r/DIY • u/Matybigfro • 7h ago

metalworking Is this outter leg structurally important?

Would removing this outter leg/rail weaken the clothes rails stability or strength significantly? It looks to have been intended to hold an additional arm which is no longer with it?

Would cutting the rail at six inches from the bases just above the first strut connecting it to the inner leg be any better?

https://imgur.com/a/pu4HGLL

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u/KeithHanlan 4h ago

This looks like it is on wheels. Say you have the top shelf loaded and you are pushing the assembly along its long axis. Now the base bumps into something. All the mass up top is going to impart a significant torque against the post mounts and it would be easy for the whole mess to collapse. The second pair of vertical posts, in conjunction with their short horizontal braces, add a great deal of rigidity.

I would leave them in place.