Axle Placement along Length of Trailers

[K5lwq]

lol clever ... but you get what I am saying ... generally if you take a utility trailer place the tongue level measure the distance to the ground and do the same with a car hauler, the car hauler would be lower ? .... I am wondering if what I am saying as merits ?

It has merit but that is exactly why I did not do generic cheap trailers. Custom only and built to order. No inventory other than a few I had for rent. I definitely was not cheap but the people I built for knew they were getting a good value for what I built them.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

That explains the problem. I built a trailer for my dad one time to haul lawn mowers and after a few years he wanted me to mount the axle over the springs to lower the trailer some. I told him why he did not tell me he wanted a lower trailer to begin with?

I built some new drop axles for it and cut the fenders off and put new ones on for him. He was mad at me but it was a much better solution and he was glad I did it after a while. He did not want me wasting money but it was the right thing to do.

Yep, if I put springs over axles it raises seven inches. If I flip axles over it raises me eight inches. If I put straight axles with springs under, it just raises four inches, so that's my best option. Plus, them old axles have hydraulic brakes that have never been connected. Still has plastic tabs in slave cylinder holes. I want brakes, I want to be operating legal in this latter part of my life. I've hauled backhoes on that trailer. Had so much tongue weight at times that I've snapped two bull dog hitches off. I don't haul that weight anymore.

 

[Renze]

Box trailers with a 1500kg capacity tailgate are a b*tch. To keep them on the road empty, you need the axle to the back to keep some 5th wheel weight. But people start loading them all the way to the front, overloading the tow vehicle rear axle when partially loaded.
Back in my time we moved axles on enclosed box trailers a few times a year because it was always something.

 

[Renze]

Agree. I have had severe fishtailing a very few times and almost lost the whole rig once (going down a mountain) many moons ago. Probably keeping tongue weight within reason to fit the towing vehicle, the load and above all, preventing fish-tailing outweighs everything else. For nearly everyone those bridges are burned at purchase time. You cannot move the axle... normally.

I rebuilt my trailer a couple of years ago. Started the towbar right in front of the axles, acting as a cross tie for the entire trailer. Towed triple the rated tow load of my V70 more comfortably than a tin foil trailer at rated load.

Fishtailing is worsened by the lack of lateral stability in the chassis.