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Thread: Tandem Trailer Build
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3rd Mar 2011, 10:21 PM #1
Tandem Trailer Build
Hi Guys,
Thinking of building a tandem box trailer, prob 8x5.
Had a good read through the posts here. Inspirational !
Where is suitable to build the main frame of a trailer - garage floor is not perfectly flat & true and l don't have a fabricators table.
Is the garage floor good enough?
Where can l find a basic plan of a trailer build to show me a structure layout, cutting list and what are standard sizes for axles, how to mount the spring hangars and where to/not to weld.
Should the suspension use independant leaf spring packs for each wheel or use a balance beam between front & rear spring packs. There's a bit of cost difference so just wondering.
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6th Mar 2011, 02:37 PM #2
Hi there,
I've never seen a garage floor any where near flat enough that I'd be happy using as a reference to weld a frame. I use a 900 x 900 off-cut of 30? mm chipboard and some clamps. Set your corner up on the chipboard, square it up, clamp and put a couple of good tacks on each accessible side of the joint. Repeat with the opposite corner of your rectangle frame. You should now have two 'L' shapes that are square and in plane.
Put it all on the ground together with your board under one of the unfinished corners. Pack the other corners up with what ever is at hand to get it all flat and tack corner three. Repeat for corner four. You should now have a frame that is strong enough to pick up but still flexible enough to 'adjust'.
Get three stands to hold it all up at a reasonable working height with the un-tacked face up and you can now use opposite sides as winding sticks (Dr Google is you friend if you don't know what these are) to make sure everything is in plane. Also check diagonal measurements are identical to make sure its square and tack the last faces of each corner.
Weld the inside fillets in opposing pairs, checking all the time for square.
Once you're happy, start laying some welds. Check for plane and square after each run, welding on opposite corners and sides as often as possible to minimise heat shrinkage pulling it into a pretzel.
This takes a lot longer than if you had a full sized bench to lock it all down to, but it does work quite well.
Where can l find a basic plan of a trailer build to show me a structure layout, cutting list and what are standard sizes for axles, how to mount the spring hangars and where to/not to weld.
Mick
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9th Mar 2011, 06:39 PM #3
BF, Take a look at the end of post 4 for a discussion of independent vs rocker tandem springs:
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f184/b...6/#post1268835
Keep us posted on what you decide to do regarding a build.
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