dropped floor/frame question

[needafixit]

I am planning a small standy,I like the midget or widget profile,I have purchased a 4x8 carry-on trailer as a starting point for my frame ($319). I am a body man with 30 years experience,so I have mig welder,torch,and skill to modify my frame. My plan is to build over the wheels,I am thinking 6 feet wide,9'-10' long. I read the Puffin build thread,I like the drop floor and the drop step/door,BUT I dont like stepping over the frame. My question is,why dont people drop the frame in this area so they dont have to step over it.I would like to open the door and walk in without stepping over obstructions. Scottys are built this way,a friend has a fiberglass scamp built this way. I think I know the answer,is it because they dont have the skill or the equipment? or is there some other reason I am overlooking?

[Steve_Cox]

With all those skills and equipment why modify a trailer that doesn't have the structural integrity to allow cutting into a side member ahead of the axle without a substantial reworking. Seems to me a purpose built frame could be built better and stronger. To assume that builders do something a certain way because of a lack of skill or equipment might not always be true either. An example would be the gypsy trailer I built utilizing a HF 1800# frame and bed frame angle iron for the foot well. It is 100% bolted together. My welder was sitting right there in the garage but it was more about creating an example of what can be done by anyone vs what I can do with my welder. There is no mystery about why people build or how and what they build. Especially those that build multiple trailers, we do it because it is fun. Rarely will you find a builder that will limit themselves to do only what they know how to do, part of the process is developing new skills, and buying more toys, (I mean tools)

[needafixit]

after extensive seaching on this website I could not find anybody who built with a drop frame by the door,except manufacturers. I plan on doing this,I have a big pile of 1"x 1.5" steel tube x55" long, (about 20 pieces) .064 wall,I was planning on beefing up the 2"x2" angle side member by adding a tube to each side of the vertical section,build the drop with 1/8 steel flat sandwiched between two pieces of the 1x1.5 tube. This would give me a side rail 1.5" tall by2.125" wide,that would be stronger than 2x2 tube, due to the 5 vertical walls and two box sections. I would add some gussets in the corners of the drop and straps like they did on the scottys. Modifying this carry-on trailer would be far easier than starting from scratch. I was also going to add two 2x3 pieces of tube to the tongue to convert it to an A frame design as others who use this trailer have done. I think this would be beefy enough,what do you guys think?

[mikeschn]

needafixit,

Your idea to modify the frame is certainly do-able. Dropping the frame by the door is a good idea. Do you have a plan for how the outside will look when you are all done?

Modifying the tongue is a good plan too. You didn't say how think those members were, but if you set those 2x3 vertically, they should be really strong.

As for your thought why no one else has done a dropped frame by the door, I think it adds a lot of complexity that folks don't want to deal with. It could also require some structural engineering, and it could require some serious metal working.

I'm not sure how many of the woodworkers here are also structural engineers, AND serious metal workers.

Mike...

[needafixit]

I will use 1/8" 2x3 to beef up the tongue. I would like some engineer types to chime in and pick my plan apart. I think this frame modification is the easy part of this build. I'm a little unsure of my engineering,I'm releying on my 30 years of accumulated common sense,best guess I spent about an hour under my friends scamp and the dropped frame on that trailer looks like 1"x3" x1/16 wall and its laid flat under the door!! it looks much weaker than what I'm planning

[del]

Boler manufactured a frame like that, here is a pic Andrew gave me. With out a body bolted securely to it, the frame is weak.

del

[Woodyperk6]

Edevans in Amarillo built a frame with the door opening all the way to the bottom of the dropped floor. He has some pictures in his album.