Jmb's Newest Toys!

I was talking to my equipment guru about torsion suspension on trailers.  He tells me they are becoming more poular with bigger trailers.  An advantage is that the weight is more evenly distributed to all four wheels, especially important when braking.  i know that is true with trucks and cars that have it.

My pickup truck (half ton chevy) has torsion suspension on the front.  For a light pickup, it has terrific traction for sno plowing.  also great ballance and traction when hauling a trailer, especially when both truck and trailer are loaded heavy.  With four wheel braking on the trailer, i can stop nearly as quick with full oaded trailer as when empty.  The truck keeps its traction and the trailer helps to slow everything down.

JMB, do those rear corner legs come off?  They seem to have holes for adjustment.  I would never get the trailer out of my driveway if they were not removable. 
Tinker
 
I just got an open deck car hauler for my race car.  Hauled a much heavier car the other day.  Seems there's a fine line between having a wagging trailer and having too much tongue weight to make the front end of my truck floaty.  Have had a single axle utility trailer for years and will have to figure the differences out on this one.  I'm not sure the trailer place told me the correct hitch height, looks high to me so I'll try a little more drop and see if that helps.
I can say for sure that there is a huge difference between a utility trailer with some plywood on it and a 3800lb car on a 1400lb trailer when it starts wagging.
My trailer is leaf springs with only 1 pair of brakes.  Light and inexpensive were the criteria, which don't necessarily go together.

 
Tinker said:
I was talking to my equipment guru about torsion suspension on trailers.  He tells me they are becoming more poular with bigger trailers.  An advantage is that the weight is more evenly distributed to all four wheels, especially important when braking.  i know that is true with trucks and cars that have it.

My pickup truck (half ton chevy) has torsion suspension on the front.  For a light pickup, it has terrific traction for sno plowing.  also great ballance and traction when hauling a trailer, especially when both truck and trailer are loaded heavy.  With four wheel braking on the trailer, i can stop nearly as quick with full oaded trailer as when empty.  The truck keeps its traction and the trailer helps to slow everything down.

JMB, do those rear corner legs come off?  They seem to have holes for adjustment.  I would never get the trailer out of my driveway if they were not removable. 
Tinker

No they are not adjustable they just simply flip from underneath and you can just flip them back out of the way in seconds.

Wish they did make them adjustable it would be alot better.

Jmb
 
Alan m said:
what kind of tricked out features can you get on them.

i agree ifor williams are reling on the name . they are a good trailer thow.

I have an ifor 12x6 3.5t twin axle with rear steadies, ramps and drop down sides and a ladder rack . it cost £2300 when I bought it I doubt you could make it yourself for  the money.
 
JayStPeter said:
I just got an open deck car hauler for my race car.  Hauled a much heavier car the other day.  Seems there's a fine line between having a wagging trailer and having too much tongue weight to make the front end of my truck floaty.  Have had a single axle utility trailer for years and will have to figure the differences out on this one.  I'm not sure the trailer place told me the correct hitch height, looks high to me so I'll try a little more drop and see if that helps.
I can say for sure that there is a huge difference between a utility trailer with some plywood on it and a 3800lb car on a 1400lb trailer when it starts wagging.
My trailer is leaf springs with only 1 pair of brakes.  Light and inexpensive were the criteria, which don't necessarily go together.


My trailer was originally 2 axle w/car sized tires and no brakes.  I was stopped for a friendly little educational chat with a DOT cheerleader who ended up relieving my wallet of the better part of 10K. he liked about everything it was possible to like on the truck/trailer combo. He was very happy be the time he left me waiting for a tow truck.  I ended up with a whole lot of new stuff on the truck, new axles and larger wheels with 4x brakes.  I had had larger trailers when I was in construction and the trailers always matched my trucks with o problem.  When i got into landscaping, my son had the big equipment so i did not need heavy trailers and heavy trucks.  I had a 1Ton GMC and a 1/2T chevy pickup.  My trailer matched up perfectly with the Jimmy but hitch on the chevy was way too low.

I had to experiment with various hitches for the chevy.  i found that it was important to have the trailer sitting level with equal weight on both axles.  The wear on tires was affected as was the braking.  It hitch was too high, the load was transferred to rear axle of trailer and the tail of the pickup was pushed too low.  Terrible control on highway, but great for backing into a crooked driveway.  Not so good coming back out of the same driveway. 

