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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Melbourne (N.E Burbs)
    Posts
    26

    Default 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.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Glenroy (Melbourne)
    Posts
    52

    Default

    Hi there,

    Quote Originally Posted by Bad Fruit View Post
    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?
    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.
    Mate, I don't want to discourage you, but with these sort of questions, I'm guessing you might have a bit more research in front of you before you fire up the welder. Keep in mind you're building a road vehicle and so have a duty of care to other road users. Make sure you're completely confident in your ability to lay a decent bead before you undertake this sort of project. As I said, I'm not having a go at you; just make sure your skills and experience are good enough that you'd be happy for someone else to drive past you with your loaded trailer on their car and you'll be fine. Best of luck with it.
    Mick

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Glenroy (Melbourne)
    Posts
    52

    Default

    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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