Towing small trailer with Class C help.

wbwood wrote:

k9-keno wrote:
Thanks for all the input everyone I think i'll give it a go and bring two spare tires and a set of bearings. And yes I do have a back up cam as well. Was also thinking of getting tire pressure system to monitor tires including the trailer.

Lowes sells the tires. I bought a spare and a spare mount for ours. Have had it several years with no problems. They are rated to carry a couple thousand pounds. I did mount boards across mine where the tires sit in order to hold the weight of the cart better. You can see it a little in the picture below..

Is that a 5x8 ???

ron.dittmer wrote:
I personally feel that as long as the trailer is maintained "level" and the tires & rims are "car-like" in size and weight rating, then towing around the country, a golf cart on trailer would yield no concerns.

It's when you have those small tires that spin real fast to keep up with the main vehicle speed, that would worry me. I have too many bad memories as a kid on family vacations with our popup camper with little tires. I am surprised that condition is still lawful.

My class C is pretty high in that back so I think I should be good. Thanks for your input really helps.

4x4van wrote:

k9-keno wrote:

4x4van wrote:
Two sugesstions: carry a spare tire, AND a set of bearings. The small wheels will be humming along at a much faster rotational speed than the tires on your tow vehicle, putting alot of additional stress on the bearings. Not only that, but alot of those inexpensive trailers use metric bearings that are only available through mail-order. Tires may also not be readily available.

I used to tow a small 4x8 fold up trailer that I bought from Northern Hydraulics. 8" tires. Carried my two ATCs on it for years, but also carried two spare tires and a full spare set of bearings/races. Had a blowout once; didn't even feel it (hell, couldn't feel the tiny trailer back there at any time nor could I see it in the mirrors) and dragged it about 20-30 miles before someone finally flagged my down to tell me. Wasn't much left of the tire nor rim, but no other damage. Also had 2 bearing failures on the road over the course of about 8-10 years; would have been SOL without the spares already in my toolbox.

Only other issue is that it was a PITA to back up; by the time you see the trailer in your side mirrors, you're already too close to jack-knifing it to correct! But otherwise, no, there is no problem towing a small trailer.

Thanks for the advice its not a tow dolly its a flat bed with a fold down gate. But might be the same situation. Thanks

I never mentioned a tow-dolly; not sure what made you think that. My trailer was a 4'x8' flatbed with 8" tires. It also would fold up for storage against the wall in my garage. I still own it, simply because it takes up very little space when folded, and is handy when I need an occasional small trailer for hauling stuff. However, my main point was the rotational speed of the smaller tires. 14" or 15" tires; no towing issues at all (many cars on the road still use 14" tires and do just fine at highway speeds for year after year). 12" tires; keep an eye on the tires and bearings; 8" tires; keep a closer eye on them, stop and check often, carry spare bearings (those are really humming at highway speeds!).

As for the trailer pics being posted here; while relatively small, they are not going to cause any problems towing; similar trailers have and continue to be used for years for motorcycles and ATVs all over the country. They also tend to use bearings/hubs/tires/rims that are readily available.

Thanks.

Dont know if its been mentioned, but an infrared laser thermometer is a quick and easy way to check status of tires and hubs. Those of you buying new tires and wheels, look into a larger diameter that fits your hub.

Norm

k9-keno wrote:

4x4van wrote:
Two sugesstions: carry a spare tire, AND a set of bearings. The small wheels will be humming along at a much faster rotational speed than the tires on your tow vehicle, putting alot of additional stress on the bearings. Not only that, but alot of those inexpensive trailers use metric bearings that are only available through mail-order. Tires may also not be readily available.

I used to tow a small 4x8 fold up trailer that I bought from Northern Hydraulics. 8" tires. Carried my two ATCs on it for years, but also carried two spare tires and a full spare set of bearings/races. Had a blowout once; didn't even feel it (hell, couldn't feel the tiny trailer back there at any time nor could I see it in the mirrors) and dragged it about 20-30 miles before someone finally flagged my down to tell me. Wasn't much left of the tire nor rim, but no other damage. Also had 2 bearing failures on the road over the course of about 8-10 years; would have been SOL without the spares already in my toolbox.

Only other issue is that it was a PITA to back up; by the time you see the trailer in your side mirrors, you're already too close to jack-knifing it to correct! But otherwise, no, there is no problem towing a small trailer.

Thanks for the advice its not a tow dolly its a flat bed with a fold down gate. But might be the same situation. Thanks

I never mentioned a tow-dolly; not sure what made you think that. My trailer was a 4'x8' flatbed with 8" tires. It also would fold up for storage against the wall in my garage. I still own it, simply because it takes up very little space when folded, and is handy when I need an occasional small trailer for hauling stuff. However, my main point was the rotational speed of the smaller tires. 14" or 15" tires; no towing issues at all (many cars on the road still use 14" tires and do just fine at highway speeds for year after year). 12" tires; keep an eye on the tires and bearings; 8" tires; keep a closer eye on them, stop and check often, carry spare bearings (those are really humming at highway speeds!).

As for the trailer pics being posted here; while relatively small, they are not going to cause any problems towing; similar trailers have and continue to be used for years for motorcycles and ATVs all over the country. They also tend to use bearings/hubs/tires/rims that are readily available.

k9-keno wrote:
Thanks for all the input everyone I think i'll give it a go and bring two spare tires and a set of bearings. And yes I do have a back up cam as well. Was also thinking of getting tire pressure system to monitor tires including the trailer.

Lowes sells the tires. I bought a spare and a spare mount for ours. Have had it several years with no problems. They are rated to carry a couple thousand pounds. I did mount boards across mine where the tires sit in order to hold the weight of the cart better. You can see it a little in the picture below..

I personally feel that as long as the trailer is maintained "level" and the tires & rims are "car-like" in size and weight rating, then towing around the country, a golf cart on trailer would yield no concerns.

It's when you have those small tires that spin real fast to keep up with the main vehicle speed, that would worry me. I have too many bad memories as a kid on family vacations with our popup camper with little tires. I am surprised that condition is still lawful.

To me the biggest reason for the larger tires is to get the deck height and hitch height up so you don't need as much drop in the hitch. Flipped axle helps too. Less drop in the drawbar the better. All tied in to motorhome overhang. A big drop in the drawbar (to tow the small trailer level) really wrecks the rear clearance.

My trailer requires at least 6" drop in drawbar and it is still not quite level. That 6 inch drop is made worse by the thickness of the drawbar and the ball threaded shaft and nut which hangs down even more. This is a significant loss of rear clearance for my RV and I have to monitor driveways and some hills carefully.

This has been the only issue I've experienced with my small 5X8 trailer.

BD629. I would think they would not make the trailer if they didn't expect it to be towed right at 65mph for any amount of miles as long as you take care of it. Didn't think I needed to buy anything bigger since I didn't need it. I will look into bigger tires and rims see what that costs. I guess you can go as big as the fender would allow??? Never looked into something like this. Thanks for your help.

K9-keno, the side of our 12 inch tires says 60lbs for max load. So I put in 60lbs. The center of the tread wore out. I now run at 35lbs and seems to do much better. The max load for the tires exceeds the max load for the trailer, something I didn't consider at the time.