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Have not had a chance to take/post a picture of the set-up yet, so here it is on the way to VIR. Using the t-hook holes in the bottom of the car in an X pattern front and rear, an oh-$h1t safety strap through the rear wheels, and chocks. For the extra strap, mounted ratchets on square aluminum tubing bolted to the side of the trailer (Featherlite 3110, 1100 lb) with SS hardware. Backed it on to get the tongue weight right, and it makes getting to the straps on the front of the car (back of trailer) easier. This trailer (with car) fits in the 2-car garage that came with the house. The garage has a bit of extra depth, but not a huge amount. Pulling it with a Buick Enclave (V6 FWD). It's not great (struggles up hills some), but gets by. I'm within the pulling weight limit by a decent margin, but just about on the rear axle limit. Still considering a stronger tow vehicle...
A bit of a funny story...packing up to return to the house, I could not find the T-hooks. Spent forever looking for them. Turns out the hooks built into the straps fit right into the holes and you do not need the T-hooks! After driving for about 10 minutes, I remembered I stored the T-hooks in the built-in bin in the back of the Buick - duh!
Last edited by aryork; 03-18-2018 at 03:18 PM.
Reason: typo
I would be seriously considering a different tow vehicle, mostly becuase I couldnt stand to drive an Enclave, towing or otherwise.
Nice setup though. I'm glad to see more people using T-hooks.
Can you put a weight distribution hitch on that trailer? Most people don't realize that when they look at their vehicles maximum towing weight it is with a weight distribution hitch.
You already know this but yeah I would definitely look at upgrading the tow vehicle. We have a GMC Acadia Denali (same basic platform) and a Nissan Armada and it is night and day difference towing. The Acadia can do it if necessary but the Armada can do it without really noticing .
Nice setup! I’m looking at doing something similar with my GT4.
When you say t hook holes do you mean the holes in the jacking location?
Also, are you using additional ramps to get on/off the trailer and if so where do you store them?
Yes, exactly. The holes at the lift points is where I secure the straps. And, yes, I use some 2x10s. The ramps that come with the trailer are about 6.5 ft long I believe. I have two pieces of 2x10 on each side. I have not thought about the dimensions, but I believe they are 1.75-inch thick, so that would be raising the ramps 3.5 inches. The 2x10s are not long (longest is maybe 3 ft), so I just throw them in the back of the Enclave. Here is a cartoon of the set-up. Actually, I believe the splitter rubs a bit with this set-up. I'm over that as I rub it generally at least once each time I drive it due to my driveway slope - I view it as a consumable
Did you actually measure your tongue weight loading the car this way? Sorry but it just doesn't look right.
Yep, weighed it - it's about 500 lb. The GT4 is located such that it's CG is close to the CG of the trailer. The CG of the empty trailer is slightly behind the front axle (note: the wheels are offset six inches back from their axle mount). When the trailer is level and empty the tongue weight is about 100 lb. See diagram. Thus, since the moments induced by the car are small, the tongue weight is approximately the ratio of the total weight to empty weight (4100/1100) or about a factor of 4 (4x100=400). The extra ~100 lb comes from lifting the tongue slightly beyond level so that a bit more weight is carried by the trailer's rear axle. It is very difficult to get the CG of the trailer...the wheels have to be exactly level, including the one with the scale under it, otherwise the springs are either compressed or relaxed asymmetrically and throws it off. I did all the calcs to get the tongue to be about 450 lb, but it turned out to be about 500 lb, which is better for pulling, but not better for the rear axle that is almost max'd out. Also, the tilt on the trailer makes a big difference - about 50 lb more for each inch it is raised (when loaded).
As long as you actually measured it. The optics are definitely deceiving.
Interesting point about the effect of tilt (50 lb of weight for each inch raised). I've never considered that before but it makes total sense.
I went back over my calcs and could not get the same answer - was actually a lot *less* tongue weight. I'm pretty confident I got a good weight previously, but "paranoia will destroy ya" (or so they say) ...so just ordered one of these hitches with built-in scale. Stay tuned and I will report back
03-18-2018, 01:21 PM
Minimalist trailer set-up
