Relocating Spare Tire & Storage Trunk Carrier

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   aimsghali, this isn't an ego thing, its a safety thing. It is a safe bet you NEED to listen to the good advice and reasons behind it posted by the experienced members of this forum. I am not new to towing, but don't have near the experience of those who have cautioned you, and I can see nothing but trouble from your set up. Best of luck.

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Dirt Sifter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 30 Dec 2018 Location: Right side OR Online Status: Offline Posts: 170	Topic: Relocating Spare Tire & Storage Trunk Carrier Posted: 20 Apr 2021 at 12:45pm
	aimsghali, this isn't an ego thing, its a safety thing. It is a safe bet you NEED to listen to the good advice and reasons behind it posted by the experienced members of this forum. I am not new to towing, but don't have near the experience of those who have cautioned you, and I can see nothing but trouble from your set up. Best of luck.
	Greg n Deb 2020 195 HRE '07 Tundra 5.7L., '17 Tacoma 3.5L. Both with tow packages 1 Puggle, 1 Chihuahua support staff

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6428	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 6:20pm
	Light -- Cheap -- Strong Choose only two of the three. There is no alternative.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 6:04pm
	There are no mandatory design limits for the structural forces over the road vehicles are required to withstand. I've looked. Best I've seen are recommendations for heavy trucks that they should be able to at withstand forces in the range of 2.75 to 3 g's. Light vehicles like cars and pickups are tossed around more so have to be higher. The actual design limits used are company proprietary. In contrast, I've run the numbers on the rpod frame and it's under 2g's at the axle. You can get light and cheap, or you can get strong and heavy, or you could probably design something fancy like a unibody trailer box and get strong and light, but it wouldn't be cheap. But you can't get all three. Rpods are light and cheap, don't for a moment assume they are strong. They aren't.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Colt Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 16 Nov 2019 Online Status: Offline Posts: 383	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 4:56pm
	WOW! Weigh the original spare and tire mount. Measure the horizontal distance from the pin hole in the original hitch to the center of the tire. Multiply that by the weight of the tire/mount assembly. Then, divide that by the horizontal distance from the pin hole to the center of your hitch basket. THAT is the safe weight limit of the hitch for a load in the basket. I doubt it be as high as the weight of the basket alone. That huge lever arm the basket has against the OEM hitch is like adding a pipe to a wrench to loosen a bolt. Plus, a bouncing load can easily add 2x the force of a static load. That long lever arm is why the frame WILL bend at the axle if you do that often enough. The stress flows in the frame to the axle where it is transferred to the ground. The max bending stress is at the axle; that cheater bar thing again. Put your storage box inside the trailer over the axle. Do not exceed the Gross Weight limit of the trailer or axle. I know this sounds harsh. I hope it is about as harsh as the bouncing generators and gas cans will be when it lets go on the interstate. This is not 1970s design engineering (there is no excess capacity). With computers, that frame can be sized to within a very few percent of design loads. You can be sure FR did so to get the trailer weight so low.
	John '16 R-Pod 180

podwerkz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 4:29pm
	Dang. I hope you have good insurance.
	r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 3:53pm
	If you hit a bump or pot hole with the trailer wheels two forces will combine to put bending stress on the box tube frame rails. First is the g force from pushing the trailer up, that creates a stress on the frame where it is connected to the axle bending the frame downward as it tries to lift up everything loading the trailer behind the axle. The second is the torque created by the torsion axle hitting it's stop as it gets pushed upward. That torque will try to twist the frame where the axle is attached. These two forces combine at the point where the rear of the axle attachment bracket is connected to the frame. The more weight hung off the rear of the trailer and the farther out it's placed from the axle the worse the bending forces are. That's because the frame is a big lever or teeter totter as LA explained. The tube frame is pretty thin in order to keep the trailer weight down, so the safety factor designed into the frame at that point to handle these loads is minimal, only around about about 2g's or a bit less. It's the weakest spot on the whole trailer, along with the axle itself, but that's a story for another day. It's pretty easy to get a 2g load hitting a pot hole or bump. We've had one member report their frame bending at exactly that spot. If I wanted to hang stuff off the back of the trailer (I don't because it reduces tongue weight which increases sway) I would strengthen the frame at the axle by adding a second 2x4 tube under the frame, and eliminating the axle riser. The second tube wouldn't have to be very long, a 4-5 ft piece centered on the scale would do it. That's because the bending forces fall off quickly fore and aft of the axle.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6428	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 3:45pm
	I think that trunk would be okay if you used it for a couple of lawn chairs and cushions. Anything beyond that is asking for trouble. The force of 150 lbs that far out gets multiplied. Hit a bump, and the whole thing is likely to be bouncing on the highway. Generators are too expensive to risk that way.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

jato Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3345	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 3:24pm
	+1
	God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."

lostagain Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2595	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 1:52pm
	Think of your trailer as a teeter toter with the pivot point at the axle attachment. I think that is what OG was referring to when he said that would be the point at which it would bend. There is nothing between that pivot point and the end of the trailer cargo tray that supports weight from the ground up.
	Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

amesghali Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 16 Aug 2020 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5	Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 12:47pm
	Thanks for the great tips on reinforcing the hitch bar. At this time I don't intend to load that hitch more than 150 lbs. I believe that weight will be safe. I don't understand what people mean by "the frame bending at axel attachment points". The only thing that I can see that would bend or warp is the 1.25" hitch cross bar that is welded to the 2x4 main frame. I can't see how loading up that hitch can bend any other frame components. I'm a noob at this. As I take out this 2020 R-Pod on the road, I'm sure I will learn more. I will post updates as they happen. I'm hoping the learning experience will be peasant. I hate learning from mistakes.