I subscribe to the old adage -- If things don't look right, they usually aren't. Maybe its the engineer in me, but this doesn't look right. Not only does it look unbabalnced, I am sure this attachment brings this rig well over the 3500 weight limit (the trailer comes in at 3160 unloaded). I bet the tongue load is -50 pounds. 😀
The axle on the first pic looks to be centered from the front of the HTT to the back bumper of the deck. It may not be as unbalanced as you think. It may be tongue heavy with nothing on the deck but it still looks towable.
Now the shamrock looks odd and tongue heavy but what do they expect to be on the deck? 3 Quads? Smart car? That would change the balance. It looks like this would be very tongue heavy and not able to be towed without something on the back unless it is a big truck.
Matt O 2006 Skyline Nomad 27' travel trailer. Previously owned 1986 Coleman Columbia / 1992 Coleman Senecca / 1989 Born Free Class C RV.
[quote author=Lone Lock link=topic=1725.msg14318#msg14318 date=1340650968]
The axle on the first pic looks to be centered from the front of the HTT to the back bumper of the deck. It may not be as unbalanced as you think. It may be tongue heavy with nothing on the deck but it still looks towable.
Actually Matt, I think it would be an issue because it is tongue-light. Dawn and I have the same Jayco x17z and the advertised empty tongue weight is 400 pounds with the trailer weighing in at 3160 pounds with AC and awning. As I see it, there are two things wrong:
1) That go-cart has to be approximately 200 pounds (with the tools he said he carries with it), plus the supporting structure which is probably at least 100 pounds (an empty Thule Bike ride holder for two bikes is 60 pounds). Add that to the weight of the trailer plus whatever your regular trailer load (food, tools, bedding, liquids, etc) and you will be exceeding your axle limit by a large margin.
2) The load is way back behind the single axle. That drops the tongue load considerably. The trailer is 17 feet long with the axle approximately 10 feet behind the tongue. By looking at the picture, that load of 300+ pounds placed behind the wheel approximately 8 feet would reduce the load on the tongue:
[(400 lb x 10ft)-(300lb x 8ft)]/10ft = 160 pounds. That is much less than the recommended 9-15% trailer tongue load -- it is more like 4.5%.
I'm sure it is towable, but at best, it has got to be both overweight and squirrelly. 😮
I agree, it doesn't look right, but I have to admit, it sure looks like fun. Perhaps all water systems are in the front to add some tongue weight or maybe the rear toy hauler deck is specifiied for something of lesser weight. Either way if I were behind them on the highway I would either get around them quickly or stay very far behind incase they have issues with this set up.
+1 for Joe's comment about being tongue light. The axle will act as a fulcrum and the go cart will lift the tongue. Hopefully it is bolted to the frame and not just the bumper...ouch. In any case not a good idea. I wonder if you have to put the go cart on after being hooked to the truck or the trailer will tip back. Seems like a lot to put on a single axle as well.
The shamrock's deck is so weird, saw one at a show last year. Not as heavy as you would think and according to the forest river it is not meant for storage in transport...yeah right. I have seen one with a big BBQ mounted to the decking at a CG pretty cool. Funny to see on the highway.
Well .... not so sure about that old adage of "not looking right".
My experience with trailers has been there are those that are balanced to start with and those that are not.
Here's a pic of one that is balanced ~
[img width=640 height=480]http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h226/dww0825/DSCF02422.jpg[/img]
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