Thursday, August 22, 2013

Towing and hitches and trailers




I was somewhat hoping to bring my car along for the ride too.  As mentioned prior, have a motorcycle lift mounted onto the back hitch, as shown in the following picture.  I was somewhat hoping to also attach a tow dolly to pull my car behind it.  Upon further examination, it looks like it's possible to do it with some minor manipulation.  Besides the legality of doing it that way, there would be a lot of stress happening at that point, with forces that I am unaware of, so thinking it's generally not a great idea.

Some items was considering to mitigate the risk were getting some hooks welded to the hitch and the lift, then using tie down straps, or chain with a tightener, to make it much more stable.  It still doesn't feel right to do that.  The main concern I would have is when stopping unexpectedly, as we know that happens, and all the forces generated from that which might cause more damage than it's worth.

Will add the tie-down straps so the mount doesn't move around all that much while tooling down the highway.  Instead of welding things, will wrap the strap around the hitch (easy to do), or maybe do something else with a clamp.  The goal would be to not modify the hitch at all, but still add some stability.

The hitch on this RV is a Class IV, so it has a 1000 lb tongue weight and 10,000 lb hauling weight. 

Trailer

This RV used to tow a race car by the original owner from what I have gathered.  There is still evidence around of the racing association he was a member of, plus all the stuff he added to the RV.  As such, am sure it will be more than enough to pull a larger trailer, with a 20 foot bed or so, for a car and a motorcycle.  Depending on what happens in the future might be looking at this option.  Found some very nice flat bed, and enclosed trailers, that would work great, and the rig would have no trouble pulling it, even through mountain passes.

Here are the different types of trailers have been considering.
car trailer, car tow dolly, hdxl model, motorcycle trailer, atv trailer
Car dolly with motorcycle storage area




flatbed trailer (this one has a winch)

General enclosed trailer
When it gets closer to that time will weigh the options and my needs then figure out what's best.  Figured would document so don't forget..

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