[TR] TR3 trailer towing/design

[ray at raysmg.com]

I have a Pace 8x16 enclosed car hauler. It's finished out on the inside
and carries an AC unit on top and full length awning, so with a spare,
tool box, etc. weight is near 4000 lbs. With the Midget on board that
brings it to around 5500 and with the TR3 near 6000. When I bought the
trailer I upgraded my towing capacity, replacing my SUV's Class 3 rating
(5000 lb) with a new Nissan Titan that has 9400 lbs cap. and a Class 4
hitch. The new truck has the "Big Tow" package which provides a few
options, the most important being the "tow" button on the dash that
reprograms shift ranges and the addition of a transmission cooler and
guage. I got sticker shock when I priced the load distributing
hitch/sway bar package, but thought it a good investment in peace of
mind and safety. Sway bars are a full 1" square. I've not regretted the
decision. Deflection when overtaking an eighteen wheeler on the
interstate or being overtaken by one is minimal, a few inches at most.
Normal towing is straight as an arrow. A good quality brake controller
assures confident, straight line, stopping (my trailer has brakes on all
four wheels). One note, the trailer I purchased has torsion bar axles
and a low center of gravity. Though I went with an extra height option
(6' 6") so that I can comfortably walk around upright in the trailer,
with the lower floor height it does not feel top heavy. With the low
floor, a 30 inch beaver-tail, and a full height rear ramp neither car
drags when loading. With either car on-board (in it's proper location)
the tongue weighting is 650-700 lbs.

A picture of the hitch setup is here:

http://www.raysmg.com/Web%20Images/Edited/car_hauler/Pictures/Edited/hitch1.j
pg

And a full description and photos of the trailer here:

http://www.raysmg.com/rays_mg_midget_car_hauler.htm
---
U-Haul's site offers the following information on Class/Capacity/Tongue
Weighting:

Class 1 (Class I) hitch
Trailer hitch with capacity of up to 2,000 lbs gross trailer weight and
200 lbs tongue weight.
Class 2 (Class II) hitch
Trailer hitch with weight-carrying rating of up to 3,500 lbs gross
trailer weight and 300/350 lbs tongue weight.
Class 3 (Class III) hitch
Trailer hitch with weight carrying rating of up to 5,000 lbs gross
trailer weight and 500 lbs tongue weight. Also sometimes used to refer
to a hitch with any 2" receiver, regardless of rating.
Class 4 (Class IV) hitch
Trailer hitch with weight carrying rating of up to 10,000 lbs gross
trailer weight and 1,000 - 1,200 lbs tongue weight.  Although many times
any hitch with a capacity greater than 5,000 lbs gross weight is
referred to as a Class 4.
Class 5 (Class V) hitch
Any trailer hitch with capacity greater than 10,000 lbs gross trailer
weight and 1,000-1,200 lbs tongue weight.

Ray

Ray McCaleb
ray at raysmg.com
http://www.raysmg.com