The Plan ... so far

[madjack]

G, glad you got over your moment of frustration and will stay and hang out with us craz.......errrr, folks...you can never tell when we will need a report from the Algerian frontier ..........
madjack

[GPW]

Thanks MJ , good to be back ....

Have considered restructuring the tongue of the trailer , it's 7' now from the front of the cabin to the hitch...a bit too long for my taste , and the tongue weight is higher than I'd like .... so the thought is , let's lose 3 feet off the front , cut the steel so we can re use it on the shortened angles and replace that piece of (your word here) military hitch , with something that's more Geezer friendly ...The wife thinks I'm CRAZY But I talked to my welder pal and band member and he said "Bring it on , next week "....he's retired too ...

So , am I crazy ???? It WOULD solve alot of problems...

[madjack]

7' ..........the only way to have a meaningful affect on tongue weight is to move the axle...all you will save is the weight of the removed piece steel which MAY be offset by the coupler being closer to the body...as long as you are towing with a full sized PU/SUV you should be OK...most of them in their lighter stock form are capable of 350#s+ of tongue weight...there is an advantage to a long tongue which is that the longer it is, the easier it is to back up...............
madjack

[asianflava]

Seven feet? I thought mine was long at four. I am going to cut about 20in off the tongue. I already bought another coupler (old one is welded) now I need a portable bandsaw (I'll probably rent one). The thing that is a pain is that I'll have to cut the tube without cutting the wires inside.

[angib]

Shortening the tongue will increase the hitch weight - if the frame is really, really heavy, it may not increase it by much, but it won't go down. I agree with Madjack - only moving the axle will make much difference to the hitch weight.

Andrew

[GPW]

Guys, Thanks for the advice ... Now I'm totally confused ... to move the axle , all I'd have to do is re-weld the hanger brackets in a new location ... to move the fenders/running boards on mine .... now that'd be a chore !!!!
So what do I do ???? Tongue weight restricted to 500 lbs on the Silverado bumper hitch ... tow wt is 5K lbs... my t weight is about 250- 300 lbs...without the ton of supplies to go in the galley ... but galley rear is only 43" away from axle ... sorta like having to put the Fat kid on the short side of a seesaw, eh ???? I could just leave well enough alone .... it is a bear to back up now as it is ...8'WIDE
My OFB( who is a lic elect.) came over and wired my 110v system ... took all of 20 min .... COOL !!!!!!

Got the big storage box packed with all the necessary hardware items ...batteries ,first aid kit ,tools , crank radio ,etc... ready to roll ... all I need is for my pal who promised me a set of tires and rims to show up .... Sometimes these "deals" take a bit longer than patience holds out ...

[madjack]

G, my advice on the tongue shortening is to leave well enough alone and keep it in mind on #2...your Silverado will handle it so don't sweat it...right now it is just little stuff, not something to worry about...
madjack

[GPW]

As much as Logic demands inaction , I'm now committed to modifying the tongue , upon the advice of the La. DOT, MVB, ... More jumping through the hoop...
Met with my friend Tommy("Big Daddy" In the band) who'se going to do the welding ... drank alot of coffee , talked about it(Geezers) ... pretty easy ... I'm off to the steel yard and Wal-Mart this am for the goodies...
Andrew , please explain , how it will increase the tongue weight ??????? This seems to defy my see saw explanation .... is gravity different "over there" ???
All of these changes might seem like a big deal , but are actually quite easy (if you have the tools ,experience or experienced help ....) I consider all of this a Great Adventure and enjoy every second ... The new guys might want to stick to a more organized method and materials as has been set down by others ... especially the Generic Benroy ... by Mike

[Nitetimes]

If you want to get an idea how much your tongue weight will change pick it up buy the coupler then move back on the tongue about 3' and try lifting it, you should notice a considerable difference. It's not the gravity of the situation it's the leverage.

[GPW]

Imagine if you will two children on a see saw... one fat kid , and one skinny kid... in order to balance , the big one sits closer to the balance point , the light one further away ... Now if we move the light child in towards the balance point (I believe it 's called a fulcrum ) the big one will head towards terra firma...and if we saw off the end of the skinny ones board , it will only increase this effect ... Yes , No ...

[asianflava]

You got it!

[Nitetimes]

The problem as I see it is that your balance point is so far back that you can only get the skinny kid on that end of the seesaw so no matter what you do you will be lifting the fat kids weight not the skinny kid's. See below.
So in effect making your tongue shorter will make your tongue weight higher.






BTW - in case any of you numberators are looking, NO I didn't check these numbers I just kinda guessed at the approx. weights.
Of course if that's all your trailer weighed tongue weight wouldn't be an issue.

[GPW]

And there's a goodly number of pounds that I'm losing in just steel weight ... sticking way out there with the Fat Kid .....hahahahahaha
Fat guy has to go to the back(galley) ... in the form of battery , water jug , icechests , big box of all the goodies , solar panels , chairs , tools ,Chinese lanterns , the stick (for now ) etc. etc. etc......
That should significantly lighten my tongue weight ...I'll be happy when I get under 200 lbs. I'll have to call it a "WAYALOT"...hahahahahahahahaa

All this Modifying would certainly have been MUCH easier at the start when the trailer was BARE , and so was my knowledge of these things at the time ... I sure learned alot from youze' guys , and I can't wait to start on the second one ... Gotta' be so much easier , I have enough scraps left over fron this Beast , all I need is some sides... COOL !!! New one will be sorta' standard size 4'x8' and in the Airliner / Flash configuration ...with a back door (no leaky hatch , or anything else) ... and a porch overhang with an awing built in ... I'm committed to this design now as being the most space , with some degree of aerodynamics and Practicality , and EASY to build ...and instead of cabinets , will have moveable shelves, cargo nets and peg board sections of the wall ... for MAXIMUM use of the space ... and now should be pretty cheap too , since I have so many leftovers , paint , epoxy , fiberglass , screws ,lights ... on and on .... and a cool paint job aways is appreciated , even on a" Toaster" (box trailer)

[jdarkoregon]

Try like heck to move that axle, and stuff that goes with it, buy some new "hanger brackets" and tack weld them where they should be, move the axle into the new location, and see what the difference is.

A short tongue will make it harder to back up, and you are getting help from your buddy anyway,

Couldn't you put a bar (or 2x4) under it and jack it up to balance on the bar (location of the teeter totter bar) when it is all balanced like you would like it, that would be where you weld the axle hangers?



John

[GPW]

Moving the axle would be EASY .... Moving the running boards and fenders which are WELDED on would be difficult and not worth it ... Plus it's so much more than that alone ... I have purchased the materials , we are ready to go ... trust me , while this is my first TD , by no means is it the first thing I've ever made ... For instance , I designed and built my own house and studio ... and it survived the eye of Katrina with 0 damage ... how strong is that .... ???? I don't make these judgements casually or primarily for appearance... There are many factors affecting this decision , and since I'm OK with FAB , it's more like a Fun thing to do anyway , Hey , I'm RETIRED , that means plenty of time to obsess and fine tune everything .... EVERYTHING will be FINE !!!!