|
|
|
Trailer for hauling CJ2A |
Post Reply 
|
Page <12 |
| Author | |
63owner 
Member 
Joined: 09 Jan. 2011 Location: Owensboro, Ky. Status: Offline Points: 472 |
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote Reply
 Posted: 18 Mar. 2017 at 9:34pm |
|
I have a 16 by 6 tandem axle that I pull behind my F150. The trailer has no brakes and although that hasn't yet been an issue, I would recommend them on at least one axle if not both.
I make up for the lack of trailer brakes by driving slower and keeping a lot of distance between me and the car in front. But with today''s distracted drivers, I know that may not be enough at some point.
|
|
|
1948 CJ2A
1963 CJ3B Late 1940s(?) Spen trailer |
|
 |
|
|
Ol' Unreliable
Member
Joined: 25 Sep. 2016 Location: CO Springs CO Status: Offline Points: 4226 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 Mar. 2017 at 10:06pm |
Yeah, ask RICKG about that...  |
|
|
There's a reason it's called Ol' Unreliable
|
|
|
|
|
Jbart
Member
Joined: 13 June 2015 Location: Ny Status: Offline Points: 31 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 19 Apr. 2017 at 4:41pm |
|
I have a 16' car hauler that I use to haul my TJ. Dual axles with brakes. It works well and would provide flexibility more so than a trailer that is exactly the right size and capacity. I have steel, but would prefer aluminum if cost was not an issue. That being said, a few friends have aluminum trailers and have had issues with quality (welds braking mostly). It can't be a common issue, there are plenty of aluminum tractor trailer flatbed trailers on the road pulling much more weight than us.
|
|
|
|
|
Jbart
Member
Joined: 13 June 2015 Location: Ny Status: Offline Points: 31 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 19 Apr. 2017 at 4:47pm |
|
Oh...also I recommend that you carry 2 spares for the trailer. One for WHEN you have a flat/blowout and one for continuing stress- free after that happens. I am pretty diligent about maintance, but you can't control junk in the road. More than once we had to put our trailer spare on and immediately start looking for another spare to purchase on the road. It's pretty cheap insurance to carry.
|
|
|
|
|
Ol' Unreliable
Member
Joined: 25 Sep. 2016 Location: CO Springs CO Status: Offline Points: 4226 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 22 Apr. 2017 at 6:17am |
My brother-in-law would most heartily agree. He's BTDT. |
|
|
There's a reason it's called Ol' Unreliable
|
|
|
|
|
LesBerg
Member
Joined: 09 Apr. 2014 Location: Athol, ID Status: Offline Points: 1554 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 23 Apr. 2017 at 2:24am |
|
I'm one of the people who has learned the towing lesson the hard way. I have several rules I follow without question:
1. Never flat-tow. Ever. It's the absolutely least safe method of towing in terms of towing vehicle steering and braking dynamics, and subjects both vehicles to abnormal wear. You will find discussions on this board and others as to whether or not a Willys should be flat towed and how, but the best advice is "don't". 2. Never 'dolly' a vehicle if you can trailer it. It's safer than flat-towing and I've never seen a rental dolly with brakes. While I've personally seen highly skilled people successfully back up with a vehicle on a dolly, it's generally far outside the capability of most of us, myself included. I've also had cars damaged by towing with a dolly - the dolly contacted the fenders behind the front tires during cornering and did considerable damage. 3. Never exceed vehicle capacities. Not for towing, not for overall weight, and get your tongue load right. Tongue weight should be considered when you buy your trailer. Where the jeep's front axle sits in relation to the trailer's axle(s) will determine the tongue weight. If you end up with a trailer just long enough for the jeep, and the axle is too far back, you could exceed the tongue weight rating on the tow vehicle, even if your total weight is under. Too high of a tongue weight will unload your steering axle suspension and cause braking and handling issues. This is especially important if your tow vehicle has a pieced-together or high-articulation lift. Not to sound like I'm lecturing, but I violated almost all of these at once and it nearly got me (and my future wife) killed. When I was far younger, I towed a 63 Ford Fairlane on a dolly behind a 73 Duster. Right off the bat the towed load far exceeded anything even remotely safe. Then my stupid self loaded the Fairlane's trunk FULL of spare parts like cylinder heads, etc. The Duster was similarly loaded down. We were heading from north Idaho to Austin, Tx. We didn't even make it 50 miles. It turned out that my dad had put dry-rotted tires on the Fairlane and I hadn't checked. He told me they were good, so I didn't worry about it. When one of the tires blew, we were rolling down the freeway at 70, and we went sideways. The only reason we didn't die is that the Duster had a set of ladder bars that prevented the body from rolling very much before the Fairlane went past us. We ended up spinning 180 degrees before slamming off the guard rail. It totaled the Duster and did damage to the Fairlane that I still haven't been able to fix properly. For every "Jesus, that was stupid" you thought to yourself while you read that, I heartily agree. Lesson learned. I now pay unfailing attention to towing rules. And if I'm driving a vehicle that's towing something, then I load it. I won't tow a trailer someone else has loaded. Call me paranoid. The first thing I would do is figure out what trailer I need to do the job safely. Then I'd consider what the common circumstances would be when I towed the trailer and Jeep: 1. Would I be taking other gear (camping/hunting/swap-meet parts, etc.)