Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I apologize for beating this dead horse again, but my trailer needs the tongue reinforced. I saw pictures/thread a while ago on a TSC (Carry on) trailer that had been modified and was hoping to use their idea. Can someone point me in the right direction, please. I can't extend the tongue to the third crossmember due to the basement.

Thanks

James

I lengthened the tongue 16" and added an "A" frame of 2"x2" square tubing to mine. Also I welded all of the areas where the tongue was only bolted from the factory. Of course this was easy at the time, as the trailer was still in the "no floor" state!



Others may have better Ideas for strengthening this area.

Good luck with your fix.
David

Just curious...why does it need the tongue reinforced? I have a TSC trailer as well; want to make certain I haven't missed anything.

I just thought it was a weak looking tongue and a little cheap fix would make it better. Was planning a cross country until financial disaster struck (a personal one). The box of the tear will stiffen the trailer bed but really does little for the tongue with so few weld points with some unnecessary flexing.



I lengthen min a foot so ignore the extra and the vertical piece that I may use for my gas tank or spare tire depending on hitch weight.

Not sure if this is what your looking for. Maybe it will give you some ideas.

Donutboy wrote:Just curious...why does it need the tongue reinforced? I have a TSC trailer as well; want to make certain I haven't missed anything.

It's not actually the tongue that's the problem, but the bits of the main frame that it's fixed to. There have been two members here that have reported the second cross-member has been bent (down) by a load on the tongue - one guy did it by just standing on the tongue!

So the need isn't to reinforce the tongue, but to connect it better to the two side rails, which is where the strength is. Adding diagonal braces from the tongue out to the side rails achieves that. 2"x2"x1/8" angle might be enough to do this, though I think heavier angle or light 2"x2" square tube would be better.

Andrew

I Am one of the two and this is was my remedy from previous posts:

Tip: the trailer tongue mounts to the trailer at only two points with hardened bolts. When I built my camper using this trailer, it became oblivious that these two bolts were the only things holding the tongue bar to the trailer assembly. I guess this was a design feature to allow for a tilt bed feature. Upon the completion of the camper and the first trial run, I noticed that there was considerable movement between the two bolts and pivoting within the joint. The 2X2 angle iron on the frame was also flexing. Every movement of the camper made the two joints jump and pivot like a see-saw. To remedy this, I welded the points were the bolts passed through the tongue and angle iron connections. BE SURE TO REMOVER THE TRAILER WIRING HARNESS FROM THE TUBING BEFORE WELDING! Also you may want to put a few bolts from the floor to the second cross piece where the end of the square tow tube is welded. At first I did not, thinking that it wasn’t a big deal until it cracked and had to be repaired on the road. The welder mentioned that IF I had put two bolts in to the second cross member, that it would have prevented any oscillation. This eliminated the problem. hope this helps Best wishes for your build

Haven't had any problems ever since

Scott, you've identified an alternative solution, which is just to reinforce what's there. Welding all joints will add strength and if you've got a strong floor (like 3/4") then the bolts will add that strength to the frame - an alternative is to add an extra piece alongside the second cross-member.

For those who want to avoid any welding, an extra angle placed back-to-back with the cross-member and bolted in several (eight?) places would add the strength needed.

Andrew

Thanks, this is just what I was looking for. The additional input was helpful. I tried bolting the floor to the cross member but that started pulling my floor down. Hopefully I can give the pics to the welder and get it taken care of.
Thanks again, you're great.
James

angib wrote:Scott, you've identified an alternative solution, which is just to reinforce what's there. Welding all joints will add strength and if you've got a strong floor (like 3/4") then the bolts will add that strength to the frame - an alternative is to add an extra piece alongside the second cross-member.

For those who want to avoid any welding, an extra angle placed back-to-back with the cross-member and bolted in several (eight?) places would add the strength needed.

Andrew

Yes, Andrew my floor is 3/4"

Im the one who was able to get alot of flex from the tongue by standing on it. Now you also have to realize im no lightweight, but I still didnt like how much flex there was in the crossmember the end of the tongue was bolted to.

What I also found after I removed the tongue was that the it wasnt even centered on the trailer! I forget how much it was off but it was enough to make me go over every inch of the trailer looking for any other problems.
I did end up bracing each corner and installing a longer tongue that almos goes back to the axle. Pics are in the album. I will eventually get back to working on my teardrop after my shoulder gets better.

Don

I have a trailer that HAD a single tube, 2x3, as the tongue. When it was heavely loaded it would wag. I added some 1x3s to brace it and the wag went away. Well worth doing.

I also had problems with the rear crossmember where the tongue attaches, it actually torn almost right thru the crossmember from flexing. I had it re-welded and ended up bolting on another L shaped crossmember both thru the floor and to the original crossmember. Sure would have been easier to fix before I built the camper!

Thanks for bringing this up. I'm still in the build process but after reading this thread noticed that the problem with the rear crossmember had already started on my trailer. I was able to sandwich in another piece of angle iron and then bolted it in serveral places to the floor (there is a 2x3 directly above it, and plywood on top of that).