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Old 07-03-2007, 08:11 PM   #1
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Trailer: Former 1978 Trillium 4500 owner
Posts: 47
Just wondering about Trillium rigs with cargo boxes added to the rear bumber. I just bolted a hitch receiver to the "box tube" bumber on the back on my 4500. I also have a "cargo tray" which gets inserted into the receiver. So the "tray" is rated for 500lbs... SOOOO what are your experiences with adding weight in this manner, and more specifically, how much weight?
Any input is welcome.
Thanks,
K
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Old 07-03-2007, 10:01 PM   #2
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Trailer: 1981 13 ft Scamp ('Dacha' Russian summer house) / 2006 Tacoma V6
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Not a good idea...too heavy...a bike is about enough weight.
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Old 07-03-2007, 10:16 PM   #3
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Trailer: 2003 16 ft Scamp Custom Deluxe Side Dinette
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Hi Kevin,

I had a receiver hitch mounted on the back of my 16' Scamp Deluxe. I bought an aluminum tray to go on the back. I carry a small generator (Yamaha 2500) and firewood back there. The main thing to watch is that your tongue weight will drop as the rear receiver hitch weight increases. I modified my tongue to carry two deep cycle 6 volt batteries, 5 gallons of gas, and a large plastic box for an inverter, solar controller, and misc storage. There are also two propane bottles up there. I planned the extra tongue weight to balance the stuff in the back (typically about 150 lbs for generator, tray, and firewood for me).

John
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Old 07-06-2007, 10:26 AM   #4
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Trailer: 2005 13 ft Trillium Outback
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I added a receiver to the back of my Trill. The shop that did the welding for me added an "I" beam attached to the side rails about 6" forward of the bumper to strenghten the receiver mounting. I had a "Tilt-a-Rack" that weighed about 180 lbs and intended to put my 250 pound mobility scooter back there. Tried the set in the picture one time and about shookd the scooter to pieces. Trailer was light on the tongue with 430 lbs hanging off the rear bumper.
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I had also added 30 inches to the tongue in the shape of a 30"X60" platform. The shop made it much heavier than I ever thougt it needed to be. Acually, they got the extension just a tad off square. Trailer wheels track just fine, but trailer is maybe 1/2 " akilter. With the tongue being so heavy from the extension, I thought it was too heavy to carry the scooter up front, so had mounted the box up front.

Put the Camping World slant lid treadplate cargo box (50 lbs) on the T-a-R and carried the scooter on the tongue. Works wonderfully.

Concidering removing Tilt-A_Rack and modifying one of those 2'X5' cargo carriers to carry the cargo box. I can save about 100 lbs off the back end that way.
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2005 Trillium Outback w/ 30" tongue extension
1989 Award 730, 30'
2003 PT Cruiser
1998 K2500 Chevy Silverado 6.5 Turbo Diesel, 4X4, ext cab, short bed
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Old 07-08-2007, 06:25 PM   #5
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Trailer: 1976 Trillium 13 ft
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Quote:
I added a receiver to the back of my Trill. The shop that did the welding for me added an "I" beam attached to the side rails about 6" forward of the bumper to strengthen the receiver mounting. I had a "Tilt-a-Rack" that weighed about 180 lbs and intended to put my 250 pound mobility scooter back there. Tried the set in the picture one time and about shookd the scooter to pieces. Trailer was light on the tongue with 430 lbs hanging off the rear bumper.
Attachment 8670


I had also added 30 inches to the tongue in the shape of a 30"X60" platform. The shop made it much heavier than I ever thougt it needed to be. Acually, they got the extension just a tad off square. Trailer wheels track just fine, but trailer is maybe 1/2 " akilter. With the tongue being so heavy from the extension, I thought it was too heavy to carry the scooter up front, so had mounted the box up front.

Put the Camping World slant lid treadplate cargo box (50 lbs) on the T-a-R and carried the scooter on the tongue. Works wonderfully.

Concidering removing Tilt-A_Rack and modifying one of those 2'X5' cargo carriers to carry the cargo box. I can save about 100 lbs off the back end that way.

I too have a Trillium 13 ft'er, and need to be able to haul a mobility scooter, weight unk. but is a good size 4-wheeler. I had planned on carrying it on the rear of the trailer on one of those platforms that go into the 2" hitch tube. from your description of your experience, this does not seem to be the best way to carry a scooter.

Did your problems go away when you carried your scooter on the tongue. Do you have a picture of the scooter mounted on the trailer tongue?

How long did you make your tongue, and what kind of material (steel) was used?

I now have the body of my trailer off the frame and the Trillium frame seemed to be made out of 3x2x1/8 box tubing. I was under the impression that it was thinner.

I plan on making a new frame, and was thinking of adding 30" to the rear of the trailer frame and a little over a foot to the front to place the spare tire and batt. there, thinking that would add the necessary tongue weight, that was in addition to the 2-20lb propane tanks.

