School me on towing a small trailer off-highway?

[wjeeper]

It may be an unpopular opinion......a 360 degree, multi axis coupler is overrated!

You would be supprised how far some 2inch couplers can articulate. Stamped steel units seen to flex way less than a bulldog cast hitch. I believe 360 degrees of unrestricted rotation is what leads to all the flopped trailers on seemingly flat terrain.

Also another unpopular opinion: single axles with independent suspensions cool if your goin 100 mph in the desert, but going slow they don't have any advantage. Single axle trailers don't articulate, they pivot on the coupler.

 

[billiebob]

Biggest difference, highway vs trail....

On the highway the road is straight, curves gentle, "slow to" is always a safe easy speed on corners.

None of that exists on a forestry road. Plus, traction on pavement vs traction on gravel... no comparison.
You need to pay attention and slow early on gravel. On downhill, you want to never need to touch the brakes. Use the engine, gear down, use 4WD to double the deceleration traction. Corner much slower than you "think" is safe.

You are used to a full travel trailer, stepping down to a tear drop, I'd guess you are pretty comfortable towing already.
With that down size, you might not even notice the difference off road.

One last point. REVERSE. There are many more obstacles on a trail than on pavement. Think POSITION, POSITION, POSITION. Try to avoid backing around a corner. Try to POSITION so you reverse in a straight line. Otherwise, use a spotter.

 

[billiebob]

You would be supprised how far some 2inch couplers can articulate

this ^^
I had a trailer roll on its side. The 2" coupler held. The tongue bent but the coupler survived a 90 degree roll over and still worked flawlessly for 10 years till I sold it. I guarantee you most home built articulating hitch will not do as well.

 

[billiebob]

I have an old military trailer and if you can I highly recommend switching to a Pintle hitch

not !!
The 2" ball is the best hitch, period.

 

[billiebob]

With a bit of search, you can find dozens of pictures of offroad trailers laid over on mild terrain while the car remains upright. Dont bother to stay up nights wondering how it happened.

Today this is a no brainer. Top heavy. Huge tires. High center of gravity.....
They banned the Corvair & the Sumari because the engineering was so bad. My bet, off road trailers will be the next target. And it will be driven by insurance claims.

 

[billiebob]

With a bit of search, you can find dozens of pictures of offroad trailers laid over on mild terrain while the car remains upright. Dont bother to stay up nights wondering how it happened.

Today this is a no brainer. Top heavy. Huge tires. High center of gravity.....
This family, 60 years ago was going places few overlanders today would consider.
Note how long and low the teardrop is.

 

[Teardropper]

It may be an unpopular opinion......a 360 degree, multi axis coupler is overrated!

A agree. I think it's just a cool thing to have. I've got a friend that has one on his trailer and I've found it to be a pain in the ass to hitch.

T

 

[honda250xtitan]

Today this is a no brainer. Top heavy. Huge tires. High center of gravity.....
This family, 60 years ago was going places few overlanders today would consider.
Note how long and low the teardrop is.

View attachment 528726

i guess if you never went through any minor dips you'd be fine lol. that wouldn't make it into the last campsite we were at...and it was just off of a Forest service road lol. i switched to a pintle hitch and am happier with it. no more worrying about the normal 2" hitch popping off the ball.

i agree with all the "slow down" comments. it's just normal logic to take it easy till you get the hang of it. don't be "that" guy that goes viral on the internet for flipping a trailer on a switchback trail and blocking it. lololol "swellrunner"

 

[billiebob]

no more worrying about the normal 2" hitch popping off the ball.

really, a 2" hitch only pops off if it is out of adjustment.
or maybe the cheapest one you could find.
but regardless, if you must change, buy the best, not the cheapest.

 

[Louisd75]

Today this is a no brainer. Top heavy. Huge tires. High center of gravity.....
This family, 60 years ago was going places few overlanders today would consider.
Note how long and low the teardrop is.

View attachment 528726

Also note that at some point during their adventures, they lifted the trailer and put a boat on top (and also extended the jeep body and lifted the jeep) Oh, and the little boy grew up too.

 

[Louisd75]

Also note that at some point during their adventures, they lifted the trailer and put a boat on top (and also extended the jeep body and lifted the jeep) Oh, and the little boy grew up too.

It's also worth poking around these two links for more info on the history of that jeep/trailer combo for those who aren't familiar with it:

Jeep and Teardrop on CJ3B.info

www.cj3b.info

 

[billiebob]

Thats what I call overlanding.
Just built enough to get the job done.... plus a V8.

 

[4S50]

Having towed with both ball hitch and articulating hitches, I have found that an articulating hitch is an asset when towing off-road. In this picture the handle on the tongue is actually hitting the spare tire, which was the limit of the articulation.

 

[wjeeper]

If your trailer ball is popping out YOU are 100% to blame. Either it's user error (wrong ball, worn out/ not adjusted, overloaded, etc etc) or you cheaped out and bought cheap junk...........

Having towed with both ball hitch and articulating hitches, I have found that an articulating hitch is an asset when towing off-road. In this picture the handleView attachment 528868

For you yes it's totally worth it! But most users aren't towing the rubicon, most of us never wheel

 

[wjeeper]

Ps thanks for posting that willys/ teardrop combo! Really cool piece of history