Receiver hitch on rear of Harbor Freight trailer.

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Receiver hitch on rear of Harbor Freight trailer.

Postby jbteland9196 » Fri Aug 11, 2017 5:36 pm

I built a teardrop trailer on a 4x8 Harbor freight folding trailer frame. My design was a little flawed and I am in need of some insight from the seasoned teardrop builders here. I am using pretty much the whole trailer from the tounge to the rear bumper. I have have a storage box on the front with a 5000 btu window unit in it that I port the air into the camper. I also have a propane bottle for the stove and hot water and a I usually put my yeti cooler on top of the box. This is all outside the box of the trailer in the front. I was wondering if anyone had put any kind of rear receiver on the back of the trailer to put one of those cargo carriers on. If I had the cargo carrier I could put my yeti cooler and another cooler back thereto balance the weight. Currently I have about 240lbs of tounge weight without the yeti which is WAY to much. I am pushing over 300lbs with the loaded yeti. I tried moving the axle forward 5 inches and that dropped the weight to 160lbs tongue weight minus the yeti cooler. I was thinking if I moved the axle and put a rear basket for the cooler I would be good to go. Whatever I do I have to be able to move the basket so I can access my kitchen in the rear. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I attached a picture so tell me what you think.
Attachments
Camper.jpg
Camper with front box
Camper.jpg (100.86 KiB) Viewed 794 times
jbteland9196
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Re: Receiver hitch on rear of Harbor Freight trailer.

Postby pchast » Fri Aug 11, 2017 8:33 pm

Just a couple of suggestions.... :thinking:

Couldn't you use a smaller propane cylinder?
What's in the thick box under it>

How about moving the spare to behind the
axle on the driver's side?

That should drop almost 50 lbs on the tongue.
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Re: Receiver hitch on rear of Harbor Freight trailer.

Postby Wildfire » Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:16 pm

I was thinking of doing the same on my HF trailer. Mine would be for a bike rack though...

Moving the spare sounds like a good idea. It must be the angle of the pic, but it looks bigger than the tires on the trailer too. Smaller tank makes a lot of sense too, or maybe get an aluminum one?

I've read that the front stabilizers aren't used by many people, maybe take those off? Not sure what they weigh, but it might help.
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Re: Receiver hitch on rear of Harbor Freight trailer.

Postby greygoos » Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:59 am

Several guys have done it. They used em for bike racks, removeable bumpers, tables etc
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Re: Receiver hitch on rear of Harbor Freight trailer.

Postby Tigris99 » Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:17 am

There is absolutely nothing wrong with putting a receiver on the back of a trailer as long as you dont try to use it to tow with or hold large amounts of weight.

Warning though, welding the receiver on is the ONLY safe option. Do not try to bolt one on a light duty trailer.

A cargo rack for a couple coolers is just fine, mine is for my bike rack.

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