Recommendations for trailer "sliders" or "rub rails"

[Heckraiser]

Hi Folks,

The wife and I are getting a small camping trailer like the one pictured. Probably about 900-1200lbs all loaded up.

I plan to make some "sliders" for it. We will not be dragging it through any boulder fields or serious trails. Mainly just getting to camp off the beaten path and then parking it. The main purpose of the sliders will be to space the wooden house away from contact with any trees that might be close to the trail and give the tail end something solid to drag in departure (I can also make a "bumper" separate from the sliders). It will not be dropping hard on the sliders like your truck sliders might. I plan to make them out of square tubing and weld them onto the underside of the frame.

My question is this: what size square tubing do you think would be appropriate for this application? I don't want to add unnecessary weight and these are really more for incedental rubbing on trees and obstacles, not for pounding against the rocks.

:edit: This is not our trailer, ours will have more suspension/tire than the one pictured. Thank you for your suggestions!

 

[greentruck]

1"-ish stuff sounds too light. 2" makes more sense to me, but comes in different wall thicknesses, Going with something in 2" on the lighter weight side of things would probably serve well as a compromise between protection vs weight.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Looks like you might want to consider relocation of taillights. I welded 6" round housings to go
around the taillights on my trailer and pulled over a post at an A&W drive thru with it once.
Just a tad overbuilt.

 

[Heckraiser]

Yes, I will probably integrate the lights into the back side of the trailer.

 

[ntsqd]

Extending on greentruck's thought, I'd go with either 1.5" or 2.0" X .065" wall, and then skin the bottom and outer edges with some same width .125" thick strap after the rails were welded on. That way you get some thickness where you may need it w/o carrying that thickness where you definitely do not need it.

I'd move to the sealed, rubber mounted truck tail light type of light. Those with bulbs and sockets are forever a PITA once they're a few years old. Can buy reasonably stout light mounting "cabinets". I went with those when I had to replace the lights on our TrailBlazer trailer.
Truck Light Mounting Cabinets - light boxes | AW Direct

 

[Heckraiser]

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't think of shoring up the "business end" of the rub rail while leaving the overall structure thin walled.