flooring & sides suggestions

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JamesR

JamesR

Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Threads
71
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815
Location
Watkinsville, GA
Hello All, I am about ready to attach a floor and sides to my light weight trailer. I have read all the posts. Some folks use all wood, some all steel, others wood floor with steel walls and then some use steel floor and wood walls.
Please educate me and the benefits/drawbacks of the materials used to build the floor and sides.
Thanks.
 
What's the purpose of floor and side? Structural or just insulation/ padding?
 
I think a certain amount of it comes down to use.

You can get away with a wood floor if you're hauling objects rather than bulk goods, but you could get away with stuff like mulch and a wood floor. Gravel and such, you'd want a metal floor. Plus the metal floor is easier to shovel from - I've ripped out huge splinters from a wood floor when I've gotten the shovel under an edge of one forming.

Same with the sides. Carrying loose bulk goods you probably want steel sides.
 
Thanks for the reply's and great questions - The plan is to have a small yard/garden trailer that will double as an off road camping trailer. The camping trailer aspect is just a gear hauler, nothing fancy. (I've never tried to fab anything of this scale so I'm keeping it simple.)
 
I would buy a 14 or 12 G sheet then get the shop to break it into a U for floor and side -save tons of dough. You can do front or rear with metal or wood so everything will slide in.
 
The 1959 vintage trailer that I inherited from my grandfather (who built it as a combo utility and camping trailer) uses a wood floor with steel sides. A piece of 1/2 plywood that wasn't even held down until I came up with a simple method. The concept was to make it easily replaced so that as it gets torn up from use it is a simple job to replace it. Just pull the old one out, cut a foot off the end of a new plywood panel, and slip it into place.
He and I have hauled that trailer way too full of gravel without issue.
 
Thanks for the info. I'm leaning toward wood and steel. The dimensions are rather odd, the "box" is 58 in long, 42 wide and 21 high. If I go with wood the challenge will be sealing it adequately.
 
I had an HVAC shop build me an 18g sheet metal box almost exactly that size. It cost $200 but I need to screw/glue/weld tubing on the top edge for strength and attachment points
 
oldboyscout said:
I had an HVAC shop build me an 18g sheet metal box almost exactly that size. It cost $200 but I need to screw/glue/weld tubing on the top edge for strength and attachment points
Click to expand...

That was a good idea. I wish I had thought of that.
The floor is going to be pressure treated plywood with steel sides. I paid $105 for a 4x10 feet sheet of 16 guage steel.
I saw something interesting in the July issue of Petersen's 4 Wheel & Off Road (page 55). This guy had the bottom of his trailer covered with a single sheet of metal to make a giant skid plate. I wonder if the extra weight of the plate would cause problems?
 
oldboyscout said:
seems like a sheet heavy enough to be a skid plate would add a lot of weigh in that size
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking. I wonder if a 3/4" sheet of pressure treated plywood would help or would it just be a waste?
 
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