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Old 07-31-2011, 06:13 AM   #17
Mr. Adventure
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Williamsburg, VA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redhorseman View Post
Mr. Adventure. You sound like a smart man... I'm just a smart "a". I've contemplated adding an extension between the swing hitch joint to the trailer for the purpose of adding a ramp for a motorcycle. This actually seems viable, but might be pushing the "bleeding edge". The extension would need to be 3' long. I estimate the extension will weigh less than 100#. The tongue weight now is about 450#, so with the extension and bike it will increase to 950#. The truck and hitch is rated well beyond that and with a WDH 250# will be transferred to the front axle and 250# to the TM axle. Again, below the capacity. Assuming the material used and construction method is first class, tell me why you think that won't work. I see the thread is quite old, but hopefully you get this. Thanks ahead of the time... Clint (Redhorseman)
Think of a teeter-totter with the rear axle of your tow vehicle as the balance point. In rough terms, the problem with doubling the hitch weight and doubling the distance from the rear axle to the hitch ball is that you're multiplying the downward effect of the hitch load by approximately four. In general, anything that multiplies the distance from the rear axle to the hitch ball also multiplies most of your towing problems.

Again in very round numbers and going from memory on some of the long wheelbase pickup weights reported, a 500# tongue took 300# off the front and added 800# on the rear axle without a WDH. 4 times that would be taking 1200# off the front and adding 2400# to the rear axle, to put this in the ballpark without working too hard. A WDH would help, but if you found one big enough, you'd be needing a tag axle on the trailer to carry it's share (longer hitch ball-to-front-axle-distance vs hitch-ball-to-trailer-axle-distance makes a WDH put a higher percentage of weight distributed to the trailer side).

I'd also be concerned about the flexing and slack motion in the joints of the hitch and the up and down travel (I think you'd risk bottoming out a lot, perhaps on the highway at speed when you hit a dip in the road). The extension may not be designed to handle the side to side torque loads of a 450# motorcycle carrier fastened on it. And how would you attach it: you don't dare drill holes in the extension, and if the extension is heat treated you don't want to weld anything to it. Even if you got this all hooked up on the driveway and it looked OK, I can't see how this story can have a happy result when you get it to the truck scale.


Now think about this the other way. If you instead mounted 450# of motorcycle on the front end of the truck, it would balance the truck axle loads and you wouldn't be needing a WDH or any of that other hardware back aft. How to do that? How about a snow plow mount where you unbolt the plow and replace it with a roll on motorcycle platform that uses the hydraulic plow lift mechanism?
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