New trailer and some questions

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Expand view Topic review: New trailer and some questions

Re: New trailer and some questions

by Rooney1000 » Sun May 29, 2022 3:52 pm

Haha - VW California for me, good support vehicle for the atom !!

Re: New trailer and some questions

by autobackup » Sun May 29, 2022 11:57 am

Hope that the weather's good for your camping 🏕️!

It's a hotel with a comfortable bed and decent restaurant for me everytime!

Re: New trailer and some questions

by Rooney1000 » Sun May 29, 2022 8:24 am

Thanks - tow down on Friday as perfect, no issues at all and dropped the car off at the factory for its service. Few days camping now and then pick the car back up on Tuesday.

Cheers

Re: New trailer and some questions

by autobackup » Thu May 26, 2022 11:34 pm

Rooney

Absolutely fine.
.
- criteria is that most of the towed weight should be over or in front of the trailer axles/wheels - the trailer nose weight (weight pressing down on the car towball) should, as a rule of thumb, lie somewhere between approximately 5% to 7% of your trailer's gross laden weight.

It becomes difficult/dangerous to tow if there is more weight weight aft than on or in front of the trailer wheels/axles. Fishtailing is generally caused by more weight loaded behind the trailer rear axle at the rear of the trailer than between the trailer rear axle and the towing vehicle!

Generally double axle trailers are inherently more stable to tow (less prone to fishtailing) than single axle trailers.

The maximum permissible nose weight allowable for your particular trailer should be shown on your trailer specification plate and for your car towball in your car manual (or on line!)

Before setting off it's always worthwhile checking that your vehicle insurance policy actually covers you for towing a vehicle on a trailer - some of the low cost insurance policies don't - if cover is not offered as part of the general policy cover it may be offered as a chargeable 'optional' extra!

Finally :
"......Speed limits for cars towing caravans or trailers: 30mph limit applies on all roads with street lighting unless signs show otherwise. 50mph applies on single carriageways unless signs show otherwise. 60mph applies on dual carriageways and motorways......"

Trailers are also banned from using the 3rd (outside lane) on 3 lane motorways in the UK!

Re: New trailer and some questions

by Rooney1000 » Thu May 26, 2022 7:42 pm

Thanks. Looks nice weather !

You think mine is ok to tow like this though, efficiency aside ! Just that it's on and strapped now so don't want to take it off unless essential !

Re: New trailer and some questions

by autobackup » Thu May 26, 2022 5:49 pm

Rooney

I had my PRG trailer specifically built for my Atom and I usually tow it facing forwards - looking at your trailer (which is quite big) I think you would find towing facing forward about 12% -14% more economical than towing it facing backward.

If you loaded it as far forward as possible, to my eye, I think the engine would be more or less directly above the trailer's rear axle which means you shouldn't get the 'tail wagging the dog' problem - if you do find it tail wags - to stop it just smoothly slow down preferably WITHOUT USING THE BRAKES if possible!

The photo (below) of my Atom and trailer was taken at the Paphos Classic Car Club Motor Show last Sunday 22/05/22 - I had just released the hydraulic tilt and locked the bed in the towing position and was walking towards the rear of the trailer to stow away the ramps!
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Ariel Atom 3.5R - Paphos Motor show 3.jpg
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Re: New trailer and some questions

by Rooney1000 » Thu May 26, 2022 5:27 pm

found it !
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PXL_20220526_171925577.jpg
PXL_20220526_171925577.jpg (3.58 MiB) Viewed 552 times

Re: New trailer and some questions

by Rooney1000 » Thu May 26, 2022 5:26 pm

Hi all

Just loading up my Atom to take it down for a service tomorrow - first time towing it. Loaded up, reversing on, but engine still a way forward of wheels. Would like someone who tows to comment but for the life of me I have no idea how to upload an image to this forum !!

Can someone help ?

(found how to do it - see next page of thread for picture !!)

Thanks

Re: New trailer and some questions

by autobackup » Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:37 am

Thanks John!

Re: New trailer and some questions

by John Scherrer » Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:51 pm

It's gone .. ;)

Re: New trailer and some questions

by autobackup » Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:19 pm

Sorry - I edited my post and somehow it posted it twice!!

I was unable to delete the first post.

Apologies!

Re: New trailer and some questions

by autobackup » Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:04 pm

Graeme

I requested the trailer be built with the twin axles set as far aft as possible towards the rear of the trailer allied to the shortest possible drawbar.

This means, when loaded facing forwards, most of my Atom's engine weight is positioned almost directly over the rear axle.

Net result is that with my Atom facing forwards the trailer nose weight is 78kg.

- with my Atom facing backwards the nose weight is 148kg.

- both are well within safe towing parameters!

Having experimented towing my Atom - both facing forwards and backwards - towing backwards seems to incur around a 12-14% worse fuel economy!

- this is probably, I suspect, due to the greater aerodynamic drag with the windscreen acting as a wind collector and, should it rain during the tow, also uneccesarily exposes the dash directly to driving rain which could be a problem if the dash is less than 100% sealed!

Re: New trailer and some questions

by GraemeW » Sat Jan 22, 2022 4:53 pm

I suppose if that really weight is close to the axle of the trailer then prob ok, but its still safer to have the higher mass further forward as per video below

Re: New trailer and some questions

by autobackup » Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:59 pm

I can endorse Stupots comments about the PRG Lodeck Beavertail trailer :

1. As he says you can load your Atom facing forwards or backwards as you wish
2. The biggest advantage (to my mind) is that you can specify the exact size of trailer you want rather than having to make do with an 'off the shelf' fixed dimension trailer!
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Re: New trailer and some questions

by stupot » Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:32 pm

Rooney, I can certainly recommend the PRG Lodeck Beavertail. I've had mine since 2005 and custom built to fit in the single garage I had at the time so I could store it and the Atom together. I still store it inside our current double garage with a Mini GP on it until the Nomad arrives. Get a winch and rear support stands so you easily load/unload plus a hitch lock for security. I found the standard ramps were fine for the Atom 2 & 3; you can always raise the trailer front, if necessary. I've changed the winch to electric to make unloading/loading easier or just drive on forward and roll it off.

Overall size of my trailer is 4.6m x 2.0m with the deck 3.4m x 2.0m. I always towed the Atom facing forward as I found this gave the best weight distribution and ideal nose weight.

Hope this helps.
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