I purchased 2.5 X 2.5 X 3/16 steel for the A-frame tongue. I figured a larger section for the tongue would be prudent since it will see the brunt of the loading from the trailer when taking it off-road. In addition, the receiver hitch that I am using to have interchangeable connection options is made from 2.5 X 2.5 square tubing so there will be no offset of steel members at the receivers end.
I got the best deal on stock lengths of 2.5 X 2.5, 8 ft long without the bevel cuts; and no supplier wanted to take on the 158 degree cut. I laid the steel out on the base frame and rested the tongue on jack stands, aligned and marked the pieces, measuring multiple times. I was impressed at how well the metal cutting wheel cut through the 3/16" steel, only took 2 discs for all 4 cuts.
Below are the angle cuts I manged to get with the cutting wheel.
Things were not perfect with the cuts once I laid out everything out, but not too bad; a little fillet welding and all is good!
To assure everything was square to the world with the tongue, I contemplated purchasing another 2x2 piece of square tubing to run between the receiver hitch at the back and the tongue, but I didn't want to purchase a 13 ft long piece that I had no further use for in the project, so I borrowed a laser level from my neighbor which worked perfectly.
Once everything was tacked together and measured from tip to each rear corner (1/16" off), I welded the balance of the A-frame together.
The leveling legs I ordered came in on Saturday so I got those installed along with the angle tabs that will be used to hold the plywood deck to the frame.
 |
A lot of people were attaching the plywood flooring directly thru into the tube steel members which leaves little opportunity to remove the camper from the frame if the need ever arises. With the tabs in place, threaded t-washers can be used in the plywood flooring to bolt the floor to the frame and can be removed by undoing the bolts from underneath. I will show more on this once I start building the trailer house.
I have a small set back on the build as the Timbren suspension I ordered, which should have been here this week, will not be showing up now until early November. Below is a picture of what I will be installing when it arrives. It is a completely independent suspension with no axle and is suppose to be a great setup for off road. This model has longer spindles to accommodate larger off road tires. It costs more than a torsion axle but I think its worth the extra $$.
So while I wait for the suspension to arrive, I will box in some of the frame ends and cleanup some welds; until then!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment