ive got myself a covered brian james single axle trailer with a 14' long loading bed. my car is bang on 12' long, weighs 425-450 kgs and is mid engined!
would you recommend i load the car forwards or backwards? ideally id like it forwards so i can drive it on (no reverse) but if i do then the engine sits just behind the trailer axle! i also need to load all my spares which may need to be towards the rear as the trailer is only 2' high at the front,raising to near 4'. unless i put all my spares at the front. fuel cans,8x wheels and tyres,tools etc and drive the car forwards up to them? this will add at least 100kg to the front but means the car will be 18" further back.and the engine over 18" behind the trailer axle! cheers

From personal speaking and trial and error, i've always tried to get the engine in a car over the axle or further towards to front. So midengined cars we load backwards and front engined forwards. As you say its a pain with no reverse but makes towing a nicer experience

Load the car back wards, and use a winch for loading.

i just thougt if i could get 100+kg of weight from spares right to the front. and drove the car on forwards it would compensate? the fuel tank will be pretty much above the axle, the motor a little further back. my spares are way heavier than the engine. so if i pull it on backwards the spares will have to go at the back.cheers

Engine over the draw bar will tow best as it's high weight, where spares, jerry cans etc sit on the deck.

I thought it was illegal to tow with the car pointing backwards as it can confuse following traffic, happy to be wrong on this.

[Edited on 27/10/13 by mark chandler]

its fully enclosed!

In that case your fine

It's then just a case of trial an error, mine tows well with a relatively light draw bar weight so I have measured chains to ensure I always load in the same position.

[Edited on 27/10/13 by mark chandler]

I'd just load up, check the weight on the hitch and move things around until you've got it right. In the past, in the absence of anything better, I've checked the hitch weight by placing the hitch onto the handle of a hammer, with the head stood on a set of bathroom scales (jockey wheel just off the floor in case it toppled). After a while you get to know what's right and can just lift the hitch with your hand and judge it that way.

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Originally posted by daniel mason
its fully enclosed!

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You need a caravan nose weight gauge. Less than a tenner from ebay.

Depending on your towing vehicle it should typically be between 50 and 75 kg on the nose weight.

With trailers I have always done noseweight by feel. If I really struggle to lift the hitch, too heavy, if too easy too light. Best to keep heavy parts over the trailer axle too, otherwise you can get a bit of pendulum action going on.

I agree with mookaloid, around 70-75kg is a good nose weight regardless (within reason) of the towing vehicle. Makes the whole towing thing a lot more predictable. With too much on the nose of the trailer it can make for 'interesting' steering, with too little then it becomes very unpredictable.

Just my opinion of course

HTH

The best practice is to have wheel chocks permanently fixed to the trailer deck so the car always loads in the ideal position.

With 4 wheel trailers tow ball height on the car has major effects on nose weight.

If you run into snaking problems either fit an anti-snake damper or extend the draw bar on the trailer.

[Edited on 28/10/13 by britishtrident]

Agree with Mook ^^ but somewhere there should be a loading figure for the towbar ball either plated on the towbar or recommended in the car's instruction book (if you have one).
My test was to straddle the hitch before hitching and lift with a straight back.
If it felt like I was going to do my back but could still lift it then weight distribution was OK, anything heavier or lighter called for re-distribution.
70kg is about 11stones so the weight of a small person.
HTH.
Cheers, Pewe10

Yes.

In terms of weight distribution, you are aiming for basically two things.
- Keeping the weight near the center of the trailer, as well as away from the rear.
- Maintaining a suitable nose weight, as well as reasonable left-right balance.

At which point, if you put a car on with the engine hanging over the tailgate, stacking 100l of fuel over the jockey wheels only resolved one of the two things.

However, if you put you mid engined car on forwards, with the engine just behind the line, and the place the other items to the front to get the nose weight right

Obviously in the above its also relevant where the axle sits, and the closer to the limits you are the more careful you have to be.

I'm not aware of any rules on not towing a car backwards on an exposed trailer, and the rear (only) reflectors will largely masked by the tow car, although if feasible masking the front of the car (at the back of the trailer) wouldn't be stupid i guess.

Four wheel trailers also need to be quite accurately level, where a single axle, as long as its not miles out, is less critical.


Daniel

Engine to the front every time.

I have towed cars on trailers many times over long distances but the only time i ever had a towing accident was when i had to winch a classic car onto a trailer backwards (due to siezed brakes). Despite having a heavier towing car now I wouldnt ever risk that again.

If you want to drive it on because you don't have a reverse, you're still going to have a similar problem getting it off at the other end.

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Originally posted by scudderfish
If you want to drive it on because you don't have a reverse, you're still going to have a similar problem getting it off at the other end.

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