Carrying an ATV

[Kiriesh]

Hey guys, I had a random idea come to me yesterday and I'd love to hear your input. Instead of heavily modifying my vehicle (toyota tacoma) to handle harsher trails, why not bring an ATV along? I've been working on an M416 look-alike recently using a fiberglass tub, and had the idea of carrying an ATV along, that way you can handle rutted roads and light trails, but park your rig for the tough stuff and still enjoy a day out wheeling. The stand for the quad would be integrated into the frame, so no interaction with the tub. Ideally I'd use a 2 person quad, but I snagged the CAD drawing for a light weight one for a proof of concept. What do you guys think? My main concern would be the top-heavy nature of having a heavy quad so high up, but it's not much different than some larger full metal trailers I've seen here. Please excuse the roughness of some aspects, I whipped this up in CAD to get a visualization. The deck is sized to fit a Polaris Sportsman Touring or similar. For sizing perspectives, the tub is a standard 40.5"x72", and the tires are approximately 30.6"x10"R16 (roughly the stock tacoma tire size).

 

[MOguy]

I would think you might be better off with a slightly larger trailer, carry the 4 wheeler on the floor of the trailer and build up your storage area around the 4wheeler. Having that much weigh that high would really limit the type of terrain you could safely traverse. Loading up the 4wheeler on top like that could be a PIA and your trailer would end up getting heavier once you built it strong enough to carry the weight that high.

 

[Kiriesh]

I would think you might be better off with a slightly larger trailer, carry the 4 wheeler on the floor of the trailer and build up your storage area around the 4wheeler. Having that much weigh that high would really limit the type of terrain you could safely traverse. Loading up the 4wheeler on top like that could be a PIA and your trailer would end up getting heavier once you built it strong enough to carry the weight that high.

The starting point of the trailer is about 200# with a rated capacity of 1720#. I'll be reinforcing it as well as resizing to fit the tub, but I wouldn't expect more than a couple hundred pounds of additional reinforcing/weight all said and done. The tub itself only weighs in around 50#, so dry weight of the trailer is still easily below 500# unloaded. The platform sits approximately 4.5ft off the ground, so It's still less top heavy than some of the rigs I've seen with large tall trailers. Given the size of the trailer, the wheelbase will be fairly wide, so it wouldn't be much different in terms of safety than some overloaded 1/4tons or 1/2 tons I've seen or even some of the many overbuilt roof racks. At least this is my rationale.

 

[MOguy]

I wouldn't want to take it down a trail where you find yourself a bit off camper. Tipping it over and having to get it back up right could be a real problem on a tight trail. I wouldn't travel off-road like that.

 

[Mountainhound]

That in no way would assist you in. In fact it would hinder you. All that weight on top would just make that trailer to top heavy to even go down the easier trails because a little off chamber and oops. Better off in trailer or in truck not on top.

 

[Kiriesh]

That in no way would assist you in. In fact it would hinder you. All that weight on top would just make that trailer to top heavy to even go down the easier trails because a little off chamber and oops. Better off in trailer or in truck not on top.

This was a solution to get it out of the bed. The platform sits approximately a ft above the stock height of my truck bed, and by the time I fit the quad it would actually sit above that height in the truck. Storing it in the trailer would be similar to an xventure setup:

which would lower the ATV about 10 inches.

 

[screwball48]

Not mine. Its a jumping jack x4 trailer.

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[conifers4]

^that looks a little scary IMO

 

[MOguy]

Not mine. Its a jumping jack x4 trailer.

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I would not want to tow that.

 

[k9lestat]

On the hard ball or dirt roads it would be OK. But any off camber stuff could be a issue.

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[XVENTURE TRAILERS]

I've done extensive testing to develop safe ways for this type of transport. The most dangerous thing about this one is high speed accident avoidance maneuvers on highway. Say someone slams on their brakes in front of you at 65mph on the freeway, or you need to turn sharply to avoid an obstacle in the road. COG and the suspension being used is everything. Is the primary tow vehicle equipped with a brake controller and trailer with electric brakes? These types of configurations as shown are fine for farm roads at slow speeds and short distances. But be cautioned for use on highway. At a minimum you need to get that quad down on the trailer axle to responsibly carry it. I don't see any tie down straps. If you tie-down to the front and aft rails will they sustain a 40 MPH impact, or will that quad become a projectile. Think it through.

