Building Aluminum Gooseneck

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Thinking about building an Aluminum low boy gooseneck trailer. I'm thinking about using 10" 6061-T6 channel for the main frame and neck and 4" channel for the cross on 16" centers.  It will be total bed length of 20' with 2 feet of dovetail. Has anyone built an aluminum trailer like this? I've got a spool gun and am good at welding aluminium. I like the looks of this design and would copy it pretty close. Any and all coments welcome!http://www.diamondc.com/trailers/goo.../18EEQL20X82FN
Reply:If your mind is made up, remember serviceability, aluminum needs constant inspection. The neck assembly will recieve the worst of the stress and strain. Those joints will need to be perfectly sound.Even so, they always crack. I recently had to tear apart the front wall on an aluminum box trailer, (standard tongue with a bolted steel coupler), to get at the broken studs within. That was no easy task due to the extensive cabinetry. One panic stop ripped the front wall loose from its moorings. I just got it put back together friday.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:BIG project!   Aluminum gooseneck would be sweet.  how much would you have in it? $$$     My trailer building experience. very little.  You can't build them for what you can buy them for.  If you have most of the materials,or totally want a custom trailer. Then it's worth it.Good luck and post pics!Pound to fit, paint to match
Reply:I'd highly recommend you not pursue this project.You're pulling specs/dimensions off a STEEL trailer.  Sure as heck wouldn't work for an aluminum trailer.Many problems associated with fatigue in aluminum trailers that I don't think you've considered.You may be "good with a spoolgun", but I don't think you're THAT GOOD.  Most aluminum trailers I deal with employ bolts/brackets for joining so as to avoid welding wherever possible.BAD IDEA.  Do a lot more homework.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:Generally when designing with aluminum you need to go with at least 30% bigger material over steel.Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:It's just not worth it, unless you just have a pile of money that you want to get rid of.Ranger 250 GXTSmith Gas Axe
Reply:As posted previously, you can't just replace a steel structural member or plate with an equal sized aluminum piece as aluminum has a lower tensile strength than steel.  There is also the question of which alloy of aluminum to choose and which temper of that alloy  to select for it's intended use.  Also some aluminum alloys are not considered weldable or are difficult to weld.The steel trailer you are looking it is probably highly engineered to just carry it's rated load and use the minimum amount of steel doing so as it is a very competitive industry.   You would need to increase the size and/or thickness of almost every member or plate.  That being said you can build your trailer out of aluminum but it will cost much more for material and need careful design to be equivalent in strength to the steel trailer you are copying.  On the positive side you should gain some payload if your trailer ends up weighing less than a steel one.  Sure would make a neat project, I wish I could afford to build one.Good luck."The reason we are here is that we are not all there"SA 200Idealarc TM 300 300MM 200MM 25130a SpoolgunPrecision Tig 375Invertec V350 ProSC-32 CS 12 Wire FeederOxweld/Purox O/AArcAirHypertherm Powermax 85LN25
Reply:busted budget,May I suggest you go over to Millerwelds.com and sign up for their board.  Once a member, PM a poster named Dabar39.Dave is a registered trailer manufacturer in Florida and has built several hundred trailers and probably repaired more.Ask him what he thinks of aluminum trailers.By the time you take into account the "upsizing" of components to achieve similar strength to steel, the weight savings is not as significant as you may think.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:japanese dirtbikes (where every ounce realy matters) build alum. frameseuro bikes (ktm) still make steel ones.they still weigh the same. think the steel framed one was an ounce or two lighter last time i looked.alum. is lighter than steel. but then you have to add to the alum as it is also weaker.comes out about the same.G
Reply:Remember aircraft are rivited.
Reply:I had a friend build one years ago. It looked GREAT, he used it for a year and then sold it for more than you could buy a new steel one. He went and got a new steel one.After all his time and 3 times the money, he is still pulling the steel one...Good luck and have fun.Paul
Reply:Having fought rust on steel for 40 years dealing with old cars and stuff... in the back of my mind I had always had this vision of a big aluminum trailer ... make it ... and forget about rust forever...... Well, you guys have completely wiped that out of my mind.  Will use steel for sure. Thanks for trashing my (now obviously foolish ) dream.  LOLWeldandpower Lincoln 225 AC,DC with Briggs 16hp gas engine.WW2 era Miller TIG.
Reply:Originally Posted by Fat BastardRemember aircraft are rivited.
Reply:Reinke manufacturing in Nebraska makes aluminum semi trailers.  Side by side with a steel trailer, the aluminum uses twice as large main beams & larger deck framework.Reinke got it's start building center pivots both steel & aluminum.  They have the engineering to figure out the stresses.  A home built goose neck out of aluminum isn't gonna be safe without some expensive engineering.MarkI haven't always been a nurse........Craftsman 12"x36" LatheEnco G-30B MillHobart Handler 175Lincoln WeldandPower 225 AC/DC G-7 CV/CCAdd a Foot Pedal to a Harbor Freight Chicago Electric 165A DC TIG PapaLion's Gate Build
Reply:Trailer of ANYTHING has to be engineered in order to be safe.  Something made of aluminum has to be engineered keeping the material properties in mind.Aluminum is a fine material for building (some) things out of.  But it is NOT a 'magic' material.  It has its advantages and its disadvantages.  So does steel.But just 'copying' a steel trailer and substituting aluminum in place of steel means it WILL fail.  Rather quickly too, hopefully before you get it on the road so that no one gets hurt or killed.OK, you did ask first.  So props to you for that at least.  But if you don't KNOW what you are doing in a situation where someone can get hurt or killed, then DON"T do it!!!btw, interesting 'property' of aluminum is that it WILL fail from "fatigue failure", no matter what, if there is cyclical loading.  And a trailer, bouncing and rumbling and such, going down the road sho'nuf is a cyclical load situation.Then why do they make aircraft out of aluminum and how do they keep flying, you ask?  With LOTS of engineering, and lots of inspections, and lots of replacement of parts.  That's how.So, ixnay on the aluminay traileray.In plain English, NO!!!!!!  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Originally Posted by MoonRiseTrailer of ANYTHING has to be engineered in order to be safe.  Something made of aluminum has to be engineered keeping the material properties in mind.Aluminum is a fine material for building (some) things out of.  But it is NOT a 'magic' material.  It has its advantages and its disadvantages.  So does steel.But just 'copying' a steel trailer and substituting aluminum in place of steel means it WILL fail.  Rather quickly too, hopefully before you get it on the road so that no one gets hurt or killed.OK, you did ask first.  So props to you for that at least.  But if you don't KNOW what you are doing in a situation where someone can get hurt or killed, then DON"T do it!!!btw, interesting 'property' of aluminum is that it WILL fail from "fatigue failure", no matter what, if there is cyclical loading.  And a trailer, bouncing and rumbling and such, going down the road sho'nuf is a cyclical load situation.Then why do they make aircraft out of aluminum and how do they keep flying, you ask?  With LOTS of engineering, and lots of inspections, and lots of replacement of parts.  That's how.So, ixnay on the aluminay traileray.In plain English, NO!!!!!!