New method for folding trailer tongue.

The new trailer sure looks good - must be a happy tow now :thup

Your new radar looks good too! One "side" reason I can't wait to get radar is to give me a convenient way to get the anchor light moved such that it does not shine brightly right into the forehatch at night! Something like the way you have yours looks good to me.

So glad you are underway again - you sure got that taken care of quickly and efficiently.
 
To me at least; it looks like the trailer looks like it was too small for the boat. The axle seems to be pretty far back from the side view and the way the bow stop was slanted way back it looked like that was changed to be able to get the boat forward on too small of a trailer. I wonder if the bow got loose and started bouncing on the bow stop that might have helped case the situation. LoadRite trailers seem to have a reasonably good name. What was the trailer rated for? Did it have brakes? Did you forward the pictures to LoadRite? Just wondering as that could have been a serious accident if the tongue would have caught the road and dug in.
D.D.
 
Agree with Will-C. Wall thickness of tubing looks a bit small. Also, there is a stress riser right where it folded.

Caveat: not an engineer, so my 2 cents probably only worth half that.
 
After reading this post I went out to the shop to look at the MaryEllen sitting on her EZloader single axle trailer. A couple of things stuck out. The tubing that the hitch actuator is bolted onto appears to be larger. It measures 3'' by 5''. It also extends back to a cross brace well behind the winch post. Also the rest of the frame is 2'' by 5''. It appears that the single axle EZloader trailer is a bit longer. We have enjoyed 12 years of trouble free towing with this trailer. I have had to replace several rollers and the brake drums, bearings and pads.
 
P1000490_001.jpg

After looking at most trailers it appears normally the point of the bow does not extend past the where the two main trailer rails come together. Also noting the bow stop is supported by the two main rails in a couple places. Just an observation. Folks might want to check on their own trailers rigging to prevent the unthinkable. Note in the above picture the 3" by 4" angle the top is only visible under the cross member and the turnbuckle's u bolt is not welded to the main rails but gets in under the I beams top flange as it was just an extra measure in case of a sudden stop since I needed to get the u bolt bolted to something to sandwich the cross member for the turnbuckle arrangement.
D.D.
 
nancy and I passed you Friday on I10 in Alabama---nothing looked out of the ordinary....we slowed and waved---but you were concentrating on the traffic ahead.....

safe travels Bob and Marie.
 
I imagine a few of us went out to take a look at our trailers after this - just to see how that portion was handled. Here is a photo of mine, with a couple of notes below (Magic Tilt tandem-axle galvanized trailer):

bow_stand.jpg

Notes:

1) Steel brake line is temporary measure until I can install another new brake hose section (had to remove the previous one on the road due to trailer shop error; was only able to get steel at the time). I just received the new hose section.

2) I now have a turnbuckle arrangement in place of the line tying the bow eye of the boat down to the welded eye on the bow stand base.

3) I've never been entirely comfortable with the spare mounted to the bow stand (even though it is near the base). IIRC I could move it to one of the side frame rails with different U-bolts. Maybe I should?

4) There was a small area at the very forward part of the bow stand base that was not sitting entirely flat on the frame (due to a slight level change with the single tubing section that makes the tongue); I added a thin piece of fiberglass board so all is sitting level and there is even pressure on everything. That was after this photo was taken.
 
Wow. That is some real damage. It appears to be too much dynamic force on the trailer while operating over the rough road as speed. The metal just failed from the weight and the hammering action of the bumps and expansion joints. I actually can't believe the ball managed to stay attached to the tow vehicle while operating at that angle. Thank goodness it did.

Well, at least everyone is safe, you have a better trailer, and you were not out a fortune getting back on the road. Glad you are back on the road.
 
Thanks for all of the interesting comments. I agree, I had questioned the size of the trailer--but that was what was sold with the boat. I would have considered it a Yard Trailer. However, we towed it 1200 miles home, and not problems, then over 7000 miles out west one summer. Another 2000 miles around FL, and the South--no problems.

Sorry to have missed you Nancy and Bob! Yes, I was concentrating on the road!

The bow was tight against the bow roller, so there was no flexing. of the boat. There is also a fairly tight SS chain, going to the winch stand right under the winch--so the bow could not move more than a couple of inches at the most. I don't think the bow was bouncing--I think the trailer was flexing.

Dave, your trailer seems to be a bit different, with using I beams, where a lot of trailers use square rails. But your rig actually looks a little less substantial than what I have, in the bow roller support--and photos are deceiving. Point well taken that the V or Y of the frame is further forward on the old trailer. On the new trailer the bow support is behind the V or Y where the side rales do meet the tongue--and your points are very valid.

Dave, the stress crack developed as the towing service was pulling the tongue up and down, to see how it would handle on the road-the conclusion was it would not well--and thus the slow speed and extra chains on the the frame.

Good idea to forward photos to Load Rite. As I recollect the trailer was rated for about 5000 lbs. I may have a photo of the plate in my collection. The insurance company has assigned an investigator to examine the trailer.

