HFT trailer v-nose camper--is tongue long enough?

[yeto]

Hi,

Would anyone be able to share if the tongue is long enough on a Harbor Freight Tool 94564 trailer to put a small v-nose in front of the 4x8 section and it not hit the towing vehicle during turns?

http://www.harborfreight.com/1720-lb-ca ... 94564.html

Thanks,
yeto

[48Rob]

Yeto,

It is very hard to answer that question not knowing how big the "V" nose extension will be, and how wide your tow vehicle is, but in general, trailer tongues are designed to be the right length for the average vehicle...

If you measure from the center of the tow ball to the outer edge of the tow vehicle, you will know exactly how long the tongue length from the trailer body must be.
It is wise to add 2-3 inches though, for turns that also involve uneven ground that can tip the trailer body closer to the tow vehicle corner.

So, if the measurement from your tow ball to the outside of your tow vehicle is 30" add 2-3" and be sure that at least 33" of tongue extends forward of the trailer body.
This will allow you to put the trailer in a "jack knife" situation and not hit the tow car with the trailer.

Now, if your trailer has an "A" frame tongue, and your "V" nose extension will not extend sideways past the steel framing of the tongue, you can run it as far forward as the jack, or even the coupler, keeping in mind the shape of the tow vehicle body.
You need to consider how close the trailer nose and rear of the tow vehicle will come to each other when the tow car encounters a severe dip in the road.


Rob

[aggie79]

Where the a-frame tongue meets the front crossmember of the trailer platform, the a-frame rails sit inboard about 6" from the outside edge of the 4' x 8' platform. So...the v-nose could be as wide as the platform at this location. You do however need to keep in mind what Rob said about turning clearance and clearance for suspension movement.

[pete42]

I have seen some very short tongues on V-nosed cargo trailers even the big V-nosed travel trailers.
some so short that you would not be able to place a battery ot propane tank there.
remember the V portion of the trailer may be closer to yoyr tow than normal
but you will get use to where it's at and drive accordingly.

pete

[yeto]

Thanks for all the replies. That will help.

yeto

[jeff0520]

The nose of the HF trailer looks like this:

The problem is the coupler is raised above the arms. I had trouble with my pickup's bumper hitch with the v arms hitting the bumper of the truck because they were lower. I also had tongue length issues because I wanted an overhang in front. Here's how to fix it:
First, take a cutoff wheel and cut away the raised section of the triangular plate where the coupler is.
Get yourself an 8 foot long piece of 2.5x2.5x3/16th tubing. It will slip right into the space between the upper and lower trianglual plates on the end of the tongue. The trailer crossmembers already have bolt holes where you can bolt up the end of the extension tube. Drill 3 holes down the center of the top plate, and through the tongue extension tube. put big grade 8 bolts in there with nuts and lock washers. When you are done, it will look like this:



That should pretty much solve any issues with tongue length

[jstrubberg]

Maybe I am missing something, but as long as the V section stays inside the dimensions of the tongue frame, and the tongue frame isn't hitting the tow vehicle, the V section should clear as well, right?

[48Rob]

Maybe I am missing something, but as long as the V section stays inside the dimensions of the tongue frame, and the tongue frame isn't hitting the tow vehicle, the V section should clear as well, right?

Yes...except consideration must be taken for changes in horizontal plane of the tow vehicle, and or trailer.

If the tow vehicle climbs a steep driveway, and the trailer is still on a level road, the two could make contact if not enough space is allowed between them.
As well, if the combination is nearly jacknifed either in a forward, or backward turn, and one or the other has one side come up higher than the other, unwanted contact can be the result.

Rob