Trailer size and bronco weight.

[stlo]

the bar level means that you have the weight distributed equally front and rear and that the load is centered over the axles of the trailer.......get it to far back and it will look like your trying to swat flys with your trailer...lol

 

[TwoDalesDad]

I Tow my bronco with a96 powerstroke crewcab 4x4 and you almost forget the trailer is there. MY Trailer has electric brakes on on one axel and they are 3500#. I have towed broncos backwards on the trailer and have experienced the death wobble which everyone who tows...knows what i am talking about. Using a sway control you can remove the wobble...but by loading forward you dont need the sway control. I have lost the brakes on the trailer...dcue to a scotch lock on the wiring of theihope this helps controller under the dash....That was fr%&$n scary...and Yes the wife was there.......not recomended..by the way..anyway...I tow my bobcat on the same trailer..and again the powerstroke does not slow down...

 

[needabronco]

If you have time and don't mind a drive, I'd seriously look into buying OUT of CA! Look in Phoenix you'll save close to a grand doing it that way! I bought an 18' PJ for $2700 last year and I would highly recommend them. They are powder coated not just spray painted like most of the east Texas trailers I looked at (most of those were bare steel under the wood!). AZ always has good deals on car haulers on craigslist. Try Yuma even?

Wait until your close to moving, buy out of state (avoid CA sales tax), get a temp tag for $30 then permenantly register in OK for probably dirt cheap.

 

[stlo]

u dont even have to register a trailer here in OK unless you just want to

 

[Skiddy]

u dont even have to register a trailer here in OK unless you just want to

or have to get tags for it

 

[sprdv1]

u dont even have to register a trailer here in OK unless you just want to

Wows that's a big plus...!! Very cool.

 

[gumbydood]

As far as I know, you want 10% of the *total* trailer weight as tongue weight. If you have a trailer that weighs 5500lbs loaded, you want the tongue weight to be 550lbs. 4800lbs loaded = 480lbs tongue weight. You NEVER, EVER, EVER want negative tongue weight.

Make sure ALL components are rated for the weight towed: rear tires on truck (adding truck load to tongue weight), hitch/reciever (class I, II, III, IV, or V), ball (ratings are generally cast into the top of the ball and take shank size into consideration), trailer tires, tow rig GCWR (gross combined weight rating), etc.

I recommend getting more than you need, as too much payload capacity is better than too little.

I prefer torsion axles to leaf springs, personally. I think they ride better, and they provide a lower trailer deck... nice if you are loading a passenger car, or anything not self-powered.

Consider a winch on the front of the trailer. Using a come-a-long to pull a disabled rig onto a trailer sucks. Ask me how I know.

I prefer to use unsprung points for attachment. This prevents suspension movement from allowing the tie-downs to loosen or fall off. There are tie-downs that go over the tires themselves... I have custom straps made with hardened chain at the end, attached to a ring that the strap is then sewn through. Allows ratchet strap use but provides a strong loop that won't get cut if there is a sharp edge on an A-arm, for example.

 

[KyleQ]

Why is the beaver tail so important?

It makes loading cars and trucks so much easier - your ramp angles are much lower too. For some reason it just looks like less stress on the trailer with a beaver tail when loading too, maybe it's just optical... <shrug>

I prefer to use unsprung points for attachment. This prevents suspension movement from allowing the tie-downs to loosen or fall off. There are tie-downs that go over the tires themselves... I have custom straps made with hardened chain at the end, attached to a ring that the strap is then sewn through. Allows ratchet strap use but provides a strong loop that won't get cut if there is a sharp edge on an A-arm, for example.

I agree on strapping via unsprung weight. I've got these axle straps for my straps, I love them. My strap never get dirts and they won't ever get damaged either.



I used to strap the axle like this, but now I got from leaf spring perch to leaf spring perch.

 

[fuzzy2133]

Just an FYI to all who do tow with a car trailer:

There has been a lot of talk in the towing industry about best practice to secure a vehicle to the deck of a roll back truck and car trailers. The argument is weather or not to cross the tie downs like in KyleQ's photos.

Some are starting to say that it could be better to not cross the tie downs but instead have the tie downs in some sort of a "V" shape but not in a straight line. The reasoning is if the tie downs are crossed and one fails it could leave too much slack in the other tie down allowing the vehicle to start moving. Might be a good question next time you see a DOT officer if they are changing what they want to see.

