I bent My Trailer Frame

[robert]

I have not posted for a long time every time i do it seems that something keeps me from building our teardrop i wanted to wait to get done but now i got TROUBLE!
I got a 5x8 Northern Tools trailer built the floor with 1x4 & 11/4 1/2" plywood the sides are 1/2" plywood the fronnt and roof are 1x2 with 1/8 paneling built it on blocks and 4x4 pushed the trailer under after i primed it then set it on the trailer i lowered the tear down and some how i bend the angle iron that the tongue is welded to

I




Its bent down 7/8" in the middle i checked the tongue weigth its 75 pounds what can i do ?

My idea is to not take off the tear and when its road ready take it to a welding shop and have a thicker angle welded to the frame and then jack up the bent angle and weld the two together.

Will that work ? would it be safe to tow it about 30miles to a welding shop ?
Any Help PLEASE
Robert

[doug hodder]

Robert...it's not real clear to me from the photos, checked them out full size in your album also... The tongue appears to be beefy enough and it's still straight right? From your other pics in your album it sort of looks to me the the front of the tongue is up, which would cause the rear to be down in relation to the frame. If I'm understanding your explanation and pics correctly.

I'd stick a person in the tear and have them jump around while you looked from underneath to see if you can determine the movement location. I'd imagine that it is moving at the front of the trailer like a fulcrum. If that's the case, cut out that piece of angle. I'd replace it with a piece of square tube. Again, hard to tell from the pics but a creative welder could come up with some additional bracing to stop that movement and get it back into it's correct location. It's hard to diagnose an issue without being there, but I made a good faith effort. Doug

[surveytech]

What it looks like is that the second cross member is bent down 7/8". Its the one where the rear of the tongue is attached.


Think thats the problem anyway.

Borrowed this photo from Little Critters Album......thank you.
Its not the bent frame but may be useful as a point of reference.

[angib]

Robert,

What you don't need is a smart-arse (sorry, smart-ass in American), right? That Northern Tools trailer looks just like the Tractor Supply trailer and I would rate both as having a design fault - the tongue itself appears to be plenty strong enough, but it's attached to much weaker angle irons that also aren't spaced far enough apart.

If I remember correctly, you are the second person on this forum to have this exact problem - though I think the first was with a Tractor Supply trailer. It's quite likely that you have put a bigger load on the tongue during building than you would do during towing - again from memory, the other person bent theirs by supporting the coupler and standing on the frame!

You repair plan sounds excellent and will fix the problem for good. I believe you will be quite safe to tow the trailer to a welding shop. You might want to keep the hitch weight reasonably low and in that case you would be sensible to drive at lower speeds (say, under 50). But if you went and found ten of these trailers, I bet you would find that five of them are being towed around with the same bend in that cross-member.

Really I think this is a fault in the original trailer, particularly as a teardrop puts less load on it than it gets as a utility trailer, but sadly I wouldn't rate the chance of getting Northern Tool to contribute to the repair.

Andrew

[doug hodder]

Surveytech...thanks for the picture...that clears up a lot of stuff..Andrew, that's kinda what I was talking about, but I thought that the tongue would have extended further under the tear. I'll shut up now...didn't mean to sound smart arse... Doug

[angib]

Yes, a whole new tongue extending back to the cross-member just at the front of the springs would be ideal - just cut out the second cross-member and throw it away, as it isn't needed for a teardrop.

But that means a whole new tongue which might cost a fair bit. Just stiffening up that second cross-member seems easier - Robert or the welding shop can use any strong enough stuff to do that.

Once the second cross-member is stiffened, the trailer is good to go, as I reckon the front wall of the body reinforces the front of the trailer frame enough for it to carry any likely load.

So should we add a 'Do Not Use this Trailer' thread somewhere?

Robert, could you give me:
1) the length of the tongue (centre of coupler to front of frame);
2) the spacing of the first and second cross-members;
3) the size (3" square?) and thickness of the tongue; and
4) the size (2" angle?) and thickness of the cross-members.

Sorry to ask for all this - but I would be interested to calculate what the Australian Trailer Rules would allow that trailer to carry.

Andrew

[surveytech]

Andrew,
This IS the same trailer as the TSC trailer but the only difference is that its a foot wider.
I bet all the angle iron sizes and tongue sizes are the same as are the placement of the crossmembers, length of tongue , yada yada yada.

Both of these trailers are built by Carry-On and are sold throughout the US.

I would consider calling Carry-On direct and see if they could help. I had a tire that wouldnt hold air on a new trailer built by them and they sent me a wheel/tire combo at no charge to me.
Hey its worth a shot anyway.

Find phone numbers and stuff here...........
http://www.carryontrailer.com/index.html
You wont find either the TSC or Northern trailers on their site by the way.

