Hi Pete,
Thank you for your post. I was just looking for information regarding bike racks and came across this discussion. I was going to put a hitch on the back of my
trails west for 3 mountain bikes, but am reconsidering after reading your comments. We have 3 kayaks and 3 bikes we like to take with us when we hit the road. The kayaks go on the roof of my subaru.
Presently we can fit two bikes inside the trailer. I took a yakima bike rack bar and ran it between the two benches. I can remove the bar when we aren't using the racks. The forks lock into the rack and the weight of the bikes is essentially over the
axle. It is a hassle getting the bikes in and out of the trailer. Also, now that I repainted, etc., I am more picky about dragging the bikes in there. Even with that arrangment, we are one bike short.
So, I was considering getting a hitch on the back and putting the bikes back there. We could remove the rack when we reach our destination, as the
Trails West campster has the door to the rear. But, we trailer primarily on curvy mountain roads as we live in Yosemite and are going from one side to the other of the park, i.e, Mammoth and back to Yosemite. Causing this trailer to sway would not be a good thing, as I don't have a sway bar.
I looked at the option of the rack on the hitch receiver (a sleeve essentially that fits over the 2 inch reciever, but it says you need at least 10 inches of reciever, which reduces tongue weight by 50%. My subaru rack says maximum tongue weight is 200 lbs as it is. So that option is out.
My question to you would be, how do I figure out what my tongue weight should be for my particular trailer. I know the hitch can handle 200 lbs, but how do I figure out what is should be for my trialer?
Also, I would like to raise my trailer because I can't really go over any dips without bottoming out. If I turn down a few forest service roads, even very slowly, I sometimes hit the bottom of the bolts on the
axle. Do you know if I could turn those horseshoe looking springs upside down and put the trailer higher. If I had someone do that for me, does that cause any sway/other problems I should know about.
Thanks for letting me pick your (and anyone else's who would chime in) brain on this topic. You seem to have given the weight distribution some thought.
Kim