StandUpGuy's trailer ride

[StandUpGuy]

So I went on my maiden voyage. Well not a voyage but just a drive around the neighborhood with the first tug. It seemed to pul fine but I think I have a balance problem. I have not weighed my trailer yet nor have I gotten a tongue weight. I know it is too light in the tongue. My guess is the trailer weighs maybe 900 lbs, Just a guess though and I guess the tongue weight is maybe only 50 lbs.

The trailer pulls nice and brakes nice but when there is a dip in the road there is some "bucking". In fact quite a bit of bucking. I tried to place my window AC unit to the front of the trailer for transport. Infact this is how I got my tongue to be what my guess is of 50 lbs. What are my options at this point? Any ideas?


Yes I know I should have moved the axle back. But here I am needing to affect change as it is now. Here is a side shot of the trailer.

[working on it]

I anticipate a similar problem with my build. I am moving weight forward and back (simulations on paper) to find an adequate balance (see my gallery and/or posts for an elaboration on Angib's (Andrew) great trailer balance spreadsheet in his design files). If I had built on an A-frame tongue, then a trailer box could hold batteries, and other weighty items, but I have a 3" square tube tongue, so I'm mounting my spare on it. I also have a sliding weight to hang under the tongue for fine tuning the weight. But at this point, it's just theory...I'll only know what to do when I get to 95% complete.

[myoung]

Water is about 8.5 pounds a gallon. Would it be possible to locate a tank forward?

I tried for 20% or more on the hitch and probably exceeded that amount, in other words more than 280 pounds. It's not a problem on my Durango. In fact, it is very good to have a substantial load on the hitch.

The only way to make a big difference is to move the axle rearward. I know this would be a major, major modification but if the ride suffers from insufficient tongue weight your options are limited. But, you already know that.

[High Desert]

Just random thoughts...

Lengthen the tongue
Build a nice stout tongue box
fill it with all your heavy gear
get a nice big battery for inside the box
mount a spare tire up front
the water tank is a good idea too, 10-15 gallons would make a big difference
carry lots of beer in a cooler in the box

It'll just take some thinking. I know adding weight goes against the grain a bit but I'm sure you'll find a way. Great looking build

[StandUpGuy]

Water is about 8.5 pounds a gallon. Would it be possible to locate a tank forward?

I tried for 20% or more on the hitch and probably exceeded that amount, in other words more than 280 pounds. It's not a problem on my Durango. In fact, it is very good to have a substantial load on the hitch.

The only way to make a big difference is to move the axle rearward. I know this would be a major, major modification but if the ride suffers from insufficient tongue weight your options are limited. But, you already know that.

I have no water tank and no battery. I will do no boondocking in my trailer. My trailer was built out over the A frame of the tongue. Not sure I could even manage to get much of a box in front. If I could manage one big enough to hold my AC unit that would really put a lot of weight as far forward as possible. That is about the only thing already in the trailer that can be relocated. Oh yes I have yet to add a spare tire.

[StandUpGuy]

Just random thoughts...

Lengthen the tongue
Build a nice stout tongue box
fill it with all your heavy gear
get a nice big battery for inside the box
mount a spare tire up front
the water tank is a good idea too, 10-15 gallons would make a big difference
carry lots of beer in a cooler in the box

It'll just take some thinking. I know adding weight goes against the grain a bit but I'm sure you'll find a way. Great looking build

Yes I could lengthen the tongue and I do like beer a lot so....

[StandUpGuy]

I just measured the space available forward on the tongue just in front of the trailer cab. It is only some 18" wide at that point and the is tapered going forward and there is only 15" till I get to the hitch housing strtucture. So really not much of a box could be built. Certainly not big enough for the AC unit to be contained. On my test drive the AC unit was on the floor in the foot space of the dinnette area. I can remove the cushion in the nose of my trailer and make a securing point for the AC unit, bringing it forward a bit, on top of the nose seat. maybe if I made a small tongue box and mounted a spare on top of the small box and then locate the AC unit more forward, perhaps it will be a big enough difference.

