I'm thinking I need to extend my trailer's tongue?

[Harleyduo]

Hello, all!
I just purchased a very small teardrop trailer that was made on a tiny trailer frame. The unit weighs just under 400 lbs. but the part that I'm unsure about is that the front of the trailer forms a triangle and the ball connector is right in that point of the triangle with no straight shaft for a tongue that I'm accustomed to trailers having. I guess that wouldn't be so bad, but the front curve of the teardrop is less only about 16" behind that connection point. It appears to me that it could cause some real problems if the vehicle doing the towing ever had to cut it really short while backing up or maybe even going forward. I feel like the cabin of the trailer is going to connect with my vehicle. Of course, I only towed it about home (about ten miles) and I was traveling very cautiously since my ball was 1/8" smaller than was called for and I didn't have any lights hooked up.

I am thinking about installing a 2" square shaft extending from the present front of the trailer but would like some input as to what length would be 'ideal' from the front of the curve of the teardrop. I'm thinking one of these should reduce any chance of having that problem, but I don't want to create more problems that I may not even be aware of? (18", 24", 36" 48") There must be somebody out there with some experience at figuring out such things. (Or does it depend upon how far back my axle sits?. I'm a real rookie when it comes to trailer dynamics and parameters.)
Thanks for any knowledge you can provide.

[godskid]

I have a 4x8 tear (newly acquired) and we've just noticed the same issue. The rear-left-mounted spare tire on hubby's van-RV (Roadtrek) comes mighty close to damaging parts of the tear if there is a sharp turn. So I'll listen in on any replies here.......

[del]

On page 10 of this pdf there is a pic

http://www.mikenchell.com/TheUltralight.pdf

Basically the trailer should not hit the tow vehicle when turned 45 degrees.

del

[Steve_Cox]

I usually just measure from the hitch ball to the outside of my widest tow vehicle and make my trailer tongue a few inches longer so the corner of the trailer won't hit my vehicle. As far as the attachment points for the new tongue, lets see some pictures.

[angib]

If you look at most manufactured (ie, not home-built) trailers, you'll see they have very short tongues - typically less than half as long as the trailer body is wide. It's just cost cutting and it's not ideal, but lots of those trailers seem to get used for many years without a problem.

It might be worth carrying out a 'scientific test' - in an empty car park, put the tow vehicle on full lock and very slowly move forwards with your trusty helper walking alongside the hitch. It will take some time for the trailer to reach the maximum angle to the tow vehicle, so be prepared for a scream of "Stop now!", but it might show that you won't easily hit the trailer in normal driving.

In reverse, hitting the trailer is always possible - no way around that. Some folks feel that being able to reach 90 degrees before contact occurs is good, but it won't prevent contact in reverse.

Lengthening the tongue will make nearly everything work better (towing, reversing, though maybe not storage) but it may need some strengthening work to do it - a longer tongue needs to be a stronger tongue.

Andrew