Ideal drawbar length? (1 Viewer)

[Lupdog]

When looking for an off-road trailer or making one is there an ideal length for the draw-bar? Is as short as possible best or the other way around? Or would you look for something else when thinking of overall length factors?

Why are there no(?) dual axle off-road trailers? Would two axles minimise the chance of wheels dropping into holes, etc, or is this not a factor? While wheeling in sand or soft conditions would two axles distribute weight better? What bad points would two axles have?

Sorry, lots of random thought turned into questions!

Any thoughts greatly appreciated

 

[John E Davies]

Drawbar length:

For bad terrain you want as short as possible without the trailer EVER being close enough to contact the truck, except in a 90 degree+ jack-knifed situation. When the going gets tough the last thing you want to worry about is any part of your trailer plunging through the sheet metal of the truck. A short tongue makes the trailer maneuverable but tricky to back straight. You will get used to it....

For the highway and heavy cargos, longer is better. It lowers the load on the coupler and makes the trailer track better.

The best solution IMHO is a retractable tongue that lets you choose the best length for the terrain and load. My trailer has a 2 inch square tongue with 30 inches of adjustment. It takes about 2 minutes to reconfigure.

Tandem trailers are a PITA to turn - the tires scrub rather than just pivot. This really stresses the suspension and I don't see why you would need this setup on a trailer with a GVWR of less than 3500 pounds. It makes more sense to concentrate on adding ground clearance, wheel travel and articulation (both at the coupler and the wheels).

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[OlympiaFJ60]

When I extended my M416 draw bar, I measured from the hitch to 2" past the corner of the truck. I has been good compromise of maneuverability and stability. I can nearly jack knife it but it still tracks pretty close to the trucks wheel path.