Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Gibbens
Do remember that the bending load on a trailer frame is proportional to the length of the frame in front of the front cross-member. If you double that length, the frame rails need to be twice as strong as they were before.
If anyone wants to get technical, I have a tongue strength spreadsheet on my web pages that is based on the relevant international standard:
Unified Tongue Strength
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Andrew makes a very good point. Check out that link!
We anticipate that fully loaded our trailer will weigh between 1700 and 1900 lbs, with about 120 to 150 lbs tongue
weight - less than 10% of the overall weight.
The welds at the major stress point where it joins the original tongue has been gusseted with 1/4" steel plate underneath, and we chose to run the new steel as far back as we did to increase its attachment strength and to reduce the chance of bending.
Our trailer will be used almost exclusively on-road with very little off-road, as we prefer campgrounds with hookups and showers over
dry camping.
Please consider all of these kinds of things when modifying your trailer!
Tim.