Trailer Hitch Questions

[misu55]

Hi everyone,

I have some questions regarding my plans for the A-Frame portion of the frame for my upcoming 10' Cubby project.

I am planning on using an Atwood Style A-Frame coupler and an Atwood A-Frame Jack for the trailer hitch.

I also want to mount a locking box for a very small generator (Honda EU2000i), a 40 lb propane tank and spare tire on the A-Frame portion of frame.

Has anyone done this before? I am concerned that there will not be enough room and I am also concerned about how much weight I am putting on the hitch of my car (I plan on towing this with my Nissan Altima).

I also want to know what angle the steel needs to be at the "point" so the coupler fits properly.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

[Steve_Cox]

Hi everyone,

I have some questions regarding my plans for the A-Frame portion of the frame for my upcoming 10' Cubby project.

I am planning on using an Atwood Style A-Frame coupler and an Atwood A-Frame Jack for the trailer hitch.

I also want to mount a locking box for a very small generator (Honda EU2000i), a 40 lb propane tank and spare tire on the A-Frame portion of frame.

Has anyone done this before? I am concerned that there will not be enough room and I am also concerned about how much weight I am putting on the hitch of my car (I plan on towing this with my Nissan Altima).

I also want to know what angle the steel needs to be at the "point" so the coupler fits properly.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Hello Mis?

Most all Atwood Style A-Frame couplers are 50 degree. So yeah, you could probably squeeze all that stuff on the tongue. Spare tire underneath would help. A cubby is pretty lightweight but a Nissan Altima probably doesn't allow much of a tongue weight. You could move the axle forward some to offset the added tongue weight though. How much? depends what you put in the galley. The 10 foot cubby will give more room to move the axle than an 8 foot trailer, its all about fender/door clearance. As you surf this web site you will find all the answers to the questions you asked and much more.... I lurked for several months before I posted anything. These guys know everything there is to know about teardrops and there is much wisdom and entertainment to be had in the old threads.

Good luck with the build....

Steve

[Gaston]

I am going to put my eu2000 on the front of my tear also. I measured things out and I dont have enough room on mine for both the generator and a full sized propane tank. I am thinking od useing one of the small 1.5 gal tanks mounted in front of the gen box. the hitch manufacture usually stamps the angle of the "v" on the hitch. (they usually come in 2 different angles ). The atwoods are usually 50 degree and 2" ball

[madjack]

misu...you are probably overloading the tongue onna HF trailer with all of the stuff you want to put there...
you may also be exceeding the Altimas tongue weight rating(maybe...don't know what it is)...
you are adding 40+# generator, 40+# of propane, 20+# of tire...added up it equals to near what your tongue weight would be without all that stuff...
in other words instead of around 100+#s of tongue weight, you now have around 200+# of tongue weight...
that is going to be too much weight on a HF trailer tongue plus I don't think you will be able to fit it all up there...
if you go with a 5# propane tank mounted in the galley area, and put the tire under the front floor as per the cubby plans, you can probably get away with the gen unit mounted on the tongue...
if you still wanna put all that weight on the tongue then you defenitely will want to reinforce the tongue...
I would HIGHLY advise rethinking placement of those items...
I would hate to see ya ruin a vacation getaway with a broken or bent tongue...
madjack

p.s. tongue weight should be no more than 10/15% of overall weight

[doug hodder]

I'd agree with Madjack....and he's covered about all the options....something else to consider....I move my tear by hand when I get on site...and I wheel it right into the trees or the best possible spot.....that much weight on the tongue is going to be a bear to move around, you'd probably want to get a larger diameter dolly wheel, like a wheelbarrow tire, air inflatable at any rate...a solid one will be a challenge...just a thought...doug

[norm perkiss]

Misu,
Unless you are going primative for extended lenghts of time, a couple of the "disposable" propane bottles will probably be sufficient. You can refill them instead of tossing them too.

The disposables can be stored in the galley, reducing tounge weight and to a miniscule degree and help off set the tounge weight.

Just a thought,
Norm

[asianflava]

There are a couple threads concerning propane. Large tank vs the disposable cans. Seems that most people agreed upon the disposables. The question some people had was, where to dispose of them.

[Micro469]

How do you Refill "disposable" propane bottles?

[bledsoe3]

How do you Refill "disposable" propane bottles?

Check this link. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=45989

[misu55]

Thanks for your responses.

After much thought I have decided to only mount the generator to the front tongue.

I looked at the Harbor Freight link and noticed that they declared that the transport of propane across state lines is illegal?!?

Is this really true and do the authorities really enforce this? I have never heard of this happening but I guess this might be another good reason to use disposable propane bottles mounted in the Galley in lieu of a 40lb bottle mounted on the tongue.

[Ira]

If the generator will fit in the box with that propane tank, why does the it have to be permanently mounted in there anyway? Throw it in the cabin, galley or your car trunk, and put it in the box when you get to your site.

By the way, I just heard the 3000 in operation, which is one decible quieter than the 2000, and the thing is awesomely quiet.

[SteveH]

I think the transport of refilled small disposable bottles across state lines is illegal.

This past summer I hauled two of them from Texas to Ohio and back and not one officer stopped me to check for refilled disposable propane bottles.

[gman]

I think the transport of refilled small disposable bottles across state lines is illegal.

This past summer I hauled two of them from Texas to Ohio and back and not one officer stopped me to check for refilled disposable propane bottles.

What??? You didn't stop and tell every Law enforcement officer you saw that you had them??????!!

[Chuck Craven]

There are a couple threads concerning propane. Large tank vs the disposable cans. Seems that most people agreed upon the disposables. The question some people had was, where to dispose of them.

You dispose them in a black garbage bag. What the garbage man can’t see he will take!
Chuck

[Gaston]

I have found almost every 7-11 has a trash can out front .
I always thought it was to dispose used propane containers, dirty diapers, and old mountain dew bottles full of truck driver "tea"