Posted 2005-07-23 8:00 AM (#28478) Subject: How do you tell if it is ALL aluminum or...
New User
Posts: 4
Location: Florida
Looking at several new and used trailers. I would like an all aluminum trailer. How do you tell if a trailer is all aluminum or aluminum with steel frame? Is an all aluminum trailer built with an aluminum frame? Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Posted 2005-07-23 3:37 PM (#28486 - in reply to #28478) Subject: RE: How do you tell if it is ALL aluminum or...
New User
Posts: 3
The so called "all-aluminum" trailer is never just that. Every trailer has a steel hitch. Every trailer has to have some element of steel to it for structural purposes. Larger all-aluminum trailers will have a steel axle-box. The frame of an "all-alum" is usually alum reinforced with steel at certain points. Basically you can categorize trailers into steel, steel-framed/alum skin, and all-aluminum. The only way to truly tell if a trailer is "all-aluminum" without knowing is to ask the person selling it. If that person doesn't know, call a dealer for that particular brand. They should be able to tell you.
Posted 2005-07-24 9:59 PM (#28521 - in reply to #28500) Subject: RE: How do you tell if it is ALL aluminum or...
Expert
Posts: 2689
Without getting pedantic about the word "ALL", the closest you will get are by EBY.
Close second & third that I KNOW OF FIRST HAND are Jamco and 4-Star, not necessarily in that order.
OK, so "ALL" trailers have a steel coupler.
Yes, the magnet can give clues, though stainless steel is kinda LOW on the magnetic scale - I'm not at all sure that galvanised steel (or the trade named "galvaneal") is as magnetic as mild steel either, so that might go undetected by the magnet test if it is behind a sheet of aluminum. Stainless is good, unless/until you have to drill, cut or grind it. Galvanised is good, until the coating is compromised, e.g. if it is drilled to accept rivets or if it is welded.
There's only ONE manufacturer whose literature I know LIES about this.
Don't ask, I won't tell - it is a libel/slander issue, but I've seen half a wall full of pics taken of a wrecked trailer that was substantially rusted out inside it's "all aluminum" walls.
BTW, don't get into the "can't be welded" issue with anyone about aluminum. Yes it can and I'm getting to be pretty good at it. You probably wouldn't want a welding shop to work on your steel trailer either if all they can do is oxy-fuel and stick.
Aluminum alloys can also be cut very efficiently by fire/rescue crews at the scene of an accident - just about nobody is hawking the old oxy-acetylene cutting torches around these days (-:
None of this pre-supposes that a trailer will be good or bad just because of the metal that it is built from.
How do you tell if it is ALL aluminum or...
