Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi All,

I'm sure there will be differing opinions on this but I'm hoping that sharing my experience will give you something to think about before purchasing a trailer for your build base.

I bought the Tractor Supply 2000 lb trailer a few years ago as a base for my build. It was on sale and considerably cheaper than the NH bolt together kit; and it came assembled. I "used to be" all about shortcuts.

My TTT is in "camp-able" condition and I have had it out a few times without issue. Last weekend, during a trip down a filling-loosening, wickedly rutty road, I saw that the trailer was pivoting and twisting on the tongue fiercely. The tongue itself is connected to the trailer by only one bolt through a two sided bracket under the frame. Obviously there's going to be some pivot with this type of arrangement. Well, obvious to anyone a little more observant than I am, I guess.

Anyway, I mounted a storage box to the front of the camper with some stout wood screws during the build and then two brackets to connect it to the tongue. After a trip down that God-awful road, the pivot and twist was enough to pull the box free of the camper and do some wood damage. Thankfully the tongue brackets held or I would have lost the entire box and everything in it; not to mention collateral damage.

I bought some 2x3 tubing to match the tongue over the weekend and I'll be welding supports from the tongue to the undercarriage this weekend but, having to do this, it would just seem to make a lot more sense to buy the NH kit that already has the supported tongue/frame. That 20' length of 2x3 was $80, (they don't sell anything short of a full length), not to mention my time and labor. That would have just about made up the difference in cost between the Tractor Supply trailer and the NH kit. What's even scarier is that that pivot and twist could also be cutting into that one bolt that holds the tongue on and may, eventually, cause it to shear. If you're using one of these Tractor Supply trailers, you might want to check the condition of the bolt. I had a nightmare about Nosty's Nook shedding its' tongue and going south while my truck was headed north. I woke up in a cold sweat. Don't let this happen to you. If nothing else, you may want to consider welding the tongue to the mounting bracket as added strength along with the bolt.

As I said, a lot of you may have had much better results, but for those still contemplating the purchase of a base trailer, think about this before you buy. I'm contemplating a standie for a "next" project and I've decided to build my own base trailer from scratch. Then I'll know what to expect right from the get-go. This is one experience I've definitely learned from. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Cheers,
Brian

I drove mine all over for 4 years with out any thing coming loose or breaking. But then again I did not have my tongue box screwed to my tear. Last year I did lengthen my tongue and reinforce it to stop any twist and sway.
Before.


After.

I rest my case, Kirkman. I, too, lengthened my tongue to better balance the load and the amount of pivot on that bolt will, eventually, do damage whether your box is mounted to the tongue or not.

More to the point, while fabricating bolt-up supports for the tongue is, of course, possible, I believe welding on the braces is the better alternative. If you don't have a welder, or don't know how to weld, this can be a pretty expensive modification. My only point was to let those still on the hunt for a base trailer know about this possibility and have that information when they make their decision.

Brian

I have used the TSC trailer frame for many builds - I had this posted in the the Sticky some specs on the 4x8 Tractor Supply Trailer
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=6859&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

starleen2 wrote:Tractor Supply Co Model SKU #1000215 GVWR- 1500 lbs 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! This eliminated the problem.

Nosty wrote:I believe welding on the braces is the better alternative. If you don't have a welder, or don't know how to weld, this can be a pretty expensive modification. My only point was to let those still on the hunt for a base trailer know about this possibility and have that information when they make their decision.

It has been mentioned several times before that this problem exist

Kirkman, whats the piece of pvc under your trailer?

Deryk the pirate..... Arrrrrrrr. It holds my tent poles for my awing captain!

kirkman wrote: Deryk the pirate..... Arrrrrrrr. It holds my tent poles for my awing captain!

What a great idea! Thanks, I'll be using that idea.

<Chas>

I had issues with this and luckily I had my 2x3 framing beams passing over the rear of the tongue bracing and just simply drilled and carriage bolted 4 times across the beam and no flex problems at all now because the box stability and weight now add strength to the tongue configuration. I would urge anyone if you don't have access to a welder to make sure and do this and make sure you have more bolts in front of and behind the beam and you will never have a problem unless the wood rots.

Here is what I did to mine.

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/ZNFWIl.jpg" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />


<img src="http://i.imgur.com/3REwbl.jpg" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />

My trailer frame was custom made for my mechanic, who towed his motorcycles.

It also had a bolt, for tilting, but since I didn't need that feature he was nice enough to weld it for me.

Barb