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Old 11-21-2019, 08:23 PM   #1
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Considering a hitch extender

On my Jeep 2d wrangler the spare tire hits the welded on spare tire bracket on my trailer
I’m considering using a hitch extender ..... has anyone tried this in a 13’ trailer and did it make for some significant towing/swaying issues ???
My trailer is a 1200 lb little joe without brakes....and my Jeep is a 2010 2 dr 6 cyl manual
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Old 11-21-2019, 10:07 PM   #2
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ideally, add the extension to the TRAILER side if thats practical. would require a welder and some 3" heavy gauge square stock, maybe some gusset plates, then bolt the trailer hitch onto the front of this bar stock extension.


Now, I use a longer than normal tow-bar on my F250 to pull my Escape 21, this so I can open the huge tailgate on a Ford SuperDuty without hitting the jack. I think this towbar is 18" long overall or something ? on THAT rig, with a 2000 lb payload, and a trailer that has a 450-500 lb tongue weight, I can't tell the difference. on a Wrangler with its tall bouncy springs and extremely short wheelbase, it might be worse, but a 1200 lb trailer probably has under 150 lbs of tongue weight, so maybe not that big of a deal.

I dunno if you can add Firestone Riderite air bags to a Wrangler, these let you 'beef up' the rear springs with air pressure when you need it, and run them soft when you don't. they are available for many vehicles with leaf springs in the rear, I dunno what a 2010 Wrangler 2-door has. There are also airbags that fit inside coil springs, I know less about these. The Ride Rites made my Tacoma 4x4 TRD Offroad ride much better when heavily loaded with both a full load of cargo and 16' 3500 lb max trailer, otherwise it was way too soft in the back and 'porpoised'. I just used my fancy tire inflater (a Viair 88P) to pump up the bags, about 35-40 lbs was just right on the fully loaded Tacoma. When not towing/hauling, I let it down to about 5 psi on each side and got a stock ride.
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Old 11-22-2019, 12:36 AM   #3
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Alan,

You don't mention how much extension you need to clear the spare. If it's just a couple inches, no big deal, but if it's a foot, you'd probably be better off re-arranging the spare. Or as John said, extending the tongue, although I can see how tempting it would be to just add a longer stinger. At least your trailer is not very heavy.
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Old 11-22-2019, 01:26 AM   #4
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ok, i might have left out the basic physics behind what I was saying...

if you lengthen the tongue of the trailer, you lower the tongue weight a little, but for light trailers like yours, you increase the stability. Do try and load heavy stuff in the trailer over or in front of the axles.

if you lengthen the hitch bar on the back of the truck, you increase the leverage the tongue weight has on your vehicle suspension, and for a very short wheel base softly sprung vehicle like a 2dr Wrangler, this could quickly go critically unstable. I can get away with it because my F250 diesel has a huge wheelbase and really stiff springs.
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Old 11-22-2019, 01:46 AM   #5
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mmm,. found this interesting article, with an Australian slant, on towing weights and regulations... Europe rules allow much lighter tongue weights, but have much lower speed limits, and require additional training and licensing to pull heavier trailers
https://www.outbacktravelaustralia.c...iler-stability

Aussie seems to be strangled with a hybrid of American rules and EEC speed limits.
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Old 11-22-2019, 08:38 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz View Post
mmm,. found this interesting article, with an Australian slant, on towing weights and regulations... Europe rules allow much lighter tongue weights, but have much lower speed limits, and require additional training and licensing to pull heavier trailers
https://www.outbacktravelaustralia.c...iler-stability

Aussie seems to be strangled with a hybrid of American rules and EEC speed limits.


I’m thinking of using the shortest extension I can find which I believe is 7”..... just enough for my spare tire on the Jeep to clear
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Old 11-22-2019, 09:57 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alan H View Post
On my Jeep 2d wrangler the spare tire hits the welded on spare tire bracket on my trailer
I’m considering using a hitch extender ..... has anyone tried this in a 13’ trailer and did it make for some significant towing/swaying issues ???
My trailer is a 1200 lb little joe without brakes....and my Jeep is a 2010 2 dr 6 cyl manual
John touched on it already but adding a hitch extender reduces the capacity of your hitch. I'm guessing it's already low on a 2dr Wrangler. The info I can find says that a hitch extender reduces tongue weight and gross trailer weight capacity by 50%. I would think that % would vary based on tongue length, but I can't offer you any insight into that.

One of the Hymer owners in our Facebook group has done a simple (and reversible) tongue extension. He bought a 22" long hitch, https://trailerparts.com/tie-down-en...sc-brakes.html, removed the hydraulic actuator (electric brakes), and put a bolt through the coupler section and a few small welds around the tongue to keep it from sliding back and forth.