The trailer had surge brakes which worked well before the damage--when the brake line failed. The coupler was well locked on (with a lock thru the pin on the coupler)--and the tow guy said move the RV--and I said I cannot undo the coupler--and he could not either. It ooh some creative work to get the coupler loose. Yes, if the front had dug in it would have been interesting.
Many years ago (1961), I had a grossly overloaded trailer loose its axle, and the suspending arms dig into the hot tarmac on I 10 in New Mexico. It stopped the car like a Danforth anchor dug in--and we plowed up some of the pavement-the coupling held in that case also.

This trailer failure is the second I have had in the last 50 years.
 
Thanks for all of the interesting comments. I agree, I had questioned the size of the trailer--but that was what was sold with the boat. I would have considered it a Yard Trailer. However, we towed it 1200 miles home, and not problems, then over 7000 miles out west one summer. Another 2000 miles around FL, and the South--no problems.

Sorry to have missed you Nancy and Bob! Yes, I was concentrating on the road!

The bow was tight against the bow roller, so there was no flexing. of the boat. There is also a fairly tight SS chain, going to the winch stand right under the winch--so the bow could not move more than a couple of inches at the most. I don't think the bow was bouncing--I think the trailer was flexing.

Dave, your trailer seems to be a bit different, with using I beams, where a lot of trailers use square rails. But your rig actually looks a little less substantial than what I have, in the bow roller support--and photos are deceiving. Point well taken that the V or Y of the frame is further forward on the old trailer. On the new trailer the bow support is behind the V or Y where the side rales do meet the tongue--and your points are very valid.

Dave, the stress crack developed as the towing service was pulling the tongue up and down, to see how it would handle on the road-the conclusion was it would not well--and thus the slow speed and extra chains on the the frame.

Good idea to forward photos to Load Rite. As I recollect the trailer was rated for about 5000 lbs. I may have a photo of the plate in my collection. The insurance company has assigned an investigator to examine the trailer.

The trailer had surge brakes which worked well before the damage--when the brake line failed. The coupler was well locked on (with a lock thru the pin on the coupler)--and the tow guy said move the RV--and I said I cannot undo the coupler--and he could not either. It ooh some creative work to get the coupler loose. Yes, if the front had dug in it would have been interesting.
Many years ago (1961), I had a grossly overloaded trailer loose its axle, and the suspending arms dig into the hot tarmac on I 10 in New Mexico. It stopped the car like a Danforth anchor dug in--and we plowed up some of the pavement-the coupling held in that case also.

This trailer failure is the second I have had in the last 50 years.
 
Was thinking a bit more about this today. I wonder if the oscillation motion was exaggerated somewhat due to the longish overhang of a DP motorhome. NOT that the trailer shouldn't be able to withstand it, but I was just thinking that might have been one of a number of factors that contributed. At least if I'm visualizing the geometry correctly.

I had a micro version of this a month or so ago, only to the side: Last fall I had backed my boat/trailer into a storage "locker" (individual stall type) with my previous tow rig, which was a van with a very short overhang (distance from rear axle to hitch ball). When I went to pick it up I had my current tow vehicle, which has a longer overhang. Turned out I couldn't get the boat out because there was a (slight) turn I had to make about thirty feet out past the door and as soon as I turned the wheel even just a little bit, of course the tailswing of my tow rig tried to make the C-Dory scrape the wall of the locker. Even backing and filling I couldn't get past that (ended up waiting until morning when they could pull it out with their tractor).
 
Sunbeam, in fact the overhang of a diesel pusher is far less than a gasoline motor home, all be it less than a van, SUV or truck--I don't have the exact numbers at hand. But we towed our C dory 25 over 10,000 miles behind a 30 foot gas powered RV with much more overhang.

The Roadmaster chassis has 10 air bags and an air suspension, so there is very little road "bump" transmitted to the RV. Marie noted the road in the Yukon, far more that I did in the RV.

Certainly the tow vehicle is part of the equation.
 
After reading the last few comments, I started looking closer at my trailer and Bob's trailer (photos). As for placement of the axle, my twin axle EZ Loader has it's axles in about the same place. The main difference I see is that I have a metal bracket coming off the front of my bow stop down to the frame, which probably adds a lot of reinforcement right there.

DSCF1004.jpg
 
thataway":3outmws0 said:
Sunbeam, in fact the overhang of a diesel pusher is far less than a gasoline motor home
Click to expand...

Ah, okay. I had always thought that there was a certain amount of overhang required for the diesel engine and running gear, and that was why there was no way to have a short/good diesel pusher. Anyway, I wasn't thinking about your RV bumping up and down because of "bad" suspension, but more just that the rear end could potentially be "pointing up," at the same time as the trailer was "pointing down." Not due to any lack of quality of your RV, but more because of the horrible "waves" in the road. As if you were towing a boat on the water and got on "mis-matching" waves and troughs. This could be totally wrong, but it just came to mind because of the road surface, not your RV or boat. I'm vaguely familiar with your DP and I know it's top notch.
 
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