Walter
(PS......love my Rimple, thanks)

[robert]

Thanks for all the help
Doug sorry for the pics cheap camera and Doug you are not a smart arse i should know i am one

Andrew,Walter
I may be just jumpy i put a concrete block under the angle and put 132 pounds on the end of the tongue (cindy) and the angle went stright the front angle did flex a bit when i push down on the coupler so i will weld a 1/4"x2x2 angle to the backside of the angle.

Andrew, here is the measurements
1) the length of the tongue (centre of coupler to front of frame); 36"
2) the spacing of the first and second cross-members; 16"
3) the size (3" square?) and thickness of the tongue; and 2x3x1/8
4) the size (2" angle?) and thickness of the cross-members. 2x2x1/8

One more question ?
I was going to use 10 bolt 5 on each side at the cross members do you thank i should put a row down the center too?

[brian_bp]

I think Andrew explained the situation well.

For comparison, the U-Haul travel trailers (13' Camper Trailer and 16' Vacation Trailer) also used a straight tongue, attached only at the front of the frame and to a crossmember further back... but their rearward crossemember wasn't barely behind the front like this, it was the axle tube! U-Haul owners have managed to bend the tongue but I have yet to hear of one bending the frame attachment.

The U-Hauls are bigger than a typical teardrop, but the same design principles apply.

[Podunkfla]

It sure looks like those trailers have a serious design flaw, as Andrew said. I can think a better option to beefing up the front crossmember... and easier than replacing the tongue. Find a section of square tubing that is a slip fit inside the tongue and extend the tongue back to the second crossmember. I'd use a fairly thick walled tube like 3/16" or even 1/4" for the extension. Stick it a foot or two into the rear of the factory tongue and weld it, then weld it to the middle crossmember. This should plenty strong enough and won't cost all that much. Just my .02...

[madjack]

I think it was Dooner that the exact same problem...I would like to know if anyone else, using these 4x8 to 5x10 trailers, manufactured by Carry-On and sold through Northern Tools and Tractor Supply Company...since this seems to be a serious design flaw, I would be willing to contact Carry-On and pass our concerns on to them...how about it, anyone else have a similar problem that we can document and send to Carry-On.....thanks
madjack

[asianflava]

I would be willing to contact Carry-On and pass our concerns on to them...how about it, anyone else have a similar problem that we can document and send to Carry-On.....thanks
madjack

I think they would be receptive to the feedback. Isn't it Carry-On that sell trailers specifically called teardrop trailer frames?

[madjack]

...no that is the new 5x8 and 5x10 trailers from RedTrailers...but I would think they would still be receptive to feedback from users...afterall, they don't want the liability exposure...
madjack

[angib]

At the risk of flogging a dead horse, I have worked out the strength of that tongue by my interpretation of the Australian trailer rules.

Please note that I say my interpretation - I have made some simplifications in order to avoid needing expensive analysis tools that I don't own, so this is not stand-up-in-a-court-of-law type of stuff.

http://www.teardrops.us/userfiles/53/to ... n-tool.pdf

There are two steps to this:

- Firstly, the tongue itself is sufficient by the Aussie rules for a gross weight of 1,240lb. That limit is fixed by the horizontal strength of the tongue. Personally I would be quite happy to accept a gross weight fixed by just the vertical strength of the tongue, which is 1,560lb. These are both reasonably close to the trailer's GVWR of 2,425lb (is that the right trailer?), bearing in mind the severe nature of the Aussie rules.

- Secondly, I have estimated the strength of the cross-member that has actually failed. A problem here is that it's not possible to simply define the end conditions of this cross-member, so I have done the two extremes. The optimistic one suggests the cross-member will fail with a load on the coupler of 208lb (8% of GVWR) and the pessimistic one says 104lb (4%). Either of these must be completely unacceptable under US towing practice - they can't even take the recommended static hitch load for this GVWR. Under the Aussie rules, this trailer would be rated for a maximum gross weight of 208-417lb - about what the trailer weighs empty!

So I think there's a clear case for saying this product is defective on the issue of the structural support for the tongue (not the tongue itself). I'm quite happy for a professional engineer to prove that my numbers are out by 25%, but they need to be out by 3-500% for this trailer to be acceptable.

Sorry if this sounds so bad, Robert, but I thought you might want an argument that you or anyone else could take to Northern Tool, or Carry-On.

Andrew

[bobhenry]

To get my 40 x 48 harbor freight trailer "Eggbert " to tow correctly behind my Goldwing I had to extend the tongue almost 2 feet. I purchased 9' of 2x1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1/8" square tube I intended to cut it to length. I removed the factory tongue which was bolted to the front and second crossmember after measuring to be sure how much to lengthen the tongue. It wound up that I simply drilled and installed the entire 9' running front to rear and as an added bonus I can install a 2" ball mount < bike rack < or utility backet to the rear. The load is shared by all crossmembers and it pulls great.

P.S. don't forget to check to be sure your diagional measurment are the same from wheel to reciever. I measured from the front inside spring bolt to the front center of the coupler.