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Hey all, i hope this is the right place to put my question (i guess its a vehicle in a way ha ha) Anyhow,
I have a small trailer (4.5 x 9ft) when I load up my ATV, this thing starts swaying mildly left and right when I start hitting 60 MPH +
I was thinking of buying one of those trailer stabilizers; would it work for a small trailers? Also would getting bigger tires help?
The tongue of the trailer must be level for it to tow correctly. If you have a pickup, most of the little trailers use too small of tires to match the height of the truck or hitch. You'll need a drop hitch to level the tongue. If the tongue is level, then the issue is most likely that you are not putting enough weight on the tongue/hitch. It should be right at 10% of the towed weight and should be the tongue weight. If the tongue is level, I'd suggest moving the ATV more forward to shift the weight forward. Also, make sure the tires are aired up to the pressure indicated on the side of the tire.
Example of tongue weight. If the trailer weighs 500lbs and the ATV weighs 500lbs
500lbs + 500lbs = 1000lbs @ 10% = 100lbs tongue weight.
If you can easily pick up the tongue of the trailer by hand, it's way too light on tongue weight.
This makes me think of the old joke - Doctor, it only hurts when I laugh. Then don't laugh. LOL.
So, don't drive over 60mph?
That said, I hauled a U-Haul trailer - 4x 8 with my little 93 Nissan 4 cyl 2WD pickup, and had no problems. I bought a good trailer hitch. I mostly drove around 60mph, but had no problems when I drove faster than that. So, maybe it's your hitch?
Weight distribution hitches are not designed for small trailers like yours. Make sure your tires are balanced and at the correct psi. Also make sure you have enough tongue weight. 10 to 15 percent is optimal.
Hey all, i hope this is the right place to put my question (i guess its a vehicle in a way ha ha) Anyhow,
I have a small trailer (4.5 x 9ft) when I load up my ATV, this thing starts swaying mildly left and right when I start hitting 60 MPH +
I was thinking of buying one of those trailer stabilizers; would it work for a small trailers? Also would getting bigger tires help?
That's pretty normal. That's why you should keep your speed to 55 mph when towing a trailer. It's the law in many states.
the small tires on many of this size trailer are not rated for speeds faster than 55-60 mph, so the tires are deforming while going down the road.
as well, the construction of the trailers may not be sturdy enough to eliminate flexing of the frame allowing the trailer to sway.
I've seen a lot of trailers where the tires are not pointing in the same direction; one toe'd in, one toe'd out, or both toe'd out. The alignment of the axle to the frame and the stub axles alignment is a critical factor to true straight-line tracking.
proper tongue weight is a big factor, too, but will not correct for inadequate tires/frame/alignment of the trailer. Swaying may be an inherent characteristic on many small trailers at highway speeds.
in addition to checking for correct tire pressure (and especially, not over-inflated), you may want to check on the sidewall for the tire speed rating code. Loose wheel bearings (or worn out/damaged) will also be a contributing factor to a swaying small trailer.
as has been noted, tongue weight is important. too much and the car has handling issues, too little and the trailer has handling issues.
i have built trailers and tow tested them up to 80 mph with no issues. but there again i got the tongue weight right, i got the trailer level when hooked up to the car at ride height. i also got my tire pressures right.
in your case OP i would suggest moving the load on the trailer forward a few inches to get more load on the tongue.
Yep, that is it in a nutshell. Move the load further forward so there is more weight on the front than on the back, and it will go away.
I hauled a Mustang body to the scrap yard one time on my little utility trailer, and I had too much weight on the backside. It was white knuckle time the whole trip because it would suddenly start violently swaying from side to side with no warning. Only slowing down to a crawl got rid of it. I never prayed so much in my life.
You simply have too much weight on the back end of the trailer and not enough on the front.
If you search for "trailer weight distribution" on YouTube, there are some great demos that show what happens.
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