WeeJeep2
Adventurer
We've been running around with a trailer behind the Jeep for 5 years now. It hasn't slowed us down much but there have been a few switchbacks that get kind of tight. If only the trailer could swing out to the side on its own. Without getting too crazy I put the following plan together.
The trailer weighs in under 3500 lbs and has a detachable Bulldog jack rated at 5000 lbs. I had a jack mounting fitting welded to a piece of 2" square tube to make a jack adapter.
It fits in the rear bumper of the trailer. For this to continue you have to ignore the 100 lbs max rated load sticker. That turned out to be an ok assumption for my trailer.
The jack moves from the nose to the rear of the trailer while the trailer stays connected to the tow vehicle. Notice the straight support for the wheel. If you use an offset dolly type wheel it will bind up and shift the trailer weight to one side and the whole exercise goes downhill from there. It actually doesn't go anywhere.
To keep the jacking height required to the minimum I wrapped a chain around the axles to the frame. The steel wheel dug into the ground so bridging ladders were deployed with a piece of plywood on top. I think I'll be hunting for a larger pneumatic tire.
If the trailer is close to balanced there is only light pressure on one wheel and the other is off the ground.
I found pulling with a rope near the bottom produced better results and I was able to swing the trailer to the side fairly easily. It was of course flat ground but I was working by myself, with a camera in my hand.
The only extra gear to carry beyond what is onboard normally is the adapter so we'll see how it works out on the trail one of these days. If you try this on your own please don't post the trip report with the trailer hanging off the side of a mountain on the outside of a switchback.
The trailer weighs in under 3500 lbs and has a detachable Bulldog jack rated at 5000 lbs. I had a jack mounting fitting welded to a piece of 2" square tube to make a jack adapter.
It fits in the rear bumper of the trailer. For this to continue you have to ignore the 100 lbs max rated load sticker. That turned out to be an ok assumption for my trailer.
The jack moves from the nose to the rear of the trailer while the trailer stays connected to the tow vehicle. Notice the straight support for the wheel. If you use an offset dolly type wheel it will bind up and shift the trailer weight to one side and the whole exercise goes downhill from there. It actually doesn't go anywhere.
To keep the jacking height required to the minimum I wrapped a chain around the axles to the frame. The steel wheel dug into the ground so bridging ladders were deployed with a piece of plywood on top. I think I'll be hunting for a larger pneumatic tire.
If the trailer is close to balanced there is only light pressure on one wheel and the other is off the ground.
I found pulling with a rope near the bottom produced better results and I was able to swing the trailer to the side fairly easily. It was of course flat ground but I was working by myself, with a camera in my hand.
The only extra gear to carry beyond what is onboard normally is the adapter so we'll see how it works out on the trail one of these days. If you try this on your own please don't post the trip report with the trailer hanging off the side of a mountain on the outside of a switchback.
