Trailer Mods ?

[BillyBob]

I have an 18' open dovetail car hauler.
I had the tongue lengthened to 6' from the original 3'.
My question is, what amount of distance should the dual axles be moved forward to keep things in an equal ratio? No guesses please.

[wrenchturner]

I don't think I would attept to move the axles forward until I put a car on it to see how it pulled.Then if they needed moved,be careful,take into consideration,direction the car faces,how much the car weighs,and so on,(I'm sure these are already on your mind.)then, can it be moved forward or back to center the load.
Then,and only then,I wouldn't move more than about 18".
I pull a 19' dovetail job my brother built and the axles balance the trailer(not always good).GOOD LUCK.Hope this helps.?.?

[BIG RED MACHINE]

Billybob,,I am assuming the lenghten was to accomodate a box correct??,,With the lenghtening of the tongue you should not have to move the axles at all,,Make sure you have a weight distributing hitch and bars along with a good anti-sway control for towing,,Let me know what type of hitch and bars you use(round or square) along with the current height of the ball(measure from the ground to the center of the ball when hitch is in the reciever),,Also tell me the height of your trailer tongue when level and I'll get you off and running,,setting the trailer up to tow correctly is not hard even if you added 3 ft,,Make sure that the addition is not going to bend under load and its welded to hold well,,I'll check here before I leave tommorrow and give you what help I can

[BillyBob]

BRM,
Yes, I had the tongue lengthened to accomodate a "job box"(250-500bs. depending).
I cannot use a load distributing hitch unit as I have the hydraulic surge brakes. The reason for the surge brakes is that this trailer is used by numerous vehicles and some don't have the brake contoller. I usually approximate the weight of what load goes up on the trailer & then using the trailer tongue weighing scale to get 10% of the weight on the tongue. The problem with this is that then the car has to be rolled further back then where I would prefer having it located. I'll post the ball height(when level) a bit later in the day.

[ehostler]

I always just balance the car on my trailer. I measure from a fixed point on the front of the trailer to ground and do the same on the rear of the trailer. I move the car up or back, untill both points measure the same. That seems to keep me well balanced and keeps the trailer easy to control.