Aluminum trailer kit

[willyswagon]

Folks,

I have lurked here for quite a time and still in the day dreaming stage. While search for something else, I found the following bolt together aluminum trailer fame:

http://www.easternmetal.com/pdfs/alumin ... er-kit.pdf

Eastern metal seems to be a current strong company. I could find no other information on this such as price, size or strength yet so thought I would throw it out here if anyone had time to do some research. Looks like the individual parts can be purchased so exclule the boat things. Curved sides might make an interesting design?

I snagged a used 2 year old 54"x96 Aluma utility trailer for $850 and that may be my build, but the kit looked interesting. Weight is 320 lb and most things I own have to be multi purpose.

http://nishnavalleycycle.com/inventory/ ... 548LW/54x8

Steve
Ames, Iowa

[Deryk the Pirate]

Interesting, but I wonder how much it costs?

[dh]

Dang, somebody stole my idea of how to make my million... Back to the drawingboard.

[iSpy]

My first Teardrop was built on a bolt together Jet-Ski trailer chassis


The galvanized chassis



The finished teardrop



(the draw bar was telescopic through the A frame)

..... and it had galvanized wheels.

[Oldragbaggers]

I LIKE iSpy. Cool looking teardrop!!

[sHoootR]

You might need axle and wheels to move around...........

[bonnie]

Hi,

I called the Eastern Metal Supply in St Louis. Very nice to work with. They offer The Li'l Bertha Aluminum Boat Trailer as a kit or you can purchase the individual parts. The parts are milled and shipped from their Florida plant. Apparently this little frame kit is quite popular down there.

The Side rails are bent to accommodate 44", 52" or 60" frames. I asked specifically for the 52" frame information. I am waiting on the official quote from them, but here's the back of the napkin stuff.

The side rails are 12' long. Current cost 6.05 a foot or about $150 for 2.

The Tongue butt channel is $3.24.

The Front cross member is 51" and miter cut to fit the frame. Current cost 4.67 ft or about $20. (I forgot to ask if they price by running foot or fractions.)

The middle and rear cross members are also 51". Current cost is 5.50 a foot or about $50.00 for the pair.

The tongue beams come in 18' (3" x 1/4" Square tube) or 24' (3" Double hollow tube with radius). Current cost is 10.99 and 8.92 per foot respectively. Yes, the double is cheaper right now, but prices change monthly. So to buy the hollow tube @ 18 feet is about $146.00

So a rough estimate for the frame w/o axle and the longest tongue in the history of teardrops is about $369.24

Shipping with local pickup is free.

What I'm thinking about doing is getting everything but the tongue and adding in two more side rails. About $260ish for the frame. No axle, coupler, lights or such, but I think I could still make a very light weight trailer for about $600, which is about a third of the cost of the factory built aluminum ones I've looked at locally.

Please poke holes in my plan. I've never done this before and could use some advice.

[willyswagon]

Interesting,

I contacted them via emial and phone and was told by the salesmen it was no longer in production. Meant to post this but glad I didn't else you wouldn't have got this info.

This base allows for some interesting aerodynamic options.

I bought the plans for a bolt together 5x10 aluminum trailer, I am still investigating that plan.

I have also seen ads for used 54x96 Alum trailers for $700 http://desmoines.craigslist.org/grd/2509592517.html which would be a good foundation.

Aluminum isn't cheap but I sure like it.

[willyswagon]

I called the florida office and they told me that Lowes was their representative and would be who I would have to talk to.

Who is your contact?

Did you get any dimension specs and load specs?

The middle and rear cross pieces could be 3 in square/rectangular tubing also if you are going to buy the tongue locally. Not sure it is a better idea, just that you could.

[bonnie]

The specs are on the first link posted. I haven't gotten any more than that. I don't know the load limit; would that be more driven by the axle? The sides are 3.472" X 1.658" The cross members are 3" x 2" for the front one and the diagram doesn't say for the others, but it's probably 3x2. I called the STL office and they talked to Florida. I didn't get the impression they were discontinuing the frame. They do have a $300 order requirement, which isn't hard to meet, if you throw in the tongue piece. The 24' tongue and other parts came out to 440 before taxes.

[willyswagon]

I asked for the dimension specs such as distance from front cross brace to rear cross brace and that is not available for some reason. If you do order, let us know what that is.

They don't have the 60 inch wide anymore and no further plans to restock. I might have gone with this trailer if 60 inch available.

It does look like a good design and price is right.............................