The Chassis of a Two Horse Trailer

I finished my design on my trailer and ordered the steel for the chassis. I did all the calculations myself but I always get a second opinion. In this case I used a web based beam calculator at Optimal Beam which gave me a free 14 day trial. Check them out, it's a really good bit of software and really easy to use. I got my steel on Wednesday and waited for 2 days. I find that a couple of days wait before starting any major project allows me to fully think through the steps of the project and make sure I have it firmly in mind. The final chassis design is below the jump.

A picture of the initial weldment of the chassis is shown in the picture. I began by laying out the chassis with all of the parts pre-cut and pre-bent. I then leveled and squared everything and clamped it in multiple directions. I tack welded the cross members to the main rail in an alternating fashion. I continuously checked for square using a 48" drywall square and measuring numerous diagonals. After initial tacking I did some longer welds in the same fashion. After installing the 3" square tongue tube I checked the square from the center of the tube to the back corners. I was ecstatic, I couldn't determine the difference using a new tape measure.

I've got the axle hangers bolted to angle iron to check axle placement on the rail and make sure every thing is spaced out correctly. Surprises later are usually bad news. Oops, the fenders don't quite fit properly. So I'm off to a good start, and the build goes on.