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Old 04-10-2017, 01:45 PM   #1
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Help With Swivel Wheel Trailer Fabrication

Has anybody built a swivel wheel trailer? Or does anybody have a swivel wheel trailer I can get some good pictures of? I'm a pipefitter/welder by trade and can build one, just interested in how they designed the hitching and the ability to lift up and out of the way when not in use. I'll be traveling to Iowa from Texas sometime this year and would like to take my golf cart on the back of my 377RLBH without breaking out $2k... It's got to be less than a thousand dollars worth of material. Thanks in advance!
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Old 04-10-2017, 01:58 PM   #2
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"Swivel Wheel" and "Trailer" strike me as a contradiction.

I know I would want the safety of fixed wheels on anything I'm towing down the road at double-nickels or better.

I use 3-point implements routinely to mow and keep the dirt road and driveways pleasant. Those implements require casters at the rear because of the way they hitch to the tractor.

What you are proposing would require a fixed attachment to the tow vehicle. The trailer's tongue would have to slide into the receiver with no possibility of left-right movement at the attaching point. But you would still have to provide up-and-down flexibility so that the rig wont break when traveling on non-level ground.

I guess there is a good reason that there are plenty of small utility trailers with a regular ball coupler and fixed axle?
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Old 04-10-2017, 02:13 PM   #3
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Not what you are asking about, but I just sold one of these. I wasn't using it anymore..

1090 lb. Capacity 40-1/2 in x 48 in Utility Trailer

Less than 300 bucks for the trailer a nice wood top and some anchor points. I towed extra camping gear on it when we had our SUV.

Mike makes some good points. The little trailer on that picture would scare the @@#$ out of me if I saw it on the interstate. Those back wheels would be flipping around like fish out of water wouldn't they?
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Old 04-10-2017, 02:21 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mike837go View Post
"Swivel Wheel" and "Trailer" strike me as a contradiction.

I know I would want the safety of fixed wheels on anything I'm towing down the road at double-nickels or better.

I guess there is a good reason that there are plenty of small utility trailers with a regular ball coupler and fixed axle?
Well I would have thought the same thing if there weren't plenty manufacturers of these swivel trailers. Here's a few.

The ultimate single wheel trailer system.

Swivel Wheel Trailers | Smart Trailers

Home - Toy Tote
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Old 04-10-2017, 02:58 PM   #5
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I saw one cruising down the road behind a fiver and I did a double take. It was tracking super straight and smooth at 60mph. I admit it gave me some ideas about getting one. It may have been an www.idahotote.com. I think I would be over legal length limit and have weight issues adding a UTV to the back of my fiver. I don' know though...
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Old 04-10-2017, 03:04 PM   #6
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I saw one cruising down the road behind a fiver and I did a double take. It was tracking super straight and smooth at 60mph. I admit it gave me some ideas about getting one. It may have been an www.idahotote.com. I think I would be over legal length limit and have weight issues adding a UTV to the back of my fiver. I don' know though...


I hear ya, I'm going to hitch up and measure sometime this week. Texas legal length is 65', the golf cart is about 800lbs and the trailer should weigh around 300lbs so I've got to take all that into consideration since I'm pulling with a 3/4 ton. I'm already piecing together the swivel wheel assembly for around $300. Way cheaper than some of the manufactured ones. I'll post links tomorrow when I narrow down the choices.


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Old 04-10-2017, 04:25 PM   #7
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I hear ya, I'm going to hitch up and measure sometime this week. Texas legal length is 65', the golf cart is about 800lbs and the trailer should weigh around 300lbs so I've got to take all that into consideration since I'm pulling with a 3/4 ton. I'm already piecing together the swivel wheel assembly for around $300. Way cheaper than some of the manufactured ones. I'll post links tomorrow when I narrow down the choices.


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Definitely put up some pics. I like this idea. Texas Class C license is up to 26k. Anything over need a Class B (pretty sure). Supposedly the way these little trailers are set up they don't have the severe sway that causes jackknifes. If you going to double tow this seems the way to go.
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Old 04-10-2017, 04:35 PM   #8
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Will do, unfortunately it will be a while before I can start fabrication because I won't be home for a while. Reason for this post is to get a brainstorm going amongst the forum and hopefully gain some wisdom from someone who may have attempted it already. All the other links to forums I find are around 2011 and the picture links are all broken.

I rough measured trailer (377RLBH) and 2011 2500HD short bed to be around 59' so I've got 6' to legally add on. Also already have the added rear bumper attachment for a trailer but I think I'll just weld attachments directly to the tubing to save room. That or I have to figure some kind of side to side swivel out of single hitch like motorcycle hitches do but I'm afraid it will add too much length.




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Old 04-11-2017, 07:17 AM   #9
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These are becoming more popular every year for several reasons; not considered double tow so legal in all states, shorter than a ball hitch trailer, you can still back up with it attached, brings an alternate means of transportation (motorcycle, golf cart, etc). The one thing I have heard as a problem is the up/down pivot for uneven ground. One couple had their GC too close to the RV when the swivel wheel pitched up the top of the GC impacted the back of the RV. So play with your angles and make sure you have clearance for the movement. Good luck and definitely post pics as you go along.

