Experience Adding a Swing Hitch?

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Bill

Makes me nervous. Does TM supply any instructions and dimensioned drawings? This is a very high-stress area of the frame. Five or ten years ago, a number of members (including me) experienced weld failures in this area, not a good thing set yourself up for.

I suppose the most important thing is to use a professional welder, not your cousin's kid fresh out of high school shop class.

Bill

Absolutely would need to be a certified welder. These guys build trailers all the time. When this is done, it actually strengthens the trailer tongue.

By the way....... the above pics are of a TrailManor factory swing away tongue. I just took those pictures when I painted my frame on my 2005 2720SL about 12-years-ago.

[Shane826]

We made a removable A-frame on my 3326, takes about 30” off the closed length. It’s not as easy as a swing-tongue but it works for us since we only garage the camper over the winter. So the only time it comes off is in the fall before it gets stuffed in the garage, and back on in the spring when it comes out of hibernation. I use the breaker bar in my flat tire kit to check the main bolts before we leave home or a campground. They’ve never budged on their own.

[Wavery]

Nice work Shane.... I wish that I could weld like that. I have a TIG welder but laying down consistent welds like that takes a lot of experience.

[Bill]

Shane -

That's a very nice looking installation - congratulations.

In the last picture, I see two black circles that look like bolt heads with 1/4" hex openings in the head. Is that what they are? If so, why did you choose those instead of conventional bolts?

I assume you will trim off the sharp corners that protrude from the corners of the joins. They look dangerous to knees, clothes. etc.

Bil

[ShrimpBurrito]

And why do you have those small vertical bolts? I see the 3 large horizontal bolts bear most of the force, do the small bolts just prevent the tongue from shifting up and down some fraction of an inch?

Nicely done! Looks really great.

Dave

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

And why do you have those small vertical bolts? I see the 3 large horizontal bolts bear most of the force, do the small bolts just prevent the tongue from shifting up and down some fraction of an inch?

Nicely done! Looks really great.

Dave

I can see the vertical bolts on the underside. They will carry shock load going down rough roads, speed bumps etc. I don't see the necessity for the vertical bolts on the top side. Over-kill is better than under-kill in the long run.

[Shane826]

Wavery- Oh those aren’t my welds. I wish they were. Those were done by a friend’s son. The two of them have been building race cars for years, he now builds fire trucks. The boy can seriously stack dimes.

Bill- We went with those bolts because that’s what we could find in grade 8 that had the correct unthreaded shank. We didn’t want threaded area inside the frames. If you look, there are four angled spacers inside the front cross member so the nuts torque flat, and not on the angled C-channel. We did it cut the ends off. We did round them a bit so there are no harsh edges. His thought there was a wider plane to spread forces across when turning.

Dave- Yeah that’s exactly right. When we originally just had the 3 bolts there was just a slight hint of wiggle. We decided to err on the side of caution. Overkill is the goal. I’d rather mess with a few extra nuts when removing/installing the A-frame than have to figure out what to do if the whole thing came apart on the road.

We eventually took the 2 bolts and tack welded them to the spacers since the Allen holes were starting to wear out pretty quickly. So now it’s just zip zip with the cordless impact on the 8 small nuts, knock the stud/spacers out, break the big nuts loose and then zip them off. The 3 big bolts are welded in place on the removable A-frame. I also got a weather-pack connector for the electric jack wiring so that comes apart east peasy as well.

[simoesxp]

Thank you guys, specially Wavery and Shane for sharing photos. I am a computer guy and would never imagine myself doing this kind of welding work, I would need to have a shop do it … so here goes the question: how to estimate a mod like that? In hours or $’s?

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by simoesxp

Thank you guys, specially Wavery and Shane for sharing photos. I am a computer guy and would never imagine myself doing this kind of welding work, I would need to have a shop do it … so here goes the question: how to estimate a mod like that? In hours or $’s?

The only one that can estimate that job for you would be your local welding shop or trailer manufacturer. Give them a call and make an appointment for you to bring the trailer in.

Show him the above pictures so that he has an idea of what you are talking about.

If I had to guesstimate........ I'd say 6-8 hours labor (if you do the painting). Add an hour for painting. Materials would be $100-$200.

Another option might be to trade your trailer + some cash with someone (like me) that has a swing hitch and doesn't need it.