Costs more than a simple hitch extension, but I have to think it would be less than square tube and the associated welding work. I've observed that hitches with hydraulic actuators tend to be long; I wonder if you couldn't find something that would give you closer to the 7" of extension you need. The one I linked results in a comically-long trailer tongue, but provides the clearance needed for a side-mount spare tire. It's also an extra security feature since it makes a 7-pin extension cord necessary, which can be removed and stowed--not that being unable to hook up to brakes and lights on a 2500lbs trailer would stop someone from stealing it, but maybe they'd be more likely to get pulled over.

I purchased the longer hitch and plan to install it this spring. The coupler is of much better quality than the Husky junk the dealer installed.
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Old 11-22-2019, 05:10 PM   #8
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I extended the tongue on my Aluma flatbed trailer by getting a 10 ft piece of aluminum square tubing and having a couple of U bolts made so I could bolt it under the existing tongue of the trailer without doing any modifications. I did do some welding on the extension and bolted a hitch on it. When installed this extended the tongue about 6 feet. I then put a receiver hitch under the rear overhang of my Bigfoot three feet in front of the back bumper. The extension enabled me to hook the second trailer behind the Bigfoot and everything cleared. It did require laying down a piece of cardboard or carpet and getting under there to secure the hitch. I did the light and brake wiring for the second trailer. The long tongue and getting the hitch ball closer to the front trailer wheels allowed both trailers to tow really well. There was no fishtailing. I pulled them all over the Western United States for several years with no problems at all. It did require carefully checking state's tow regulations as some states restrict double towing.



The bottom line is that a longer trailer tongue always makes a trailer more stable on the road.
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Old 11-23-2019, 02:18 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Bruce H View Post
The bottom line is that a longer trailer tongue always makes a trailer more stable on the road.
Cross those chains! (and shorten them...)


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Old 11-24-2019, 09:45 AM   #10
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We are on our third different Wrangler towing our Little Joe and we probably have the same problem you refer to which is the Jeep spare hits the Little Joe spare when opening the tailgate preventing it from opening all the way. No interference when turning or backing.

So I rigged up a hinge at the bottom of the spare tire carrier so I can lay it down when I need to open the tailgate.

Was an easy fix and works for me!

(And I have installed airbags inside the rear coil springs on each Wrangler.)
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Old 05-20-2020, 09:00 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz View Post
mmm,. found this interesting article, with an Australian slant, on towing weights and regulations... Europe rules allow much lighter tongue weights, but have much lower speed limits, and require additional training and licensing to pull heavier trailers
https://www.outbacktravelaustralia.c...iler-stability

Aussie seems to be strangled with a hybrid of American rules and EEC speed limits.
Far from it general speed limit is 75mph, in the Northern Territory unlimited
Do not know where you got that impression?
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Old 05-20-2020, 11:59 PM   #12
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Name: Lynn
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I tow a Scamp 16 with our Highlander Hybrid. Needed a little extra room for the tailgate to clear the newly installed power jack. A 3" extension stinger from etrailer did the trick. Didn't notice any change in handling.
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Old 05-21-2020, 06:25 AM   #13
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Not really germane to this article, but when I rebuilt my Scamp frame I added about 18" to the front to get that 55 degree vee and to bring the frame sides straight to the front of the body of the trailer. The "bend" in the frame is now forward of the trailer body and reinforced with a cross beam. This allowed me to add the heat pump for the mini-split to the front along with two propane tanks and the tankless water heater and still have the tailgate on my Touareg or Town & Country open and close without hitting the Ultimate jack.
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Old 05-25-2020, 10:01 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by RobertRyan View Post
Far from it general speed limit is 75mph, in the Northern Territory unlimited
Do not know where you got that impression?
when towing with a passenger vehicle ? Everything I've read says the general 'open road' speed limits is 100 km/h in much of .AU, which is about 62 MPH, unless otherwise posted. per an article I just read many car makers in .AU have their own maximum safe tow speeds per weight range of trailer, and if you're towing with one of those vehicles faster than that you can be liable for a ticket, and these limits are 100 km/h for lighter trailers and go down with the trailer weight to about 80 km/h (50 MPH).
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Old 05-25-2020, 10:19 PM   #15
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No it is not. Average on a freeway is 110km, max 120kmh. 100kmh maximum do not know where you got that from. In the Northern Territory they had unlimted then set a 130kmh and people did not like that and went to unlimited. Road Trains with a 100tones are pulling 70mph 110kmh
I think your source is mighty questuonable. 50kmh??? People complain about driving those speeds around restricted areas of a City
"Speed limits in Australia range from 5 kilometres per hour (3.1 mph) shared zones to 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph). In the Northern Territory four highways have 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph) zones"
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Old 05-26-2020, 02:12 AM   #16
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Every hitch extender I have seen has both a tongue weight reduction and a max weight reduction. For the 24” one I run on my truck camper it’s something like a 20% reduction in capacity. With a max weight cap.

We’ve not noticed anything weird about towing with an extension except you need antil rattle plates to keep everything from moving while under way. It makes a racket.
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