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Old 01-08-2010, 10:53 PM   #1
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Re: Raising a (cargo) trailer

look for a trailer with a straight axle, most utility type trailers are on drop axles or drop torsion axles. I'm a believer in building a custom trailer to fit the application, the standard 6x12 trailer has a pair of 3.5k drop axles centered under the box, you're going to want a 6 or 7k axle behind the center of the box with a 5 or 6 ft tongue that slopes up to near bumper height for ground clearance. Build a stout frame and tongue, then go with lightweight materials for the sides and tops, search for long sheets of plywood for a seamless floor, available in 3/4 x 6' x12' if you find the right lumber supplier.

check with tristate surplus on ebay, they are in hudsonville mi., just across the indiana line, also bontrager's over in sturgis mi

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Old 01-09-2010, 11:23 PM   #2
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Re: Raising a (cargo) trailer


In my experience pulling trailers with a front engine bus... the main issue is indeed in the hitch area. The long rear overhang of the bus makes that area hit the ground. I mooshed a couple of parking feet and jacks before I got it right.

So now the ball on Millicent is all the way up where the bumper used to be.

I suggest you start there, and "work your way back". Your biggest issue may be the slope of the trailer floor.

I'm currently using a 25' boat trailer, and the frame is "alarmingly" close to the ground towards the rear. At the tail, just a handful of inches! Yet it seldom scrapes, because the axles are so far back. And then it hits at the low peak of the V-shaped cross member. A V-shaped cross-member in front of the axles has also hit. What I'm trying to point out, is that if this trailer had flat cross members, it might never scrape at all.

So your main issue is the "span" between the bus axle and the trailer axle. Put the ball up high, and you may be all set. A six inch drop at the hitch may very well dig a six inch furrow in some driveway one fine day.

That said, since your trailer is so short, it may wind up running at "take-off angle". Then see if you can reposition the axle to below the springs. But do NOT turn a dropped axle up-side-down -- however tempting it may be for ground clearance purposes. (There is camber built into the axle.) Spacer blocks... taller springs... I don't know. Obviously, center of gravity is always a factor. But a bus is a big vehicle, and I never notice if I have the trailer on or not. You just don't want to be going down the road with the trailer on its side after that last curve -- ten miles back.
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Old 01-10-2010, 03:05 PM   #3
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Re: Raising a (cargo) trailer


Right.

On Millicent, the center of the ball is level with the bottom of the frame rails. Keeps me mostly out of trouble.

On Old #35 (RIP), I had a deep drop, and that was what caused the trouble.
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Old 01-10-2010, 03:38 PM   #4
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Re: Raising a (cargo) trailer

Just find another bus with a bad motor and turn it into a trailer! With your skills Smitty it could be do-able. It would look all kinds of cool...and it would sit level. You could build a little drawbridge from the rear of your bus to the trailer so that you wouldn't have to get up and down so much. And if any visitor pissed you off, you could make 'em "walk the plank."
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Old 01-10-2010, 07:56 PM   #5
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Re: Raising a (cargo) trailer


http://www.autoanything.com/towing/69A3961A0A0.aspx

Or just about anything from this page, they show several different types.
http://www.diversi-tech.net/Hitches%20Page.htm
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Old 01-12-2010, 04:54 PM   #6
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Re: Raising a (cargo) trailer

anything you do to raise the center of gravity of the trailer is going to increase its tendency towards sway, which at least being pulled by something as large as a bus won't throw the tow vehicle around the way it will with a pickup, but still it should be avoided, cross brace the box tubes that come together to form the "V" where the hitch is wilded onto the trailer then cut off the hitch weld another box tube on top of the existing one, weld it to the existing tubes and to the trailer body if possible then install your hitch onto the top of the now doubled box tube, you can now cut an angled section out of the forward section of the original box (just make sure you weld back in a flat piece so it remains a box and not a c) now your trailers hitch is higher without affecting its center of gravity or any spring/suspension geometry.
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Old 01-12-2010, 06:04 PM   #7
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Re: Raising a (cargo) trailer

Would an old M105 army trailer work? They could definitely carry the weight and they are mounted high given they are usually pulled by medium duty trucks. I have seen them sell for as little as $200. They aren't enclosed, but that would be easy or you could just use the soft top. Just an idea a bit outside of the norm which is par for this group.

http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id...05_trailer.php
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