Need to get shot

[4x4ord]

So I towed the trailer into the mountains last weekend with the bike on the lift. The wind was blowing and the trailer towed terrible. Especially going down hill the trailer would push the truck around making for a very stressful drive. Anyway we got out there and it was really nice to have the bike along. My intentions were to have my wife tow the trailer home and I was going to ride the bike to avoid another stressful drive going back home, but .... I wore the back tire off the bike and decided I would feel more comfortable driving an unstable truck back then riding a motorcycle back with a tire that looked like it could pop any second.

Well the drive back was very nice. Little wind and the truck felt much more stable. I got thinking about why there was such a profound difference between the way the 5ver towed going out vs coming back. I think the wind was responsible for some of the unstableness but what may have made the biggest difference is the fact that we used about 40 gallons of water over the weekend. That 40 gallons was moved as we used it from the fresh tank to the black and grey tanks. The fresh tank is over the front trailer axle the black and grey water is stored about 4 feet ahead of the fresh water. I think moving that 40 gallons forward 4 feet shifted about 100 lbs from the trailer axles to the trailer pin.

So in the future i would like to have a few sacks of shot positioned in the bedroom or poured into the kingpin hitch on the trailer to add some ballast to the pin weight.

I weighed the truck and trailer on the way home:

front truck axle .......4960 lbs
rear truck axle ........5440 lbs
trailer axles ..........14440 lbs

Tare weight of truck rear axle is 3480 lbs.

Any ideas on where to get a cheap couple hundred pounds of shot.

[4x4ord]

The tire is replaced and it was sure nice having the bike along for the ride.

[Cummins12V98]

4x4ord wrote:
Took the bike along this weekend and the trailer handled fairly well with 4 - 5 gallon pails filled with gravel placed in the closset over the pin box. I think if I fill the pails with concrete instead of gravel I'll be set. 4 pails of concrete will put about 400 lbs on the pin.

I hope you replaced the somewhat worn rear tire first. 😉

[4x4ord]

Took the bike along this weekend and the trailer handled fairly well with 4 - 5 gallon pails filled with gravel placed in the closset over the pin box. I think if I fill the pails with concrete instead of gravel I'll be set. 4 pails of concrete will put about 400 lbs on the pin.

[laknox]

GMH wrote:

laknox wrote:

allen8106 wrote:
FYI, a 40 gallons of water doesn't weigh a 100 lbs, more like 320 lbs.

333.6 lbs, to be almost exact. Water is ~8.34 lbs/gal.

Lyle

That's US gallons. 10 lbs per imperial gallon up here.
Best solution to OP's problem = Toyhauler.
2nd best solution = move axles back. it likely won't take as much space as adding a third axle and cost should be similar or maybe even less. Adding weight to counterbalance the bike is OK for a test, but it is not a solution.

I haven't seen a FW yet, that had enough room in the wheels wells to move them more than 4-6" without =extensive= mods. Not sure how much that would accomplish.

Lyle

[4x4ord]

GMH wrote:

Best solution to OP's problem = Toyhauler.
2nd best solution = move axles back. it likely won't take as much space as adding a third axle and cost should be similar or maybe even less.

·

I haven't seen a toyvhauler that I would prefer over our current trailer so I'm not overly interested in that option.

Moving the axles back would be significantly less expensive than adding a third axle. Very little material would be required and I can do most of the work myself. I would do the welding, hire someone to do the body work and then I would paint it myself.

Adding a third axle would be easier to do and would allow the bike to ride a fair bit smoother. It would also increase the carrying capacity of the trailer. The disadvantage I see of three axles is the cost of buying the axle/wheel assembly.

For the number of times I'm going to be carrying the bike behind the trailer the counterbalance might be good enough. I'll be trying it out next weekend.

[GMH]

laknox wrote:

allen8106 wrote:
FYI, a 40 gallons of water doesn't weigh a 100 lbs, more like 320 lbs.

333.6 lbs, to be almost exact. Water is ~8.34 lbs/gal.

Lyle

That's US gallons. 10 lbs per imperial gallon up here.
Best solution to OP's problem = Toyhauler.
2nd best solution = move axles back. it likely won't take as much space as adding a third axle and cost should be similar or maybe even less. Adding weight to counterbalance the bike is OK for a test, but it is not a solution.

[4x4ord]

allen8106 wrote:
FYI, a 40 gallons of water doesn't weigh a 100 lbs, more like 320 lbs.

The approximitely 40 gallons of water that was used was moved from the fresh water tank to the black and grey water tanks. The black and grey tanks are forward of the fresh water tank which would have resulted in adding about 100 lbs to the pin.

[laknox]

allen8106 wrote:
FYI, a 40 gallons of water doesn't weigh a 100 lbs, more like 320 lbs.

333.6 lbs, to be almost exact. Water is ~8.34 lbs/gal.

Lyle

[allen8106]

FYI, a 40 gallons of water doesn't weigh a 100 lbs, more like 320 lbs.

[laknox]

mileshuff wrote:
I tow with tanks near empty. Just a few gallons in the fresh water tank in case of bathroom emergencies while driving. If dry camping we fill the tank somewhere as close as possible to our campsite to limit how far we tow with tank filled.

Also helps since to get to the mountain campsites we climb from 1200' to over 7000'. The lower weight helps climb all the steep grades!

Same here! :B

Lyle

[laknox]

4x4ord wrote:
I don't understand why the tires are wearing so much more on the left side but the front tire has the same milage on it and is doing the same thing. The tread depth on the left is 3/32" where as the tread depth on the right is 3/16".

Which side do you carry your wallet on? :B

Lyle

[ol_Bombero-JC]

4x4ord wrote:

Me Again wrote:
Even at 17% you are pin light. Rather than the lift, you should have gotten one of those 5th wheel dollies and put the bike in the bed of the truck. Even an Idaho Tote would add weight at the rear.

As the saying goes, "wrong tool eh!"

I had pondered other options prior to building the lift. The lift is what I want. Before starting this project I realized I might have to add a third axle before being totally satisfied.

(IMO) - OP - you need to return to (LOTS) of "pondering".

Sooner or later, you will be visited by one of the "real" Weight Police.

Accident waiting to happen..:(

Posters - you should include a disclaimer with your solutions!

(BTW) on the road.......
If you "encounter" this, pass! Be "in front" - *NOT* behind!..:R

~

[mileshuff]

I tow with tanks near empty. Just a few gallons in the fresh water tank in case of bathroom emergencies while driving. If dry camping we fill the tank somewhere as close as possible to our campsite to limit how far we tow with tank filled.

Also helps since to get to the mountain campsites we climb from 1200' to over 7000'. The lower weight helps climb all the steep grades!

[JIMNLIN]

Maybe its how you set the seat.
Buddy of mine came back from nam with severally shot up lower back/hips/upper legs. Do to his disability he sat off to the left side of his road bike a bunch.... enough it wore his tires off center on one side.

Do road bike tires have delam problem in the tread area like our truck/trailer tires ??