Aluminum Trailer questions

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Joined
Oct 23, 2007
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Location
Texas
Have a look at this style camper.
Quicksilver 6.0 All Aluminum Ultra Light Campers by LivinLite RV
How do you guys think the aluminum would hold up. I looked at one, and the only thing NOT aluminum besides the tent is the axle and wheels/hub etc.
Any opinions?
I would use it for mild offroad/hunting. Pulling it behind the 100
Thanks
 
My guess would be marginal...don't think I would go much past a Fire Service road...and carefully at that. Outside of that they look pretty cool.
 
I think it depends on your use. If the Rubicon and/or trails like it are in your sights, then it's probably not the right choice. If the build method and design live up to what is possible I wouldn't have any trouble with towing it down moderate trails. Certainly "Overlanding" should be within it's abilities though ground clearance may be an issue.
One thing that I would look into is how dissimilar metals are joined. When water gets into the cracks between, say, the steel of the Dexter axle and the aluminum frame it sets up galvanic corrosion if those metals are in direct contact. If they have some sort of simple insulator between them then this can't happen. Depending on the climate of use this may or may not be a big deal.
 
As a rule the use of aluminum needs to be twice the thickness as steel. Once you throw that into the mix your weight savings are not huge.

Aluminum does not bend or flex well over the long term as steel.

You limit yourself on any needed repair. Finding a tig welder in a remote area or small town could be a challenge. You can effectively weld steel with the batteries from your rig if it comes down to it.

My trailer originally had an aluminum frame bolted to a steel Dexter axle. After 20 years and 1000's of miles with a couple road trips to Alaska the corrosion was pretty much nil. Just say'n The PO was able to wear out the original Dexter axle during the same time frame.

I think you can effectively build a light weight trailer using steel. My trailer wet is under 600#and was built to take a beating.

The Quicksilver has a popular motorcycle following. The small tires are a limiting factor in my opinion along with lack clearance for off road use.

Good luck w
 
Thanks for the input. The trailer I looked at had 15" tires so ground clearance appeared OK.
I live and hunt in Texas.
I will have another look at them and see if there is any corrosion where the 2 metals meet.
 
Instead of being twice the thickness the tube can be, roughly, 1.5X to 2X the dimensions of the appropriate steel tube with the same wall thickness. Strength grows linearly with wall thickness (along with weight), but grows exponentially with dimension (but not in weight).

No way that I know of around the field repair challenge.
 
For, as you said, "mild offroad/hunting" it might be OK. Meaning maintained and graveled forest service roads with sufficient width. I doubt it would be in showroom condition after it travelled the Barlow Road here.

The suspension does not appear to be set up for much articulation, the chassis lacks ground clearance, especially for departure angle (take note that there is an offroad option for a shorter rear deck that would be a big help), 12" tire size (though larger tires are an option, and sorely needed at that), and the aluminum skinning on the side is vulnerable to trail brush. It would be a help if an SOA or at least extended spring perches were available, but I kinda doubt either is an option. Look how close the tires are to the fenders. This strongly suggests firm springs with little movement. Any side to side up and down movement will result in the entire trailer tilting, instead of springs offsetting this. The trailer is low slung and wide enough that this doesn't appear to be an issue for center of gravity, but there is a limited amount of such movement with a ball hitch.

Their construction methods are certainly an improvement over traditional metal/wood trailers, and above the suspension it looks well thought out, but my opinion is that they overestimate what constitutes off-road travel.
 
Trailers do not need articulation in the suspension. They articulate (& pitch & yaw) about the coupler. The suspension need only have enough travel and damping to keep the eggs from breaking and the beer from being foamed. Unless it is intended to carry passengers, but I can't see the trailer in question ever doing that.
 
Off road trailers are being made with independent bagged soft suspensions for articulation.
 
Three points define a plane; two tires and the coupler are all that a trailer has supporting it. Yes people are building articulation into their trailer suspensions. Ask them if ever actually works out that way. It doesn't. You only need articulation when there are more than three points of ground contact and one of them isn't co-planar to the other three. With only three points what forces any articulation? As soon as any of those three points changes elevation the trailer tilts (excluding highly dynamic events like below).

Articulation is different than taking a one-wheel bump in stride, and this is worth pursuing. But large wheel travel isn't necessary for that to work well unless you tow off road at Trophy Truck speeds. Reasonable wheel travel and quality damping are much more important than large wheel travel.

Long travel in a trailer can easily be very unstable at highway speeds. If the CG is well above the roll axis, which it nearly always is with a trailer, this is made even worse.
 
Another thought... Has anyone tried a portable a/c in a rtt?
 
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Trailer articulation with air bags, has been the cause of many trailers flopping. Truly not one of the better ideas out there. As stated the only articulation is mainly at the coupler, so 360 degree articulating hitch will cover the problem.

I agree that it does not have much suspension looking at the fender spacing to tire. These will be gone on any real off road trail very quickly is my guess.

I think this trailer could be made into a average off road trailer, but I would be concerned about the suspension, the rest looks okay.

It appears to have enough approach and departure angle as it is not very big and doubt it weighs much.

Dragging it on the Rubicon or over the Hammers is not in the cards, but it sounds like it will be mostly crossing a ditch into a wheat field or corn field. I think you are golden for that.

Just be sure you get the 15 inch wheels and space out the fenders. A sheet of steel between the fenders and the side would be a good idea. Catching a rock will wipe out the aluminum very quickly. I see this same set up on AT and SoCal Tear Drops. It amazes me they do that.
 
Specs page says that it is a Dexter Torsion axle that they're using. I have no worries with mine after the many thousands of miles (on and off highway) that it has seen. I do think that they need a shock absorber for the more extreme uses (Baja roads and the like), but the typical dirt road driven sedately isn't any concern. I've read that the US military is converting to this type of torsion axle assembly.
 
Another thought... Has anyone tried a portable a/c in a rtt?

I think you should be the first to try it :)

ClimateRight - CR-2550 Mini

phoca_thumb_l_tent%20with%20unit.jpg
 
Another thought... Has anyone tried a portable a/c in a rtt?

I have a 12,000 BTU unit on our small popup and it works very hard when the sun is out in AZ. Unless you shade the RTT you will be wasting your time.
 
trailer

I have a 12,000 BTU unit on our small popup and it works very hard when the sun is out in AZ. Unless you shade the RTT you will be wasting your time.

That was my concern. I am not sure the a/c in this trailer would work any better!! Maybe I should go by and ask them to turn it on and see if it cools the tent at all. I will also check BTU's
 

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