Larger Trailers

[FEF]

All,

I've pulled a small trailer (with an Early Bronco) over trails like Black Bear, and Blanca Peak. It's a different style of driving, but very possible.

These days, I have a U1100 (416.141 Unimog). It's a pretty big rig, and can do well as the 'tug'. I'm intertaining the idea of pulling a trailer a bit bigger.

The first idea was a ballance trailer with a pintle hitch in place of the 5th wheel/goose neck. If I could get the ballance worked out, even a high pintle hitch would do well. The reason for considering a 5th wheel style is the upper bed. Having the bed over the tongue makes a lot of sense. THere's a lot of space there.

I've seen military trailers up close. I haven't seen anythign like an 15'-18' 5th wheel or gooseneck. Though, I have seen many 18' 5th wheel rigs. Modifying the hitch, or trailer tongue, may work.

Any thought?

 

[Scott Brady]

Great concept and allows for "basecamping", where you drop the larger trailer and explore in a radius around camp. The difficulty is the limited availability of appropriate solutions, so you would likely have to build you own

The Tvan's from AUS come to mind

http://www.tracktrailer.com/

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Any thought?

King Kamper

I got to check out Christos at Pismo and i was most impressed with the build quality, parts quality and how big it unfolds and all of the "living area" it has

Not cheap, but very nice, functional and stout! http://www.kingkampers.com/

 

[Walldog]

http://www.4x4freedom.com/101_camper.htm

 

[OutbacKamper]

Sorry for the crappy pic, but I could not find a better one. Trailblazer RV in Australia takes a Canadian made truck camper and mounts it on a gooseneck trailer and adds lots of additional storage boxes (the aluminum coloured parts in the photo). You could do the same if no one makes a 5th wheel trailer small enough for your needs.

http://www.trailblazersrv.com/review.htm

Cheers
Mark

 

[FEF]

Sorry for the crappy pic, but I could not find a better one. Trailblazer RV in Australia takes a Canadian made truck camper and mounts it on a gooseneck trailer and adds lots of additional storage boxes (the aluminum coloured parts in the photo). You could do the same if no one makes a 5th wheel trailer small enough for your needs.

Cheers
Mark

Yup. That's an option.

I have a cab-over Camper. All I have to do is mount it on my trailer, and modify the tongue a bit. Then I have to worry about title and registration. As long as the shell is not designed to mount on a vehicle, it's not a "camper" and will not require registration. If the shell is perminantly mounted to the trailer, it's then a 'travel trailer', and titled and regestered differently.

After thinking about it a bit more, what I want is a high tongue (pull from over the axle) type trailer, with a cab-over camper that's modified, such that it can not be mounted on the back of a truck (plating over wheel well areas, flat bottom, ect). Then it would be attached to the trailer using chains and such.

It's an interesting idea, for sure. The issue at this point is the hitch. I need to know how many degrees of rotation the gooseneck will allow? Also, is it possible to make the rocker 5th wheel hitch (safely) move more? Pintle hitchs are designed to carry a healthy vertical load... Maybe I should explore using a rotating pintle hitch over the axle.

It's an interesting project.

 

[ntsqd]

Found this while searching Trailblazer trailers.

There are high angularity RV 5th wheel couplers. No idea what a std will tilt or what a high angle will tilt.


FEF, is that you Fred? That 416 sounds familiar.........

 

[FEF]

Yup. FEF=Fredric You found me. Though, I can't figure out who you are.

I know of the 'little rocker', but I don't think that will be enough.

The latest crazy idea is modifying a gooseneck hitch a bit, so I can use the gooseneck on the street, and the heavy duty rotating pintle on the trails.

It's all thinking out loud ATM. I'm going to have to get something working soon if I want to get in on this year's camping season.

 

[ntsqd]

Thom Singer
SOB 5 was the only time I've seen a 416. I came up from Chico, CA for the event.

I'm kinda unclear on just how a Pintle could be made to work. Thinking normal orientation, only with the pintle more or less centered over the rear axle?

 

[FEF]

HAH!!!! I would have never guess it was you, man.

Back to the topic, though.

For the sake of making the idea simplified... If you were to take out the tube that attaches to the gooseneck ball, and replace that with a tube that has a pintle ring mounted normally, you could put in a pintle 'hook' that rotated. The catch is that the pintle hitch would need to be rated for some heavy tounge weight. It's a bit more complicated then that, because the vertical load is not in the middle of the tube, but a few inches forward.

I've already got somethign like this.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200328811_200328811

I have one of these, too.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_22290_22290

But I havn't ever seen the pintle use over the rear axle, like a gooseneck, or '5th wheel'. In theory, I don't see any issues. It sounds too easy, really.

 

[ntsqd]

I don't see a problem with the Pintle other than it's mount will want to be up to the job, but it would have to be so no matter where it's mounted.

The loop is another story. The verticle part of the gooseneck is designed to have the verticle load component in-line with it's tube. With the loop offset like that it will put a bending moment on the tube. Obviously that tube will have some horizontal bending moment due to the actual towing loads. What I haven't gotten my head around yet is if this new moment subtracts from the max load capacity of the tongue.

Might be easier to single axis gimbal the pin & upper plate of a 5th wheel tongue. :dunno: