Contributor III
- 154
- First Name
- Andre
- Last Name
- Benguerel
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- WRYR258
- Service Branch
- USAF - ANG
Hi all
I'm in the design stages of a rack from my M1102 trailer. The sides will carry 4 of the Leitner GearPOD DUAL's and the top will ultimately hold a RTT, awning, additional storage and probably solar panels. I'm building it out of steel, the material was free from an abandoned gate job. As much as I'd like to do aluminum I don't want to spend that much and weight isn't a huge concern.
The base plates for the corners and perimeter will all be in .125 cold rolled steel (1008). For uprights and cross beams I have 3" x 1.5" (.065" wall) and 4" x 2" (..083" wall) rectangular mild steel tubing (welded seam). I am partial to the 3" rectangle for looks but concerned it might not support the load. As a test, I put the 3" tube lengthwise across the trailer and stood on it. I'm 210+ lb (on a light day ;-) and it deflected .25" Based on that I think a center post (center of the bed side) will be necessary as well. That would leave an unsupported span of 45" between the posts on the side.
The cross bars are will be even longer. The side posts will rise ~8" above the bed rail, which does a few things; it raises the base of the POD's to the approximate height of the bed rails on my truck, it also makes them high enough so when they are open you won't conk you head on the door (I'm 5' 9"). The floor of the POD is high but not high enough so you can't see what's inside or access easily. The posts will then angle in (to match the angle of the POD) and rise about 17" to meet the cross bars. The cross bars will have an unsupported span of about 69" This concerns me as well but I don't want support posts inside the trailer bed, I need the space. I was going to connect the three cross bars with a center bar (horizontal) going front to back.
So the question is; what do you think if my material choice? Will it be enough? Should I get thicker wall material to support the weight? I don't want to cut and weld 75% of this only to find the cross bars deflect when loaded. If you've built a rack like this please let me know your material wall thickness. I've seen RTT's on 2" t-slot rails that seem to be ok but not sure how much free span that is. I think the side posts will be more than enough for the loads from the POD's, there will be a second post inboard.
I'll try to post of pics of my ideas as I flush them out.
I'm in the design stages of a rack from my M1102 trailer. The sides will carry 4 of the Leitner GearPOD DUAL's and the top will ultimately hold a RTT, awning, additional storage and probably solar panels. I'm building it out of steel, the material was free from an abandoned gate job. As much as I'd like to do aluminum I don't want to spend that much and weight isn't a huge concern.
The base plates for the corners and perimeter will all be in .125 cold rolled steel (1008). For uprights and cross beams I have 3" x 1.5" (.065" wall) and 4" x 2" (..083" wall) rectangular mild steel tubing (welded seam). I am partial to the 3" rectangle for looks but concerned it might not support the load. As a test, I put the 3" tube lengthwise across the trailer and stood on it. I'm 210+ lb (on a light day ;-) and it deflected .25" Based on that I think a center post (center of the bed side) will be necessary as well. That would leave an unsupported span of 45" between the posts on the side.
The cross bars are will be even longer. The side posts will rise ~8" above the bed rail, which does a few things; it raises the base of the POD's to the approximate height of the bed rails on my truck, it also makes them high enough so when they are open you won't conk you head on the door (I'm 5' 9"). The floor of the POD is high but not high enough so you can't see what's inside or access easily. The posts will then angle in (to match the angle of the POD) and rise about 17" to meet the cross bars. The cross bars will have an unsupported span of about 69" This concerns me as well but I don't want support posts inside the trailer bed, I need the space. I was going to connect the three cross bars with a center bar (horizontal) going front to back.
So the question is; what do you think if my material choice? Will it be enough? Should I get thicker wall material to support the weight? I don't want to cut and weld 75% of this only to find the cross bars deflect when loaded. If you've built a rack like this please let me know your material wall thickness. I've seen RTT's on 2" t-slot rails that seem to be ok but not sure how much free span that is. I think the side posts will be more than enough for the loads from the POD's, there will be a second post inboard.
I'll try to post of pics of my ideas as I flush them out.