 

[KyleQ]

Interesting - I've never heard one way or another for tie downs, I just thought crossing them would help keep the load centered in an event.

lol- being welded front and rear I probably don't even need tie downs to keep the Bronco from moving, I always use them, but it's a tight fit between the fenders as my rims grind on the diamond plate on the inside...

Do you have a link to a discussion? I'm curious now...

 

[stlo]

Beaver tail?????.....its known as a dovetail around these parts...lol......DOT stays on us pretty bad here at work....for us to load down a back-hoe the rite way you have to put a boomer on each side of the front buckt one on each side of the front wheels and one on each side of the back wheels plus a boomer and chain over the back bucket...its a pain in the ass but thats how it is witten......so seven boomers in all and seven chains in all.....as far as crossing the straps over they tell us they should not be that way....but hell i have seen and done it for so many years......i think as long as you just use common sense you should be fine.......just remember just cause your truck can do 75 or 80 while pulling your bronc doesnt mean you should do it,,,,lol....just saying

 

[stlo]

beaver tail....lol....im gonna start saying that and see how many odd looks i get...lol

 

[Kyle.malone]

I use three straps on mine. Always have and have never had a problem. Two on the front and one on the rear. The front ones do not cross and stay between the lower coil bucket and the knuckles and strap directly in front. The rear goes from one side under the axle and ovedr the pumpkin and back under the axle to the opposite side.

 

[br0nc0xrapt0r]

If you have time and don't mind a drive, I'd seriously look into buying OUT of CA! Look in Phoenix you'll save close to a grand doing it that way! I bought an 18' PJ for $2700 last year and I would highly recommend them. They are powder coated not just spray painted like most of the east Texas trailers I looked at (most of those were bare steel under the wood!). AZ always has good deals on car haulers on craigslist. Try Yuma even?

Wait until your close to moving, buy out of state (avoid CA sales tax), get a temp tag for $30 then permenantly register in OK for probably dirt cheap.

Really? I am stopping in Yuma.

 

[KyleQ]

My tow rid doesn't like to go 70mph empty, lol, I think I can do it on flat ground though...

Regardless of how it is strapped I tend to do things overkill. My straps are rated at 10K per strap, nothing is going anywhere either. Damn near sound like a guitar string when I'm done

 

[Chief Master Sergeant]

I don't take any chances...chains and binders and axles straps that I run straight forward on the front and straight back in the back. I don't like the bind it puts on the straps to cross them. All personal preference really. I did a lot of reading on this before we left Alaska and I didn't want to take a chance, so I went with both. If anyone has ever traveled the Alaska Highway, they know what we went through over the frost heaves. Bronco never moved on the trailer.

 

[bosshoff]

Couple things i have learned towing Broncos, boats, and Bobcats. Dual axle brakes will keep your tow rig from overworking it's brakes. If you are towing with an F350, you have one ton brakes. If you are using a 1/2 ton, your brakes are not really up to the task of dealing with the weight of two rigs plus the trailer. It can do it, but it cannot do it well. Get dual axle brakes.
One thing about using straps vs. chains. Keep the straps CLEAN! No grease, no dirt. The dirt gets into the straps, and breaks down the fibers, thus weakening the straps. Last thing I will add. I like to chain my axles front and rear, and then I like to strap my body/bumpers to keep the body from bouncing down the road. I picked up a 1967 Bronco from Tenn. which was a donor, it had no shocks, no engine. It looked like it was trying to jump off of the trailer as I dragged that Rebel soldier North to Chicagoland.

 

[fuzzy2133]

KyleQ - this info is in the latest wreckmastertraing manual. I'll see if I can get it posted here Monday. Most likely if there was an accident and the load never came off there would not be any questions about how it was tied down.

 

[BluebroncoNC]

I'd like to give a shout out to U-Haul tow dollies, you know the ones you put the two front wheels on and don't run over 50mph...










>runs and hides<

 

[Dano 407]

Can we agree that it is "trailer" and not "trailor"?



Right now I have a 7k, 18' with electrics on one. I will build a 20' 10k with brakes on both eventually. It just takes time and money.

I have built maybe 30 of these things over the years and everybody forgets the tie downs. Go to a truck shop (not the pick up store...) and buy some real D rings. Weld those things on the corners and you will never be sorry for spending that $40.