Question about 2x4 strength

[Wanna Be]

Is a 2x4 on edge strong enough to support the first crossmember of a T.S.C. frame?????

I probably paid to much for it, BUT, it had a bad floor in it.
Took all of it out, and ,Guess what,
The first crossmember is bent down about 3/4" - 1"

So my question is,,,,
Will it work to help support the frame or do I need to just rebuild the front half of the trailer ???

Thanks for your time.

Wanna Be



P.S. this will have a raised floor in it too.

[Jiminsav]

more than likely, but pics would help.

[citylights]

What is the dimension of the steel cross member? 2" angle? 2" steel tube?

Just about any angle iron, and I would just bolt it through to the 2x4, snug it up, and that would straighten the angle iron out.

You can do the same with smaller steel tube.

With any of these, or larger steel, some heat would help.

[Lgboro]

I built on a 4 wide TSC trailer and the only weak spot is really the tongue. The torsion box created building your tear will be plenty strong when bolted to your frame. A tongue mod will be better spent money and time in my opinion. I added an A to mine and have not had any problems to date ( towed at least 18.000 miles in the last year). With just a simple mod you should have a good platform to build on.

[angib]

If you mean a 2x4 standing 'upright' so that it is 3.5" high and 1.5" wide, then I would think that was strong enough. If you used a piece of oak instead of ordinary lumber, then definitely strong enough.

However the trick is that this 2x4 has to stop the cross-member from being bent downwards, so you have to fix the cross-member to the 2x4 in the middle without losing too much strength from big bolt holes. I guess two 3/8" bolts running all the way through the 2x4 with big washers, or better still 1-2" square washers cut from 1/8" steel, under the heads would be enough to tie the two together.

[Wanna Be]

Yes it's a 2x2x1/8" angle.
Bad design from the start, But I have to do the best I can with it now.

Thanks for all of the replies.

Wanna Be

[Rolly]

Which TSC trailer? Is it bending in the center or the outside? I would think about replacing the 2x2x1/8 with 3/16 or reinforcing that part of the trailer with steel.

Rolly

[Wanna Be]

Another question about that problem.

If I bolt a 2x4 box with cross members, would it be possiable to remove the rail from it ???????????
That would make it A LOT simpler to build on.

As a certified welder I have no problems with rebuilding it the way it should have been done the 1'st time.

Thanks for reading.

Wanna Be

[angib]

If I bolt a 2x4 box with cross members, would it be possiable to remove the rail from it ?

I have no idea what this means. A sketch of what you propose would enable folk to make sensible comments.

But if you're a certified welder, the simplest thing would be to reinforce the second cross-member. The least intrusive method would be to double up the angle to form a 2"x2" box section - stitch-welding the toes together shouldn't be hard.

[Wanna Be]

What I mean is,
If I build a frame for the floor out of 2x4 s and bolted it down all over, would that be strong enough ??
Bolted to the frame and cross members as to replace the angle iron rail around the top that is there for strength.
http://app.onlinephotofiler.com/Images/ ... 81d7a3f2db

This is the same model that I have.
The top rail is the one I am refereing to.
The whole frame front is made out of 2x2x1/8" angle iron, and the axel mounts on 2x2 tube.

Thanks for reading.

Wanna Be



P.S. Shamelessly stolen from the hall of fame