Viking 17BH bottom drags

[qq]

I just bought a new Viking 17BH. When I tow my new travel trailer on my driveway, the bottom of rear leveling jack drags on ground (see picture). The skid bar is actually shorter than the jack, that's why jack is touching not the skid bar.





If I remove weight distribution bars, the rear will not touch the ground, but the hitch hits the ground (see picture).



Right now I am using the 5th chain on the weight distribution. I could try using less (4,3,2,or 1 chain) to find the right balance. But I am thinking to install some kind of skid wheel. My questions: where to install the skid wheels? rear bumper, skid bar, or somewhere else? I saw a picture about skid wheels over the skid bar (see picture).



Is it possible that I go to Homedepot and buy one of their caster wheels. But I have no idea how I can mount the wheels to my trailer.

Need help / suggestion for an easy / cheap fix. Thanks!

[goducks10]

PAThwacker wrote:
Sub par tow vehicles and trailers with the same shortfalls. Most of my tt have 15" rims and the tv have 8 lugs. No jacks or hitches bending.

Loan my son some cash so he can trade his paid for Pathfinder in on a dually so he can get a real trailer.

[PAThwacker]

Sub par tow vehicles and trailers with the same shortfalls. Most of my tt have 15" rims and the tv have 8 lugs. No jacks or hitches bending.

[danimal53]

this might sound crazy (and someone please correct me if it's a bad idea) but what if you put the wheel on the tongue jack, then pull it up slow without the bars? That way the tongue jack isn't on the ground, it's supported by its wheel. Can maybe balance better, keeping the front low (but not too low) and keeping the back from dragging? I'm not sure if those wheels are meant for that, or what it might do to the A frame, but just a thought.

[deltabravo]

qq wrote:
. The skid bar is actually shorter than the jack, that's why jack is touching not the skid bar.

Even if the skid bar was longer than the jack, they still wouldn't touch each other.

I'm at a loss as to what the relevance is between one being short than the other and them not "touching each other"

qq wrote:
. The skid bar is actually shorter than the jack

Good ole genius engineering at Lippert Componenets. The frames are made by LCI

[deltabravo]

There's also the problem of your hitch dragging the street as shown. There's no solution for that.

[deltabravo]

goducks10 wrote:
My son has the same exact TT. His drags entering his driveway. I told him to flip the axles. He hasn't done it yet. But that would be my suggestion.

You can't "flip the axles".

You have to do a "spring over axle" conversion.

Dexter makes a kit for it.

[beemerphile1]

On level ground, does the trailer sit level? If not adjust the hitch head so it tows level. If it is level now, adjust the hitch head one bolt hole to lower the nose. When the nose goes down, the tail goes up.

[goducks10]

colliehauler wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
My son has the same exact TT. His drags entering his driveway. I told him to flip the axles. He hasn't done it yet. But that would be my suggestion.

This would be my suggestion as well to put the axle below the springs. Had to do this on a tail dragger that I owned. Dealer did not charge very much to do this and gave me a extra 4" of clearance.

The other issue on the 17BH is the rear sewer drain. It too is low hanging. That's what I told my son to be concerned with.

[colliehauler]

goducks10 wrote:
My son has the same exact TT. His drags entering his driveway. I told him to flip the axles. He hasn't done it yet. But that would be my suggestion.

This would be my suggestion as well to put the axle below the springs. Had to do this on a tail dragger that I owned. Dealer did not charge very much to do this and gave me a extra 4" of clearance.

[mooky_stinks]

Camper G wrote:
That trailer hitch looks overloaded to me. What is the payload rating of your tow vehicle? What is the gvwr of that Viking?

Looks like there is a lot of twist in that trailer receiver. I'd check your weights.

Ps, putting wheels on the rear of the frame is a bad idea. It's very easy to bend the frame that way. The frame is not designed to carry all the load that far back. Good luck

The wheels don't mount on the frame. They mount on the sacrificial skid bars. The skid bars will bend long before the frame will.

[qq]

The 3rd picture is when I remove the weight distribution completely. The load on my RAV4 v6 is fine with weight distribution. The ramp idea is not easy since it is difficult to drove precisely so the tires stay on the ramp while backing and turning ate the same time.

I can get on / off driveway fine except the stabelizing jack touchs the ground. I wish the v-shape skid bar is 1 inch taller so that it touches the ground first instead of the jack.

[Camper_G]

That trailer hitch looks overloaded to me. What is the payload rating of your tow vehicle? What is the gvwr of that Viking?

Looks like there is a lot of twist in that trailer receiver. I'd check your weights.

Ps, putting wheels on the rear of the frame is a bad idea. It's very easy to bend the frame that way. The frame is not designed to carry all the load that far back. Good luck

[Dirtpig]

can you back it into the driveway? my neighbor has a low trailer, i have seen him put down 2x8 boards he drives up on which makes it so his trailer doesnt drag. With that tow vehicle, which looks like a Rav4, it would be detrimental to flip the axles as it would increase drag and possible sway from side winds. Those trailer models are low to the ground for a reason. Easier to tow and manage with light tow vehicles.

[goducks10]

My son has the same exact TT. His drags entering his driveway. I told him to flip the axles. He hasn't done it yet. But that would be my suggestion.

[mooky_stinks]

I added those same wheels to our old 25ft Sunline for our steep driveway. They worked flawlessly. I've seen posts saying they can't/won't work, but that wasn't my experience.