Tongue to Axle Dimensions - What's yours

[iceman0502]

Hey guys! I need help with your trailer measurements - tongue to axle center.

My current trailer has been mainly doing kayak duty this summer. It's 4x8 flat bed with a 4 foot tongue. Length from tongue to axle center is 8 feet.

Drives great going forward. Backing up is fun when its behind my suburban and wrangler (just like any small trailer). Yes it gets squirrelly and goes all over the place.

Its getting a new axle and springs this winter and will be moved back slightly for balance. About 8ish inches to the rear and for a 60/40 axle location.

Overall tongue to axle center will go from 96 inches to around 104ish inches.
Would this provide better backup characteristics? Or should the overall tongue length be lengthened?

What are your measurements?

Whats your trailer tongue length and axle placement for a 4x8 trailer?

Thanks!

 

[CampStewart]

One of my trailers is 4x8 with a 4ft tongue. The axle is between 65 and 70 degrees back and it still is awful to back up behind my Suburban

 

[ottsville]

Axle placement should be more about weight distribution than ease of backing up. Longer tongue is a better way to adjust.
Small trailers are difficult to back up. Your trailer doesn't just get "squirrelly and go all over the place," it goes where you tell it to go. Practice and it gets easier. I've always found that rather than trying to come straight back into where I want to put a small trailer, it is easier to come in from and angle and keep the trailer in one of my side view mirrors until I straighten it out at the last minute.

 

[iceman0502]

Guess my wording could have been better. I am experienced in backing up trailers of all sizes from utility and car trailers.

Maybe the question should have been "whats your trailer tongue length and axle placement for a 4x8 trailer"?

 

[Bayou Boy]

Axle placement should be more about weight distribution than ease of backing up. Longer tongue is a better way to adjust.
Small trailers are difficult to back up. Your trailer doesn't just get "squirrelly and go all over the place," it goes where you tell it to go. Practice and it gets easier. I've always found that rather than trying to come straight back into where I want to put a small trailer, it is easier to come in from and angle and keep the trailer in one of my side view mirrors until I straighten it out at the last minute.

Yes. Short trailers with long wheelbase trucks are harder to back up. Practice makes this easier. That's all there is to it.

 

[old_CWO]

Small single axle trailers are a bugger to back up with a big truck regardless of tongue length. They are hard to see and sensitive to small steering inputs.

I have found that a front hitch is a handy addition. It's sometimes easier to "push" the trailer into place since you're looking straight at it.

 

[iceman0502]

Yes, hard to back up a small trailer. Got it. Should have left out the vehicle. Check


Is a 4 foot tongue length common?

 

[Bayou Boy]

Yes, hard to back up a small trailer. Got it. Should have left out the vehicle. Check


Is a 4 foot tongue length common?

Yes. For a 4x8 trailer. Your trailer wheelbase is 8ft. Moving it back a foot will not change the fact that it is shorter than your truck wheelbase. Also, extending the tongue will offset the better balance you are trying to achieve with the axle move.

And the tow vehicle is very important. Back up that trailer with a CJ7 or ATV and it will be a cake walk. Try it with a Crew Cab with an 8ft bed and it'll be tough.

I've been backing up utility and boat trailers since I could reach the pedals in a truck and ATV trailers in the woods before that. About 30 years of experience. A short trailer can still get out of sorts quickly if I'm not paying close attention.

 

[old_CWO]

Is a 4 foot tongue length common?

The simple answer you seek is no. A 48" wide trailer using a standard fifty degree A frame coupler and the tongue "buried" under the chassis at least a foot for structural integrity ends up with a tongue length closer to 32" If the trailer was constructed with a wrap around A frame tongue rather than welded under the chassis it would be about four feet long, but that is not common.

 

[quickfarms]

The reason trailer tongues are 48" or a little longer is because trucks used to be limited to 96" wide, they can not be over 102" wide without a permit now, except for mirrors.

It's about turning tight.

There are several tricks to backing up short trailers

1 the trailer needs to be as wide or wider than the tow vehicle

2 never turn the wheel more than a quarter turn in each direction

 

[jwiereng]

+1

“There is alot of geometry involved. Its not just drawbar length, Distance from car axel to coupler plays in also.”

Length from trailer axle to coupler is another dimension that has considerable effect on trailer reaction when turning

 

[iceman0502]

The reason trailer tongues are 48" or a little longer is because trucks used to be limited to 96",

This comment was interesting as my trailer was built around 1995 by a company called Haulin. They were little red trailers sold at Lowes. It current has those dinky 4 lug wheels that are like 16 inches tall.

The current axle is centered on the platform at a 50/50 split (aprox). Now when you see utility trailers they have a 60/40 split (aprox). Guess that factory standard of 96" tongue to axle has changed over the years.

The trailer needs a new axle and springs this winter and the new mounts can be welded in a more appropriate location.


Also my trailer has a single straight tongue that is 48" from the ball to beginning of platform. A Frame couple calculations do not apply in this situation.

My M416 obvious exception, was a short thing until I extended it to about 5.5’.

Verkstad mentioned extending the tongue on his M416. This is idea behind the initial question.
What is the new ball to axle distance in the above situation and do you think it was worth the change?

 

[CampStewart]

OP how much weight is going to be on this trailer? Moving the axle backwards is going to put more stress on the tongue. On a cheap lowes trailer it could cause an issue. For someone who has made a big deal about all your experience with trailers I am surprised that you are so confused about axle placement. As I stated in my first post in this thread moving it back about a foot made very little difference in backing my same sized trailer with the same size tow vehicle. Maybe your results will prove different. To maximize the ease in backing move the axle as far back as the springs will allow but you probably know that already.

 

[iceman0502]

Thank you Verkstad for the input. The ideal of a adjustable tongue is pretty smart.


CampStewart thank you for all your comments whatever they may have been. You have reminded me that this is a old Lowes trailer, but it is my trailer. It will not be driving through the Rubicon trail or across country. I will think about you in the spring when my mulch bags are loaded on the trailer and hope to make it over the speed bump and back to my house. I will refrain in the future to reach out and ask questions or learn anything new.
Wish you all the best as you continue supporting people.

 

[billiebob]

Would this provide better backup characteristics?

does it sit level ?