Sway problem need help

Ivylog wrote:

colliehauler wrote:
Lets see you got rid of a TH designed to do the job to put together this cobbled up mess.

He had help from an "Engineer" who must have said it could be done so let's cut him some slack.

I would say the same thing to a person that sold a 1 ton and bought a 1/2 ton to pull a 35' 5er. It won't work and dangerous. I am sorry if I sound harsh. But to think this is still a good idea ( before scrapping the idea ). Since he is a new member I will try to lighten up.

colliehauler wrote:
Lets see you got rid of a TH designed to do the job to put together this cobbled up mess.

He had help from an "Engineer" who must have said it could be done so let's cut him some slack.

colliehauler wrote:
Lets see you got rid of a TH designed to do the job to put together this cobbled up mess.

Ouch, pretty harsh don't you think?

The guy has a problem, asks for help and he gets dumped on :(

There is a big difference between stressing a problem or even a danger and being rude.

The guy may have gotten into a tough situation, and we all hope he comes up with a safe and workable solution. Let's be supportive ;)

Lets see you got rid of a TH designed to do the job to put together this cobbled up mess.

Gdetrailer wrote:

DiskDoctr wrote:
You can engineer the platform and mounting. But that doesn't mean the trailer can handle it. No need to be so hard on the engineer.

While I do have a lot of "respect" for GOOD Engineers there are BUNCHES of BAD Engineers out there.

The term Engineer can be used in ANY FIELD (IE electrical, mechanical, plumbing, structural and so on).

The problem starts when an Engineer in one field decides to "engineer" something in a field that they have little or NO training in. This just may be the case.

HOWEVER, if that engineer was a GOOD engineer that would have done several things..

FIRST, RECOGNIZE that they do not have enough understanding of the project. Instead they would either design and then send design to ANOTHER ENGINEER to have them run the numbers on the overall design (which includes all the trailer data). Then if the proper engineer approves the first one can allow the design to be built.

Or the engineer would REFUSE to design the project AND send you to one that DOES HAVE PROPER understanding..

SECOND, A GOOD ENGINEER WILL REFUSE to design and stamp the design if they do not have the correct expertise.

A trailer is not a STATIC design, no it is a DYNAMIC (in motion) design and therefore the calculations of all the motion forces must be accounted for. Plus you add in the complexity of the proper weight loads of the tongue. Makes for a lot of work to get it right.

In the case of the OPs situation, the engineer did not account for the trailer nor the tongue weights and solely designed the PLATFORM without taking the overall affects of the added load to the dynamics of the trailer loads...

That is a fact. It is obvious the engineer didn't have a clue what he was dealing with. The problem is that this situation can be fatal. I've been building equipment trailers on and off for about 40 years. I would never even consider designing a mount for this project, even if it were on a 5th Wheel trailer. That is just too much weight on the back of a trailer without the axles being placed much further back. A 5th Wheel trailer may not have the excessive swaying issues of a regular trailer with this load hanging over the rear, but most 5th Wheel RV trailer frames would never handle this excessive load. Many 5th Wheel trailers can't handle the load that they were actually designed for, forgetting the 1,100 # of extra weight hanging over the rear. It is just not a good idea no matter how you look at it. A toy hauler is what you may want to consider because the load will be near the axles, not hanging over the rear.

DiskDoctr wrote:
You can engineer the platform and mounting. But that doesn't mean the trailer can handle it. No need to be so hard on the engineer.

While I do have a lot of "respect" for GOOD Engineers there are BUNCHES of BAD Engineers out there.

The term Engineer can be used in ANY FIELD (IE electrical, mechanical, plumbing, structural and so on).

The problem starts when an Engineer in one field decides to "engineer" something in a field that they have little or NO training in. This just may be the case.

HOWEVER, if that engineer was a GOOD engineer that would have done several things..

FIRST, RECOGNIZE that they do not have enough understanding of the project. Instead they would either design and then send design to ANOTHER ENGINEER to have them run the numbers on the overall design (which includes all the trailer data). Then if the proper engineer approves the first one can allow the design to be built.

Or the engineer would REFUSE to design the project AND send you to one that DOES HAVE PROPER understanding..

SECOND, A GOOD ENGINEER WILL REFUSE to design and stamp the design if they do not have the correct expertise.

A trailer is not a STATIC design, no it is a DYNAMIC (in motion) design and therefore the calculations of all the motion forces must be accounted for. Plus you add in the complexity of the proper weight loads of the tongue. Makes for a lot of work to get it right.

In the case of the OPs situation, the engineer did not account for the trailer nor the tongue weights and solely designed the PLATFORM without taking the overall affects of the added load to the dynamics of the trailer loads...

You can engineer the platform and mounting. But that doesn't mean the trailer can handle it. No need to be so hard on the engineer.

If this was added to a 5er that had heavy enough axles and tires you might be OK, but no way can you do this with a TT. Not enough tongue weight is what makes trailers sway. The idea that 100 lbs back there only takes 33 off the front is way way off as it's closer to 100/80 with the Harley behind the rear bumper. I'm actually surprised that you have any tongue weight. The closest I've ever come to having a trailer take me to the scene of the accident was when I added 250 lbs of bargains to the back storage area of a 25' Airstream. Your engineer must have gotten his degree through the mail.

It is one thing to consider a couple of hundred pounds on the back of a trailer, like a generator, but to put 1,000# plus on the very back of a trailer is an accident waiting to happen. Don't do it. Even a couple hundred pounds can cause serious issues if the frame, axles, axle location, tongue weight, etc. isn't taken into consideration.

If a trailer was designed for this situation, it would have the axles mounted further back than what you have. My guess is that the frame isn't strong enough to begin with. If I was a betting person, I would bet 100 to 1 that the frame isn't appropriate for this load. In fact, I can't think of a TT that I've ever seen that would take this load.

As far as the "engineer" goes, there are some really good engineers out there. There are also those who think that the degree that they have makes them an expert in everything, even those things that they have never worked on. The engineering advise that was given on this project is from someone who doesn't have a clue in what they are doing.
Again, Don't Do This. It is bad enough to subject yourself to the obvious failure that is going to occur, but there are other people on the road that may get hurt. Also, don't use a mechanical devise such as a high dollar WDH and anti sway system to cover up this obvious problem.

SWAG- I'd bet a cup of coffee your axles are overloaded and flexing out of shape.

Check the vertical pitch of your trailer tires relative to the side of your camper without the bike and with. I'll bet they are pitching out at the bottoms.

In which case, the 'sway' you are getting is what we call 'hunting' as in the trailer is huntingnforma balanced line, but can't find it, so it moves back and forth looking for it.

Soft tires, under inflated tires, overloads, bad bearings, weak axles, back axle out of balance loading compared to front, etc will cause such behavior. Sometimes hunting is caused by a TV hitch is too high.

1k is a lot of weight, be careful.