Stretching the tongue 12"???

[spyderhead]

I am picking up a new tear in mid-March and I wanted room both for the spare that will be mounted on the tongue and a diamond aluminum box for storing lightweight things. This will require me to have the tongue cut and stretched about 12 inches. I know next to nothing about this; what will this do to handling? To tongue weight? The original tear is a 5X10 weighing about 1020# with 140# tongue weight. It is a copy of a Hunter.

[madjack]

Spyder, welcome to the board...in and of itself, extending the tongue will not appreciably change tongue weight, there MAY be minor improvements in handling and an increase in the ease of backing. Keep in mind that moving the spare forward, adding the tongue box and it's contents will definitely increase tongue weight. Extending the tongue will also increase the leverage effect so be sure that the modification is strong enough to handle the increased load...you don't wanna ruin a good trip by having your tongue draggin' on the hi-way...are you having a custom built tear or are ya buying from a manufacturer...if so who...we aslo expect to see pics when ya get it 'cause we really do luv da pics
madjack

[mikeschn]

A spare and a box... yep, that'll take up a little room. I run into similar problems when trying to package a box and a battery AND a propane bottle on the tongue.

Since my trailer is already built I really can't make it longer, but you can!

Building a longer tongue is similar to building a longer tear, but without moving the wheel forward. The tongue weight goes up quick in a hurry! Check out Andrews tongue weight spreadsheet to see how heavy your tongue could be.

I'll also second Madjack on the heavier tongue members... and on da pics too!

Mike...

[angib]

Spyder,

If you just lengthen the tongue, the hitch weight will go down a little (unless the new tongue is made out of lead) - adding 12" to your trailer, that's now about 8.5' from hitch to axle, will reduce the hitch weight from 140lb to about 130lb.

Adding, say, 100lb (40lb spare + 30lb box + 30lb contents) to the lengthened tongue (but near the trailer body) will add about 70lb to the hitch weight, to make it about 200lb. That's a high percentage of the trailer weight, 18%, but providing your tow vehicle can handle it, that's no problem.

I believe some of those boxes can be really heavy, so youwill need to check that figure.

Lengthening the tongue and adding weight on it will increase the bending load on it a lot - the lengthening adds about 30-50% and the extra weight adds another 40-50%. So in round numbers you need to double the strength of the tongue. This increase is most needed in the area under the front of the trailer body, because this is where the bending load is highest.

To double the strength, you don't need to double the size. You can measure your existing tongue, look up its strength on my tongue strength page and then pick a section that's around twice as strong. Typically, if you have a tongue that's 2"x2" tube, you will nearly double its strength by going to the same tube in 2"x3". Alternatively, a simple way to improve the strength of the tongue would be to add another 2"x2" tube under the existing one - add 2-3 feet of full-height second tube and then taper the ends away over 6-12".

Is that all as clear as mud? If so, say and I'll try to do better.

Andrew

[mikeschn]

Well said Andrew...

It's clear to me!!! I'm glad you took the time to crunch the numbers...

Mike...

[spyderhead]

Thanks for the input. Sorry so late in getting back to the forum. It seems like the 12" stretch might be do able . . . will post pics after we pick up the tear in March. Thanks again.

[Joanne]

Every time I read the title of this thread I want to ask, "Wouldn't that hurt!?!"

Joanne

[toypusher]

Every time I read the title of this thread I want to ask, "Wouldn't that hurt!?!"

Joanne

Ith Wood Mace You talk fthunny!!