trailer hitch stuff

[cruisermaine]

I've never towed anything before and now that I need to, I have some questions for 80 owners. My '95 80 has a 2" receiver, stock suspension, and 75 series tires. I will be towing small utility trailer and probably a 9" chipper (weight just under a ton) Qustions:

1. For ball mount, what size drop is best for the above setup given average use?

2. I've seen "cushioned" mounts advertised for "off road" use -are these recommended?

3. How tough is it to tow about a ton up a rough logging road with a stock 80?

4. Any other issues I should be considering

Sorry but I am a noob as far as towing is concern and would appreciate the opinions of others on the list with knowledge. Thanks in advance

 

[Brentbba]

1. Amount of drop probably depends on where your trailer sits at level. I just use a std one you can purchase anywhere that sells towing stuff. I've heard that it isn't as strong if you 'turn it up side down' so the ball is higher.

2. Don't know that this is.

3. You shouldn't have any trouble with 2000 lbs up any road. I've towed 3500 lbs plus a loaded cruiser up a nasty dirt road to campsites before. No problems at all!

4. Proper inflation of truck's tires.

 

[MoJ]

2 inch dropped works nice on my stock 80 with 33 inch tires. (15inch wheels and trailer tires on a utility trailer) When loaded trailer's about level.

 

[e9999]

3" drop worked perfect on my utility trailer before I flipped the axle over, then I reversed the drop and it was still too low... IIRC, most trailers dealers say to set it for about 18"

The local rental yards won't let folks tow a 6" chipper with less than a "1 ton" truck cuz of the lack of brakes... Defintely won't let me tow one with the cruizah...

E

 

[Scamper]

If the "cusioned mount" you're referring to is one of those shock-absorbing hitches, forget about it. Those are meant for really big payloads; you won't even notice 1000 pounds behind your 80...so the answer to the last question is: go easy and keep an eye on what you're towing.

 

[Brentbba]

cruisermaine, Eric touches on another good point. Trailers and brakes. In the Republic of Kalifornia any trailer over 1500lbs is 'supposed' to be equipped with brakes. Two kinds - surge and electric. Surge, anyone can tow as the trailers brakes are actuated by the slowing of forward movement by the tow vehicle and are completely part of the trailer and trailer tongue. The faster the slowing, the harder application of the trailer brakes. Nephew only had one complaint about surge brakes and that was the trailer sometimes being fooled when backing it up. Electric brakes require an electronic brake controller in the tow vehicle to actuate the trailer brakes. Some brake controllers are electronic (newer ones) and some are based on a pendulum. Regardless, the only vehicle that can tow and use electronic trailer brakes are those equipped with brake controllers.

All that BS aside, I towed a 3500lb trailer for at least two years with my beast before becoming aware of the law, and even without the law, the need for brakes on such a heavy trailer.

If this is a one time haul and the chipper trailer does not have brakes of either kind, IMHO you shouldn't have any issues at all with a trailer of just under one ton. If you are towing with regularity, I'd certainly recommend looking into brakes for the trailer. Both kinds have their advantages. You'll find nothing but surge brakes on boat trailers as they can take the dunking on boat ramps that electric brakes can't. Hope all this ranting helps some.

Oh yea - stock suspension and stock tires will be fine for towing and from what I've learned from this forum, all U.S. cruisers have the 'tow package'. Your std hitch should be fine.

 

[cruisermaine]

[quote author=Brentbba link=board=2;threadid=17648;start=msg170900#msg170900 date=1086652991]
>snip<
All that BS aside, I towed a 3500lb trailer for at least two years with my beast before becoming aware of the law, and even without the law, the need for brakes on such a heavy trailer.

If this is a one time haul and the chipper trailer does not have brakes of either kind, IMHO you shouldn't have any issues at all with a trailer of just under one ton. If you are towing with regularity, I'd certainly recommend looking into brakes for the trailer. > snip< Hope all this ranting helps some.

Oh yea - stock suspension and stock tires will be fine for towing and from what I've learned from this forum, all U.S. cruisers have the 'tow package'. Your std hitch should be fine.
[/quote]

Thanks for the helpful advice. Towing the chipper is a one-time deal. I need to get rid of some slash piles left over from clearing my cabin site. In the near future I'll be getting a utility trailer of some sort. I like those M416 US surplus jobs but might need something a little bigger -say to carry sheets of plywood.... But in that case weight isn't much of an issue. The issue will be finding a trailer with ground clearance.

Thanks again

 

[scottm]

I towed about a 3500 lb trailer when I worked construction. Tandem axles helped, but that thing was an anchor through sand, mud, clay, and snow. I never had to dig it out, but it did surprise me how fast it sank on occasion. I always thought it'd be nice to have some kind of ski or sled I could fasten to the tongue if I had to unhook and snatch it out. Probably better to just unload it and drag it out, but you won't have that option. I assume airing down the trailer would help in soft stuff, I never took the time to try it.

 

[cruisermaine]

There are only a couple of muddy spots -mostly gravel /hard pack. do you think a <2,000 lb trailer would to much to drag through some shallow (< 12" ) soft spots about less than 100 feet long?

 

[IdahoDoug]

I don't think you're going to have any problems on rough/steep roads in low range. Obviously, only you can be the judge of how difficult the terrain is, but anything you'd call a rural driveway, rough cabin access road, or poorly maintained secondary dirt road would be no problem. I'd worry about breaking a trailer axle before being unable to proceed as in low range with ordinary momentum you'll have easily enough power to damage a trailer on what would be considered an 'obstacle' of this terrain type. Of course all bets are off if you're literally going on a 4 wheeling trail, but I think that's not what you have in mind. I've towed a 6000lb boat up a rock strewn beach (actually the bar at Bar Harbor) steeper than many boat ramps for comparison.

If you come to a long soft spot, have a pair of boots you can get muddy as you'd be wise to walk it with a stout stick to see what you're up against. In mud, even an unladen Cruiser on stock tires will get mired.

DougM