Trailer tongue weight and other ?'s..

[def90]

So I bought a little 4x6 trailer from Big R for $450.. I needed something small just to haul two dirt bikes as well as I am limited on space to put it. I knew this trailer would need a few modifications and upgrades but the basic chassis and $$ point fit my budget and what I needed size wise. I know, champagne dreams on a PBR budget.

A few questions while I get to work on it..

1. I bought some bearing buddies and will be installing them tomorrow. Do you recommend completely removing the factory bearing grease and cleaning things up first or should it be ok to pop the bearing buddies on and fill them up?

2. With both the bikes loaded and strapped down the weight distribution/balance point is almost exactly on the axle meaning I can hold the tongue at hitch height with a single finger, if I bring it up onto the ball it almost starts to tip the other way. If I am reading things right I need 10-15% on the hitch? Based on the owners manuals bike 1 is 245lbs, bike 2 is 225lbs and the title for the trailer says 250lbs. I need roughly 80lbs on the hitch? Basically if I put the tongue down on a bathroom scale it should read 80lbs?

I need to build some tire chocks so maybe I will get some heavy 2 inch angle iron and hopefully that will get me a bit of weight as well as maybe picking up a spare tire holder and spare tire. I also have a heavy steel plate I could strap down as ballast.

Might be nice to eventually extend the tongue and put a gear box up front which would help with the weight issue as well.

3. Right now the axle is above the leaf springs. Based on the side view shot with the trailer hitched to my Jeep do you think I should move the axle under the leafs for some added height or does it look ok? This might be something I explore once I get out and use the thing to see if I have any clearance issue to begin with.

So far I found (as I guessed it would) that the wire mesh bottom isn't strong enough to hold the bikes so I just picked up some plywood and coated it with some Johnsons water seal and am bolting it down to the frame with carriage bolts.

Bikes loaded:





Side shot:



Adding plywood decking:

[ray1970]

I think you're really overthinking things on the tongue weight. Just load the bikes and go.

I also wouldn't worry about swapping the axle to the bottom of the springs. If it doesn't sit level enough for you when you have it hooked up the make a huge variety of offsets for the ball mount that goes in the receiver. Just find one that sits at the right height.

I always thought a mesh bottom trailer would be nice for dirt bikes and ATVs. If you wanted to do away with the plywood you could always weld a couple of cross braces between the frame rails.

I wouldn't bother with the tire chicks for a couple of dirt bikes, but that's just me.

[Jamnanc]

Heavier tongue weight will make it sway less. A drop hitch may help as well. Your going to need to drive it to see if it gets wiggly. If it does (especially downhill) add some tongue weight. If it doesn't your good to go.

[brutal]

A trailer that small isn't going to matter too much, but def want a little weight on the tongue. A spare tire and a few fuel cans will solve that. Having a trailer nose high/light will "wag the dog" but again, that much weight might not affect even your jeep.

Another option is to get someone to chop out a little front section and weld in an angled channel for the front tires to get them forward a bit more.

[hatidua]

A trailer that small isn't going to matter

-that, right there. When you get some weight, it matters, -a couple of bikes on the back is going to be inconsequential. I towed a friends incorrectly loaded trailer this week that had about 5,000#s in it and it was sporty but two motorcycles could be towed behind a third.

[Wulf202]

You'll be fine. You wont need to extend the tongue if you get the right box

[newracer]

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-34-cu...box-62253.html

[def90]

Thanks for the box link! Ok, mostly concerned that there is no weight at all on the tongue.. I'll drive it up to Nederland in the morning and do some riding to try it out as is.

I've got some more ideas that I might address over the winter such as adding a receiver hitch to the back to add another receiver hitch bike rack I have for an additional bike and so on..

As for the axle bearings.. Regrease or just leave whats there, add the bearing buddies and fill up?

[HoneyBadger]

It's always good to have some weight on the tongue.

[brutal]

Thanks for the box link! Ok, mostly concerned that there is no weight at all on the tongue.. I'll drive it up to Nederland in the morning and do some riding to try it out as is.

I've got some more ideas that I might address over the winter such as adding a receiver hitch to the back to add another receiver hitch bike rack I have for an additional bike and so on..

As for the axle bearings.. Regrease or just leave whats there, add the bearing buddies and fill up?

It was probably originally lubed with a Polyurea base conventional wheel bearing grease so just about anything else you're likely to get your hands on would be compatible.

That said, there are incompatibilities between greases (base-soap thickener materials) and some that should never be mixed. I'm kind of anal about the grease in my trailer's bearings and have thankfully never smoked a bearing - including watercraft/boat trailers which are as unforgiving to proper maintenance as heavy loads. Consider the intended use. If you're prone to drag that trailer through water, I would clean out all the old grease and use Marine grade wheel bearing grease now and forever.

http://www.etrailer.com/faq-grease.aspx