? Will some of the gear be loaded in the Jeep? If so, then this needs to be taken into account when buying the trailer. 2. What kind of roads would I be on? Does the trailer I want have sufficient tires, suspension, and clearance? 3. Will the total weight of the jeep, trailer, and gear be well within the load limits of the tow vehicle? If not, consider trading up for a more suitable tow vehicle. If I want to take the trailer on Forest Service roads, or other such rough roads, I'd need a higher margin between the total weight and the tow vehicle's capability. 4. Does the tow vehicle need a trailer brake controller, and is the cost included in the trailer budget? If I'm hauling a jeep on a trailer and have other gear in the vehicle, electric brakes on the trailer aren't optional. They are an absolute requirement. I don't know how much of this you have already considered, but it's worth taking into consideration if you haven't. My apologies if I sound like a raving lunatic. I may be, but so far it's served me well.  Les Edited by LesBerg - 23 Apr. 2017 at 6:28pm |
|
|
1948 CJ2A 157713 24" Stretch "Old Ironsides"
1st Armored Div 6th Infantry Reg 3rd Infantry Bn Headquarters Company #161 rubigo in quo speramus - "In Rust we Trust" |
|
|
|
|
pilot195
Member
Joined: 29 Nov. 2016 Location: Washingtonville Status: Offline Points: 116 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 23 Apr. 2017 at 9:10am |
LesBerg - well said! There's not much to add to Les's excellent advice, but I will put one more piece not the subject of tongue weight: it is also possible to not have enough weight on the tongue -- if your trailer load CG (center of gravity) is too far aft, the trailer tongue won't have enough weight and the trailer will (not a maybe - it will) whip. I knew this... but still got crosswise "back in the day" - in the spirit of Les's post, here's the recap: Me, freshly out of college and in Air Force pilot training (translation: "educated and invincible"). Tow vehicle, Ford Bronco II (note previous admonition about proper tow vehicle). I found a 'perfect' replacement truck for my Dad's farm and picked it up 'cheap' (yeah, you get what you pay for, but that's another story)... So, I loaded the F-150 on the tandem axle rental trailer and threw all the spare tires in the back of the pickup (1 ea for Bronco and pickup, 2 for the trailer). I "thought" I had the pickup loaded far enough forward to put enough weight on the tongue, but... I didn't even make it 1/10 of Les' 50 miles. With a fellow jet student, we headed out from the base in Lubbock Texas, bound for Nebraska and the farm. We were very fortunate that the road from Reese AFB to town was a broad 4-lane "street" with wide shoulders and a full turn lane in the center - no islands, medians, ditches or guardrails. I had very little warning - right as I got to speed, the trailer whipped and around we went ... ALL THE WAY around ... a full 360 with the trailer leading the turn. I don't know how everything stayed upright, but it did. No traffic close enough to be hurt. And for comic relief, all four of the spares self-unloaded and continued merrily down the highway in the original travel direction, once again validating Newton's laws. (after moving the pickup forward another inch or two, the remainder of the trip was uneventful....even though the tow vehicle was woefully undersized) Jim |
|
|
Jim
'46 Willys Jeep CJ-2A USAF retired |
|
|
|
|
LesBerg
Member
Joined: 09 Apr. 2014 Location: Athol, ID Status: Offline Points: 1554 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 23 Apr. 2017 at 6:31pm |
|
Load placement is critical, and Mr. Murphy is, by all accounts, a dick. ( no offense intended if one of you is actually a Mr. Murphy IRL
 )
|
|
|
1948 CJ2A 157713 24" Stretch "Old Ironsides"
1st Armored Div 6th Infantry Reg 3rd Infantry Bn Headquarters Company #161 rubigo in quo speramus - "In Rust we Trust" |
|
|
|
|
sm1986
Member
Joined: 24 Mar. 2016 Location: Minnesota Status: Offline Points: 19 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 23 Apr. 2017 at 7:29pm |
|
Very good advice.
I would also recommend checking and double checking safety chains and pins. Last year I saw a guy who obviously didn't know anything about boats and trailers leave a lake access with chains wrapped around the trailer tongue (so they wouldn't 'hang'?) and, yes they were attached to the truck. Several years ago a friend was towing an empty snowmobile trailer on the interstate and lost the tilt pin. At 65 mph the bed went full tilt, caught air and went kiting behind the truck. Secure, check, double check and do it again.
|
|
|
sm 46 CJ-2A 16265
|
|
|
|
|
OldJeepBob
Member
Joined: 12 Apr. 2017 Location: NE Georgia Status: Offline Points: 192 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 24 Apr. 2017 at 1:02am |
|
Jeeper50: Where are you? I'm in NE GA. PM me??
