In a message dated 10/15/2005 10:03:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
Bobbyhotrods@comcast.net writes:
KT, like yourself, I was enamored by the idea of building a neat little
aluminum car trailer. I was dissuaded from doing so by savvy fabricating guys
that
I see daily in my business. I can make a long list of reasons thay cited. In
the end I made my deal out of 1/8" square/ rectangular steel tubing (sealed).
It's strong and light, and yeah, a big project in the end (and probably not
worth the effort). I'm not sure why commercial steel car trailers use heavy
angle
and channel and produce an assembly that's so heavy, maybe because it avoids
stress issues at key points and the heat effects of welding. My 2 cents...BJ
in the Bean, where it's still raining after 8 days or so
I bought a Thule, formerly Cargo Pro, all Aluminum trailer last spring. It's
a V-nosed actual 16ft box w/ about 3 ft pointy front. It weighs 1670 lbs and
is rated at gvwr 6000 lbs. As my little car only weighs about 1200 lbs dry, I
can realistically carry enough support stuff in the box, and passengers and
personal gear in the tow vehicle, a 2005 Honda Pilot.
I had some concerns with weatherizing the under surface, especially with the
Aluminum/The Salt combination. I primed, caulked and put 2 coats of serious
paint on those surfaces. I'm still looking at the axle/suspension areas,
wondering if Salt-X alone is the way to go.
After we hopefully make Maxton next, we'll have a better idea of where to
put additional tie-downs, hooks, or shelving.
I don't see what I'd call structural overkill in the basic construction of
this trailer, probably a result of using Aluminum and charging a premium for
it.
I hope BJ's "stress issues at key points and the heat effects of welding,"
isn't applicable here. Maybe I'll put on another coat of paint?..lol
Bob, stopped raining at 15in. in 8 days, yeah !, W
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