Aluminum frame

[David Hughes]

Hello tear droppers. I am in the planning stages to build my own tear drop camper and have checked the forums, talked to tear drop campers, looked at some, took pictures and so on. The question is has anyone built one with an aluminum frame? Any toughts on the idea. I am thinking it would be lighter, no rust, less maintenance and so on. What's the good word? Yes, no, maybe?

Thanks,
Dave

[starleen2]

Lighter weight , yes– but at a cost. Aluminum is certainly lighter, however it is very expensive compared to steel. Aluminum when compared side by side to steel is not equal – to get the same tensile strength of steel, aluminum has to be dimensionally thicker. Another issue is the expertise on welding such a frame and also repairs. Any roadside crew can weld/repair a steel frame on the roadside, but with aluminum, it takes something more – so roadside repairs may be expensive. I don’t see the benefit other than weight

[dh]

Personally I've always shyed away from an AL frame, but, one other benefit would be corosion resistance, and you don't need to paint it.

[TD Beej]

I've been playing with idea of an aluminum frame too. As for the cross section and tube thickness you can just look at a chromoly Vs Al frame bicycle frame to get an idea of the difference. Not really a big deal in my book.

More expensive - yes.

Maintenance free - Mostly. My concern is Al will fatigue and I really don't know how much a problem that would be. It also highly reactive when in contact with some metals and salts. You will need to use SS hardware and isolating material.

+1 for cool though.

Good luck,
Beej

[Shadow Catcher]

All of the framing on our Mega-Mini is aluminum that is MIG welded. Wall/roof framing is 1 X 1.5 X .040 and is strong enough to stand on.
Boat trailers, horse trailers (horse pee is corrosive) some semi trailers and some high end RV's use aluminum frames.
It does nave a finite modulus of elasticity (it will break with flexing and time) but then there are DC3's still flying.

[David Hughes]

Well thank each of you for your thoughts, I know there is a lot to think about in building a tear drop. I just have not run across any with alum. frame and thought it maybe something to consider. I see alot of boat trailers out there made of alum. and was looking into one for my Ttear drop. I know cost is a big factor and strength in my eyes is a bigger thing to think about. I do feel steel is the most economical way to go. The maint. on a steel frame maybe greater, but like anything else if you take care of things properly they will last. Again thanks for the thoughts.
Each of you have a great day,
Dave