Trailer Set up

[jmilucky]

Just had the maiden voyage with my TimeOut camper. I think I have some tweaking to do. The camper really pushes the bike and causes alot of handlebar wobble.

Front tire - Avon Cobra 36psi new
Rear tire - Dunlop 5000 SP - 38psi new

who knows what my shocks are...

the set up is PERFECT without the trailer.

Trailer tires are set at 45.

Generally this setup works ok on my wing with no real issues.

If you've pulled a timeout with your Nomad let me know what changes you made if any,

thanks,

Jim

[cactusjack]

Do you know what the tongue weight is? How about the gross weight of the Time-Out?

[chuckster131]

I get that wobble too if I load the tounge to heavy, so I tend to lighten up to about 10lbs tounge weight using the bathroom scale.
You try adding your things more towards the back end of the trailer and see what happens.

[chuckster131]

Found this info on their web site.
Weight - 345 lbs.
Length - 104"
Box Length - 65"
Towing Height - 31"
Width - 43"
Volume - 16 Cubic Feet
Tongue Weight - 20 lbs.
Independent Torsion Suspension

[Cajunrider]

345 pounds is a pretty heavy trailer. Try bumping up the front tire to 40 - 42 psi and lowering the CT pressure to 30 - 34 psi. I have the same tire setup but my trailer only goes about 230 - 250 lbs loaded with 15 lbs on the tounge. No wobble besides the slight deceleration front wobble that I get at around 35 mph with or without the trailer.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by chuckster131

Found this info on their web site.
Weight - 345 lbs.
Length - 104"
Box Length - 65"
Towing Height - 31"
Width - 43"
Volume - 16 Cubic Feet
Tongue Weight - 20 lbs.
Independent Torsion Suspension

I asked you what your tongue weight was. If you had anything loaded in the trailer, your tongue weight would probably be more than 20 pounds. Personally, I think 20 pounds is too light.

I towed my trailer, which was around 300 pounds or so (loaded) 3500 miles from Phoenix to Custer and back. I experienced no handling problems at all, even at 75-80 MPH. I kept a tongue weight of about 10% of the gross trailer weight, ~30 pounds.

It's important to know what the tongue weight is when you hitch that trailer to your bike. Too little or too much weight can adversely affect handling. I think if you try and keep your tongue weight around 10% of gross, you might find it tows better.

I think I read about the 10% tongue to gross weight ratio on the Delphi Motorcycle Trailer Towing Forum. I use a 50 pound fish scale and check the weight at the coupler with the coupler at hitch height.

[jmilucky]

I'll weigh the tongue, but right now the trailer is bone stock - the only thing in the trailer is the pop-up canvass and aluminum tubing. I thought I'd start "empty" before loading in gear.

I can change out the tire pressures - what about the air shocks? Do they figure in this? I never ride two up and since the bike doesn't bottom, I've never even checked it.

I tow a long version Hannigan behind the Wing loaded to the max - we make sure the weight is over the axle and it's a two finger lift on the hitch [my way of checking tongue weight.] Have never had wobbles and tow the Hannigan thousands of miles.

The TimeOut is new territory for us.


thanks,

Jim

[Cajunrider]

I keep 30# in my shocks with the rebound set on III riding 2 up whether pulling the trailer or not. It's a little stiffer when riding alone but I just leave the shocks there anyway.

[metalman]

Wow, you guys certainly pull heavy trailers. I pull a homemade cargo trailer behind my Nomad. I estimate the weight of the trailer to be about 100 pounds (empty). One time I had an 80 pound bag of cement in the trailer and it slid to the back end. I felt no adverse affects on the bike. The performance of the Nomad must be less than desirable with a 350 pound trailer because when coming home from grocery shopping, I find that I need to downshift on most hills to maintain 55 mph.

[macmac]

Investigate "Caster" the trailer shoiuld be head down to the bike about 3 to 5 degrees....

Yout tire psi at the trailer is likely very too high, unless there is some need for that much air. I am not familar with this make or model trailer.

[rewindgy]

A) trailer tire pressure way too high! You didn't say if Radial or bias Ply but if Bias Ply no more than 25 psi. Radial you can go 30 tops! Also, tire ply rating cannot be too high! If tires are too stiff they will wander all over the place.
B) how you packing your trailer? Very important - unbelievable important! Heavy weight over axle, nothing heavy on back end!
C) axle position. Very important - if the axle is to far forward trailer will try to lift rear of bike and unload the rear tire. I have had a couple of tent trailers that had 3 position mount for axle.
D) you didn't say if you had a cooler on the tongue? If so, never carry it full of ice and stuff! If you ever weighed one full you would sh*t - they can be over 75 lbs!
E) tongue weight on most of trailer I have pulled always best around 40 lbs, IMHO
I have pulled trailers for over 30 years. All the way from a couple of homemade cargo trailers to a couple of Combi-camps tent trailers ( a bit large for bike) to now a Tiny Mite tent trailer which is awesome. The Combi's both had electric brakes which IMHO worked very well. If I could figure out how to put brakes on the Tiny Mite I would.http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/e...gis2008087.jpg

[jmilucky]

thanks to all who have posted.

I WILL weigh the tongue and make sure weight is distributed over the axle. I will revisit the tire pressures on the trailer and check with Time-Out for their recommendations since they make this rig.

Finally, I will fiddle a little with the air shocks - but since I don't ride 2-up I don't want to do too much.

Jim

[Cajunrider]

Jim, I pulled my trailer to Custer and back with the 50 psi in my Avon Cobra rear tire that Avon recommended. My trailer swayed from 65 mph up and caused the Nomad to sway a little also. Since mounting the CT, I've pulled the trailer up to 85 mph and there is no sway whatsoever. That was my reason for mentioning lowering the rear tire pressure a few pounds. I'm currently running 30 psi in the SP 5000 and 34 psi in my trailer tires. As CJ stated, more tongue weight would probably help being your trailer is so much heavier than mine. The 10% rule of thumb is a good benchmark.

[coacha]

Used about 30 lbs of tongue weight on mine on the way to Custer, no issues. Use a little less pressure in the trailer tires will also help. Buy a digital fish weight scale and it will give you a pretty accurate tongue weight. If you want to find the overall weight of your trailer, use a bathroom scale, put it under one wheel, then the other, and add the numbers. That will be pretty close to right on.

[macmac]

Once more check caster..... The trailer MUST be down in the head some slight amount in degrees... If it is head high to the hitch, it will try to steer the bike, much like a fork lift.

The damnned trailer will have a part of the controll to steer from the back, unless it is head down. With no pics I can't say...