Trailer idea

[jwhughes3]

I have a crazy concept in mind of building a single wheel trailer similar to a bicycle trailer that utilizes the front wheel from an XS11.

I need ideas about mounting it under an aluminum base plate deck....I thought of TIG welding cut down forks, but what to do about suspension?


Crazy ideas welcomed. This is just speculation....no building at this time.

I would like to keep trailer weight under 75 lbs to carry a 60-75lb load max (and hopefully less if I am riding 2-up)


Thanks
John

[DGXSER]

John, I love a crazy idea. It appears you want to eliminate the rotational movement of the hitch by putting the trailer on one wheel, like the bike, so when you lean, the trailer leans also.

I see alot of things that detract from this idea. Single wheel will need to be underneath the trailer and a 19" wheel will put the trailer pretty high off the ground, high center of gravity, making it want to roll over. Also, everytime you lean the bike your stuff in the trailer is shifting if not tied down really well, again adding to the rollover possibility.

That being said, here is an equally crazy thought on the suspension. If you can weld aluminum, get a set of lower fork legs, Take the upper suspension components out of them. Weld them to an aluminum plate for each that you can pass U-bolts through, and mount them to a standard leaf spring susspension. Only concern being the distance from the mounting point to the center of the wheel is pretty long. Alot fo force can be generated by that distance to bend your plate or twist things.

Now if you were to build your trailer with a wheel well in the middle of it for the wheel to extend up into the cargo bay, that would eliminate alot of the concerns.You can cut the fork legs down considerably and weld the mounting plates to them. This will lower the center of gravity closer to the axle, and shorten the bending moment on the forks so less force is created.

also, look at how they mount wheels on a pop-up camper. Might be a way to adapt that to your idea.

[fredintoon]

Hi john,
why build stuff when you can buy it?
Save that 19" wheel for a more worthy cause.
Buy an Indespension unit to run an 8" donut on to bolt under your trailer frame.
Or steal ideas from these photos:-
http://www.google.ca/search?q=single...w=1920&bih=898

[jwhughes3]

Don and Fred,

I was thinking of a trailing wheel so deck height is lower....fred i see a few designs like that in your link, but nothing on how to spring it that way.

I would tie down a bag to the trailer to prevent shifting.

John

[BA80]

I have discovered over the years that it generally costs more to build something that to just go buy it.

[CatatonicBug]

nothing on how to spring it that way.

This picture gives a decent idea of the suspension for it.

[natemoen]

I have discovered over the years that it generally costs more to build something that to just go buy it.

+1!!!!!!!!

But it really is about the enjoyment of the build and the satisfaction of the accomplishment anyways.

[fredintoon]

Don and Fred,

I was thinking of a trailing wheel so deck height is lower....fred i see a few designs like that in your link, but nothing on how to spring it that way.

I would tie down a bag to the trailer to prevent shifting.

John

Hi John,
open that link and scroll down to page 4.
Far left, 3rd line from the top.
That's a pair of Indespension units, you only need one of them for a single wheel trailer.
It's a square bar with a single side swingarm & stub axle welded on the end. The square bar is mounted kittycorner inside a square tube with the 4 corners poured full with rubber.
Bolt the mounting plate to the trailer frame and put a small trailer hub & wheel on the axle.

[jwhughes3]

I think that is the one Fred - I like the single tube design for its simplicity and light weight - I can see the finished product being 50-60 pounds.

I agree with our brakes the total weight with 2-up PLUS a trailer will be pushing it - I would expect to keep speeds to probably only 60 or less with this rig and 100lbs GVW on the trailer including load.

To be honest I could see this getting used once a year at best - likely only a fun exercise to do it for the sake of doing it - I don't see that using the XS wheel will be practical in this application, but the trailer could be outfitted with a spare engine and carb bank for true cross country reliability - have a break down, pop in the spare engine!

Thanks for all the great ideas guys - I bet someone builds this even if I don't do it first.

John

[Jerry]

=BA80I have discovered over the years that it generally costs more to build something that to just go buy it.

Generally true, but if you can't find one you like, get creative! I built my own trailer because I could build it much lighter than the commercial ones I found. Besides, I liked the challenge.

I comment for JWhughes3: Consider using tubular steel for the frame. Much lighter than standard rectangular steel. Drawback is fabrication is more difficult as you have to account for the curve of the tubes. However, tube-steel frames are very strong and light. I used this material (basically exhaust pipe tubing) for my trailer frame, one of the reasons it is around 40 - 50 pounds lighter than a commercial unit of the same basic design.

[Eveready1100]

Hi John, single wheel trailers have a great advantage over the usual twin wheel setup in that the wheel follows the track of the bikes wheels, so if there is some roakill or pothole in the path of your bike, if you miss it, the trailer will too. the main disadvantage of them though is that the load weight can't be distributed over the axle like on a conventional trailer, and with a trailing wheel setup, you can only do so much to keep the weight down that's on the rear of the bike, like having separators in the body to keep the heavy stuff to the rear etc.
Mind you, if you're concerned about the total weight of the rig and having to stop it, it's not hard to set up if you are using a motorcycle wheel and axle.
EG, if you use an XS wheel and axle, you could use the rear caliper bracket (axle hole bore sleeved to suit the smaller front axle) and a torque arm to locate the caliper. easy, then, as I have done, just use a front master cylinder and a lever mounted on an easy detach bracket
[IMG][/IMG]
which fits up beside your existing rear brake pedal.

[IMG][/IMG]

a long brake line (easily made up at any brake shop) and you're done. Completely controllable XSive stopping power.

[IMG][/IMG]

Building the trailer yourself will allow you to make any custom features you want, and it'll be all yours to boast about.
Mine cost me $170 to build and I'm rapt with the result.

[IMG][/IMG]

[LoHo]

"To be honest I could see this getting used once a year at best - likely only a fun exercise to do it for the sake of doing it - I don't see that using the XS wheel will be practical in this application, but the trailer could be outfitted with a spare engine and carb bank for true cross country reliability - have a break down, pop in the spare engine!"


I don't see any reason to stop there...let's hook up a chain drive to that trailer tire, put pod filters on her, chop the trailer, and have us a wide parallel 8! Or would it be a dually 8?

[Yahman]

You might find some ideas at this link.

http://www.singlewheel.com/OneOfAKindFR.htm

I've been thinking about building one for a few months now, just haven't settled on a design.

Larry