Help identifying this trailer!

Any clues who might have made this trailer? Axels swing and it has a rubber bump stop suspension. Thanks in advance!

I have no idea but I REALLY dig that design. I was designing a moto hauler for my FZ1 to haul my dirt bike to trails as a fun project and that picture cleans up a lot of small issues. I like the integrated chock/coupler mount, the simple struts that triangulate the rear end (as opposed to expensive rod ends I would have used).

It would be super simple to make one of those up, they sell the swing axles on ebay under motorcycle trailer, everyone has the tires, coupler, lights. Getting that channel bent would be a trip down to the sheet metal fabricator and then weld it up.

EDIT: I see how those axles work now, brilliant!! Can you get another shot close up of the suspension, I'd be interested if it looks like what I am thinking.

Appears the axle crossbar is the same profile as the center channel, so it appears you would just need to have one channel made, and cut the piece off for the axle tube. I wonder how the axles are located in their swing, friction?

EDIT2 lol: I have an idea, those eyelets for tie downs you could make the shank extra long and drill a oversized hole in the actual axle tube. The shank of the eyelet would keep the axle lateral and the oversized hole would keep it from binding. I think if you designed the axle tube pivot strong enough it would have enough meat to do most of the locating and prevent twisting and the bolt would be there as a backup.

Looks home made to me.

Definite mass produced to some extent, there is a sticker on it but all the info is faded beyond recognition except for the "complies with yada yada yada......"

More than likely a kit as it is all bolted together.

That trailer was made by a company in california in the 1970 by the name of TUFF Trailer ,I have one use it with bmw k100rs,r1100rs,yamaha fz1,klr650,and xr400.never had a problem with it track nice upgraded to 12"tire,come apart easily to cary inside my suv.its a keeper.






















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I will not use any trailer with under 12" wheels. I had a jet ski trailer with 10" wheels like that and I had so much trouble with bearings and tire blow outs until I upgraded to 13" wheels, then it was fine.

Other than the little wheels it looks quite useable.

Looks similar to these, maybe an older version?

http://stingertrailer.com/

This trailer looks interesting for those, like myself, who live in a state that has trailer speed limits.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-trailer/folding-motorcycle-trailer/

In Cali we are limited to 55 mph whenever towing ANYTHING so a foldable trailer would be nice for picking up, or dropping off a bike and then driving home on a 70 mph hiway. 15 mph really adds up on a long drive and they are really cracking down on the towing speed limit.

Thanks much!!! Yea, I paid $75 for it and it had relativity new tires, rear lights and bearing buddies. Bearings look excellent, but the seals were seeping, so new just ordered.

I have a nice Aluminum 3 rail but travel with one bike often, this puts the bike right on the back bumper and low to the ground in the slipstream, so I am betting 5 mpg improvement to the 3 rail. First trip to the Smokey's in a month should pay for 2/3 of it in savings

An inmate uses one to tow a bike with a bike.


http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213034&page=5

I towed a 750 pound bike, 1600 miles on little wheels and tires. Except for actually wearing them out on the way home, they were fine. Had one spare and bought the other in a WalMart in SLC.

The smaller the wheel the faster it rotates at the same speeds.

The bearings spin really fast and the tires wear REALLY fast and that causes more blowouts.

PFFOG,
Remember you always need to check your tongue weight, even on small and light trailers. 10% of total weight needs to be on the tongue...at least.

Yeah, if the bearings are not maintained and the tires aren't the proper load range (there are two common load ranges in that size). I towed that bike in the heatwave last July, across half the country at 70-80 MPH (Utah has sections where that is legal and normal). No problems.

I'm not saying they don't turn more RPM but, they're also very usable if common sense and maintenance are applied.

First thing I did was load the F800GS to check it, it was light, so axle already moved back 6". Going to weld a couple brackets and install a couple small fenders too, to reduce the spray in the rain, and run new wires to the lights. Then pressure wash and a rattle can or two of paint and I should be good for lots of years.

+1 physics is physics ain't no getting around that. I don't even like 12" wheels/tires because of that. It's why Kendon switched from 12" to 13" wheels on their trailers

Hey Donk,
I sure did not mean to imply that they will not work, or that they should not be used. You are correct, they can work fine with propper maintanace and care.

If storage space and being as small as possible is mandatory then by all means use the small wheels. I actually think those wheels are 8" rims, that is pretty small.

Just commenting on the thought that IF space and the couple of extra pounds is not an issue, larger wheels are quite a bit less work and more reliable. They are worth the effort and cost to upgrade IMHO.

The math is simple. If your car has 28" tall tires, my Traverse is taller than that actually, but 28" would be pretty common, multiply that x TT, and you get 87.9". That meant that for every 88" of road driven that wheel turns one single 360* rotation.
On the 8" trailer wheels the total diameter is likely about 17". Times 17xTT and you get 53.38. So for the trailer to cover the same 88" as the car, the trailer is turning about 60% faster. So at 70 mph in the car, it is like the bearings in the trailer are doing 112mph. Tires wear 60% faster, bearings wear 60% faster, seals wear 60%...that is all. Obviously going to a 12/13/14/15" tire is not the full 60% as it is on a car, but you cut wear and tear with every inch larger diameter.

That is all I meant. No offense meant. Pros and cons with everything we do. If you are standing the trailer up on end in the corner of the garage, then the 8" wheels make that easier and take up less space. If it is just gonna set over on the side of the house, then there is not any downside to going bigger really...well loading the bike may be a tick tougher I guess.

All I can speak to is my own personal experience and it was much better with bigger wheels on my ski trailer.

Either way, nice score PFFOG. Can never go wrong with a $75 trailer.

Pretty cool design.

Found this: LINK

If you have a trailer that goes in the water( I use my trailer for small boats and bikes),bring your grease gun with you to the boat ramp and grease the bearings just before the trailer goes in the water. The bearings get warm while driving and when they go in the water cooling the bearings will suck water in, by greasing the bearings it pressurizes the bearing to keep the water out.

A follow up to those that helped identify. Here is how it all ended up.

Trailer works great, bearings cleaned and repacked, new seals, rewired, a new spare, a couple fenders and 2 rattle cans of rustoleum. Total $75 for the trailer, and another $70 for the parts and paint total investment $145

Welded up some brackets for the fenders, moved the axle back 5" for more tongue weight, removed a couple useless brackets, and modified the suspension blocks to soften it up a little.

I hauled it from western NY to the Smokey's in April, compared to hauling my Aluminum 3 rail, I got an extra 6 mpg hauling at 75 mph plus, so it saved me 20 gal of gas in the first trip, so the savings have half paid for the investment, my next spring trip should give me 100% ROI, not bad.

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