School me on my trailer

Not gonna lie I'm a dirt track racer but subscribe to and love grassroots.

So I have been towing my Democross mini stock with a clapped out 1998 Ford Explorer that has recently been replaced with a 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan GT . For now it will have to do towing duty and I know there are some Grand Caravan fans around here

Local track the Democross car runs at is only 11 miles away two Lane road 45mph so no biggy but the new IMCA sport compact will be making races 100-120miles away.

My trailer is designed for utv/buggies but fits my small cars ok (about 2300lbs each) . But my concern is that its CG will be too high for the Grand Caravan. Is it possible to just run a seriously dropped axle and mod the fenders to make it more of a real car hauler ? Good idea bad idea ? Buy a drop axle? Throw on lowering blocks ?I think it'll be an easy task to mod and will possibly tow nicer but want other options. 

(Yes the blue and white car is the infamous "Mormon missile"  and my democross car is an FX16 GTS

Are the trailer springs currently above the axle?  If so flipping them to below the axle will lower it a few inches, I have done this with a Harbor Freight trailer and it worked nicely.  Depending on how the frame is constructed you might need to notch and reinforce it.

I tow my Starlet on what looks like that exact same trailer with my GC. Works like a dream, absolutely the best tow rig and trailer combo I've ever driven. No mods to the trailer, just have to run the drop receiver flipped to get the ball at a good height. I'm thinking about getting a weight distributing hitch to level out the ride a tad, but it's not a necessity.

My local track is High Plains, about 80 miles / 90 minutes drive mostly on the interstate, this handles it perfectly. 

What size tires do you gave on your trailer?  My car hauler (24' long, dual axle, drop tail)  has 14" and is slightly less, maybe more, lower than if it had 15" tires.  or so I was told.

My recommendation would be to insure you folks have trailer brakes on those trailers.  Just saying.

Yet again the GRM forum delivers with someone having almost the same conglomeration of stuff and an answer.  Any options for air bags in the back of the van to help with the tongue weight?

In reply to Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) :

Why? My trailer and load is maybe 2500 lbs total. And the Grand Caravan has brake rotors nearly 2" bigger than the Explorer the original poster is replacing.

In reply to GhiaMonster :

I think helper springs in the van would be worse for handling than doing nothing, the tongue weight of my combo isn't excessive at all, it just looks like a little squat because they sit so close to level unloaded. The rear springs in these vans have a nice progressive rate, with the loaded trailer you can feel that it's right in a sweet spot for good control and good ride. I think a weight distributing hitch would make it tow even more sweet; the right size WD hitch from Curt is under $275 so I'm definitely considering it. 

I would just tow with it.  My guess is you'll find that it's fine as-is.  Lowering the CG doesn't help towing much, but it has a big effect if you get the trailer, um... crooked.

If you do a panic swerve and the trailer gets up on one wheel, then a 1-ton dually will be less affected than a Caravan.  So yes, lower CG is a safety item, but not from the standpoint of nice comfy towing.  It's a safety item in terms of panic situations.  Lowering the CG prevents those panic situations, but doesn't do much for how it tows in a straight line.

IIRC, your rear springs are coils, yes?  I suggest against the urethane airbags that fit inside the springs.  They might work on pristine, new springs that are 8" away from any exhaust, but all it takes is one crusty piece of rust.  I put helper airbags in my Impala SS springs to tow a boat.  On its maiden voyage to Lowes 5 miles away, the right side melted through from the aftermarket exhaust and the left side rubbed a hole through from crusty springs.

A viable solution for LIGHT assistance is to get air shocks.  If you do that, keep in mind you'll be transferring some of the weight from the spring perches (which are designed to take a ton of weight) to the shock mounts (which are not designed for too much extra weight).  Use them sparingly.  The other downside to air shocks is that they require a minimum psi or they become damaged.  When you're not towing, you can't just dump the air and ignore them.  They require constant verification that they have some pressure in them.  One good bump that loosens the cheap air lines and 50 miles later you have normal shocks.

If you find you're having trouble with tongue weight on a factory suspension, the first thing I would go to is stiffer springs.  You can source springs with a higher rate (but shorter unsprung weight if you don't want to change ride height).  The upside is that's the "right" modification.  The downside is that daily driving will be less cushy.

Suggestion... if you need to stiffen it up, start by getting the rubber spacers for between the coils.  Not a donut spacer under the spring, but an X-spacer that goes in between coils.  This won't affect ride height, but it takes one coil out of active duty, thereby increasing the effective rate of the spring by a completely unpredictable amount.  I don't consider this a viable permanent solution as they can fall out causing an unpredictable change in dynamics, but it is a $10 and 10-minute way to simulate what a spring change might feel like before tearing apart a suspension.

In reply to newrider3 :

Thank you for posting that up...put my mind at ease havidng not gotten my hitch in yet and seeing it all together . 

Looking at them the explorer (4.0sohc) looks like a better tow rig but I'm pretty sure the Caravan will be far better...more power and bigger brakes. 

I've towed lots of things with and without trailer brakes. I've never been sad to have trailer brakes.  I've had trailers swaying and really wished I had them as they really reign in a swaying trailer. 

