Hello and this is my first question. Frame question

[Bigv]

Hello all. I have been looking at this site for months and i think i like the cub the best. So I am now starting to get the paper work started so im not to shaken up when i do start the build.
This question is about the frame. I have been looking at the drawings that are on the site to build the cub. and it showes a very short frame and this seems to be to save weight. This looks good, but i have seen that many on this site who have built do not seem to go with the short frame and the single bar for the hitch. they add a V to give more strength. Is this important or can i do the single bar with no V and be safe. Also it does not seem to be set in stone that i could also build my frame longer then it showes and have less overhang of the rear of the tear. It just scares me that over two foot almost three foot will be towards the rear with no frame to hold it up.

Ok here is what i was thinking of doing, go out and get two 2x2x1/8 7' long for the sides. and three 2x2x1/8 and 54" long for the front rear and the middle and one 2x2x1/8 and ? for the hitch part.
With the cub i will have the curved overhang front and rear.
Oh and i want to use a dexter axel. I like not having any springs.
Not sure about that yet. I am still trying to learn about the axel and how it all fits together. so far i have learned i need a 1500#derated dexter that will fit a 58" frame. the height and the camfer and how i order the degree stuff im still reading about.
Thanks all, I am taking this very slow so i dont screw anything up.
You guys rock.

[del]

Bigv, first of all welcome. The teardrop body's we build tend to be very strong boxes, having the frame go all the way to the back is not required for this purpose. Reasons to make the frame go back further include stabilizer jacks, a rear mounted receiver (for mounting bikes or I seen a barbecue), and many more. My frame goes just far enough behind the wheels to mount stabilizer jacks. Several feet overhang behind the frame. Basically the frame ties the hitch to the axles, and gives a place to bolt the body to.
Weight is also a consideration, more so if you tow with a small car. Yes I tow with a small car, so I am always trying to make things light. A thing to look at is http://www.teardroptrailers.us/Trailer.html. A link is also at the top of the page called trailer tutorial.

happy welding del

[Bigv]

thanks thats what I have been reading. So the short frame would be ok. I guess ill cut the length down a few feet then.

[Alphacarina]

The best 'investment' you can make is in a good set of plans - They will tell you how heavy the various parts of the frame need to be and you'll have the reassurance that lots of other folks before you have built safe trailers off those plans

You can of course just sketch something on a napkin and start welding steel - The main problem there is that we usually err on the side of making things way stronger than they need to be, so you'll get to tow around a few hundred pounds of extra (and completely unnecessary) weight the whole time you own the trailer

Way better to leave the engineering to the pro's and then build as lightweight as possible by using their plans . . . . and their expertise

Don

[angib]

The reason that the Cub has a short frame is that the Cub body has a short length of flat bottom - if the frame is made much longer, it will stick out underneath either end of the trailer body.

So a longer frame isn't needed - if you build the frame more than a few inches longer, you will have to change the shape of the body to fit it.

Andrew

[Bigv]

thanks guys, but i was looking at the cub plans on this site. I was going to do it like that. It just does not show the size of the steel for the frame. So I am looking at how every one did it on this site.

[Bigv]

well i did go back and look some more I guess ill be going by the side profile of the cub, but it is only 4ft wide and i want a 10 long 5 wide and a 4 tall. So my cub will be a bit bigger.

[Bigv]

Ok hello again. I'm going to do what the other post said. i am going to order my axel first. Here is the deal. my tear needs to be 5ft wide at the wall and i want my wall to sit on top of the frame of 2x2s. So i need a 1500 derated axel and is the 22deg standard for the axel and i also will order it with camfer. that i did read was important. and the brackets for the 2x2frame. Oh ya and the easy lub. Is this all i need or am i forgetting something.

[Steve_Cox]

one 2x2x1/8 and ? for the hitch part.

Bigv,

Please consider using a heavier gauge steel for the tongue. There have been several teardrops with bent or broken tongues using 1/8" thick 2 X 2 box tubing. I over did that part myself and used 1/4" X 2" X 2". 3/16" is good too.

[Bigv]

ya i have been looking at some post about that, and the difference from the single tongue and the one with the V. Still not sure how im going to do that. This will be a long process lol.

[Esteban]

Bigv,

I used a 4' long A-frame tongue made from 2"x3"x1/8" rectangular tube for my 5'x10' trailer frame. With a Dexter #9 torsion axle with a 22 degree down angle and 14" wheels there's about 17" of ground clearance under the bare trailer frame. It's about 2-3" more ground clearance, under the frame, than I wanted.

[G-force]

It sounds like your building a big tear if you want 5' wide and 10' long, your most likely going to be in the 900-1300 pound range. A single 2x2x 1/8 tongue is not strong enough, in my opinion. In fact, a forum member posted last week about his 2x2x 1/8 tongue breaking off his tear. I would go with a minimum of a A frame of 2x2x 1/8, perhaps even a hybrid tongue as I did. If you look in my gallery, I have a pic of my frame.

[asianflava]

I found the pic of my frame. It was built of 2x2x1/8 square tubing. Originally the tongue something like 48in long from the tip of the tube (not including the coupler) till it met with the first crossbar. I felt that it may be too weak so I lopped off about 18in. Cutting it shorter gives it less leverage thereby increasing the strength a little bit. After shortening it, I couldn't jack knife the trailer without hitting the tail lights on the tow vehicle.



I wanted to use 2x3x3/16 for the tongue but it was too late when I realized it. Upgrading to a 2x3x3/16 from a 2x2x1/8 would have added only 23lbs, well worth the extra strength. I had a plan to strengthen it by welding a strap to the underside of the tongue but never was able to coordinate it with my welder.

After this happened:



Since I had to have the togue replaced, I was going to have it replaced with the 2x3x3/16 that I wanted, but no one in town had any. They were able to get 2x4x3/16, even though it is overkill I went ahead with that instead of waiting another day.

[Bigv]

Ya asianflava that is the trailer and also your tear that sold this idea for me. I am almost going to make a copy of your frame and tear for what i want. I will put stronger tongue but i like the way you did your frame and the way your tear looks. Call me crazy my wife does, but I really like what you did. Still trying to figure out all the frame and axel details.

[angib]

Remember that in tubes, bigger is always better than thicker - a 2-1/2"x1/8" square tube is the same strength as 2"x1/4" tube, but the 2-1/2" tube weighs 30% less and costs 15% less.

Andrew