 

[calicamper]

Jumping jack trailers have been around a long time and have been using this format for some time. Any trailer especially a short one like the typical off road trailers we see all the time here in the forums is going to be a problem in a high speed avoidance issue especially if its being towed by a short wheel base 4X4 rig with heavy bumpers on its ends and big over sized off road tires more or less your worst case situation you could think of regarding a high speed situation. Which is why its very smart to avoid driving high speeds in that sort of rig.

Even my 12ft long Lifetime Tent trailer behind our Subaru OB all in stock format without any sort of ATV or gear on the deck of the trailer can pose an interesting dynamic during a high speed avoidance situation. My 21ft racing boat with 450lbs of lead resting on a platform right over the axle on a low riding boat trailer that is 25ft long handles dramatically different and amazing compared to our very short little camp trailer. In fact over 12yrs towing that boat all year around to racing events I had several cases of high speed avoidance action taken and the boat and trailer never so much as blinked or bobbed one of the best handling trailers I have ever hauled. The worst case was on a delivery trip to the new owner I had a car pass me on a two lane highway and kiss the gravel shoulder and swap ends right next to me. I mashed the brakes on the Subaru and was staring face to face with the other driver as they spun across my lane infront of me and exited the freeway backwards. The subaru and the boat weren't phased one bit but my adrenaline was sure pumping. The short trailers have a whole different dynamic and do get upset pretty easily in extreme situations. I would never expect my LifeTime Trailer with its short distance between the hitch and axle to be as stable and forgiving in a bad situation like my boat trailer was.

 

[Kiriesh]

I've done extensive testing to develop safe ways for this type of transport. The most dangerous thing about this one is high speed accident avoidance maneuvers on highway. Say someone slams on their brakes in front of you at 65mph on the freeway, or you need to turn sharply to avoid an obstacle in the road. COG and the suspension being used is everything. Is the primary tow vehicle equipped with a brake controller and trailer with electric brakes? These types of configurations as shown are fine for farm roads at slow speeds and short distances. But be cautioned for use on highway. At a minimum you need to get that quad down on the trailer axle to responsibly carry it. I don't see any tie down straps. If you tie-down to the front and aft rails will they sustain a 40 MPH impact, or will that quad become a projectile. Think it through.

Thanks for the input. The images are a bit basic as a proof of concept, as I just quickly added a platform and quad onto a trailer I've been working on in my free time. If it were actually pursued, I would have the same amount of tie downs as I would towing on a flatbed or similar trailer. If I knew the exact dimensions of the tires of the quad being used, I'd consider making a channel for the tires to help secure it laterally in addition to heavy duty tie downs. The trailer would weigh in a tad under 2000#'s, so Id probably be running electric brakes on a 3500# axle (axle is being ordered either way). While COG is a concern, I'm struggling to see the major problems that a setup like this has on oppose to carrying an ATV in the bed of a pickup, that raises it nearly if not higher off the ground (and pretty equally high or higher off the axle).


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[XVENTURE TRAILERS]

You shouldn't compare a pickup truck to a trailer in this case. The pickup has substantially more weight to offset the center of gravity. Additionally if you place the four wheeler in the cargo bed of a truck it's just slightly above the axle. On the trailer you show, the quad is the same distance from the axle as the axle is to the ground probably even more. All those things come into play regarding your center of gravity. Can't compare a pickup truck to trailer. And frankly loading a quad on a deck on the top of the cargo beds shoulders is extremely dangerous for the same reason as described in my previous email. I mean you will go straight on level ground just fine, but lay your rig into a corner at 40, 50, 60, 70, or articulate off camber at any speed and I assure you the thing will make you pucker.

We get away with this sort of thing on XVENTURE because unlike vast majority of these lunchbox trailers on the market we engineered 200lbs of water at the axle line and lay it out horizontally parallel to the ground. It's the ultimate ballast. Additionally our suspension type and track width is exceptionally well suited for hard articulation at speed. A lot goes into this sort of thing so be careful. The last thing you want to is to hurt someone else, yourself, or damage your property.

Just because a certain trailer manufacturer has used that configuration doesn't mean it's safe.

 

[screwball48]

I think that Markimus has made very good points. Many times I have saw something and either thought that's a good idea, or wow those folks should buy a lottery ticket. I have a feeling that Markimus' opinion is grounded in study and research on this topic.


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