Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm getting really close to pulling the trigger on my trailer. I want to make sure I'm not going to have any issues backing my trailer from street level into my back yard. The grade of the drive way is roughly 11% over 41' with a hard breakover at the sidewalk there isn't really a transition at all. My truck has a wheelbase of 149.5" The trailer should measure 176" from hitch ball to load pivot with axles spaced 16.5" on either side of the load center. I assume that would make the effective wheelbase for this situation 160" from the ball to the forward axle. My truck makes the transition without issue but the ground clearance to my running boards is minimal when the wheelbase straddles the sidewalk. I'm concerned this might be a deal breaker for the trailer.

Without having the exact trailer to try how can I figure this out?

Thanks.

I don’t think it’s that simple because you either use the ball to axle as wheel base but the ground clearance is not parallel to frame or you use the front axle to rear of the Truck but then you have a pivot point in the span that does not stay at a consistent distance to the ground.




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If it is a little off, you could also mount anti-drag rollers on the back of your trailer. Here is a build example: viewtopic.php?f=42&t=60663&start=90

Look at the pictures about midway down in the page.

I'm not worried in the slightest about dragging the back end as this scenario is backing down a slope. I'm worried about high centering the frame before the tongue clears the sidewalk.

There is a quick sketch of what I'm concerned about.

That certainly makes a difference! I misread and thought you were backing uphill instead of down.

You will need to know your ground clearance of the frame, and the distance from the ball to the first axles. Then it is a matter of using some right triangle math. Using the ground clearance height and the distance to the ball as the right angle you should be able to find what angle the hypotenuse is, and compare that to your driveway grade. At least I think that should work. That is assuming your truck and trailer are level with each other when hooked up.


Call your manufacturer to get the measurements?

Again if you need a few more inches of height you could have the trailer lifted, and/or use a taller ball setup for backing in.