Trailer Lid hinge: which side to mount them, pros & cons?

[rustED]

Hey guys, I'm getting ready to mount the hinges for my trailer lid and I'm trying to decide which side to mount them. I have seen folks mount them on either side, just looking for advice, pros and cons for mounting the hinges. My first thought was mounting them on passenger side and have the lid open from the drivers side for convenience so a I wouldn't have to walk around to open the lid. But now I'm thinking for safety reasons it may be better to have it hinge on the driverside and open from the passenger side. For example if you are pulled off the road on a narrow shoulder and for some reason need to get into the trailer it would be safer to get in from the passenger side and have the added distance from traffic. Also for loading and unloading in town (not a concern for me at the moment as I live in the country) but say you were parked on the street in front of your house and you were loading, it would be much easier loading from the sidewalk than walking around on the street side.

Anyway, just looking for advice/opinions pros & cons before I break out the welder!

PS: I do have a drop down tailgate, so I have the added benifit of loading stuff from the back as well. Everyone likes pics, so here's a couple of my trailer.

 

[rokrawlr]

My vote is driver's side hinge for two reasons:

1. Safety and ease of load/unload while on the side of a road.

2. Built in excuse to make the passenger get whatever must have item out of the trailer while at a pit-stop, "it's on your side..."

 

[/dev/m416]

My vote is driver's side hinge for two reasons:

1. Safety and ease of load/unload while on the side of a road.

2. Built in excuse to make the passenger get whatever must have item out of the trailer while at a pit-stop, "it's on your side..."

#1. Yep.

#2. LOL.

If your tow vehicle has a swing away tailgate, then can jackknife the trailer 90* and get a little more work space at camp. Mine swings right so driver mounted hinges means I'd jackknife left. YMMV...


Sent from my HP-41C during a flashback to 1978.

 

[veetee]

There is another option:

#3. Hinges on the front, so you can stand behind loading/unloading it.

I have this, and in practice, you can load/unload it from either side and from behind then...

 

[Martyinco]

Drivers side, safety is first for me. You never know when you'll need to pull off to get something.

 

[wagex]

i never thought of the safety aspect of it opening on the passenger side. that's a good point. mine opens on the driver side, there was no reason to my madness though, besides i wouldn't have to walk around the trailer to open it lol.

 

[/dev/m416]

Well. Since you have a welder, you are obviously skilled enough to configure hinge operating from either side...

There's an example of that here on Expo, but I don't have a link to it. Hinge pins were removable.


Sent from my HP-41C during a flashback to 1978.

 

[Septu]

There is another option:

#3. Hinges on the front, so you can stand behind loading/unloading it.

I have this, and in practice, you can load/unload it from either side and from behind then...

I have this as well. And when I first bought the trailer with the lid already in place, I'd planned on changing it to a p.side hinge setup... now 3 years later... I'm liking it there. Allows me to have my counter top setup on the drivers side while still allowing full access to the contents of the trailer. If I had a side hinge and the 5' long counter top in place, there's no way I could reach anything inside.

I know people have brought up the safety aspect of a P.side opening (away from traffic). However I honestly can't think of a time when that's ever been an issue for me. I mean when I'm in town or on a road trip, other than loading/unloading the trailer at home and when camping, I'm never actually in the trailer. Food/drinks go in the jeep and other than some misc. stuff that I keep in the trailer, everything I need is already stored in there.

 

[Pete79]

I have this as well. And when I first bought the trailer with the lid already in place, I'd planned on changing it to a p.side hinge setup... now 3 years later... I'm liking it there. Allows me to have my counter top setup on the drivers side while still allowing full access to the contents of the trailer. If I had a side hinge and the 5' long counter top in place, there's no way I could reach anything inside.

I know people have brought up the safety aspect of a P.side opening (away from traffic). However I honestly can't think of a time when that's ever been an issue for me. I mean when I'm in town or on a road trip, other than loading/unloading the trailer at home and when camping, I'm never actually in the trailer. Food/drinks go in the jeep and other than some misc. stuff that I keep in the trailer, everything I need is already stored in there.

Mine hinges from the front as well.
Been like that for a couple of years and don't recall ever wishing is opened from the side at any stage.

Though my box is only 4' long, so I can reach pretty much everything from standing at the back.



*Edit*
Just re-read your first post, everyone does love pics, so here's mine....

 

[tgreening]

My vote is passenger side opening. I e spent a lot of years hauling crap and have been on the side of the highway plenty. I don't like the thought of a rear opening because that means I'm standing with my back to traffic and I. Don't. Like. It. Passenger side opening I can at least keep an eye on what's coming 'cause brother, there are some brain dead zombies motoring on the highway.

 

[rnArmy]

Mine opens on the driver's side. I prefer the ability to get out (99% of the time I'm the driver) and not have to walk around to the other side of the trailer to open it and do what I need to do. If I do pull off the side of the road and want to get into the trailer, it is probably on a not-busy road or a back country dirt road. A lot of times if I pull off the side of the road on a dirt road, there's not much space between the passenger side and a ditch or whatever, so if the trailer opened up on the passenger side, getting to the contents would be an issue.
Plus the gas fill on my Jeep TJ is on the driver's side, so if I'm filling up the tank and want to get into the trailer I'm not having to be on the other side of the vehicle; I can watch the gas pump and do what I need with the trailer all on the same side.
I can't believe I can't find a picture of the trailer with the lid open. Here's a random picture of my buddy and his Jeep (and my trailer) on our recent trip up to the Canadian NW Territories. You can see on the trailer the latches to open the trailer lid. We ran the Dempster Highway on this trip with the trailer.

 

[Hoghead]

I'm currently configuring mine to open from both sides. I still have some bugs to work out of the system, but I believe it will work. I placed two hinges on each side of the lid. I replaced all of the hinge pins with pins that were easily removable. I just remove the pins from the side I want to open. Probably won't be able to have the struts hold it open from both sides, but I'll work with it. Sorry I don't have pictures, trailer is at the shop getting new fenders bent.

 

[Pete79]

I'm currently configuring mine to open from both sides. I still have some bugs to work out of the system, but I believe it will work. I placed two hinges on each side of the lid. I replaced all of the hinge pins with pins that were easily removable. I just remove the pins from the side I want to open. Probably won't be able to have the struts hold it open from both sides, but I'll work with it. Sorry I don't have pictures, trailer is at the shop getting new fenders bent.

Here's how I did mine, it worked pretty well; Double hinged trailer lid
But I found I always opened it from the back so removed the pins on the rear hinge.

 

[Crush Jeep]

My trailer opens from the passenger side, the thought was the safety factor when considering which way to open it. Pulling off the road and opening it. Also when backed into my garage it works well for me with the way it is set up. I would not go with the hinge in the front for two reasons 1 - the weight of the lid is heavier and it will take more to open it. 2 - if you have a RTT and the hinge is on the side you can open the lid up without closing the tent. The tent folds with the lid.

 

[Martyinco]

My trailer opens from the passenger side, the thought was the safety factor when considering which way to open it. Pulling off the road and opening it. Also when backed into my garage it works well for me with the way it is set up. I would not go with the hinge in the front for two reasons 1 - the weight of the lid is heavier and it will take more to open it. 2 - if you have a RTT and the hinge is on the side you can open the lid up without closing the tent. The tent folds with the lid.

I didn't even consider the garage part of it, that is a great reason.