dent test doors from Hiker trailers (42" x 42") for$40, so I'm making a long drive to pick one up. It's over 4 hours one way, but the price feels too good to pass up. I also found a nice set of roof bars for really cheap that I'm planning to pick up next week.
As I was wrapping up last night it occurred to me that the cross member attachments didn't look like I expected. I had assumed that the cross members would sit flush at the top with the upper side rails. Instead, they seem to be about an inch lower (I didn't measure yet). Also, the span between cross members will be anywhere during 2-3 feet. Lastly, with the brackets, washers, and bolt heads, I think I'll want to built 1"-2" wider than 5'. The frame is 5' from outside of one rail to the outside of the other.
All that to say, my first big decision is going to be how to build, support, and attach my floor. I'd like to avoid adding any extra height above the side rails, so want build weight on the frame. I feel like 2" foam sandwiched between 2 layers of 1/8" plywood should be plenty strong for the spans but don't have wood or foam purchased to give that a try yet. I'll either need to fill the gap between the to of the cross members and to off the side rails, or raise the cross members.
I'm lean towards the later. I think that I could flip the cross member brackets, drill new holes I'm those and that should make it level, I'm just not sure how much of be undermining those brackets by flipping them.
I'll have a bunch of time to think because I found a guy seeking scratch and dent test doors from Hiker trailers (42" x 42") for$40, so I'm making a long drive to pick one up. It's over 4 hours one way, but the price feels too good to pass up. I also found a nice set of roof bars for really cheap that I'm planning to pick up next week.
