Harbor Freight 94564 4x8 trailer dimenisons needed

[Joe6Pack74]

Hi, I am trying to layout a Harbor Freight 94564 4x8' trailer in TurboCAD for a teardrop project I am designing. My local store has the trailer hung from the ceiling about 15' in the air so I cannot get measurements. I am in need of the distance from the center of the axle to the bottom of the frame. Also the length from the bolt hold of the eye of the leaf spring to the other bolt hole. Please pardon my crude attempt at Photoshop in the picture below.



This is where I am at with my CAD drawing.



Any help would be much appreciated.

[bobhenry]

I sound like a badly scratched record repeating myself but,

Reinforce and lengthen the tongue now while it's easy.

[Joe6Pack74]

I sound like a badly scratched record repeating myself but,

Reinforce and lengthen the tongue now while it's easy.

Thanks for the advice and have been looking into that modification. Right now I am in the design phase and can't find those two measurements anywhere on the web.

[bobhenry]

I sound like a badly scratched record repeating myself but,

Reinforce and lengthen the tongue now while it's easy.

Thanks for the advice and have been looking into that modification. Right now I am in the design phase and can't find those two measurements anywhere on the web.

I took most of my info from Harvey "Nobody"

http://tnttt.com/search.php?keywords=tongue&terms=all&author=nobody&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Here are several threads with info.

As to mine I added 18 " and augmented the A point with a center 2x2 x 3/16 square tube. I bolted to all the crossmembers. Yes all I went over the axle and bolted to the rear even. By using a square bottom "U" bolt ( think like a muffler clamp )
You can shim down the 2x2 just a bit and use it for a class 2 (1 1/4 X 1 1/4) receiver for bike racks extension platforms or even a ball mount and tow tandums.





I found some close ups of chubby's tongue repair

[Nobody]

The distance of the spring support bolt holes is 20 1/2" center to center. Inside edge to inside edge is 20" as they are half inch holes.

Can't really help ya with the axle to frame measurement as my teardrop is sitting on my HF 94564 trailer. My total TD weight (including the tongue modified HF trailer) is 1180 lbs. The current measurement from axle center to chassis is 6.5" to the bottom of the piece of angle that the 'C' channel spring bracket is welded to, but that includes a 1" steel spacer between the axle spring perch & the springs. Measurement without the spacer is 5 1/2". That piece of angle I consider to be part of the chassis but if you want measurement to the actual 'C' channel chassis rail, add approx a quarter inch to the distance above. My TD weight of approx 900# hardly depresses the springs of my trailer at all (I'd say less than a half inch), so if you use an axle to chassis distance of approx 6" you should be good.

My TD is 60" x 114" outside measure & I 'built in' approx 1" high wheel wells since I built over the wheels. I found after several trips that my tires would make momentary contact with the underside of the wheel wells on extremely rough bumps, hence the 1" steel spacer I added between the axle & springs. Have had no problems since but I think I'm gonna have to re-align the axle/spindle-to-coupler/chassis. When I added the steel spacer I drilled a recess for the spring bolt but didn't make any provisions to keep the spacer 'centered' on the axle perch. During last week's trip on the Natchez Trace Parkway I noticed some 'odd' wear on my tires. The inside two tread ribs on the driver side, & the outside two ribs on the curb side began to 'scallop' quite badly & by the end of the approx 1300 round trip the tires need to be replaced. Had no problem with the same set of tires on a 2-week round trip to California in 2012, & a couple thousand miles since then (before this trip). While checking the measurements for you I took a look at the axle/suspension & it does appear the axle may have moved (at the axle 'U' bolts) approx 1/8" in relation to the chassis. I'll hafta put it on blocks, remove the wheels/hubs & measure from spindle centers to center of coupler to confirm that. Should be an easy fix but I'll need new tires before another trip.

