How bad / unsafe does the level of this trailer look?

Hey,
I have a 2 bike motorcycle trailer that I pull with my S10. I want to get rid of the Dime and pull the trailer with the Taco. I ordered a 10" drop draw bar knowing it wouldn't be enough... but hoping it would be close enough. I can't convince myself this is a safe setup even though the trailer GWR is under 2,000 lbs. I looked at leveling it and I would need 9-10" more draw bar drop / trailer lift.








Cheers.

 

you will be alright....i do it like that

but you should get 12 inch tires

 

with bikes on it is it lower??? ^^^ 12inch tires might be a good idea

i think tis fine for peace of mind return that drop hitch and get a 12in

 

do the leaf springs go under the axle or over? if they are under, you can flip them to over the axle, and get bigger tires.

if the leaf springs are over the axle already, you can get a small lift block, and again some bigger tires.

I also noticed it's a 5 bolt axle, so you should be able to get some bigger rims with a much bigger tire on there.

 

The trailer has rubber torsion axles. I can space the axle tubes with blocks a bit. I can't go much bigger one tires without getting bigger fenders.

I was starting to hit the point of: block lift the trailer, cut and weld bigger fenders, new tires, ...etc. It started to seem not worth the $$.

 

yea I can understand not wanting to do all that, I have the same dilema actually.

what about selling that trailer and buying a bigger one?

 

you will be able to fit 12inch tires in there

 

I think that is option #2 right now. The trailer squats about .5-1" with the bike/s. And the truck should the same, so that is a non factor.

 

As long as the trailer hitch locks onto the ball it wouldn't bother me to much.

 

I've seen worse,bigger and heavier and they towed fine

 

It seemed to lock on just fine.

Your sig is a riot. Have you towed a raked out trailer or just seen them flying by on the interstate? Not trying to be a prick, just trying to see how anecdotal the response was.

I wouldn't consider pulling a heavy trailer like this... but a 1,000 lb trailer loaded just doesn't seem bad. I don't want it wandering all over the interstate at 70 mph either.

 

The higher the trailer, the higher the loading height when you have to move the bikes. Googling turns up this site that sells 16" and 18" drop hitches... They are all one-piece welded, which seems more secure than that ratcheting piece you have.

 

My sandrail had a row bar on it and I towed it with my88 yota on 36s. Towed it at75-80 and never a problem.ive seen loaded up landscape trailers that had more of a tilt than that.I would ditch that adjustable hitch.

 

That is a 3 piece. The one I have is adjustable but is one solid piece. No welds. It is rated at 10,000 lb trailer, 1,500# tongue. I am hesitant to use an extreme drop since it allows a huge amount of torque to be applied...

$180 for a non-adjustable! Damn.... blocks and new rims/tires here I come... fack. I'm just going to solve all of these issues and keep the Dime forever.

 

I agree with LOW but the 18" drop bar. If you put two bikes on the trailer you will get more sway & possible trouble if you have to jam the brakes at highway speed. This happened to me with my jet ski so I purchased draw hitch with lower drop & now rides like nothing was there. don't comprimise the safety.

 

I've pulled a trailer with this much rake. The only issue I had was scraping the rear on pavement pulling into driveways. I didn't consider it to be unsafe at all - although I didn't end up in any situations where I had to jam on the brakes =/

 

Why ditch my nice adjustable one? Rapid-hitches are pretty well regarded on the diesel forums when I was researching them. There were a few stories of guys twisting/bending them when they crashed or the trailer got rear-ended and a few guys that tow tens of thousands of miles a year saying they started getting loose or sloppy after a while. Since I'm not going to be pulling very often, and almost never very heavy, it seemed like a great way to go. This way I can tow the occasional boat, rental trailer, or my bike trailer with one hitch.

 

Just go to 28" tires or largest that will fit and a 12" drawbar, with bikes loaded you'd be fine.

 

That's a really light trailer, it should be alright. If you can do something easily to correct then great but it's not bad. If it was a 5,000# travel trailer that'd be a different story... Careful with the metal floor, you have to make sure the bike won't slide around on it and they're slick as hell when they're wet.

 

The largest tires I can fit are only going to be about 22" in diameter (would get me about 2" of lift).

Learned that one the hard way when I busted my ass after a day at the track. I've had the trailer for about 6 years now and it has been fantastic. Unfortunately, it just isn't super compatible with the Taco.

I think I've decided that I will use the trailer as is for in-town distance tows, and the S10 if I am pulling further than that.

I would like to get new wheels (and fender to clear) but it will be too much $ put into this trailer. I think I will rock this setup as is for now, and plan on selling this trailer soon to partially finance a tandem axle, e-brake, enclosed, 6x14 or something.