Tongue Balance - Propane Tank / Spare Tire?

[Woodchuck_Finn]

Hi all,

I think I posted on the newbie tab a year ago shortly after I bought my Harbor Freight 4'x8' trailer kit and embarked on this new project. It's been a while building, but I think my teardrop is about ready to go! I just got it registered and took it for a spin (nice and slow, around the neighborhood) to get a feel for things.

I'm totally new to towing trailers in general, so I could use some advice. I have no idea how much my trailer weighs, but I'm assuming it's pretty light as I tried to be conscious of that in my build and I didn't notice any difference in the way my little 4 cylinder car was accelerating or braking as I towed it today. Seemed like there was a lot of bouncing and jostling back there whenever I hit little bumps in the road. Not sure if that's normal or not?

Someone mentioned to me that I should add more weight to the tongue to balance the trailer on the hitch better and get more control. I've seen rigs where there is a spare tire or a propane tank on the tongue. How are those usually secured? Would it be safe to mount a propane tank like that?

Any other tips are welcome or point me in the right direction if there's another thread. Just trying to brainstorm this one.

Thank you!

Finn

[Padilen]

You can buy spare tire mounts here's one type.

And propane tank racks. Single and double tanks.

Or make your own.

[lrrowe]

I have a much heavier CT and full size TV so I have no problem with tanks and a spare on the tonque.
I would expect you should have no problem with yours. I did a quick search on propane and a trailer tonque and got these results. You might get some ideas from the non-CT posts.

search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&keywords=Tongue+propane+tanks&start=15

[Woodchuck_Finn]

That helps, thanks! Gives me a good idea of what to look for. Should be able to get it all squared away!

[les45]

I had the same problem with my weekender on a 5X8 NT trailer although I had good weight distribution with 10% on the tongue. The problem turned out to be the very stiff 5.3X12 trailer tires with the lightly loaded trailer. I dropped the tire pressures from 55 psi down to about 40 psi and that helped some but I was concerned about how that might affect the tire. I ended up changing to 13" standard radial passenger car tires and eliminated all the bounce while towing.

[cshane]

Spare and battery to help with mine, be careful it got heavy quick.

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[cshane]

Sorry for the sideways pic.[SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

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[Andrew Herrick]

+1 on the advice given in this thread. Small, stiff tires and an unloaded tongue are prime culprits for a bouncy trailer! It can also be caused because, in some instances, people build 800-pound teardrops on trailers with 3,500-lb axles and springs. The suspension is undersprung, and has little damping, so basically it can't absorb the vibrations from the road.

If you mount a battery on your tongue, use a battery box to prevent corrosion and damage. They're pretty cheap.

I don't know what you use for a bed, but if you use a cotton futon or some such, that might add a fair amount to the tongue weight also.

You said you're new to towing so here's something to consider: The teardrop is like a 1,000-lb teeter-totter latched onto the back of your vehicle. Any weight on the tongue is transferred almost entirely to to the rear axle. But that works both ways. So if your camper tries to "tip" backwards, such as when you go over a large bump, it's literally trying to yank your rear axle off the ground. So if you have a small car, don't skimp on the tongue weight! Better to have a tongue loaded closer to its limit than having the camper try to lift your vehicle up by the britches.

Thanks for sharing!

[Woodchuck_Finn]

Thanks all for the great advice! I'll be tinkering with it this weekend, adding a spare tire mount to the front and will see if I can shift around the weight on the interior to put more towards the front. Hopefully, that'll help!

[brx017]

If you've got room on your tongue, you can lay the spare tire down flat or stand it up and use something similar to this:

Attwood U-Bolt Style Tire Carrier

They make them in a ton of sizes, even locking ones too. Just search for U-Bolt Tire Carrier.

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