4 x 2 x.125 or 4 x 2 x .1875..... [Archive] - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

monkeyevil

10-31-2005, 09:48 AM

Which would be best for strength and weight...

Say on a 7,000 pound
and again on a 10,000 pound

85 Chevota

10-31-2005, 03:07 PM

Go .188 for either. It does depend on the design though.

Trailer Guy

10-31-2005, 03:45 PM

We're building a 12k in the shop right now that has 4ft. tall solid sides on it, and we're using 4x2x.250 wall for the main frame and tongue. The reason we use .250 wall over the .188 wall is that you gain a lot of strength without gaining a lot of weight. .188 wall weighs about 7.04 lbs. per foot and .250 wall weighs about 8.81 lbs. per foot. That is only about 1 3/4 lbs. per foot difference in trailer weight. That isn't bad. To compare the difference, .120 wall weighs about 4.75 lbs. per foot. Compared to .188 wall that is just over 2 1/4 lbs. per foot difference. .188 wall would work fine, I wouldn't go any lighter than that for the main frame and tongue.