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Dumb Trailer Question

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AngliaGT

AngliaGT

Great Pumpkin
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I borrowed a single axle trailer.I'll be
hauling an MG TD to Salem,Oregon,& a '70's Mini
back from Vancouver,Washington.
Anyway,I've got the TD on the trailer,towing
with our '68 Ford F250 Camper Special,360c.i.,auto.
What's the best way to know if you've got too much
tongue weight?I've got the pickup bed loaded with
stuff,so that might be part of the problem.
The trailer has the axle located about 2/3 of
the way towards the rear of the trailer,with the
car loacted at the very front edge of the bed.
I was thinking that it might be best to back
the TD up a little bit.Ideas?

- Doug

P.S. The Td has been owned by the same owner since
he was in high school - & he's older than I am!There
doesen't seem to be any notible rust on the car at all!
 
Borrowing a trailer? Why not borrow one with 2 axles and brakes? You would be much safer and not have to worry so much about tongue weight, or blowouts, or brakes, or your friend's TD that he has owned since high school and would never forgive you if something happened to it? :wink:

Seriously, Doug, I sure sounds like a 2-wheel utility trailer you might be using there, and not an auto hauler. Look into renting a U-Haul auto hauler and you (and your friend) would be way ahead of the game. They make trailing so much easier.
 
Yep, single axle is probably not the way to go....you've put the engine real close to the tongue with only 1 axle to tak the load.....if you're dead set on using it, move the car as ar back as you can to get it centered on the axle.
 
If your rear wheels are not on the ground you do not have enough tongue weight! :laugh:

In '72 or '73 I was going north from Bentonville Arkansas to Joplin Missouri on Hwy 71. I had stopped at a rest stop and when I was getting ready to leave a Caddy with a huge camper was pulling out onto the highway. He must have shifted his load because the trailer started pushing the rear end of the Caddy all over the road and in and out of both shoulders. I was amazed that the guy did not jackknife and crash and that the other traffic was able to avoid him.

Your vehicle specs might give some idea of how much is recommended.
 
The tongue weight should be about 10% of the trailer and cargo weight. With the trailer wheels that far back, you might want to put the car on the trailer backward to lessen the tongue weight.
 
I tried that once, putting a car on backwards because of weight & balance concerns. When the engine of the car is behind the trailer axles, life gets really squirrley really fast! I didn't go more than 40-50 feet before this became very apparent. I think it is important to keep the mass and the weight of the engine between the axles of the trailer and the rear axle of the tow vehicle.

I have used the U-Haul transporter many times myself....make things easy on yourself and get one... Split the cost with the car owners. :smile:
 
Peter, I agree with what you are saying. To little weight on the hitch is real squirrelly. The problem here is that the trailer he is using has the trailer wheels 2/3 of the way back from the tongue, which puts a lot a weight on the hitch. The challenge is to get to the 10% weight, which for his load is probably around 200 lbs.

If I were he, I would rent a real car hauler, with twin axles and brakes, and better balanced for hauling an automobile.
 
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