there is great wisdom in this statement, and yet I have not been able to find a set that is larger, but still fits!Derick;196930 wrote: if you plan on folding the harbor freight trailer and moving it around, change the casters.
i got some 3" casters from harbor freight, part # 90997. these are a fine thread bolt, so go to ace to get the nuts, HD does not have them.rk97;196935 wrote: there is great wisdom in this statement, and yet I have not been able to find a set that is larger, but still fits!
It's a single-bolt caster, so options are a bit limited.
this would work:
but the larger options seem to be only this style:
You want the trailer to be level when you have it loaded. This means with the trailer loaded, you need to get the correct height hitch.rk97;196670 wrote: now that the OP got his question answered, I'm wondering if my trailer is leaning too nose-heavy.
It rides a few degrees forward, rather than perfectly level. with a 200 lbs. max tongue weight, I am not overly concerned, because I can move the trailer around with teh bike still loaded and not kill my back, so I'm thinking it's maybe 100-150 lbs max. Should I still buy a bigger riser hitch to level it out more?
I'd like to be able to put a second bike on there in a pinch...
You want the recommended tongue weight, which should be 10-15% of total trailer weight. Technically, this means nose heavy, by 10-15%. Anything beyond that is unnecessary. This weight is what should keep the trailer on the ball. If you have a trailer that is constantly lifting on the hitch, you don't have enough tongue weight. Road conditions are always going to cause the trailer to lift occasionally, due to large bumps and uneven roads. It shouldn't be happening a lot though if your setup is correct.rk97;197173 wrote: nose-heavy was ideal
That's a good idea, but once I started thinking about what it would cost us to ship those slightly heavy chunks of metal and that I can stop on the way home and pick up a 2" from HF for ~$15? Also, I'm in the market for a new truck (whole other thread coming soon to a forum near you) where I wouldn't be shocked if I'll be needing that 4" again.rk97;197183 wrote: wanna trade?
I will have to check, but I'm pretty sure I have a 2" "drop" that is currently flipped to raise the hitch height. I would be looking to go 2" higher.
physicistkev;197165 wrote: You want the trailer to be level when you have it loaded. This means with the trailer loaded, you need to get the correct height hitch.
The reason for this is you want the force the trailer exerts on the tow vehicle and hitch mechanism to be as linear as possible. This keeps the trailer from affecting ride quality and stability of the tow vehicle. 1500#'s doesn't sound like much, and a tongue weight of 150#-200#'s certainly doesn't sound like much, but when you try to stop that in a hurry, the inertia is tremendous. If the trailer is pointing nose down, and you panic stop, that pushes down on the rear of the tow vehicle with a mountain of force, and can affect the steering. If the opposite is true, nose up, then in a panic stop it will lighten the rear end of the tow vehicle and promote fishtailing. Obviously, the tow vehicle needs to be taken into account, so if you use a 1500/150 to tow a single bike, this doesn't really matter. However, if you are towing with a smaller truck or smaller SUV/station wagon then you're asking for trouble with a non-level trailer.
What you are aiming for, is a tow vehicle that drives almost the exact same when towing or not towing, except for the longer distance needed to start and stop. It's amazing how well a tow vehicle will ride, even when towing close to max, when it is setup properly.
Kevin
There's a difference between running nose-heavy, and ride height/trailer attitude. You have to get the trailer balanced properly (10-15% on the tongue), then connect to your tow vehicle, see how much it settles, and adjust the hitch/ball mount accordingly. Kinda like preload vs. ride height....they are related, but they are separate.noobinacan;197219 wrote: very informative...thank you
I was thinking along the same lines, but for a while have been running a little noose heavy vs linear.
going to fix that soon...
^ makes sense. thanks.dbarufaldi;197251 wrote: There's a difference between running nose-heavy, and ride height/trailer attitude. You have to get the trailer balanced properly (10-15% on the tongue), then connect to your tow vehicle, see how much it settles, and adjust the hitch/ball mount accordingly. Kinda like preload vs. ride height....they are related, but they are separate.
On my vehicle, I have added air bags in the rear, so I set the tongue weight, connect the trailer, add air to the bags to bring the tow vehicle ride height back up to its unladen position (with a tape measure). Then I moved the ball mount (mine is adjustable) to level the trailer. This way, truck is level, trailer is level. Pulls like a dream.
If your tow vehicle settles a lot (like 1/2 the suspension travel), you need to either double check your tongue weight, or modify the tow vehicle (assuming you are still within the capacities/parameters). I would figure that out before buying a new ball mount.
Dan B