Questions about trailering from a newbie.

[Fred K-OR]

Well the old guy chickened out about driving the old Model A a lot on freeways. So decided to invest in a trailer. It is a 16 Ft long by 7 ft wide.


As it turnes out, most of our Club runs as way over on the other side of this area and a it would take a person in an A an hour or so to get to where the functions were held. So a trailer sounded like a good idea.

The question I have is where to set the A on the trailer. Should it be right over the trailer wheels or a bit to the front or back? Just thought I would ask and not have to do a lot of trial and erorr to find the sweet spot. Would appreciate any comments. Thanks.

[Gerard]

Fred, I was told about 10 % loaded weight on the the hitchball

[Mitch//pa]

pull it on slowly and when you see the back of the tow vehicle start to sink thats about the spot. if your towing and the trailer is zigzagging to much you might need to go a little more (couple inches). i like to criss cross my axle straps front and rear instead of going straight.

[Fred K-OR]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

pull it on slowly and when you see the back of the tow vehicle start to sink thats about the spot. if your towing and the trailer is zigzagging to much you might need to go a little more (couple inches). i like to criss cross my axle straps front and rear instead of going straight.

Mitch, I assume you mean from the left of the A to the right of the trailer and so on??

[Ron/IA]

Fred - The rule of thumb for proper weight distribution on a trailer is for 10% of the total weight of the load and trailer be on the tongue. Example: (using round numbers) if the trailer weighs 1000#, and the A weighs 2400#; you have a total of 3400#. Ten percent of that would be 340#.

If you have a local grain elevator with a truck scale nearby, ask if you can weigh your trailer. Then drive your car to the same scale and weigh the car. Now armed with that information, calculate the tongue weight. With the trailer's jack only sitting on the scale (make sure you have some tongue weight before unhooking the ball hitch), you can see what the approximate tongue weight is. Then through trial and error you can adjust the car's placement on the trailer for that optimum tongue weight.

Be careful doing this, and use good judgement.
I hope this is helpful.

[Mitch//pa]

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Originally Posted by Fred K-OR

Mitch, I assume you mean from the left of the A to the right of the trailer and so on??

yes fred: example from the l/s of the banjo (rear) to the r/s of trailer. this way its pulling in each direction so the vehicle cant walk.

[Fred K-OR]

Thanks guys. I was not to sure what amount of weight should be on the hitch. The hitch says it is maxed out at 500 lbs so the 3 or 4 hundred would seem like the hitch should work with that.

[Keith True]

What are you towing it with? The tow vehicle is more important than the trailer to me.The tow vehicle I have seen the most problems with is a Ford Explorer.They are just a Ranger(Mazda)with a long cab and usually a bigger motor.I don't feel they have the stance or the wheelbase to handle a car trailer.The most common complaint seems to be,I used it all last year,just fine,then all of a sudden the trailer started to whip.Guys that are experienced with them say to nail the throttle,that straightens them out.A lot of people think that if they have enough power they are all set.An F150 is big enough to handle a Model A trailer fine,as will a full size Dodge or GM.There is a reason U-Haul will not rent you a trailer if your vehicle is on their no-go list.You can get a pretty good idea of your tongue weight with a bathroom scale.Hook the trailer up,load the car,and jack the trailer up off the ball with the scale under the post jack.You will be a little off because of the distance between the jack and the ball,but it will not be enough to bother.By the looks of your trailer if you load up with the front bumper just shy of the front cross header on the trailer I bet you will be close.

[1931 flamingo]

Put a sway control (friction type) between the tow vehicle and trailer, Reese (as well as others) make nice ones, and don't forget safety chains.
Paul in CT

[Bruce Adams]

I have found on my 16 foot open trailer pulled by my Expedition with its 5.4L engine and having air suspension, it is necessary to put the car WAY UP to prevent sway at highway speeds.

