Chassis Source

[agileaction]

I picked up Steve Frederick's shop manual (thanks for the great resource, Steve!), and in reading through it I found that he estimates the cost of his trailer frame to be in the $500 range (for materials).

My husband hasn't been happy about the HF or Red Trailers for our build, since we're designing a TTT, which will be a little larger than a tear, and he wants a little more substance under us.

I have talked to several welding shops, and the price for a custom trailer (which is really just a flatbed, of sorts) is in the $1300-$1500 range - choke, cough...

I happened upon a site yesterday for flatbed trailers from a guy on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, which isn't far from where I live.

He's got 5x8 (and up) flatbeds on 3500# axles, with 15" tires for under $700. The 5x10 I'm looking at is $675, which isn't much more than we'd be looking at if we did it ourselves and certainly beats the custom welding estimates I've been attempting to choke down over the past few weeks. We don't need the decking, lights or fenders, and I'm working on getting a price-break off the $675 since we don't need that stuff. Not sure if I'll get it or not, but it's worth asking.

If anyone is interested, the guy's website is http://ms-trailer.com/. Of course, you guys may already know all about this guy, and have probably uncovered some great and wonderous secret about his trailers that I'm not yet aware of! I would expect nothing less...

Leslie

[rbeemer]

Leslie,

You will need the tailer lights and the decking could save you some money because you will have to put a floor in. You may want to look at brakes and having him weld in about 8 tabs so you can secure your floor and trailer to the frame. Where you can save some money is not having all the cross members welded in, theses are not needed because you will be builing a wooden frame for the bottom of your trailer. You will get one cross member from the axle, which is toward the rear(have to have him place it for you in the location you need) Andrew put an axle placement spreadsheet in the design library which should give you a pretty good estimate on where to place the axle. and then you can have a cross member placed near the front if you want(not necessary)

You can find a thread I started when I asked for opinions and help on a trailer frame, that can give you what I was thinking and some other peoples thought(if I remember correctly)

Just my wooden nickel

[agileaction]

Leslie,

You will need the tailer lights and the decking could save you some money because you will have to put a floor in. You may want to look at brakes and having him weld in about 8 tabs so you can secure your floor and trailer to the frame. Where you can save some money is not having all the cross members welded in, theses are not needed because you will be builing a wooden frame for the bottom of your trailer. You will get one cross member from the axle, which is toward the rear(have to have him place it for you in the location you need) Andrew put an axle placement spreadsheet in the design library which should give you a pretty good estimate on where to place the axle. and then you can have a cross member placed near the front if you want(not necessary)

You can find a thread I started when I asked for opinions and help on a trailer frame, that can give you what I was thinking and some other peoples thought(if I remember correctly)

Just my wooden nickel

Thanks for the suggestions. The decking will stay if we don't get a break on price by leaving it out. It's too substantial, from a weight stand-point, and isn't what we need, so I'm happy to trade it out for a price break, and get what we really need.

As for the lights, well, the husband manages for an electrical wholesaler, so we have more electrical resources than you can shake a stick at, and our plans call for some pretty fancy electrical stuff, so we're pulling in favors from our electrician friends to get exactly what we want. Since the lighting work on the trailer is a labor charge and won't be exactly what we want, it's best for us to leave it out if we get a price break. If we don't, we'll leave it in. It all depends upon what we get in terms of cost shavings.

As for the trailer brakes, well, same thing. We have friends in all the right places, excepting a welder, which is why I'm shopping so hard for a trailer to begin with!

Leslie

[Dale M.]

All my materials for frame (2"x2"x.120 steel tubing) and axle stubs and wheels and tires and spring and a lot of misc. stuff for about $350.... I setup and fitted all my pieces and had a person with truck mounted portable welder come buy and zap it all together. He charged me $100...

Trailer is 5'x9' on 1200lb springs and has 15 inch wheels and tires....

All I am trying to say is with a little exploring, and some self application you can economically build your chassis for less than having commercial shop do it for you....

And for local trailer you have found, the only thing I can see is that the #3500 spring set may be a little stiff for your application, but it may be possible to remove a spring leaf or two to make suspension softer...

Dale

[agileaction]

All my materials for frame (2"x2"x.120 steel tubing) and axle stubs and wheels and tires and spring and a lot of misc. stuff for about $350.... I setup and fitted all my pieces and had a person with truck mounted portable welder come buy and zap it all together. He charged me $100...

Trailer is 5'x9' on 1200lb springs and has 15 inch wheels and tires....

All I am trying to say is with a little exploring, and some self application you can economically build your chassis for less than having commercial shop do it for you....