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Old 04-11-2017, 07:37 AM   #10
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Coming from my motorcycle background a lot of guys build trailers for them. The problem for them with a ball hitch is lean angle so they many times use a U Joint to give it flex. Now your application is a bit different but rather than think traditional trailer which connects at a hitch point at the centerline of the towing trailer, why not connect further out at two points? This isn't a traditional trailer so why hook it up like one. With two connection points it can't pivot.

As far as the casters spinning all over the place. With enough rake on the connection, the caster wheel will track true. It would be more of an issue when there is no load on the trailer than when you are using it to carry something. If you were really worried about it, you might be able to go with a tie rod between the two but that would interfere with backing up the rig. I have a commercial zero turn mower for cutting my yard. That has big casters on the front and they don't spin around going across the rough terrain of my yard or running down my driveway.
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Old 04-11-2017, 05:09 PM   #11
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I'm planning on connecting to the receiver at both of the frame locations with a Four* link. I previously said two link on accident. After looking at countless videos of the different swivel wheel designs I've come to the conclusion that they are just torsion axle half's with the bar inverted back toward the anchor. My only problem is extending the torsion bar so that the wheel will be able to rotate back underneath itself, they come with a splined bar but it's very short.

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index....30phoCvYnw_wcB

Other than that I've pieced most of it together in my mind. I also made this basic sketch on PowerPoint of my 4-link idea to keep the trailer hopefully flat. It's just an idea and I'm pretty skeptical since nobody else has done it yet, the trailer ball seems pretty common.



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Old 04-11-2017, 05:17 PM   #12
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My CAD drawing I'm working on has the bottom attachment L-shaped so the 4-link bars are the same length. Ignore that on the PowerPoint version above. I'm thinking a 4" spread between the bars should be enough, but if anybody has any experience with link setups I would appreciate some insight! I've also come to the reality that this setup eliminates my hopes to flip the trailer up against the back of the 5er when not in use unless I engineer another attachment to the middle sometime later.


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Old 04-11-2017, 05:33 PM   #13
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I really like the idea of these trailers but my only concern would be the additional tail swing..


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Old 04-11-2017, 06:36 PM   #14
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Well when you've already got a 42' rig, what's another 4-6 feet?! Lol. I've been pretty fortunate to find pull through sites but when backing in a site I may have to disconnect this thing first. Every one I found has the trailer caster jacks mounted to the front so you can just drop those things and roll the whole thing out of the way in a few minutes time.

I also plan on storing the ramps in this trailer so I can just as easily pull the ramps out and take the cart off, that's when flipping this thing up to the back of the 5er will come in handy.


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Old 04-16-2017, 09:29 AM   #15
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We actually purchased a smart trailer. We have measured from the front of the truck to the back of the smart trailer and we are at 58ft. Maximum length in all states is 65ft we have not towed yet as I just finished up the lights and safety chain connections Friday. We have 2 scooters that we are taking with us. We have a 2017 Pinnacle FBTS.
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Old 04-16-2017, 09:55 AM   #16
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They've got some pretty good videos that show their connection to the trucks, would you mind posting a picture of the swivel wheel assembly and attached suspension? I watched a review on the swivel trailer that shows that they have a brake pad on the swivel with light tension to keep the wheel from wobbling when towed. Does smart trailer have something like that?


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Old 04-16-2017, 09:59 AM   #17
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The brake assembly is at 6:04 in this YouTube video. I haven't seen a super in depth review of a smart trailer yet.

https://youtu.be/ccp2MXuPcP8


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Old 04-21-2017, 11:34 AM   #18
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Sorry I just now saw your post. I don't have the trailer connected currently but the next time I do I will take some pictures. I can not answer about the brake pad, but I did pull the trailer with my truck and I didn't notice any weird vibration from the trailer didn't actually know it was there.
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Old 04-21-2017, 12:16 PM   #19
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Sorry I just now saw your post. I don't have the trailer connected currently but the next time I do I will take some pictures. I can not answer about the brake pad, but I did pull the trailer with my truck and I didn't notice any weird vibration from the trailer didn't actually know it was there.
It's all good, I appreciate any help I can get. I've got a pretty good idea of how I am going to build it, I just haven't got the time to start on it right now. Unfortunately there's not a real rich environment to research these things because the people who did, build them for a living now lol
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Old 04-21-2017, 12:36 PM   #20
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The swivel wheel tote is not a trailer... It has no tongue or uses a central point hitch.

It is platform extension attached to the tralier by two wide points which does not allow for any side movement. The swivel wheels are only there to support the heavy weight you may have sitting on the platform... Some only have a single swivel wheel.

I think it is a neat idea...

Most states do not consider this a trailer as well as it doesn't move once connected....

You can read up on them by going to the IDAHO TOTE web page
Idaho Tote Dolly – Tow your atv, motorcycle, golf cart behind your rv.

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