I am upgrading to an enclosed car trailer. All of my wants and needs are ironed out now except for the frame material. With all the reading I've done I'm still undecided, so I wanted to see if anyone here has some input specific to our kind of use.
Steel frame or aluminum?
Trailer will be an 8.5 X 24 foot enclosed 10K trailer. While the rest of the trailer remains rated for 10K I'm upgrading to 14K eight lug axles with no drop. I have no idea what my rig weights but it has to be around 5000 to 5500 pounds'ish. There will be basic living quarters up front of my own construction, but nothing too crazy.
I am leaning toward a steel frame for all of it's pros. That said, I will be towing this trailer with either a 1993 Dodge D250 club cab LB truck or a 1991 Dodge W250 Ox Cart, both with VE cummins engines. Though they are both very different trucks neither of them are powerful heavy modern trucks. They are both very much 3/4 ton trucks, but I love them and so they're what I have to work with. Now...
The trailer is being ordered and built to my specs. With the 12 inches of added height the empty weight will come in just under 4000 pounds. It's getting 7000" axles so I'm not worried about being overloaded. I am worried about my trucks being able to haul and stop this pig safely. With a trailer this size, going to an all aluminum frame cuts 1000" pounds off of it's empty weight! Yeah, I really like that idea.
Not too concerned with the extra cost of an aluminum frame. I just want to get the right trailer for my needs. Trailer will be used once a month at least all year-round in all conditions. Is an aluminum frame a bad idea?
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Steel frame or aluminum?
Trailer will be an 8.5 X 24 foot enclosed 10K trailer. While the rest of the trailer remains rated for 10K I'm upgrading to 14K eight lug axles with no drop. I have no idea what my rig weights but it has to be around 5000 to 5500 pounds'ish. There will be basic living quarters up front of my own construction, but nothing too crazy.
I am leaning toward a steel frame for all of it's pros. That said, I will be towing this trailer with either a 1993 Dodge D250 club cab LB truck or a 1991 Dodge W250 Ox Cart, both with VE cummins engines. Though they are both very different trucks neither of them are powerful heavy modern trucks. They are both very much 3/4 ton trucks, but I love them and so they're what I have to work with. Now...
The trailer is being ordered and built to my specs. With the 12 inches of added height the empty weight will come in just under 4000 pounds. It's getting 7000" axles so I'm not worried about being overloaded. I am worried about my trucks being able to haul and stop this pig safely. With a trailer this size, going to an all aluminum frame cuts 1000" pounds off of it's empty weight! Yeah, I really like that idea.
Not too concerned with the extra cost of an aluminum frame. I just want to get the right trailer for my needs. Trailer will be used once a month at least all year-round in all conditions. Is an aluminum frame a bad idea?
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