Pics of completed hitch for double tow

[EricBu12]

Here are the pics of the completed hitch that the welder did. I think it looks sanitary and strong.



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Here is what he did first. He took everything off and cut a hole for the receiver bar and welded it in place and then welded the bolt hole closed



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Here is how the receiver bar is welded to the cross bar that goes from frame to frame. I was under the impression that the square tube met the cross tube... He said this would be strong enough...



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Closeup of the safety chains that I made and he welded them on the side of the bar.



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Here is my 14' utility trailer and this will have the buggy on it later. Right now I am going to tow it empty for shuttling the Rhino to the other trails...



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Here is the 36' 5th toy-hauler That the hitch is on



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[jelag]

Picture 2 above shows the square tubing... . and as I remember this is not much more than . 100" thick... . less than 1/8... . at least that is the way my trailer is... . I personally don't care for the way he has this done... . I would have put another couple of pieces of metal under there... . You don't say how much the total trailer and load will weigh... .

I have a rack on the back of my 5er... . it will hold a 1000 lb goldwing, or my 4 track, or my bicycles... . I used 2 receivers welded to the bottom of the frame with 2 pieces of square tubing 2 x 2 x 3/16" wall that go towards the front the trailer 15 ft..... this added material on the trailer frame keeps it from sagging under the weight of the 1000 lb motorcycle... .

I think that as your trailer bounces the up and down movement on the hitch will cause excessive flex in the tube... . and either fail... . or twist the floor... .

Any other thoughts... .

 

[EricBu12]

The load for this week will be the empty trailer you see in one of the pics. The load will be a Dune buggy that weighs 1000#. . So this will be a 2000# trailer with maybe 200# tongue weight.

Twist the FLoor?? The floor is rated at 2500#. There is extensive beams and rods going to the bumper. I am concerned on the straps going to the cross rail but he was the hitch welder and he said it would be fine...

I have stood on the ball and bounced. and it is sturdy. The bumper itself when welded adds support on the twist but this is much better than what I did before. Look at the thread called "fixing to do doubles towing" on page 2 and see what I did before.


This is the load that will be on the trailer later on. . I am in the process of fixing it up

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[Bob4x4]

At the least I would have mitered square tube to tube. With the flat bar used you are loosing a lot of strength. Being a comm'l driver I am sure you have seen many bad things happen out on the road.



Bob

 

[EricBu12]

Well towed the empty trailer to moab today and everything is good. when the trailer is hooked up, it is level and good. I am not able to update more pics but so far it is good.



I was amazed at the strap setup too but the guy that did it, does hitches all the time so I devert expertise to him.

 

[EricBu12]

Well here are the pics of the Utility trailer hooked up. . Turned out better than I thought it would

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As far as the length is concerned, and for all those traveling through utah and doing double, heres the law... . Utah allows 61 feet of trailer length when hooked together. No limit to overall length. This is from the UHP website. So I am 56 feet overall on the trailers and 71 feet overall length.

Had to back up way back to get this shot!!

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Trailer tows good, I def. Noticed a difference with 1000# dragging behind. Slowed me down some but overall, it did good. Cant see it when I am straight except for the shadow, and when I turn. So, So far, so good. Next Month, I hope to have my buggy on it and have it done.

 

[SWC]

Eric you said you could not see the second trailer except for the shadow. I cannot see my boat trailer behind the 5th wheel when I tow double. I like to see what is going on back there. I found some fiibreglass rods around 4 ft long used to mark drive ways etc. and mounted those on the boat trailer. I can see the end of the rods behind the camper. These rods have 6 in reflective end that are visible in the dark.

I have a 2004 Keystone Laredo 27RL and a 2001 Lund 17. 5 ft Prosport. Not the load you are pulling but still fun.

I will be working at Besnard Lake Lodge http://www.besnardlake.com/ this summer. A drive in fishing lodge in Northern Saskatchewan. I will be leaving later this week.

Stan