Motorcycle on 5ver.

Hmm, more to it than moving wheels. More weight will mean the need for beefing up springs too. If currently a 6 stack, maybe a 7 or 8 stack.

Upped mine from 6 to 7 stack & still broke 2 leaves in Newfoundland last year.

4x4ord wrote:
Snip... Anyone able and willing to photoshop my axles moved back 16" on this photo?

Here is what I came up with. I think the modified view looks great. Would be very nice if the pin weight worked out ok. Good luck. :)
Barney

Modified using Windows Paint

Back in my research days the thought of carrying a bike was in my head too. My aspirations were much more modest. I had a Yamaha TW 250cc in mind. Bike dry weight is about 260#. Checked with Carriage at the time to see what they thought.

Their answer was nothing over 300# bike & carrier combined. Scrubbed the thought. No way for a toy hauler. I like my inside human comforts too much.

TXiceman wrote:
No way would I hang 800# plus the weight of the lift on the back of a 5er even with a reinforced frame. Think of a seesaw....what happens when you put a really heavy person on the other end of a seesaw. The other end goes up. You will cause the pin weight to go lighter and this can cause serious handling/ride issues.

Ken

Yep that's the concern. Once I get actual weights I'll know how fat the guy is on the hitch side of the seesaw. Then I'll have a better idea as to whether or not the 1000 pounder riding on the back bumper is problem.

No way would I hang 800# plus the weight of the lift on the back of a 5er even with a reinforced frame. Think of a seesaw....what happens when you put a really heavy person on the other end of a seesaw. The other end goes up. You will cause the pin weight to go lighter and this can cause serious handling/ride issues.

Ken

That trailer sure looks familiar!

IIRC, those numbers are the ones that the factory posted in the brochure. When we were pulling our trailer home from Edmonton we stopped at a scale and were quite shocked to find out that the pin weight of the trailer was north of 3000 lbs with very little in the trailer! I think this is a good thing in your case because one of the biggest potential issues I can see with your plan is having too light of a pin weight causing handling issues. I'm definitely watching with interest. :)

I've got my lift plans pretty much finalized. I did a little calculating and came up with some weights.
Factory dry weight of trailer is..................................................12725
Dry axle weight is......................................................................10505
weight motorcycle and carrier add to trailer axles .....................1830
Dry axle weight with bike loaded/trailer empty..........................12335
Factory dry pin weight.................................................................2220
Dry pin weight with bike and carrier installed/trailer empty.........1440

This week I will get some accurate axle weights with most cargo in the trailer. I know that moving the axles back 16" would offset the weight of the bike hanging off the back very nicely but I'm not crazy about moving the axles back. I plan on pricing that option out and making a final decision as to what to do this week. Anyone able and willing to photoshop my axles moved back 16" on this photo?

4x4ord wrote:
I found an online beam design calculator that allows me to put various beam dimensions in and calculate the beam deflection when weight is hung from the end. I was surprised at how strong the frame is of this Citation trailer. Hanging 500 lbs off one frame rail cantilevered 13 feet beyond its support (the rear spring hanger) would only cause .11" of vertical deflection. In contrast a 2" x 15" x 1/4" rectangular tube would deflect about 15% more. I think I'm going to mount a motorcycle lift on this trailer. If I notice any negative handling or bowing of the frame as a result I will add a third axle.

Here are a couple pics of the lift mounts on my trailer. PM me if you want additional pics or have any more questions about the Hydralift.

noteven wrote:
Time for a nice shape class 8 with a motorcycle side loader onto the deck. Once you’ve towed with 1850lbs-ft, retarder, and real brakes you might like.

Parking needs a bit more planning.

I've got a couple real nice class 8's. As nice as they are to drive, especially the Kenworth, I prefer driving the pick up truck. My trailer is only about 16,000 lbs.

I found an online beam design calculator that allows me to put various beam dimensions in and calculate the beam deflection when weight is hung from the end. I was surprised at how strong the frame is of this Citation trailer. Hanging 500 lbs off one frame rail cantilevered 13 feet beyond its support (the rear spring hanger) would only cause .11" of vertical deflection. In contrast a 2" x 15" x 1/4" rectangular tube would deflect about 15% more. I think I'm going to mount a motorcycle lift on this trailer. If I notice any negative handling or bowing of the frame as a result I will add a third axle.