Hi I have a trailer that I carry all sorts of things in including my dogs and camping gear. when loaded to its maximum weight limit it tends to sway at as little as 8mph and virtually stop be4 continuing. I want to build a bigger longer trailer so I can still carry as much stuff but spread the weight out more and keep it as low down as possible. Does having the wheels further back help or even twin axles with smaller wheels????

I know lots of you out there Peter included tow large loads by trailers so hoping for some helpful hints. As the tow hitch on my trike is only on 1 side is there anything I can do to reduce the sway and improve speed.

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spud Vader

I find I get sway if I have the trailer tail heavy. So place/nail/wedge the heavier objects forward. This may entail attracting the attention of the RSPCA if your dog is the heaviest object.

"I thought of that while riding my bike." --Albert Einstein, on the Theory of Relativity

2007 ICE QNT
2008 Hase Kettwiesel AL27
2011 Catrike Trail.
1951 Engine in need of partial rebuild.

I'd have thought sway would be due to flex in the system...
See if you can work out what is wobbly and if it is practical to beef it up a bit.
Like shimmy on a bike it can sometimes just be a matter of moving/repacking stuff which changes the fundamental frequency and 'detunes' it (similar but different to Geoff's nose-heavy approach).
Keep the heaviest stuff as low as you can - reduced 'pendulum' effect.

Rob
wrhpv.com

thanx for both of you very good point made. this trailer has a spring between its bar and the bike that does allow some unwanted bobbing about mainly when setting off or braking. the new 1 will not have this and will have some kinda universal joint in its place. I hope this will solve the problem. The new 1 will have 2 removable dog crates 1 over the wheels (same as I have now) and 1 in-front of it. End 2 end the 2 boxes are 6.5ft long and 2ft wide and i hope 2 start the project over the next few weekends.

Marc

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spud Vader

What they said.

Lower helps. Wider wheel spacing helps. Wheels further back helps (not necessarily with side-to-side sway, though). Generally rigid construction helps too.

Wouldn't advise two axles/pairs of wheels - will impair changing direction!

Did once ponder putting 'duallies' i.e. two tyres side by side on each side of the trailer, on a single axle, to increase load capacity with very small wheels (12" or so). That way I could have had a flat load bed over the wheels without making it too high. But a lot simpler to go to 349 or 406 wheels and put them either side of the load bed.

I've no experience of cycle trailers but do tow a caravan. Some of the ideas might be applicable: Trailer attitude nose down , 7% of overall weight on the nose (hitch), keep weight between the wheels and as low as possible. The biggest error is to have weight to the rear - which then acts as a pendulum. Loosens one up very effectively!!!

My trailer is a Vitelli Camping trailer with a Weber hitch - the hitch is only on the left habd side and has a universal joint but no play, so fairly stiff - the wheels are 20 inches (406) while the load bed is about 4 inches below the wheel axles while the axles are just behind the centre of the load bed (so probably approximates to 7% of the trailer plus load weight on the hitch)- I have never weighed how much I carry, but I am sure it is far too much (over 80 maps is not unusual) and have never experienced shimmey or sway from the trailer even when on long steep descents (I once (and will never do so again - the climb almost killed me) took my trailer north over Fleet Moss - the descent into Wensleydale must have been at over 40 mph)

John Turvey

That is a nice looking trailer you have John!
Rob

Thanx for all of your help everyone. I will be going to look for a universal-joint to replace the spring connection the old trailer.

Yo, it might help if you tried riding on 3 wheels and not 2.

I am wondering about the towing point. Would I be better to tow a trailer from the middle of the trailer instead of the 1 side also is it better mounting over the rear (26") wheel or making an extension so that the trailer attaches to the trike behind my rear wheel. (Lower down to the ground)...

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spud Vader

Spud, my Large Carry Freedom follows either trike equally well. Yet the QNT trails from one end of the Rear axle through a bent towing arm and the Kettwiesel tows the same trailer from dead centre with a straight arm. I can't detect anything different in the way they pull it or how it feels with a load of shopping on board. Both hitches are the old Carry Freedom type.

"I thought of that while riding my bike." --Albert Einstein, on the Theory of Relativity

2007 ICE QNT
2008 Hase Kettwiesel AL27
2011 Catrike Trail.
1951 Engine in need of partial rebuild.