If hitch was too low, the truck and trailer both wanted to fishtail in a stop, especially when going down hill.  It was a real PITA backing into a crooked driveway but easy to come back out.

With poor ballance to the trailer axles, i started getting flat spots on the tires.  The same spot on a tire, depending on the axle not taking the weight, would often be down but not touching the road.  That spot would have tendency to scruff along the pavement while the other pair of brakes would take up the stopping duties.  there were other minor problems that were discovered until i finally found the right "goose neck" to keep the axles in balance.  Once I arrived at the proper height, i no longer find any fishtailing, no flat spots on the tires and with the heaviest loads, i can stop almost as quickly as with empty trailer.

you need to experiment with various hitches, whether upsweep or down.  That car looks way to big for the truck/trailer combination.  That is my feeling from way in here at my computer. :o  Today, the newer trucks are so much better than "in the good ol' days". I see 1 ton pickups hauling loads that were unsafe with dual wheeled trucks back then.  I haul loads with my 1/2ton chevy i would not even get out of my driveway with my old 3/4ton pickups years ago.  trailers are better suspended as well.  So, don't take my word the car is too much load, BUT you do need to determine the fine balance by experimenting with different hitches. I am advising that it is very important to have 4x braking for the load you are carrying.  that load is, I am sure, more expensive than the trailer and far heavier than you care to stop at highway speeds with the wrong axle bearing the load.  [oops]

The more i look at JMB's trailer, and talk around, the better I like those torsion axles. They really look like the way to go for heavy loads on light trailers.  especially with braking at traffic speeds.  i think it is better road contact with all four wheels.  I have not seen any small trailers with that system, but I am starting to look.  Thanks JMB
Tinker
 
Tinker said:
you need to experiment with various hitches, whether upsweep or down.  That car looks way to big for the truck/trailer combination.  That is my feeling from way in here at my computer. :o  Today, the newer trucks are so much better than "in the good ol' days". I see 1 ton pickups hauling loads that were unsafe with dual wheeled trucks back then.  I haul loads with my 1/2ton chevy i would not even get out of my driveway with my old 3/4ton pickups years ago.  trailers are better suspended as well.  So, don't take my word the car is too much load, BUT you do need to determine the fine balance by experimenting with different hitches. I am advising that it is very important to have 4x braking for the load you are carrying.  that load is, I am sure, more expensive than the trailer and far heavier than you care to stop at highway speeds with the wrong axle bearing the load.  [oops]

Thanks for the info.  Your description of too high a hitch is exactly what I experienced.  I have two different drop receivers to try out and see if it gets better.  In all my racing endeavours, safety and reliability are my priority (in that order).  So, I'll make it right.  I might hit you up if I can't figure things out.
That particular car is slightly over what I should be doing with that truck, a couple hundred pounds or so.  Looks worse from the perspective of the picture.  I do have Hawk LTS pads, Centric rotors, and race brake fluid in the truck.  I'm not planning on pulling that car regularly, just picking it up from the little old lady that used to own it (mom).  The trailer was bought for my race car, a Spec Miata sitting at 2200lb with half tank of gas.  Still plan to upgrade the truck in the next couple years though, starting to research older big diesels to figure out a budget.  I'm considering adding brakes to the other trailer axle, it's setup for them, just need to be bolted on and wired in.  We'll see how it goes.  With this car it did fine, but I did wind up with the brake controller set close to max.
BTW, I think the truck, trailer and car each have about the same value. Car (and truck) is a '98 model.  I think a total loss of all 3 is less than JMBs trailer alone, definitely less than his Festool collection ;).  Driving old beaters allows me to race one also.
 
