Follow up on Gooseneck, and a steel question...

Well I probably shouldn t have, but I settled on a gooseneck. 99 Moritz, 20+5, dovetail is moveable to make a 25 flat, fold over ramps, new paint and 2" pressure treated deck, 2 new brakes, set of spare bearings, 14 ply tires that are decent tread and no weather cracks, all lights and brakes work, and torsion axles(was a detractor at first, but it sure towed nice at 70 on the interstate). Trailer tows well except it shimmy s from about 30-40 for some reason, maybe tires, who knows. Other than that, my Chevy 6.0 really handled it well empty coming home. I crawled all under it, and the only bad thing, and for some reason was the only rot I could find, was on the main I beams. Owner had told me about it, and he had patched a couple of spots before he painted it. He actually groubd them out and plated it. I looked at it and I think I m going to plate the entire length of the I beam and just be done with it, the top and bottom flange looks decent enough, it s just the webbing. I priced 4 9 3" pieces of 3/16" plate cut to 9 1/4" (that s just about the height of he webbing) tall for about $270. Question is 3/16" big enough? Should I go to 1/4"? Going to try and weld it myself, local shop wanted over a grand to do it. And I paid $3500 for the trailer. If I can fix it and stay under $4k I m happy. For the life of me, I can t figure out why those ibeams rusted.

The strength of a beam lies mainly in the
web height. Then some in the thickness,
with a smaller amount in the flanges. I've
seen 18 inch tall I beams (used on a
commercial roof) that spanned 40 feet yet
only had a 5/16 - 3/8 thick flange. Given
the flanges are OK, I'd say an additional
3/16 should be plenty, as you're simply
reinforcing what's there. Even with some
corrosion that the additional material
will make alot of difference.

You say you're doing it in pieces. Unless
you're doing that to go between cross
members, or other obstructions, you don't
want the pieces to tie together with the
ends vertical to the frame. The frame
rails will flex under a load,and a square
cut end won't be that strong because the
pieces will want to pull apart as it
flexes.

Instead, cut each one at an angle, so the
ends of the pieces overlap. This gives a
longer, and stronger, connection between
the pieces.

Appreciate it. I was thinking 3/16" thick plate should be fine for the webbing. The only reason I m doing it in 2 sections is because the steel supplier said 3/16" cut to that length/width would warp, so they recommended 2 pieces for each side. But they are cutting it to m measurements, so I wouldn t think an angled cut on the seem in the center would be that difficult.

Height of the beam from flange to flange is 50 % of strength. The flanges do the other 50% (mass of material there). The web just keeps the flanges at
the correct distance. The web transfers shear load from flange to flange. If the load support is in the approximate center (wheels/springs/gussets)
the distributed load on the deck toward the front and back applies tensions the top flange, and puts compression load on the bottom. In my experience
building Michigan Trains (trailers with 32 tires that carry 2-35,000 pound coils of steel) I worked on beams that had 1.5 inch X 8" top and bottom
flanges with 1 inch webs, 28 inches tall. Repairing the rusty web is a good idea if in any doubt. There is no need to plate the whole thing, as it
will only marginally help hold the flanges in proper spacing. We built 40 footers with 8 axles 5 air and 3 monoleaf. Jim
example

Casey in K,

Not a trailer thought but just about every time I hear of a "shimmy" around 40 mph, I think of bad driveshaft u joints. Ihave seen it many times. Nice looking trailer.

D.

your pieces of plate are to be 93" ?

It might actually be cheaper to get 1/4" plate sheared off an 8 foot wide sheet. Or ask your source what alternates they might have on hand vs having to order.

Many times any plate that is a 16th something is more $$ per sq ft than the next 16th up.

If your source is worried about warpage, that is because they are going to torch or plasma cut it to size. You will have to prep the edge via a grinder to ensure a good weld. If it is sheared to size then your good to go as is.

My brother had the same trailer, but his
was a 2000. They are good, solid trailers.
We over loaded it a few times, and it
regularly hauled a 10,000lb tractor.
Always handled it great. The only trouble
he had was the original tires were just
truck tires, and they blew out. Sounds
like yours has that problem fixed. I've
never heard of the main beams rusting out.
My father-in-law owns the trailer now,
I'll have to check it out.

That?s a heck of trailer. Appreciate the Information. I thought I would plate one side of the entire length of the main beam back to where the dove starts, to both fix any soft areas, and to just make it look better. Hopefully if I do that, it?ll be fixed for life, or for as long as I have the trailer anyway.. I also didn?t think $270 was bad for that much plate.

The tongue is fine, all the cross members are fine, all the rub rails are fine, axles were good, it was just he webbing on the ibeams. I bought it was really unusual. I figure plating it will make it last another 20 years, or at least I hope so. Does your brothers have the torsion axles? I?m a little concerned with them, but it sure towed like a dream on the interstate.

They said it would be sheared, but I?ll call them back tomorrow and
get some different pricing. It?s also possible that I miss understood
them as I was driving at the time as was speaking to them. I?ll price
the 1/4? and see. Thanks

I'll have to look on the axels but I think they're torsion. We are roofing contractors and have 6 trailers of various types. Im running through them in my mind. Seems like at least 1 has torsion axels and I never remember having any trouble.

I?m the 3rd owner, previous owner had it for 6 years and mostly hauled hay with it. He said he never over loaded it, but knew of another one just like it that got used to haul a JD 450 dozer. That?s got to be overloading it for sure. He said other than tires and occasional wheel bearings, the one that hauled the 450 dozer never have an ounce of trouble. The guy I bought it from had a dump truck and 10 ton tag along that he uses to haul his heavier equipment. I?m hoping once I plate this one it?ll last another 20 years. Not heard anyone say anything bad about Moritz trailers. The 1st owner was a dairy farm in Ohio.

If you don't cut the old out and just lay the new in and weld it you will rust it out in less time than it took to get to this point. The 2 plates the web and your new plate will hold moisture in between them causing it to rust faster than if you cot our the old web and put in the new one. I would just get some plate is strips about the same width as the frame beam then with the trailer on it's side lay the plate on there and mark it to fit the arch then after cutting to fit cut the old web out and drop the new one in and tack in place then do other side then weld in then do other side.
With it on it's side you can mark both plates and fit then ccut one out tack then cut out the other this saves in moving trailer from one side to the other to weld it flat and can do both top sides then flip to do opposite side.