Dumb idea for torsion boxes?

[Trainhound]

I just came back from home depot and while i was there, a thought occured to me, why could'nt the torsion boxes be made out of sections of extention ladders? Aluminum or fiberglass sections could laid side by side and bolted/epoxied together forming a strong and flat I-beam cross section. The rungs would act as supporting cross members and panels could be fastened to the top and bottom. What do you guys think? All I know is i'm pretty heavy 300+ and when I get on my ladder it hardly flexes. Many ladders can be found at swap meets and garage sales and it would be a very lightweight construction.

[Nightz]

Trainhound,
I think it could go either way. While the materials you suggest are very strong and resistant to flex, I'm uncertain how straight they are over length. Maybe they could be milled flat somehow. That would be my only concern. One of the disadvantages of using 80/20 extrusion is the whole flatness/straightness factor of any aluminum extrusion. The same would apply to ladder stock. Give it a try and post your results.

-Rocko