[Joe6Pack74]

Thanks guys that gives me the dimensions I need for the beginning of my CAD drawing. I am using TurboCAD 15 to plan out my trailer. My main focus of this trailer is to teach myself fiberglass mold techniques. Each side will be 3 molded pieces bolted together. This is will be a lightweight trailer that will be towed behind a 1990 Jeep Wrangler YJ with a 2.5 Liter engine with 168K miles on it. Initially it will be used with a stock HF trailer, mods to the tongue will come later. Here is what I have so far:



And without all the dimensions that will make no sense to anyone but me...



The final placement of the axle is not where it will be when constructed. There is a method to my madness. Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

Thanks
Brian.

[KCStudly]

You have made a good start.

A couple of things jump out at me. Your side door sill is too high. The general rule of thumb is that the sill should be no higher than half the mattress thickness, otherwise it will dig into the backs of your thighs when sitting in the doorway, getting in or out.

I'm a big guy and don't bend as well as I used to, so I went bigger on my doors. Do a mock-up and see if you are comfortable getting yourself through that size opening; do the "sit and spin technique" and see if you land with your head on the pillow without too much squirming around. IIRC my doors are 32 wide x 36 or maybe even 40 tall before the seal flange. If you are buying pre-made doors you might want to double check to see if the opening size is clear opening or rough opening. Wider doors mean that you don't have to bash your knees into your teeth, or whack your feet on the jamb to get in. To me it looks like your door is a bit too far forward. Sit and spin works way better than crawling in on your hands and knees, then having to turn and get situated. Sit, spin then whack head on front wall or cabinet doesn't work too well, either.

Generally speaking, the axle will need to be moved back in order to get the door to a comfortable location. Don't forget to account for the fender and door trim when setting the axle location. Conveniently, with the weight of a cooler, pots and pans, etc. at the rear, the axle usually needs to be biased rearward anyway. On the other hand, a big tongue box and front mounted battery can offset this, but my priority was comfortable door placement first.

If you want to put a cooler under the galley counter, think about how the edge of the counter will be supported and make sure there is enough clearance for how ever tall your cooler is. I had to really sharpen the digital pencil to make room for the sliding tray, and under counter support given my relatively high trailer and 36 inch max desired counter height. I am planning on running large 31 inch AT tires, so trailer frame height vs. counter height may have been a bigger challenge for me, but in your sketch it looks a little tight under there, too, so you may want to look at that a little closer.

One last bit of advice; do your tongue and axle placement mods before building the cabin on top. It will be a lot easier to do at the beginning than it will be to do afterward.

[LDK]

The harbor freight plans call for putting the axle under the springs but you may want to put your axle on the top of the springs to lower the overall profile. It looks better that way and that's how I did mine.

[tony.latham]

"A couple of things jump out at me. Your side door sill is too high."

KC is right on the money on that.

Tony

[angib]

You seem to have a body length of 99" but suitable materials come in 96" length. I can see why you want that rear curve but it's going to require you splice together the material for the sidewalls.

[Joe6Pack74]

Guys thanks for all the input it is really helpful, especially the little stuff like the door height. For right now I am drawing this up using common off the shelf door/window components. So here is my corrected drawing with 26x36" doors.



And without all the dimensions.



As for the tongue, extending it would mean it would not fit in my garage. In the city I live I have code enforcement and they are pretty heavy handed and somehow I am on "the list". If it was a boat on a trailer I could park it on the back corner of my lot, no problem. But since it is a trailer I can't... The HF trailer would fit in my garage. But there are some alternatives I have been looking at for extending the hitch while still being able to park it in the garage. I have seen the Fulton fold-away bolt on kit. Also I took a picture of this at the local Bass Pro Shop.



That seems like it would be easy enough to weld up a version of that.

Wheel placement I have not made a final decision on. I want a spare tire and that would go up front. A battery/solar charging system is going in the tongue box. In the back is the 15 gallon water tank and that fully loaded will be 120lbs. I need to figure out the weight of all the other items and place the axle accordingly.

Being longer than 8' is fine with me. It will take a little bit more work but I am willing to do it to have a little more style.