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Rudy, when I built mine a few weeks ago, I extended mine about 12 inches on the draw bar and have no sway what so ever and have been over 80 mph with it in the wind. Most recommend 12 to 20 inches added to a standard trailer drawbar. I used a small Harbor Frieght trailer as the basis for mine, and litfuse and Silicon Sam have both seen it, and it works great.

Gene:waving::11ltblue::11ltblue::11ltblue::cooler:

 

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Glester's trailer had no more than about 20 lbs tounge weight with about 200 lbs weight on the trailer axle. I did not get a chance to measure the length from trailer bed to hitch but it looked pretty long and stable. Please post that for us Glester. I had enough weight on my bike to equal two up on it,so Glester had to have that much weight in his trailer.

 

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My trailer is an old (but great) Savage.

It never had any sway in it when I had the much harder and more rigid E2's on it. Now with the more radial like Pilots, truck wash can set it cycling for a few seconds.

It's not horrible but it seems to want to do it over 70mph or thereabouts. So I was thinking about adding about a foot to the tongue length. I don't want to go nuts because between the bike and trailer I barely fit into a parking slot, lengthwise.

 

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.. But what Rudy wants is "the Ratio " for best anti-sway My utility trailer (8 ft bed ) for my  car has about 2.03, while my Bike trailer is around 1.76 . tongue length to wheelbase...  I think I read somewhere that it should be over 2 (2.25, maybe ???? ) for  least sway ?   In either case, neither of mine sway at any reasonable speed ... SilverDave /forums/images/emoticons/emoticonsxtra/cooldj.gif

 

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Try this little spot on the web, and muck around.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/MCTrailertowing/start


on left, click on "start reading>>"

 

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Thanks SilverDave and Oregonwinger,
That was what I was looking for.
Now that you bring it to light, it might have been 2:1 that I remember hearing it mentioned.
I'll hang out at Delphi to get the details.
Thanks guys and all others responding.

 

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Good luck, Rudy. Lots of good stuff, there.

 

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litfuse wrote:

Glester's trailer had no more than about 20 lbs tounge weight with about 200 lbs weight on the trailer axle. I did not get a chance to measure the length from trailer bed to hitch but it looked pretty long and stable. Please post that for us Glester. I had enough weight on my bike to equal two up on it,so Glester had to have that much weight in his trailer.

Sorry guys, but been having internet problems for the last couple of days, now that I fixed it by changing providers, all is well. OK, here is the specs;

Tip of tounge to bed- 44"

Tip of tounge to center of axle- 72"

Front edge of bed to center of axle- 28"

Rear edge of bed to center of axle- 20"

Bed frame is 24" wide

Axle is 36" wide.

Fender edge to fender edge is 36 1/2"

Gene:waving::11ltblue::11ltblue::11ltblue::cooler:

 

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I' ve experimented with tongue lengths from 4 - 6 feet from hitch to axel & the trailer virtually dissapeared with the 6 feet tongue. We have our bikes mounted on top & no problem at 110 - 120m Kph (60 - 70 mph ). We now have a rack for a cooler infront of the box with no problem.
Ride On !!!

 

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Thay was what I was hopeing for Glester.Have you put it on a scale when loaded?

 

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Not yet, but you seen me pick it up from the rear when hitched and loaded, I'd say about 200-250.

Gene:waving::11ltblue::11ltblue::11ltblue::cooler:

 

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Rudy, having built several trailers for a car and doing a lot of reasearch, I have found the following info: What makes a trailer sway is a lack of weight on the tongue. Make sure you have enough tongue to clear the bike. The axle should be behind the center of the box. Rule of thumb for automotive trailers is 60:40. Axle 60% of the way back on the box. If you load the trailer so all the weight is in the rear, it doesn't matter how long the tongue is, it will sway.

 

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 When travelling, or camping , its often that the trailer gets "re-loaded"  every day!  /forums/images/emoticons/big_grin.gif   I thought you just wanted the "Ratio"  of wheel to tongue ... For daily stability , I went to a Outdoors store, and bought  a 50lb  fish scale, which lives IN the trailer, on a hook, near the door...  I try to get about 10% on the tongue, with each re-packing /forums/images/emoticons/emoticonsxtra/grinner.gif.. which in my case is about 25 to 30 lbs..    Most of the time, if its balanced on the tongue, I cannot tell its  even back there, even in  heavy braking, rough roads  , or crosswinds situations.... A  scale is definitely worth it !!    /forums/images/emoticons/emoticonsxtra/goofygrin.gif           SilverDave /forums/images/emoticons/emoticonsxtra/cooldj.gif

 

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Goldwings 4 Ever has it right, the length is irrevelant, the critical thing is the tongue weight to trailer weight when loaded. If you have sufficient tongue weight and the center of gravity ahead of the trailer axles it will tow tamely. Low tongue weight is an indication that the center of gravity is close to the trailer axles which reduces yaw stability. If the CG was ever behind the axle the trailerwill beuncontrollable. It's the same thing that makes a tail dragger airplane more difficult to control than a trike geared plane.