Aftermarket rear bumper and trailer

[fireball]

Greetings guys,

Does anyone running an aftermarket bumper have a trailer and if so I'd love to see your setup and what you did to clear the tire carrier swing arm.

I have a BIOR rear bumper and just got an AT flatbed trailer. To keep the trailer level I am using a 3/4" rise mount and it blocks the PS swing arm from opening!

A lower ball mount would mean the nose of the trailer would be pointing downhill.

Curious to see others solutions.

TIA for any help.

 

[fireball]

Not sure why I couldn't insert images into the original post...

Paging @cboyd I know you have a Chaser and not sure what rear bumper you have?

Thanks!

 

[hoser]

Flip the "ball mount" so the MaxCoupler is 2-3/4" lower and then, on the trailer, weld another 2" receiver (square tubing) below the existing.

Or...

Perhaps a 4" drop ball hitch on the trailer end? Still hard to judge from the pics whether it will clear. Problem is, if it barely clears in your current parking position, you'll still have trouble if the trailer is cockeyed towards the passenger side... or on non-level ground.

 

[jcrandall]

and @fireball, please put a cotter pin in that ball hitch shank.
I lost a uhaul trailer that way...thankfully empty but an incident I did not need.

 

[tabraha]

I'll dig around for a pic that is closer up (all I got on p-bucket) but I run pretty close to level and clear the swingarms on my Slee.



Reversing that hitch and adjusting on the trailer end is going to be your only option to clear the swingarms. That trailer has got to be sitting high if it is level like that. My trailer is on 35's and isn't nose down.

I'll see if I can hitch up to my trailer tomorrow and take a pic but I currently have the ball mount on it. My max-coupler is reserved for trails mostly.

@cboyd has a Slee Rear and an AT Chaser. You have any feedback?



ETA: Maybe it is also slightly attributable to my 100 being on 35's also that is allowing me to sit level easier. The rear on my 100 looks lower because the wheel well is full (and we are LOADED on this trip too so squatting about 1")

 

[Bloomer]

@fireball
I have the same issue. Hoping to get it sorted out before HIH!

 

[tabraha]

OK, cropped the pic in p-bucket. It is ever so slightly nose low in this b/c the rear of the 100 is squatting. We had provisions for 2 weeks for a family of 4 (100lbs of fuel alone on the swing out) so you can see the rear of the 100 is squatted. When we aren't maxed out it is level (slightly nose high if drawers are empty and fridge is empty and trailer is empty but when is that? LOL).

Anyhow look at the tongue of the trailer and how it feeds right into the bottom line of the Slee Rear. Swing arms always clear like this even when the trailer is parked slightly higher than the truck but I have to hold the latches up to clear the tongue, which is no biggie.




Maybe it would be more helpful if I took a measurement from ground level to bottom of swing arm or receiver for comparison. I'll dig around on the old MacBook to see if there is a pic with swing arms open and hitched.

 

[benc]

This was my main reason for doing short swing arms on my new bumper. It's hard to tell from the pics if there is room to shorten the swing arm but that would be the best solution if you happy with where the trailer sits.
Should be a simple job for any welder/fabricator. I believe the drivers side swing out in the bior bumper is shorter, you could possibly have mike build you a tire carrier to go on the drivers side with the shorter arm?
I prefer the tire on the drivers side any way for visibility reasons.
Maybe a road trim to Mike is in store

 

[fireball]

Here are a few more pits of the puzzle. With the trailer loaded and sitting level, the top of the deck is right at 28".

The Cruiser is on 295/75/16s. The trailer is on 285/65/18s. The distance from the ground to the top of the hitch on the BIOR bumper is 26 3/8" unloaded. When the trailer is attached, with about 400-450# of tongue weight, the that drops about 2.5" to 24".

@benc - for reference, the BIOR rear bumper has about 3" b/w the top of the ball mount and the bottom of the swing arm.

The height of the max coupler is 3".

@tabraha what setup are you running? Max coupler with what kind/size of ball mount?

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

You can always take a longer piece of 2" bar stock or thicker 2" square tube and extend it a couple/few inches to clear and also give you a full range of 90 degree jack knife when camping in unfavorable weather. You should need approx 38" of tongue to fully/safely jack knife a trailer on a 100 series.