What are your ( or anyone's) thoughts on this.
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Old 07-08-2007, 07:16 PM   #6
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There was a gentleman at one og our glass egg meets a while back that had shown up with his 'modified' 13ft Boler.

He had cut the back end off, added two heavy duty lifts and a fold down ramp. The ramp was designed to ease loading/offloading of H/Capped scooters, motor bikes, etc.

He has visions of possibly marketing his conversion kit and was 'fishing' for some $$$ backing....
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Old 07-08-2007, 08:34 PM   #7
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Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
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Doug, are you referring to Ray Howard? His design actually makes the back of the trailer a big top-hinged hatch.
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Old 07-08-2007, 08:41 PM   #8
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Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
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Quote:
I plan on making a new frame, and was thinking of adding 30" to the rear of the trailer frame and a little over a foot to the front to place the spare tire and batt. there, thinking that would add the necessary tongue weight, that was in addition to the 2-20lb propane tanks.

What are your ( or anyone's) thoughts on this.
I think that if the egg shell is off the frame and there is to be frame work done anyway, a fresh start designed to carry the intended loads is a great idea.

My concerns:
  1. Even though the added front cargo area is a little further from the axle than the rear deck, it's hard to see how moving the tire there could be nearly enough to compensate for the huge load on the back.
  2. Adding massive objects to the ends of the trailer, even if they balance each other, makes the trailer more like a flywheel or pendulum (hard to get it started rotating, then hard to stop) and thus hurts control.
If a new frame is being built anyway, I think a front cargo deck is a much better idea.
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Old 07-08-2007, 09:16 PM   #9
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Trailer: 2005 13 ft Trillium Outback
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Well I had a long reply all typed up and must have hit a wrong key, because I lost it. Here is a shortened version.

I think most of the shake and bounce I experienced was due to the extra foot to the platform and the semi floating platform of the Tilt-A-Rack. A solid platform tied to the frame would ride much better than the configuration I have.

Caryying the scooter on the tonge was no problem. I've got some pictures of the construction which I had done by a large welding shop near me. It will take me some time to resize and upload them. I don't know if I've got a picture of the finished project or not. I'll have to go out in the heat and take some pictures if I can't locate any.

Two lessons learned: one, make the extension an inch or two longer than what you think you need: two, make sure the extension is straight vertially and hoizontally with the rest of the trailer.

I agree with Brian about adding the length and weight to the front of the trailer vs the rear.
Also, there should be more of the trailer length in front of the axel as well as more of the weight. The physics of leverage will make problems for you if there is more length or weight to the rear of the axel.

I'll start on the pictures shortly, but probably won't finish tonight.
Curt
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2005 Trillium Outback w/ 30" tongue extension
1989 Award 730, 30'
2003 PT Cruiser
1998 K2500 Chevy Silverado 6.5 Turbo Diesel, 4X4, ext cab, short bed
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Old 07-08-2007, 09:26 PM   #10
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Trailer: 1976 Trillium 13 ft
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Brian B-P

Thanks for your input. If it wasn't for this forum I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing and what I would have done would have been a disaster.

If it wasn't for this input I would have built the mobility scooter carrier on the back of the Tril. and now I would agree with you the tongue weight would be a problem. I will post this a a question.

FRED............................



Quote:
I think that if the egg shell is off the frame and there is to be frame work done anyway, a fresh start designed to carry the intended loads is a great idea.

My concerns:
  1. Even though the added front cargo area is a little further from the axle than the rear deck, it's hard to see how moving the tire there could be nearly enough to compensate for the huge load on the back.
  2. Adding massive objects to the ends of the trailer, even if they balance each other, makes the trailer more like a flywheel or pendulum (hard to get it started rotating, then hard to stop) and thus hurts control.
If a new frame is being built anyway, I think a front cargo deck is a much better idea.
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Old 07-08-2007, 09:41 PM   #11
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Trailer: 2005 13 ft Trillium Outback
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Picture of tongue frame rails extended

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Notice the large piece of steel under the box tube.

Close up of the reinforcing at the rear of extension

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Curt
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2005 Trillium Outback w/ 30" tongue extension
1989 Award 730, 30'
2003 PT Cruiser
1998 K2500 Chevy Silverado 6.5 Turbo Diesel, 4X4, ext cab, short bed
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Old 07-08-2007, 10:04 PM   #12
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Trailer: 2005 13 ft Trillium Outback
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Here is a front on picture of the reinforcing steel


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Curt
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2005 Trillium Outback w/ 30" tongue extension
1989 Award 730, 30'
2003 PT Cruiser
1998 K2500 Chevy Silverado 6.5 Turbo Diesel, 4X4, ext cab, short bed
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Old 07-08-2007, 10:17 PM   #13
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Trailer: 2005 13 ft Trillium Outback
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Here is the finished frame work


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I'm surprised I don't have pictures with the tread plate on. I'll take some tomorrow evening. The base of the platform is stainless steel tread plate. Then I have a ramp that is carried vertically that attaches with the two large knobs you may have noticed. The ramp piece is aluminium tread plate reinforced with square alluminium tubing. It's still lighter than a single piece of stainless would be. I decided to carry the ramp in front to shield the scooter or whatever I was carrying from the rocks my truck likes to throw. I cover the scotter with a cheap barbque cover and a cargo net. Cargo net keeps the BBQ cover from being whipped to pieces by the wind buffet.

