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towing small trailer with hack rig

has any one here pulling small tent trailer with there hack wondering about hitch set up im sure I have the power to pull and braking should be okjust wondering how to mount hitch any in put will help thanks

You are opening a can of worms. But that is OK as it has been done before. Lol. Some will say right behind the bike because better. And some will say ½ between the bike and car so it is not so wide. It is your pick.

am leaning towards behind bike I can get better hitch mount that way but don't mind in put on other ideas and if go 1/2 between how did they mount hitch? thanks

I have pulled mine both ways with two different rigs. Used to pull with a GL1500 and Champion sidecar with the hitch on the inside frame rail of the sidecar, on braking the weight of the trailer added to the sidecar weight caused a severe push to the left. I now have a GL1800 with a Hannigan GTL sidecar, and tow a Roll A Home camper directly behind the bike rear wheel. It does make a wider rig going down the road, but it stops in a straight line. I have to add that the bike's antilock brakes also work on the sidecar, and the trailer has electric brakes. My trailer is 48 inches wide, so I have 24 inches left of the hitch, that makes about a foot sticking out left of the left side of the bike. I would like to have the trailer centered behind the rig but haven't found a hitch that looks like it would work. It is a tough choice, about the same as a sidecar brake, some riders say yes, some no, for me I will always have a sidecar brake having totaled the 1500 rig because it didn't have a brake. Good luck with your choice, hope it works well for you.

I prefer to have the trailer off set to the right just enough that the left side of the trailer is even with the left side of the bike. It tows best behind the center of the bike however, I also do not want to have to get a wide load permit. On my KwiK Kamp behind my BMW GS as the GS has large bags, I just tow off of the center and accept that the rig is about 3 inches wider then it has to be. I would not accept this if I had a wide two seat sidecar.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
http://www.dmcsidecars.com

Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 15616 Carbonado South Prairie RD Buckley WA 98321 866-638-1793 Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30

thanks for the in put am going to do some tape measuring and see just what room I might have side care is hd so not to wide

this question has crossed my mind, several times

* ponderment * is there any way to calculate/weigh/figg'r the CENTER OF GRAVITY, LEFT N RIGHT, of the rig?

* ponderment * would setting the ball directly behind that point make sense?

i DO KNOW that when i pull an implement behind a tri-cycle style tractor, the point on the draw bar, where i drop the pin sure makes a difference when trying to control the tractor

the rigs, i've seen, that have hitches, have the ball offset nearer to the tug than the tub

like i noted, above, * PONDERMENT *

sw

I've never towed ( not yet anyway) behind my rig. I have towed with the bike however and it seems intuitively obvious that the hitch should be right behind the tug and not offset. Think about it, you already have the forces of the car playing against you when accelerating and braking. So having the hitch anywhere but directly behind the bike will just add to it.
Just my .02

Custimguitarman - 5/26/2014 7:09 AM

I've never towed ( not yet anyway) behind my rig. I have towed with the bike however and it seems intuitively obvious that the hitch should be right behind the tug and not offset. Think about it, you already have the forces of the car playing against you when accelerating and braking. So having the hitch anywhere but directly behind the bike will just add to it.
Just my .02

further PONDERMENT

¿ would this act as a stabilizing force, done this way ?

sw

I don't think the center of gravity is part of the problem, or the solution. If we were hanging the rig by a string it would. But moving down the road the forces are different. The bikes rear tire puts the power to the ground. The bike has tire drag and resistance as it moves through the air. The sidecar has wind resistance and tire drag but no power input to the rigs forward movement. I think the hitch directly behind the bikes center line would have no push/pull effect during braking or acceleration. Moving the htch away from this point (assuming yu are moving it towards the sidecar) would increase the sidecars effect on the bike during braking and acceleration.

I agree with Jay. But I sold my Kwik Kamp as part of purchasing my Liberty so I'm down to just my small utility trailer and I left the hitch on the bike right where it was on two wheels. This trailer isn't much wider than the bike if at all. It tows great but we do leave an odd set of tracks on a dirt road... The one thing that would be an improvement would be about half again more power. The 80 cube Evo engine gets a workout.

I have A 2005 road glide and small shur camp trailer more worried about braking bike has a lot of power I have not mounted hitch yet will let you all know how it works out thanks

I pulled a Leisure-lite camper for a lot of miles. Lt1200 was wide. Centered the trailer without any problem. J.R. Tex. rep

g,day fellas', Geoff here from down under,,

I made my trailer pull off the bike, but the whole trailer sat behind the chair,

the way I set my trailer up was simple, instead of having the tow hitch, ball cup or whatever you guys call them up there in the centre of the trailer, as in an equilateral triangle mine was in a straight line with the right hand chassis rail, forming a 90 degree triangle in front,, the only thing running outside the line of the bike was the actual trailer tyre and guard,

pulled as straight as a die never knew it was there,

all up with myself, wifie on behind me and the 2 girls in the chair, and the trailer, weighed the best part of 850-900kg never had trouble stopping or handling

don,t know how to do the pic thing yet