Quote:
Originally Posted by Yellow Boler
Hey, if u want to unload some of the weight at the front just throw some weight in the back since your trailer is essentially a large teeter totter. Is that genius or what? ��
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It can work as long as you don’t go overboard and create a rear weight bias, as shown in Martin’s video. But it’s a crude way to solve the problem, since it sometimes means various heavy items stowed loosely on the rear bed, where they can shift in transit and get in the way during meal stops.
And this. Weight concentrated at the ends of the trailer, even when properly balanced with at least 10% tongue weight, creates a high polar moment of inertia, which makes for poor handling. Every time you turn, you’re throwing that weight in motion, and it will want to keep moving.
For best handling, it’s better to have weight centered low and over the
axle. That can be hard to do in a travel trailer without cluttering the center aisle with gear, but it’s a goal to work toward as you tweak the loading.
I’ve been down that road, only the other way. We used to carry bikes on the back of our
Scamp, and we put a bunch of heavy stuff forward to offset and increase tongue weight. Later we found a way to stow the bikes securely inside the trailer over the
axle, and the handling of the trailer improved significantly (even with a bit
less tongue weight).
One practical way to reduce tongue load and center weight is to move the battery(-ies) to an inside compartment. That generally means upgrading to AGM or lithium and re-routing wiring, so there’s cost involved. Maybe something to consider in the future if there’s a suitable location in the OP’s
Parkliner.
Anytime you make a significant change in how you load your trailer, you should weigh trailer and tongue to make sure you still have adequate forward weight bias.
Scampy
Lil scamper
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