[Autox] Towing discussion - another view point

[George Ryan]

All excellent points, Paul
 
But there is another point of view that i would like to address. When it comes
to single axle trailers let's take a moment and talk about where the rubber
meets the road - the tires/wheels/hubs.
 
First the tires - trailer tires lead a different life from the tires on your
truck. Trailer tires generally sit for days and weeks - even months - without
ever turnng a revolution. Then they are expected to haul a lot of weight at
speed almost instantaneously before they sit for more days, weeks, etc.
 
If there is anybody that pulls a trailer with any consistancy that hasn't had
a tire blow out while under tow, raise your hand! These tires can look good
(no weather checking, proper pressures, good tread  - I don't think I have
ever seen a bald trailer tire, FWIW . . ) and still let go in an instant.
 
And don't forget the not uncommon bearing and/or hub failure - even with
proper greasing, torquing, and care. Then you have to consider the quality of
the average trailer wheel . .
 
When a trailer tire lets go (and one will sooner or later), a hub comes apart,
or one of those cheap trailer wheels decides to come unglued - - I like the
idea of having another axle on that side of the trailer!
 
G 

--- On Thu, 12/10/09, autox-request at autox.team.net
<autox-request at autox.team.net> wrote:


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 21:43:28 -0700
From: Paul and Meredith Brown <l8apexrs at q.com>
Subject: Re: [Autox] Towing discussion - another view point
To: <spitfirejoe at email.com>, Autox <autox at autox.team.net>
Message-ID: <Snt132-w340FA7E2233A351E97DF139D8D0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Single-axle trailers scare me, though I do see quite a few of them around.
They are going to be a LOT less forgiving of weight distribution issues than
dual-axle trailers, and don't have the nice inherent sway damping.  Add to
that the feature you like, towing with a lighter tow vehicle, and your margin
for error goes down further.  Which is all to say, pay attention when you set
it up, and keep an eye on things like your tires and wheel bearings.  Do
something to make SURE the car is always loaded in the same place, and be
very
careful about everything else that gets loaded on the trailer.  Probably a
good idea to even carry the same amount of gas in the race car, though if the
gas tank is over the trailer axle that wouldn't make much difference.

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End of Autox Digest, Vol 1, Issue 23
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