Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I switched to a Hobart 140 welder. I used .035 solid wire, and Argon/CO2. Much easier to lay done good welds. The old saying, "No substitute for Horsepower, well, there's no substitute for Amperage!"

I used my 90 degree wood working clamps for the butt joints:

Frame almost complete:

Tongue Gussets:

More Tongue Reinforcements:

Completed Frame, now I'll order the Axle:


I did a lot of reinforcements and gusseting of the tongue. My tongue if 5'7" from the front of the frame to the center of the ball. The overall length is 13' 7".

I see the welds are getting better. Small semi-circle pattern. Looks sturdy.. Job well done.

Hi

Tongue seems awfully long on that trailer

It is 5' 7" from the front edge of the frame to the center of the ball.
And this is too long because?

Here's a view of my gussets that I used to bolt the body to the chassis.



Mike...

Bandit wrote:It is 5' 7" from the front edge of the frame to the center of the ball.
And this is too long because?

It's not a problem as long as it's strong enough, just a lot longer than the normal 36" - 42" average tounge length. The longer tounge should make it tow better and make it eaiser to back up, but will also probably cause you to rap your shins on it more often I speak from experince here as I converted an old boat trailer for use as a utility trailer, and it also has a very long tounge.

Hey Bandit,
Nice looking frame. Where did you get that handle bolted to the coupler? Sure looks easier than lifting by the safety chains.

Jerome

Handle - $8.00 at Tractor Supply
Ease of handling - Priceless!

hey bandit,
good lookin frame there.welding is comming right along also.i like the way you did rienforcement of tounge ,will probbaly steal this idea as my tounge is long also 5ft.im in the same place as you on my frame build but i already have all the other parts so it ought to go together quicker now.

I had a buddy from work come look at my frame and we discussed my gusseting and he was very impressed with it. But, as we looked at the tongue, he felt that any weakness would now be located at the point the angle iron braces come together.
The 2x2 frame rails are 14 gauge and the tongue is 12 ga.
He suggested that I take a piece of 1x1x1/4 angle iron and run it along the bottom side of the tongue (90") with the point of the V pointing down and weld it every 6"s. This should insure the strength of the tongue.

Looking good Bandit. I'm a big fan of long tongues on trailers. It makes them much easier to back. I like them long enough to get 90 drgrees w/ the tow vehicle.

If you are worried about the strength of the tongue you could weld a 2x2x1/4" flat piece along the bottom. You would not really even see it like a piece of angle. That way if it did fail, it would sag instead of snap.