[myoung]

In my youth when I lived in New England, I routinely put lead bricks in the trunk of my '58 Chevy in the winter. Perhaps you could add ballast like that in the nose.

[StandUpGuy]

In my youth when I lived in New England, I routinely put lead bricks in the trunk of my '58 Chevy in the winter. Perhaps you could add ballast like that in the nose.

I suppose it is not such a crazy idea. Probably after a small box were added and a spare and the AC more forward inside the trailer maybe I would only need to add some 30 lbs. or so.

I could test out the weight without building anything simply by doing now as you say by just loading a bunch of bricks in the forward storage compartment.

[myoung]

Lead is 709 pounds per cubic foot. A cubic foot is 1,728 cubic inches so 100 pounds of lead would only be about 240 cubic inches. That's a block of lead only 6.2 inches on a side. Pretty small.


I just looked up the cost of lead. Current price: $0.84 per pound.

[48Rob]

As everyone has suggested, if it is too late to move the axle, adding wedight to the front will help a lot.
Is your trailer and tow level? If the trailer is higher in the front than the back because of the ball height, the problem will be worse.

I like Mr. Young's idea of lead bricks.
You could easily put a "bottom" under the exposed portion of "A" frame tongue, and have plenty of room for weights out of the way.
If you don't like the look, you can put a top on it and hide all.

You probably don't need more than a hundred pounds or so.
Always load camping gear far forward and you should be good...but be sure you correct and test before heading out.
The ultimate test is having traffic pass you, especially big trucks.
If there is any instability left to be dealt with, they will expose it.

Rob

[StandUpGuy]

As everyone has suggested, if it is too late to move the axle, adding wedight to the front will help a lot.
Is your trailer and tow level? If the trailer is higher in the front than the back because of the ball height, the problem will be worse.I like Mr. Young's idea of lead bricks.
You could easily put a "bottom" under the exposed portion of "A" frame tongue, and have plenty of room for weights out of the way.
If you don't like the look, you can put a top on it and hide all.

You probably don't need more than a hundred pounds or so.
Always load camping gear far forward and you should be good...but be sure you correct and test before heading out.
The ultimate test is having traffic pass you, especially big trucks.
If there is any instability left to be dealt with, they will expose it.

Rob

Yes it is a little bit higher in the front than the back. I bought a 4" rise. Looks like 3.5" would be perfect.

[bobhenry]

Get a different ball mount and don't shoot for dead level go a couple inches nose down. Towing attitude is a real big factor in the ride characteristics. It's a 20 dollar investment and I think you will be amazed the difference in the trailers road manners.

I was there to so it happens. I lengthened the tongue and dropped the ride angle and it is a totally different cat.

If you put the trailer tongue on a set of bathroom scales and measure the weight at 2" down vs your 1" or 2" up you will be shocked.

If you do let us know what kind of numbers you get.

[StandUpGuy]

Get a different ball mount and don't shoot for dead level go a couple inches nose down. Towing attitude is a real big factor in the ride characteristics. It's a 20 dollar investment and I think you will be amazed the difference in the trailers road manners.

I was there to so it happens. I lengthened the tongue and dropped the ride angle and it is a totally different cat.

If you put the trailer tongue on a set of bathroom scales and measure the weight at 2" down vs your 1" or 2" up you will be shocked.

If you do let us know what kind of numbers you get.

All right I will do it.

[synaps3]

Your trailer and mine are very similar, and I have similar issues... When unloaded.

My standie's tongue weight unloaded is about 50lbs. This was by design, so I could move it by hand (which gets plenty of odd looks from the neighbors, they think I'm superman). I can pull it out of my carport by hand, hook it up, then I load up all the cargo. Most of the cargo goes under the bed, including our grill, a couple of tarps, at least 6 chairs, dog stuff, etc. Clothes and food gets loaded in front of the axle too... Loaded on the trip we took before finishing the interior, the cargo brought our tongue weight to about 150-200lbs. I could still lift it, but only barely.

Try loading the areas underneath your bed / bench area with cargo and seeing if it behaved better.