If it's not too hot tomorrow, I'll set it all up for loading and how it travels and take pictures.

Curt
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2005 Trillium Outback w/ 30" tongue extension
1989 Award 730, 30'
2003 PT Cruiser
1998 K2500 Chevy Silverado 6.5 Turbo Diesel, 4X4, ext cab, short bed
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Old 07-09-2007, 12:46 PM   #14
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Here is a couple pictures of my caboose. Oops, too big, only one per post


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__________________
2005 Trillium Outback w/ 30" tongue extension
1989 Award 730, 30'
2003 PT Cruiser
1998 K2500 Chevy Silverado 6.5 Turbo Diesel, 4X4, ext cab, short bed
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Old 07-09-2007, 01:06 PM   #15
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Trailer: 2005 13 ft Trillium Outback
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Veiw from off to the side to give perspective


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So, with the 30 inches in the from and the 4 plus feet in the back, my 13 footer has grown to a 20 footer. Talk about two footitus.

When and if you add a cargo carrier to the rear of the trillium, you should consider mounting the carrier using one of these Hi-Lo hitch. These should be bolted in snuggly to reduce movement.


Curt
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2005 Trillium Outback w/ 30" tongue extension
1989 Award 730, 30'
2003 PT Cruiser
1998 K2500 Chevy Silverado 6.5 Turbo Diesel, 4X4, ext cab, short bed
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Old 07-09-2007, 07:51 PM   #16
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Trailer: Former 1978 Trillium 4500 owner
Posts: 47
Quote:
Veiw from off to the side to give perspective


Attachment 8793


So, with the 30 inches in the from and the 4 plus feet in the back, my 13 footer has grown to a 20 footer. Talk about two footitus.

When and if you add a cargo carrier to the rear of the trillium, you should consider mounting the carrier using one of these Hi-Lo hitch. These should be bolted in snuggly to reduce movement.
Curt
Awesome, this is exactly what I am wondering about. It probably is not do-able but I would love to carry a scooter (Vespa 230Lbs) on my rear carrier.
K
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Old 11-05-2008, 05:27 PM   #17
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Trailer: 2005 13 ft Trillium Outback
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Sorry for the long delay in replying. Been away from the forum. My extension works well for me. With out a counter weight on the back end it will be very tongue heavy. In excess of 500 pounds if they build it with substancial materials. I have about 300 pounds on the rear with the cargo box and the rack that supports it. That gives me between 250 and 350 pounds tongue weight. When I am going any distance I have a 3/4 ton pickup with a Equalizer brand hitch. Rides beautifully with that configuration. When I have gone on trips of less than 50 miles I have towed slowly with my PT Cruiser. I do not advise anyone to do that. I consider myself a skilled driver and am familiar with the local roads.

I like the 30" by 60" platform in front. It carries my 4 wheel handicapped scooter just fine. I should have made it 32" but it works as is.

Even with the equalizer hitch there can be some up and down movement of the tongue on rough roads. With the PT on local roads, I have to be very aware of any conditions that would cause the tongue to oscilate up and down. there is a lot of weight far away from the wheels, so any up or down motion has a lot of mass in motion.

The Outback is very finely balanced on the wheels and care must be taken when adding weight front or rear. Add more than a couple hundres pounds (100 Kilo) to rear only and there won't be enough tongue weight. Add more than a couple hundred pounds to front only and there will be too much tongue weight.

My biggest regret is not getting an air conditioner. Second biggest regret is now shower.

I also raised my trailer 3" and changed the axel to 3,500 pound capacity. I also upgraded my tires to load range D. With the additions front and rear, I was right at the limits for tires and axel. Reason for the 3 inch raise was for ground clearance front and rear because with the extended length, the trailer would scrape the rear or drag the tongue on some drive entrances.

I didn't know all of that when I started the process. I now have a 21 foot trailer with a 10 foot living area, registered as a 13 foot trailer.


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2005 Trillium Outback w/ 30" tongue extension
1989 Award 730, 30'
2003 PT Cruiser
1998 K2500 Chevy Silverado 6.5 Turbo Diesel, 4X4, ext cab, short bed
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