And for local trailer you have found, the only thing I can see is that the #3500 spring set may be a little stiff for your application, but it may be possible to remove a spring leaf or two to make suspension softer...

Dale

The only question/issue I have is that I'd be looking at close to $500 doing it your way, and we don't have any metal working/cutting tools. There would be an expense in that, too, yes? As a minimum, some type of metal cutting device/grinder. From what I can tell, those aren't terribly cheap.

We're still doing the research, but it's an option we both feel more comfortable with.

Leslie

[NutmegJoe]

I had the steel for my frame cut to length at the steel place...even had them cut the corners at 45 degree angles there (an extra $1 a cut I think). Brought it all home, clamped it together and had someone come over and weld it for me. Total for the steel was $206.

I don't know if that's another option for you to look into or not...but, I wanted to put it out there.

Good luck.

[agileaction]

I had the steel for my frame cut to length at the steel place...even had them cut the corners at 45 degree angles there (an extra $1 a cut I think). Brought it all home, clamped it together and had someone come over and weld it for me. Total for the steel was $206.

I don't know if that's another option for you to look into or not...but, I wanted to put it out there.

Good luck.

Where did you get your axle, and how much was it, if I may ask?

I've priced everything out, and after I get the steel, axle, coupler, chains, grinder to make the cuts, and a small fee for a welder, it's upwards of $500.

I must be doing something wrong if others can pull it off for 1/2 of that.

Leslie

[NutmegJoe]

I got a flexiride axle from Southwest Wheel. They run about $227. Leaf/spring ones are less I think. I'm not sure how you get much below $500 either... But, I'm really happy with my setup so far.

[agileaction]

I got a flexiride axle from Southwest Wheel. They run about $227. Leaf/spring ones are less I think. I'm not sure how you get much below $500 either... But, I'm really happy with my setup so far.

Okay, now I don't feel so ill-informed. That's about the price I'm finding, actually a little less in some cases. All together, I'm coming up with about $550 if I get all the parts/tools and do all the set-up, which includes paying a welder to drop by and weld it up.

For another $125 I can have the entire thing built, if the guy doesn't give me a price break by leaving the decking/fenders/electrical stuff off. If he does, it could be much less than that. Given my understanding of trailers, that $125 is worth it to me to leave the cutting/welding/etc., to someone who does that for a living. If I hadn't found this guy, and was staring down the barrel of the $1300-$1500 bids I was getting previously, I'd give the cut/prep work a go, figuring it would be a savings of several hundred dollars vs. $125, worst case.

Thanks for the info...I appreciate it.

Leslie

[angib]

If you use some care and a bit of skill, you could do all the cutting for a trailer frame with a $20 4-1/2" angle grinder and $10 worth of metal cutting and grinding wheels. You would have to use some care to measure and mark out the tubes, but no more than you'll have to use on the woodwork.

You could use a $10 angle grinder, but it may not outlast the trailer frame and once you start using one, you realise it's a tool you have to have.

Come to think of it, adding some safety glasses and decent work gloves - both of which you should use with even a baby angle grinder - probably adds 50% to the tool cost!

Andrew

[len19070]

Using all New, I've got about $500 in my frame;



I fabricated it myself. $300 in Steel and I gave the welder $200 Now thats just the frame. A big frame. The axel was $240 and the wheels were $75 each. But thats still under $900 for a rolling 94X138" over the wheel frame.



Happy Trails

Len

[madjack]

...ordered my #9 Dexter torqflex axle today...$180 and steel $115 for my new build...of course I will cut and fit the steel and have one of my pahdnuhs come and weld it all up....
madjack

[brian_bp]

Umm... did anyone else notice that it's http://ms-trailer.com/ (slight typo in the original post)?

I'm not clear on what the plan is for brakes. Unless the friend is giving you brakes, I doubt you're going to save money by buying a trailer with a non-brake axle then throwing away the hubs. Leaving off the brake wiring and doing yourself, on the other hand, might save a few bucks... and maybe get you a better wiring job.

Generally, the plan of having the basic trailer built by someone who does that efficiently makes good sense to me. I would fabricate my own and have it welded if I had the time (break out the trusty Makita 9005B grinder again...), but that's a personal interest thing.

[brian_bp]

Len, that's one nice solid looking frame.

[dahoon]

Leslie,

I did things a little differently.

I found a used trailer on craigslist for free, Had the father-son fun of dimantling the old trailer down to the frame and recycled the aluminum for $65 (plus we found another .43 cents in the cushions).
We had everything we needed for the build: the metal, hitch, axle, tires, brakes, plumbing and other accesories. A lot of sweat equity doing it this way, but I'm under $200 on the frame.

Just food for thought
Mike