Is 1/16 Inch Thick Square Tubing Strong Enough for a Motorcycle Trailer?

[antzgarcia]

I am building a motorcycle trailer. I have 2 x 2 square tubing that is about 1/16 thick and it will be about 6 and 1/2 foot long the trailer will need to hold 433 that is how much my motorcycle weighs. Does any know of a site or somewere that I may find this information so that I can start on it. i just need to find out the weight that it will hold please post a site if you know one thank you

 

[antzgarcia]

please does someone know were i can find out this information.

 

[minger]

If you draw us a picture, it might be quit helpful. In fact, you'll probably get some very useful information and numbers with a decent picture.

 

[antzgarcia]

how would i post a picture the only drawings I have are in auto CAD?

 

[mooktank]

how would i post a picture the only drawings I have are in auto CAD?

CTRL + SHIFT + PRNT SCRN (takes a snapshot of your screen)

paste into MS paint and save as a JPEG

 

[minger]

Or I believe you can just straight export to a picture file. I haven't used AutoCad in years, but most solid modelers will let you export to a variety of image formats.

 

[FredGarvin]

or print it to a PDF and post it here.

 

[Mech_Engineer]

Keep in mind that the weight on the trailer will not just be the static weight of the bike, since while you're driving the bike will be subject to accelerations of perhaps 2-3g's. You'll want the trailer to be designed with a significant built-in safety factor. You'll also need to know more about the tubing you're using, specifically what material it is ("steel" won't be specific enough).

 

[nvn]

antzgarcia: I agree with mooktank except only press Alt + PrtSc; then paste to Start > Programs > Accessories > Paint (which is MS Paint), and save as a .png file. (jpeg is for photographs; png is for graphics.)

A dynamic amplification factor of 3 sounds good, probably. If you don't know more about your steel tube material, we could assume mild steel.

 

[antzgarcia]

I have uploaded the pictures and here is the link for my torsion axles and also the trailer that I have been using as a guide line some what the thing is they are to expensive so i am just going to build one.

http://www.roromotorcycletrailers.co.uk/

http://ucfamerica.com/flexhalf.html

 

[nvn]

antzgarcia: I notice the half axle you are using is also a shock absorber. I think the minimum dynamic amplification we should use is daf = 2.50. And I think the minimum yield factor of safety we could use is FS = 1.70. We will see if anyone disagrees. Therefore, your square tube wall thickness is too thin for the rear beam spanning across your trailer. Using the above minimum factors and mild steel, you would need a rear beam wall thickness of t = 6.35 mm. However, using daf = 3.0 and FS = 2.0 would give you a rear beam wall thickness of t = 12.7 mm. If you could state the material specification of your square tubes, it might affect the answers.