Is 0.08" thick aluminum too thick?

[Robbie]

Hey guys (and gals),

I found a local guy selling a roll of 0.08 aluminum that is 101" wide and 30 feet long for $200. That is almost half of what I'd pay for the 5'x10' sheets of .032 that I was planning on going with. My question is, has anyone on here worked with .08 aluminum before? Is it a pain to work with? Too heavy? I'm not too concerned about the extra weight as my trailer is galley-less and super light so that would actually be nice to have a little weight back there. But I'm concerned about working with the 0.08 and wasting my time trying to trim it with my electric shears or fastening it to the wood walls and framing.

Any insight or advice or whatever on this subject is greatly appreciated!!!

Robbie

[aggie79]

Robbie,

0.08 aluminum is pretty thick. It depends upon the type of aluminum alloy, but you may have some difficulty getting it to bend around your radii. I used 0.04 aluminum - don't know what type - and followed the larger radii fine, but it took some "persuasion" to bend around the 10" and 6" radii that I have at the back and front of my teardrop.

I'd see if they have a scrap cut-off that you could use to see how formable it is around your profile.

Take care,
Tom

[Robbie]

Thanks Tom. The smallest radii I have is at the front corner at 19". The other concern I had about it was cutting it. I'm afraid of me having to use a jigsaw to cut the entire profile. I'm gonna go look at it this evening and see how formable it is and if it feels like it will be too stiff. The guy got it from a tractor trailer supply company and its used as roofing material for the semi trailers.

Robbie

[Nobody]

0.080" is waaaay to heavy for normal side/top sheathing. I used 0.040" for sides'n top & it went on easily with little effort to bend, yet still 'rigid' enough to 'stand' on the supports I temporarily fastened to chassis when applying the sides. I used 0.063" 'diamond plate' aluminum for lower side trim & the bottom 20" of the front curve. Side trim was no problem but bending the curve for the front was a real bear! Ended up using a length of heavy fiberglass pipe as a 'mandrell' to 'form' the aluminum enough to conform to the radius of the front. The 0.063" ain't nearly as heavy as your 0.080". That's almost 'plate' thickness. My opinion; that thickness will be totally unsatisfactory for the use you have in mind.

This pic is of the 0.063" diamond plate going on my build -


I built my tongue box from the same material

[Robbie]

Thanks Nobody for the pic reference and insight! I think I might try a local hardware store to play around with the different thicknesses before making the 45 minute drive just to look at this .08 stuff.

One thing I was thinking was, it is already coiled on a trailer at the guys house so maybe it having that natural bend already will help make my curve since I am only going for 19"???



Hmmm.... Do I risk my time and money just to save a $100 bucks? Or wait and have an easier time and pay a little more?

Robbie

[Trackstriper]

You might verify that the thickness is indeed .080" thick. When I looked into wide aluminum roll stock a couple of years ago I was finding .040 at a semi-trailer repair shop. Don't know if what you are looking at is roof coil, but that is typically available in widths and lengths like you are talking about. Have no idea what the intended use of his aluminum was....maybe hoping for your sake that he got his thickness info wrong. Not saying it's not .080".....

http://www.macksteel.com/pages/aluminum_trailer_roof_coil.html

http://www.newlifeparts.com/catalog/section18.pdf (see page 291)

[Robbie]

I actually thought of that yesterday. I ended up calling the place he said he bought it from, http://www.utility-trailer.com, to see how much it was per foot and the stuff the parts guy said they had on a coil was .04. I'll text the guy and ask him if he knows for sure or if he can measure it with some calipers or something.

*Edit: I called Utility Trailer and they don't even sell a .08 aluminum. The parts manager said he could probably special order a .08 but he hasn't lately. So I'm thinking the guy selling this stuff doesn't know what he has and it is actually .04. Hopefully that is the case!