[MCHinson]

Unfortunately, when you ask two people for towing suggestions, you usually get about 3 different answers. For instance, I used to cross the tie down straps thinking that it was safer, but after some research I no longer use the crossed strap method.

Rather than try to type all of my recommendations, I would suggest you might want to read this pretty extensive discussion on the subject from the AACA Discussion Forum.

http://forums.aaca.org/f196/trailer-...ch-272997.html

['29wagon]

I trailer my willys cj2a jeep sometimes , the model A is in pieces , so.
I actually prefer to load a car backwards, these short vehicles seem to fit better with the motor closer to the axle and the tongue weight is less.

[Bob A.]

I trailer my Model A and Kubota bucket loader/back hoe with no problems. I use a Grand Cherokee '05 with a Hemi engine. Pulls great, no swaying at all, 65-70 mph. Poor gas mileage. Trailer weighs about 1700 lbs.

[MBI Houston]

Rather than try to type all of my recommendations, I would suggest you might want to read this pretty extensive discussion on the subject from the AACA Discussion Forum.

http://forums.aaca.org/f196/trailer-...ch-272997.html

Thanks MCHinson for the very informative articles. Lots of good things to consider when buying an enclosed trailer.

[HoarseWhisperer]

Originally Posted by MCHinson

For instance, I used to cross the tie down straps thinking that it was safer, but after some research I no longer use the crossed strap method.

Hi MChinson,

I would be interested in a brief summary of your research of the crossed strap tie-down method.

Thx!

[HoarseWhisperer]

Excellent explanation and much appreciated. Thank you!

[MCHinson]

Mr. Kelly beat me online today. Yes, That about sums it up.

[Fred K-OR]

Originally Posted by Keith True

What are you towing it with? The tow vehicle is more important than the trailer to me.The tow vehicle I have seen the most problems with is a Ford Explorer.They are just a Ranger(Mazda)with a long cab and usually a bigger motor.I don't feel they have the stance or the wheelbase to handle a car trailer.The most common complaint seems to be,I used it all last year,just fine,then all of a sudden the trailer started to whip.Guys that are experienced with them say to nail the throttle,that straightens them out.A lot of people think that if they have enough power they are all set.An F150 is big enough to handle a Model A trailer fine,as will a full size Dodge or GM.There is a reason U-Haul will not rent you a trailer if your vehicle is on their no-go list.You can get a pretty good idea of your tongue weight with a bathroom scale.Hook the trailer up,load the car,and jack the trailer up off the ball with the scale under the post jack.You will be a little off because of the distance between the jack and the ball,but it will not be enough to bother.By the looks of your trailer if you load up with the front bumper just shy of the front cross header on the trailer I bet you will be close.

I am pulling it with a Chev 1/2 ton (2500) 2004 4x4. Trailer weight is 1800 lbs and A weighs 2400 lbs.

Thanks guys again for all the ideas. Looks like I may need some more wider tie down straps.

[V4F]

i always load forward ! if not it will sway & scare you to death . i load forward & cross strap as suggested , but i pull the back forward & the front back . i also use a safety chain to lock the trailer to the car & use a safety chain on the loaded car that is locked to the trailer . better safe than sorry .................. steve

[Kevin in NJ]

Interesting subject and no real exact answer. I did some searches on the web and the total % varied some.

With the various things I have towed through the years I always had it loaded such that I could just pick up the tongue with my legs or it was just outside my ability to pick it up. That puts it in the 200lb range. A lighter trailer I would load lighter.

A friend had a bunch of video games loaded on a trailer. I told him it was too light on the tongue, he did not believe me. At 65 mph the trailer wanted to get violently out with its sway so we coasted down and got to the side of the road. Moved about 100lbs to the tongue and it was fine for the 150 mile trip.

It does not have to be an exact science. I see too many loads that are too much on the hitch. The trick is to let the trailer handle the load weight. Make sure the brakes on the trailer work. The new brake controllers are great as they show how good the connection to the trailer brakes are so you know when the connector is not right.