Aluminum or steel trailer...

[DeepI In The Rut]

I am upgrading trailer to dual axel. Previous trailer was aluminum, single axel, 14'. Typically haul CanAm defender max, so 14' is minimum length; looking to go 16-18'. I know aluminum is nice (no rust and lighter) and I certainly like the price of steel vs aluminum. How much regret, if any, would one have going the steel option? (I've been searching FB marketplace - would love to find aluminum for ~$5,000 or less). Thanks.

 

[WeiserBucks]

If you can afford aluminum it's not even a comparison in my opinion.

 

[Billy Goat]

Anymore I think I'm pretty heavy in the camp of steel trailers, especially for any off road use.

My aluminum stock trailer is getting cracks all over, mostly just in doors. Its lasted longer than a steel trailer for certain (manure is reallyhard on steel stock trailers if you dont clean), I just get nervous about structural areas that I don't crawl under and look at.

For an open equipment trailer personally I'd much prefer steel, mostly because I think they probably have a similar service life and ones cheaper up front.


I could be wrong in my opinions tho. A guy I know has gone all aluminum on his equipment trailers, so far so good. He got tired of the steel rusting out, but I get nervous of the stress cracking. These are 25-35k trailers.

 

[Choupique]

STEEL

Aluminum is for beer cans and air planes. I've owned quite a few aluminum boat trailers and even with the most premium fully welded ones, there's a plethora of problems that steel trailers just don't have. Wallowed out bolt holes, tons of flex, leading to more wallowed out holes, corrosion around those holes, the list goes on and on. Difficult to repair if you don't weld aluminum. Don't get me started on erector set aluminum trailers. I have been party to quite a few violent boat trailer failures and they were all aluminum.

Unless you have some specific weight concerns, steel is the far superior choice. Get a galvanized frame if you are ultra concerned about corrosion. Aluminum trailers when done 100% correctly are good for hauling cargo when a specific GVWR target needs to be hit but otherwise, they suck. Stay away.