J

 

[varythings]

I run a Reese ball mount with 2" drop (or 1" rise), It's essentially flat when using the Maxcoupler. (Amazon for pics)
I can open my Slee rear just fine unless parked with the rear of the cruiser in a dip. As others have said, if you jackknifed the trailer a bit you can probably clear. Wonder if an extender would help you: Amazon

I run air bags in the rear springs so I can compensate for sag in the rear when pulling a trailer, easy and cheap solution to get your hitch height up.

@jcrandall , the max coupler is shipped with a nylon lock nut, there is no hole for a cotter pin, mine has never loosened.

 

[fireball]

@reevesci Sounds like you are suggesting doing something like a tow bar adapter, only welding the piece to the trailer tongue instead of using an adapter like this one: Blue Ox High-Low Adapter for Tow Bars - 2" Hitches - 2" Rise/Drop - 6-1/2" Long Blue Ox Accessories and Parts BX88128

Is that correct?

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

@reevesci Sounds like you are suggesting doing something like a tow bar adapter, only welding the piece to the trailer tongue instead of using an adapter like this one: Blue Ox High-Low Adapter for Tow Bars - 2" Hitches - 2" Rise/Drop - 6-1/2" Long Blue Ox Accessories and Parts BX88128

Is that correct?

You can go that route... BUT, to eliminate connections I'd just make a longer receiver hitch to extend the ball far enough to clear the swing arm. Hope this makes sense.

J

 

[fireball]

Something like this? Ball Mount Class III 3/4" Rise or 2" Drop - Super Extra Long, 6,000 lbs Hidden Hitch Ball Mounts 80232

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Something like this? Ball Mount Class III 3/4" Rise or 2" Drop - Super Extra Long, 6,000 lbs Hidden Hitch Ball Mounts 80232

There you go. You can now extend it safely away from the bumper, operate the swings and keep your level to slight tongue down stance.

J

 

[fireball]

Thanks for your help, much apreciated! Last question - from my reading it sounds like a hitch extension reduces max tongue weight by about 50%, however a extra long ball mount does not.

If my muddy geometry memory serves me, by putting the weight of the trailer ~16" further away from the rear bumper, wouldn't that *increase* the effective tongue weight of the trailer? In other words, if the rear end sags 2" when loaded in my current setup, I should be expecting it to sag a bit more with the super long ball mount?

Thanks again!

 

[benc]

Thanks for your help, much apreciated! Last question - from my reading it sounds like a hitch extension reduces max tongue weight by about 50%, however a extra long ball mount does not.

If my muddy geometry memory serves me, by putting the weight of the trailer ~16" further away from the rear bumper, wouldn't that *increase* the effective tongue weight of the trailer? In other words, if the rear end sags 2" when loaded in my current setup, I should be expecting it to sag a bit more with the super long ball mount?

Thanks again!

I am not a huge fan of hitch extensions or extra long ball mount for this reason.
I don't know the numbers but you will likley sag a bit more and you will add a lot of extra leverage to the receiver which will limit your max tongue weight. Will this be a problem with your set up? Most likley not depending how much weight you carry, if you go that route I would suggest only extending the amount you need and nothing more.

 

[Jason YY]

Just looking at the initial photos, what is the issue with flipping your existing receiver ? It looks like you 3/4 rise is creating the issues?

Isn't a 3/4 rise reversed like 1 inch drop , or will that make the trailer too tongue down?

 

[fireball]

The only options are 1" rise or 2" drop. So that's a delta of 3". Not sure why but they just don't make a ball mount that is level or close to level.

So yes I could flip it but that would put the trailer nose down by a good bit. The other thing to consider is that the photo shows the truck unloaded. When on a trip it gets another 300 pounds in the back with a Siberian husky loaded ARB fridge and bag of recovery gear and the passenger side swing out.

Might just need to get airbags for the rear of the land cruiser. I don't really want to do that but it would probably work best.

 

[Jason YY]

What about going to a trailer hitch shop and just getting a piece of receiver tube and drilling a hole in it for your setup?

It would be level with the top of your receiver on your bumper rather than being +/ -

Would be a inexpensive route, and you could get cut to just the right length