Aluma Trailer

[Supercharged111]

I'm scared to hit the CAT scale with my rig.

[Fbody383]

I dropped by Mark's place Sunday afternoon and chatted and tied the car on the trailer. We used the factory front tie down locations (because I always have on my 4th gen) and ran the straps over the rear axle under the brake lines until Plan B - axle straps or those cool (pricey) Vorschlag type bolt on thingies.

We drove the truck a little to get a feel for the brake controller with the car loaded, talked about the truck squatting and maybe moving the car back a little bit once fully loaded, and/or if it wiggles too much once it's up to highway speed.

[Supercharged111]

I dropped by Mark's place Sunday afternoon and chatted and tied the car on the trailer. We used the factory front tie down locations (because I always have on my 4th gen) and ran the straps over the rear axle under the brake lines until Plan B - axle straps or those cool (pricey) Vorschlag type bolt on thingies.

We drove the truck a little to get a feel for the brake controller with the car loaded, talked about the truck squatting and maybe moving the car back a little bit once fully loaded, and/or if it wiggles too much once it's up to highway speed.

You're loaded for Hallett already? Overachiever.

[babablackgoat]

@ BryanL

Few comments/suggestions for research.

-Believe the rule of thumb is 10-15% of load should be the tongue weight depending on the trailer type. You will have more than 5k lbs by the time it's all said and done.

Corresponds to exactly what Hitch Master said.


-How are the tie downs too far apart yet you are going to use something wider on the side? I'm missing something. Featherlite has made tons of trailers and I wouldn't imagine the tiedowns being in a spot that doesn't work for our cars. I would also question the strength of whatever you are hooking it to on the side as I doubt it's rated as high as the built in's which are probably 5k each.

I stand corrected. Fbody383 came by and showed me how to tiedown. Same photo album updated here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Zh6yUfUjV8Rfxan56


-Factory hitch ratings will likely be different depending on whether you are using a weight distribution versus regular and just because a hitch has a rating on it doesn't mean the truck has the same rating.

I have heard.


-I have a hitch with a built in tongue weight scale that I can bring if you want to verify at Hallett. I may not be using it as I have a WD setup to get setup but not too concerned with the weight I tow now.

-CAT scales are at truck stops, you can get an app on your phone and it's $12 to weigh. You put it on the scale so you get the front and rear axle weights of the truck and the weight of the trailer.

-Comments are all right on and about using an axle strap for the rear and being careful with the brake lines. For the front you can get a hook for the factory tie down location, loop a strap over a lower control arm (alignment), hook it through a spoke on the wheel (seems sketchy to me), strap all the way through a wheel or tie downs that go over the wheel.

Done.


-Get it set, drive some to see how it feels, check tie down straps and move weight around as needed. It's been interesting watching the tongue weight scale move depending on where the car is loaded along with extra sets of wheels, fuel, dirt bikes, gear, etc.

Done. Short ride with Fbody383 just down the street. Then took down the highway up to 70 mph. Found the transmission temp in the menus: Max was 173 deg F. Today was 163 just driving around Houston.


Staying below 70 is good advice as most trailer tires are only rated to 68 and over 70 seems to be when trailers start wanting to whip around depending on tongue weight, tow vehicle weight/wheelbase, and wind conditions. There are good videos from manufacturers and some DIY youtube people about how to measure and figure out your setup. But you start measuring your front and rear wheelwells of truck and get the trailer level to determine where you need to start with your hitch height and then start measuring after hooking up and loading the car (make sure the trailer is hooked to the truck before loading-hah), then adjusting where the car is loaded to see how much drop the truck has.
Anything you have in the truck bed at the axle or behind also is considered tongue weight. Think about what you can load in the car - I put fuel jugs in the back with some other odds/ends, tools in the passenger seat area. You might want to put a jack and stands in the car.

Understood.


I just went through a lot of this learning process over the last year even though I've towed open trailers for over 30 years and enclosed for over 10 but getting the tongue weight scale and a CAT scale was an eye opener...and now have a trailer 3k lbs lighter than before.

Thank you very much for input. Valuable info not just for me, but also anyone else getting into this.

[babablackgoat]

I dropped by Mark's place Sunday afternoon and chatted and tied the car on the trailer. We used the factory front tie down locations (because I always have on my 4th gen) and ran the straps over the rear axle under the brake lines until Plan B - axle straps or those cool (pricey) Vorschlag type bolt on thingies.

We drove the truck a little to get a feel for the brake controller with the car loaded, talked about the truck squatting and maybe moving the car back a little bit once fully loaded, and/or if it wiggles too much once it's up to highway speed.

And was greatly appreciated. With potential for substantial disaster, really needed someone to show me the ropes...or straps in this case.

[babablackgoat]

I will take this opportunity now to apologize for everything I going to forget and need help with including the car and camping for the weekend.

Usually I am self-sufficient. In this case I am going to ask for help.

[Supercharged111]

Ahh, I misread the earlier post. It's baba that's already loaded. Glad to hear your got it sorted out, I look forward to meeting you and the others that I haven't yet.

[Fbody383]

Ahh, I misread the earlier post. It's baba that's already loaded.

Cmon now... where's the love. Good thing for you I don't have stickers to bring. And no CBP. Now you have to podium.