Saw this Harley on the back of a 5er yesterday

RustyJC wrote:
Howard,

There's a difference between a cantilever load (such as the motorcycle/HydraLift) and a suspended load (such as your swivel-wheel trailer) that's tied through a receiver-type hitch. You might want to review the post below that's found at the top of page 3 - although short on specifics, I doubt his findings were 40 lbs change in pin weight to result in axle and tire loading situations such as the poster below highlights.

Rusty

stripit wrote:
When I was weighing RV's as a traveling business the ones I weighed with a big bike hanging off the back of a 5th wheel were always interesting. Many of the 5th wheels didn't have the extra axle capacity to carry the weigh of the bike and rack they had. Not only the weight of the bike & rack, the unsprung weight transfer from hanging so far back off the last axle did lift weight from the pin. So even though the bike was 600-700 lbs and the lift was 150 or 200 lbs you added more that that weight to the rear axle as it came from the pin rearward. In many cases the axles were over the rated capacity and in some case the tires were carrying well beyond their rated carrying load rating. I never talked about frame flex, or possible damage, I just weighed and showed the numbers so the owner could make their own decision on what was OK with them. I did see some real strange looks when the figures were presented and the owners had no clue how their trailer was carrying the weight. I always heard, Oh it tows fine!!

Actually I would think that the weight such as mine, hanging off the back such as it is, would subtract more weight from the pin than a cantilever since that is tied into the trailer frame farther toward the front of the trailer.

And yes there is a notable lack of specifics in the post you mentioned. I hesitate to give it much credence without knowing much more detail. I honestly don't see how adding 600-800 lbs. near the rear is going to put the axles and tires over their limits. Unless, of course, they are already close to the edge. I always weigh my stuff and know how close to the edge I may be. Note: not very. :)

Just as an aside, I did it for a couple years without any issues, frame or otherwise. I knew the weights so I wasn't too worried, but it was definitely worrisome when traversing rough roads. It's just not worth it to me to chance it any more. Now I have a toyhauler and it's a real load off my mind, let me tell you.