Telescoping Trailer Tongue Extension Question

mkirsch wrote:
You guys missed one thing:

He wants a TELESCOPING tongue, not just an extended tongue.

I'm not sure such a thing is even legal. You'd have to check state laws on trailer construction.

For sure you'd need at least two ways to lock the tongue in position. It would be counterproductive to have a lone locking pin fall out or fail in a hard stop, sending the trailer into the rear of the camper.

For sure you'd want the slip fit to be TIGHT. You don't want it rattling around on you back there. Of course then a little bit of rust will cause the telescoping tubes to seize tight.

For sure you'd want the extension to be STOUT. Big beefy square tubing, but also be aware that with the stout come the pounds. It will definitely be heavier than a receiver extension, that's for sure.

Didn't miss it... just haven't designed it for him. How could it possibly not be legal? I fail to follow that line of thought.

Two pins? What is the difference between a standard receiver which has one pin and an extension? It's still a pin in shear...is the stress on the extension pin greater than the receiver?

Lot's of ways to have a tight fitting, easily adjustable tube. Every boom truck/dump trailer/etc has tight fitting extensions that slide fairly easily.

In agreement that extensions add pounds. Which brings us back to the actual construction of the trailer to start with. I don't think just any trailer can be easily stretched. Someone mentioned dump trailers and their extensions. Difference being, they have very little tongue weight. The load sits on the axles, so stretching one out is a little different, even 20 + feet.