JayStPeter said:
Tinker said:
you need to experiment with various hitches, whether upsweep or down.  That car looks way to big for the truck/trailer combination.  That is my feeling from way in here at my computer. :o  Today, the newer trucks are so much better than "in the good ol' days". I see 1 ton pickups hauling loads that were unsafe with dual wheeled trucks back then.  I haul loads with my 1/2ton chevy i would not even get out of my driveway with my old 3/4ton pickups years ago.  trailers are better suspended as well.  So, don't take my word the car is too much load, BUT you do need to determine the fine balance by experimenting with different hitches. I am advising that it is very important to have 4x braking for the load you are carrying.  that load is, I am sure, more expensive than the trailer and far heavier than you care to stop at highway speeds with the wrong axle bearing the load.  [oops]

Thanks for the info.  Your description of too high a hitch is exactly what I experienced.  I have two different drop receivers to try out and see if it gets better.  In all my racing endeavours, safety and reliability are my priority (in that order).  So, I'll make it right.  I might hit you up if I can't figure things out.
That particular car is slightly over what I should be doing with that truck, a couple hundred pounds or so.  Looks worse from the perspective of the picture.  I do have Hawk LTS pads, Centric rotors, and race brake fluid in the truck.  I'm not planning on pulling that car regularly, just picking it up from the little old lady that used to own it (mom).  The trailer was bought for my race car, a Spec Miata sitting at 2200lb with half tank of gas.  Still plan to upgrade the truck in the next couple years though, starting to research older big diesels to figure out a budget.  I'm considering adding brakes to the other trailer axle, it's setup for them, just need to be bolted on and wired in.  We'll see how it goes.  With this car it did fine, but I did wind up with the brake controller set close to max.
BTW, I think the truck, trailer and car each have about the same value. Car (and truck) is a '98 model.  I think a total loss of all 3 is less than JMBs trailer alone, definitely less than his Festool collection ;).  Driving old beaters allows me to race one also.

With the flat hitch extension, the trailer sat with practically no weight on the hitch.  As i would crank the trailer jack up, the rear of the pickup would not settle.  But once under way, there was problems in handling. Everything swayed (fishtailed).  i had to anticipate how the load would follow as the weight went from too light on the hitch to too heavy.  I then went to a ball extension with 8" rise.  That was worse because almost all of the weight was transferred to the hitch and the rear axle.  That dropped the tail of the truck another about 8 to 12 inches.  There were some driveways with steep aprons i could not get into.  i bent the foot on the jack lift.  Eventually, the rear axle of the trailer started bending and i blew a couple of tires.  I then went to an 6" rise and finally to a 3" rise.  That proved to be perfect.  with both trailer axles even weight, the tail of my truck hardly lowers from the load. there seems to be no shifting of the weight and both truck and trailer are always level. It is so much better handling, especially in stopping. Fishtailing has been totally eliminated. 

i like your philosophy about driving old clunkers so you can race one also. it is good to have priorities in proper order. ::)
Tinker
 
Tinker said:
i like your philosophy about driving old clunkers so you can race one also. it is good to have priorities in proper order. ::)
Tinker

Don't confuse beater and clunker.  Totally different things.  None of my cars are clunkers.

My wife's car, which is worth way more than all 3 of mine plus the trailer might wind up being a clunker.  Still in probation period
 
Not posted here for a while!  Had a few new toy's since BUT this is a more unusual toy I just had delivered today  [big grin] [big grin]

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jonny round boy said:
Profile sander?

yeah suppose it is but its actually a brush sander which will sand profiles.   [big grin]  Most expensive sander I have ever bought!
 
Festoolfootstool said:
Jmb what do u need a brush sander for?

I wanted a all round sander which can sand inbetween paint coats but also bare wood  flat or moulded etc

Also its brilliant for taking the edge of timber by putting the timber on a slight angle as you pass it through! 

BUT my MAIN reasion I bought it was to sand rings!   I HATE sanding them they bore me so much but also they are very time consuming and hurt my arms after so long!    So I went looking for a sander which could help me out!  

 
Stage one! Cutting external
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Stage Two! Cutting internal
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Stage three router round on them.
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Stage Four sanding them!  (Using Festool Rotex 90 using soft interface pads which wear out pretty quickly)
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jmbfestool said:
Not posted here for a while!  Had a few new toy's since BUT this is a more unusual toy I just had delivered today  [big grin] [big grin]

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What size Systainer did this come in? ;D

Congratulations, looks like a great acquisition.
 
jonny round boy said:
So, what are all the rings for then?  [poke]

Jonny they are for Jmb's new venture a hoopla stall  [big grin] [wink]

no doubt the hoops will be just a little to small to fit over the pegs [big grin]
 
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