OldJeepBob
|
|
|
REPS
|
|
|
|
|
flatfender47
Member
Sponsor Member Joined: 09 Jan. 2006 Location: Riverside CA Status: Offline Points: 646 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 24 Apr. 2017 at 1:52am |
|
I guess those of us that have been flat towing thousands of miles for over 30 years without incidents having been doing it all wrong then....
|
|
|
|
|
LesBerg
Member
Joined: 09 Apr. 2014 Location: Athol, ID Status: Offline Points: 1554 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 24 Apr. 2017 at 2:49am |
|
Not at all. Just my experiences. No offense intended.
I knew when I wrote it that I should clarify it, but I didn't want to get too long-winded. For years, my 'tow vehicle' was a 67 Ford F100 - pretty much the lightest-duty full-size pickup Ford ever made. I could stand on the rear bumper and just by shifting my weight back-and-forth I could get the ends of the truck twisting in opposite directions. As a full-time RVer for the past five or six years and mingling constantly with others, I know that there are vehicles that can be towed flat with no modification, some that can be modified to be towed flat, and some that just can't be towed flat at all, and that much of it has to do with drivetrain configuration. There have been arguments here on this board as to which class the CJ-2A falls: flat tow as-is, with modifications, or shouldn't be done at all. I respect people on both sides of the argument. Erring on the side of not wanting to damage a vehicle I have a lot of time and effort in, I'll trailer before I dolly, and dolly before flat-tow. Personally, I'd love to just drive it everywhere.  My experience on this, which is nowhere near as extensive as yours, is that it's harder to find a tow vehicle that can tow a given load flat-four than it is to find one that can handle the same load on a good trailer. I don't know why that is, but I suspect it has more to do with suspension design and weight distribution of the tow vehicle than anything else. Any idea why this is, or am I imagining it? I know some RVers spend ungodly amounts of money for flat-tow systems - $1500 for a specialty tow bar, another $2000 for a remote brake system in the towed vehicle, etc. I would suspect that it doesn't have to be this expensive, but I haven't ever owned a vehicle I would trust to flat-tow with. What's your take on this? What do you tow, and what kind of places? I'm always open to learning from someone else's experience! Regards, Les
Edited by LesBerg - 24 Apr. 2017 at 2:52am |
|
|
1948 CJ2A 157713 24" Stretch "Old Ironsides"
1st Armored Div 6th Infantry Reg 3rd Infantry Bn Headquarters Company #161 rubigo in quo speramus - "In Rust we Trust" |
|
|
|
|
Unkamonkey
Member
Joined: 23 Mar. 2016 Location: Greeley CO Status: Offline Points: 2093 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 24 Apr. 2017 at 4:46am |
|
LesBerg. We live in a country where we can all express our opinions and we hope others will not flame upon us after we state our views.
I'm not trying to give you any crap at all. We have been flat towing Jeeps since the early '70s. It was the only way things were done then and nobody had a trailer for them. The only time I ever saw a Jeep on a trailer was in the mid '80s. In a perfect world I would have an aluminum trailer with lot's of places to stow tools, extra fuel and tires. Two axles with electric brakes Open middle area to get under the Jeep to some work as needed. A diesel puller with about 3x the power would be nice but as long as we are dreaming, about 3x the MPG and 3x the fuel capacity would be nice. A friends father has a motorhome that has a 250 gal tank for his diesel. I feel sort of small because I can only carry 50 gals in my motorhome. Back to it, I can only afford to flat tow my Jeep and it has worked fine for many years if you do it right. Tow ratings are mostly based on braking ability and you really don't want to hear about me towing a '62 Scout with a '64 VW. All of us survived. |
|
|
uncamonkey
|
|
|
|
|
mtnman37879
Member
Joined: 05 Feb. 2017 Location: Tazewell, TN Status: Offline Points: 3 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 24 Apr. 2017 at 2:20pm |
|
Just something to keep in mind when shopping for a trailer. Dual axle trailers back up much easier than a single axle trailer.
|
|
|
|
|
rocnroll
Member
Sponsor Member Joined: 20 July 2005 Location: Tuscumbia, AL Status: Offline Points: 13584 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 24 Apr. 2017 at 3:27pm |
|
My personal experience is just the opposite....I find a single axle trailer to be MUCH more maneuverable forward or backward.
That said, I haul on a double axle trailer. (I had much rather move a single axle trailer in the yard though) |
|
|
'47 CJ2A PU
'48 CJ2A Lefty "Common sense is not that common" |
|
|
|
|
Post Reply
|
Page <12 |
| Tweet |
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Topic Options
63owner wrote: