Ron Gratz wrote:
Apart from the possible structural consequences --
reducing TW by adding load to the far rear of a trailer, IMO, is a bad idea.
Adding load at that distance from the trailer's center gravity has a big effect on the trailer's polar moment of inertial.
Both the decreased TW and the increased polar moment of inertia tend to decrease the trailer's yaw stability and make sway more likely.
If you need to reduce TW it is much better to move load from the front of the trailer toward the center of the trailer.
Ron
This is the right answer… almost all the other answers fall under the category of I did it and got away with it, or is just blind luck…
In addition to encouraging sway there are other reasons why it’s a bad idea though…
Loading the extreme ends of a beam to balance the load on the beam is about as bad of an Idea as there is… you have to consider the magnitude and amplification of the dynamic loading when doing this… it is equivalent to trying to convert the beam into a spring to absorb and compensate for the shock of the improper loading… on a trailer this is magnified on the rear half of the beam that has no support design for this purpose… less problematic for the front load because it has 2 load points… it’s much more than just the bumper or welding a receiver hitch to the frame as so many want to believe and advocate…
The only correct why to balance the trailer is by relocating weight within the trailer by putting heaver items closer to the axles and lower, with lighter loads toward the front and rear and higher to achieve the balance you need…
While the 10% t0 15% TW is correct achieving that by over or under loading the other end is poor advice…
