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Boyd 07-21-2004 00:04:41 12.73.126.202 10746 Report to Moderator	I own 5- 80s F150 2 wheel drives. I am going to strip 3 or 4 of them for spare parts to keep on hand. I'm thinking of saving the front "I" beam suspensions from them to make a trailer from scratch for my lawn service. I was planning on using "U" bolts to bolt leaf springs to each "I" beam. I was going to build the frame from scratch, starting from the "I" beam suspension, making the trailer the max legal 8-1/2 feet wide for Minnesota and having surge brakes go to the stock calipers on each wheel. Has anyone else out there seen this done?? Any ideas or suggestions? Boyd. [Reply]  [No Email]
db 08-01-2004 18:27:37 64.12.116.204 10822 Report to Moderator	Re: Use Ford Twin I beams to build a trailer? in reply to Boyd, 07-21-2004 00:04:41   Hi again, Here is where you can find whatever you want to know about building or servicing trailers. I told them I am planning to build and service trailers in my shop, and they sent me a lot of stuff. http://www.dexteraxle.com/literature_request   [Reply]  [No Email]
mart 07-31-2004 20:56:23 64.235.109.48 10810 Report to Moderator	Re: Use Ford Twin I beams to build a trailer? in reply to Boyd, 07-21-2004 00:04:41   I don't know why you'd want to use a Ford twin I beam set up in anything. In a twin I beam, the wheels don't move up and down as in a regular independent front suspension, but travel in an arc. This causes uneven tire wear as the tires are often running either on the inside or outside edges and rarely on the center, flat section of the tread. Twin I beams can be aligned properly by a few shops, by heating and bending the I beams, to get a correct tire patch on the road, but even this only works for a given load and ride height. When the load is greater or less than what the I beams are aligned for, the tire contact patch changes. The twin I beam was mostly marketing hype, introduced in the early 60's when trucks started abandoning straight beam axles and leaf springs and going to i.f.s. Some of the old time truck people were erroneously skeptical of the strength of independent A-arm and ball joint front suspensions compared to their old familiar I beams. Ford threw engineering out the window and played up to this skepticism with the Twin I beam concept. For your trailer, why don't you use just use a conventional rear axle unit and a pair of leaf springs or, better yet, fabricate an axle out of heavy wall tubing with either welded in or flange mounted, bolt on spindles? It 'd be a whole lot simpler than trying adapt an inherently inferior suspension design with no obvious benefits.   [Reply]  [No Email]
dodgeboy 07-31-2004 19:18:14 12.73.123.42 10807 Report to Moderator	Re: Use Ford Twin I beams to build a trailer? in reply to Boyd, 07-21-2004 00:04:41   boyd, One thing you should check on before you build a trailer. I have been told that surge brakes are no longer legal in Minn. You may have to go electric. Ray   [Reply]  [No Email]
Boyd 07-23-2004 23:21:10 12.73.128.136 10762 Report to Moderator	Re: Use Ford Twin I beams to build a trailer? in reply to Boyd, 07-21-2004 00:04:41   Maybe it would just be easier to make a trailer out of regular trailer axles. I was planning to use the trailer for my lawn service and wanted the deck lower than it would be if I used the rear axles. Plus at least one of the trucks I'm taking apart has the 8.8" rear axle which has c-clips which can fail under too much laterall force. That could easily happen if I used 2 or more axles. Boyd.   [Reply]  [No Email]
db 07-24-2004 18:50:30 64.12.116.204 10768 Report to Moderator	Re: Re: Use Ford Twin I beams to build a trailer? in reply to Boyd, 07-23-2004 23:21:10   There are drop axles that will lower your axles to about the bottom of your rims. If they are any lower you will drag your axle on the road with a flat. Dexter makes axles like that, and they also make torsion bar axles that get rid of the springs, too. I have a small utility trailer that I use for picking up junk. It is made with a straight axle and 13 inch rims. The bed's height is just right that I can jack-knife the trailer and back it over a curb up to something heavy, and have a couple inches to raise something onto the bed of the trailer. That height should be about right for your trailer. If your trailer is light weight enough you might not even need brakes. If your combined weight of the truck, trailer, and load does not exceed the maximum weight of your truck, your truck brakes will be sufficient to stop the combined weight. But check with your state's department, all the states have different requirements.   [Reply]  [No Email]
db 07-22-2004 20:04:31 205.188.116.204 10755 Report to Moderator	Re: Use Ford Twin I beams to build a trailer? in reply to Boyd, 07-21-2004 00:04:41   It does sound kind of heavy, but you don't have anything to loose except some tine and either totch consumables or sawzall blades. A regular trailer axle would be a lot lighter weight, and can have whatever capacity you want. You can save your wheels, and simply buy axles with hubs with your bolt pattern. If you have leaf springs you may be able to use them, but they will be longer than trailer springs and will make a long distance between axles. Another thought about the I beams, I've seen people lengthen I beam axles and shorten I beam axles by simply welding them and splicing them. You may be able to figure a way to take the two I beams, and cut the pivot ends and butt the beams together and weld them, or put a splice over them. Another idea, maybe something can be worked out by sliding the ends of the I beams into a square or rectangular tuba and making a straight axle. Ir you can weld a plate vertically under the center of the frame and drill a hole through the center and use this plate as a pivot for both I beams. If you have room, maybe you can use part of the spring towers and weld them to your frame and use the coil springs, but if you will be having more than one axle you will probably have to use the spring towers on sort of a teeter totter with a bolt to pivon on in the middle for equalizers. These are just a few ideas I can come up with, just ask my wife, she can't shut me up.   [Reply]  [No Email]
rustyfarmall 07-22-2004 06:54:35 199.120.81.215 10751 Report to Moderator	Re: Use Ford Twin I beams to build a trailer? in reply to Boyd, 07-21-2004 00:04:41   I have seen a sort of tow dolly built using those beams, just find a length of hollow rectangular steel tubing of the proper strength and dimensions, and slide the axles into it, one from each end. The tow dolly I saw did not use any suspension, it was used only for transporting older self propelled combines by setting the rear wheels of the combine in the cradle and then towing to the salvage yard. Don't know if this helps but maybe will give you some ideas? I would think that the rectangular tubing might be a good place to mount the leaf springs.   [Reply]  [No Email]
John Ne. 07-21-2004 19:01:57 209.74.225.231 10749 Report to Moderator	Re: Use Ford Twin I beams to build a trailer? in reply to Boyd, 07-21-2004 00:04:41   if you are stripping out the trucks, why not use the rear axle, and frame which already has the leaf springs attached? Sure save a lot of work. Besides, having a dozen years of Ford dealership mechanicing in my background, dont know how you would clamp those two halves to each other? So they would track correctly, plus you would have to put some kind of pad on the axle to support the leaf spring. If you're thinking of suspension, then you'll practically need to fabricate a subframe under the trailer, which would surely add a bunch of weight. You could cut the box away with frame attached, and have a trailer done virtually in an afternoon, plus have the parking brakes to use to park it. My Two cents. John in Nebraska   [Reply]  [No Email]