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Springs are below

I'd look into a set of 20.5x8-10 load range D trailer tires as the first step.  They are made for deckover snowmobile trailers and should drop your whole trailer by 3-4", plus allow you to move the fenders down for more clearance or continue lowering with them where they are.  Cheap, easy way to start, anyway. 

If the tongue weight is high, it looks like it would be beneficial to park the car about a foot farther back on the trailer.

I have towed various single axle trailers (including a car trailer), with various tow vehicles, over the years. I have typically had to adjust the load in order to get the tongue weight just right.

mw said:

I've towed lots of things with and without trailer brakes. I've never been sad to have trailer brakes.  I've had trailers swaying and really wished I had them as they really reign in a swaying trailer. 

I'll echo this.  I tow with a 94 Mazda B4000 right now.  (Rebadged Ranger).  I often tow my 3500 lb boat which doesn't have trailer brakes, and its fine for normal driving.  It's that one time a year when things aren't normal that get you.

I'm adding a brake controller because I also often tow a 16' landscape trailer with god-knows-what and an 18' car hauler with holy-E36 M3-you're-towing-what?.

Tekonsha Prodigy P2 is under $100 and an afternoon to install it.

I towed this tractor to my house and I was smart to borrow dad's K2500 duramax.  When I towed it back to him, I thought, "I can go 10 miles with this thing behind my Mazda"

I did it, but I think I pooped twice on the way.  Trailer weighs 1800, tractor weighs 3700 without the bucket, so 4500 with?  I estimated with all the chains, fuel, and other junk I was probably at 6500.

I'm happy to do dumb E36 M3 for a few miles.  10 miles gets sketchy.  100 miles?  Nope.

oldopelguy (Forum Supporter) said:

I'd look into a set of 20.5x8-10 load range D trailer tires as the first step.  They are made for deckover snowmobile trailers and should drop your whole trailer by 3-4", plus allow you to move the fenders down for more clearance or continue lowering with them where they are.  Cheap, easy way to start, anyway. 

If you do that, it would probably be good to repack the bearings with higher temp synthetic grease at the same time and maybe just refresh the bearings. Smaller wheels spin faster for a given speed.

I'm a IMCA sport compact guy too - well I will be once I find a car that suits what I want. However, I have towed other race cars over short and long distances.

My question, and yours, is - how often will you be doing the 100 mile (times 2) tow? Doing it once or twice is one thing, doing it once a month is another. 

I have found that a tandem trailer with brakes makes a long tow a lot more comfortable.

I would recommend an an adjustable hitch like similar

This will give you a lot of adjustability for tounge weight. Playing with that weight will give you the best stability. 

newrider3 said:

In reply to Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) :

Why? My trailer and load is maybe 2500 lbs total. And the Grand Caravan has brake rotors nearly 2" bigger than the Explorer the original poster is replacing.

 

Laws are different everywhere but I would check yours.

Where I am, they say that if the trailer and load weigh more than half of the towing vehicle, you must have trailer brakes.

A car loaded on a single axle trailer is a heat score. If I were a traffic cop, I would think I had won the lottery when I see you go by.

In reply to ShawnG :

Not around here..I would say unless you look gravely over weight or can't control your load you are not likely to get stopped.

i was young once.  

I still tow my "outlaw VW" on a custom single axle trailer.  One of my work trailers is single axle and it follows my van every day for the last 15 years.  Nothing wrong with single axles if you maintain the unit, don't overload, and keep a handle on tire quality.  20 years ago i even towed my F2000 car on a single axle trailer behind a Nissan van.  So, i have been there, done that.

All that said, i use trailer brakes.  Its that one time you need a good stopping distance that will pay off the investment.

As always, YMMV

I would have to fill the interior of the Starlet with gravel to get the gross weight of that trailer anywhere near 3000 lbs. The trailer and trailer tires are rated for 3500, the GC has a curb weight of nearly 4500 lbs (remember, Ma Mopar calls these a truck, not a car) and is rated to tow 3600 lbs. I can't imagine why the law would ever be interested in hassling me, the average landscaper or excavator around here has a much scarier truck/trailer/load combo. 

Trust me, the GC and this trailer have no handling issues. If it was scary or white knuckle to drive I would certainly warn you, but it goes down the highway at 70 like a dream, it's not taxing even for the hour and a half long drive home Sunday evening after a Lemons race weekend. The tongue weight is perfect, it handles excellent with no weirdness or sway at any speed, the squat is an inch or so, not nearly the problem it may look in the parked pictures. Adding helper springs would do far more harm than good to the balance and handling, these vans are meant to be loaded (imagine 6 or 7 full size humans inside). It drives better and more predictably with the trailer than it does with just myself, small human, and grocery bags as the load. 

I had good luck with the Airlift rear airbags that fit inside the rear coils on our Odyssey. Never towed with that setup, but it made the car handle much better when the 6 of us and our gear were in it.

Thank you all for the input.

Newrider3's post makes me feel better. Think I'm just gonna send it.

Now the next question is does the "Mormon Missile" lemons Olds Claias 442 become my new Mod class Rallycross car

In reply to ShawnG :

The actual law is a bit more complex it's the lower of 50% of tow vehicle or 2000lbs. A quick bit of research shows brakes are required at 3000 lbs.

Most jurisdictions have these laws on line and are fairly easy to check. Reviewing your states MVA or equivalent can produce some AHA moments.