A cantilevered load, especially on a bouncing trailer, puts a mega strain on the hitch. More so if the bike rack is behind the spare tire. (Floyd made a bike rack on his
Scamp 13 that puts them above the
battery on the front.)
But, you can improve your situation by removing the spare and carrying it in your T.V. Move the bike rack closer, then add a couple of eye bolts to the trailer so you can lash the bikes up with bungy cords to keep the strain off the carrier.
As far as trailer sway - how tight is the hitch ball and receiver up front?
Any play there will allow sway to get started. Take up any play in the receiver with shims or set screws. Make sure the hitch ball is as close to your rear bumper as possible. Keep a steady hand on the steering wheel. Don't jerk it around.
To reduce bounce; reduce tire pressures. Find a Load/Inflation chart for the trailer
tires. Weigh the rig, fully loaded , so you know what the load is on each tire, and set air pressure accordingly. Stop every 50 miles or so, of driving highway speeds, and feel the
tires. If they are not too warm, the lower air pressure is OK.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Manitoba Jim
This discussion interests me. I have a 2014 16 ft Scamp c/w optional 2"reciever hitch. I purchase a bike rack for it and loaded our 2 bikes on it for our annual trip to Riding Mountain National Park. I definitely struggled with stability issues on the highway. I had transferred a lot of our cargo to the front of the trailer for balance, but both weight and amplified sway seemed to be at play. We added some ratchet straps to stabilise the sway factor by securing the bikes to the bumper. Immediately following that addition we drove several miles along a winding gravel road to a remote lake camp site. Upon arrival I was shocked to find the bike rack broken and one of my bikes almost dragging on the ground. The magnified cantilever effect from the bouncing of the trailer did a number on the rack. That's the end of using the receiver hitch for what I had hoped.
Jim |
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