How level is your trailer???

[jsz]

I pull a dual axle extreme trailer with a 1500 GMC sierra (Not raised or lowered) The front of the trailer always seemed a little low to me even though i flipped the ball mount to the up position. The other day i jacked the bow up to see how much higher it would have to go to be exactly level. it took 4 more inches to get it level. I could get a 5" drop/4" rise ball mount to raise it but I have never seen anyone flip one that high. Have any of you???

are these trailers supposed to be exactly level in the first place???

It also has surge brakes and i wonder how much a low front affects it. every time i pull away from a stop (slowly) the trailer lunges as the surge brakes release. Is this normal???

lots of questions here. any help is appreciated.

[Tequilasun]

I have a Chexy Avalance, and I had to flip my 2inch drop around, and it rides pretty level. I have a Prestige trailer though.

No your trailer should not lunge when you take off. I indeed could be a problem with the trailer being low in the front or there are a couple of other reasons, low brake fluid, need to bleed the brakes, or brake fluid is working its way around the plunger(would need new surge brake) Call extreme, from what I hear they are great people and should be able to trouble shoot with you.

Good luck.

[holiday13]

For propper operation you want the trailer level or pointing up hill. I have a 2500HD and still needed to flip my hitch up to level the trailer. My prestige does not lunge, but the brakes do hold and need to "pop lose" when I pull away from a hard stop, I always attributed that to the overall weight I am towing (I have a 24V). Good luck with it

[talltigeguy]

I have a close friend who pulls trailers for a living and is a boat owner as well. He feels that with the nose slightly down you get a more stable trailer. I think nose up is definitely not good advice. Why else would the front of the trailer be so high in the first place? How much is the tongue weight when you have the front of the trailer up that high?

If the weight is not more or less evenly distributed you will put excess weight on the other axle causing poor handling and uneven tire wear.

[holiday13]

When I say high, I mean by maybe a half to 1" which should have zero impact on tongue weight or axle weight. It comes down to how the coupler sits on the ball (as I was told), by having the coupler pointed down hill the "moving" part of the coupler is riding on the ridge of the ball, where pointed up hill the coupler is under the ball.

Most importantly is propper tongue weight though, you want at least 10% of the total weight of the boat and trailer to be on the tounge, any less than that and it gets ugly. My buddy had a dealer set up his trailer wrong and it totalled a brand new Cobalt, he lost control of the boat and trailer on the highway at 60mph and was lucky he lived. The trailer only had 14 pounds of tongue weight which was found to have caused the accident as soon as he reached cruising speed. It was a scary scene!

[whitlock87]

I have a ford expedition with an extreme trailer.
I have been told both slightly up is good and slightly down is good.

I use a standard 2” drop, with ½” of shims. The tong sits down about 1”
I have put about 10k miles on the trailer and there is no excessive ware on the pads.
I have had to hit my brakes hard a couple of times (locked the trailer but not the truck) and everything went fine.

When I first got my boat, I had the hitch about 3” low and it was riding the brakes.
I did try flipping the 2” drop, and noticed that the trailer did not stop as well as it did before.( it seamed to push the truck)

I am in the process of adding air bags to the back of my truck; due to the fact that when we take a lot of friends (about 7 people in the truck) the hitch will be around 4” low.

David

[BrentRR]

I have an auto-leveling rear suspension and a Prestige trailer and have noticed a clunk, don't know a better word for it, when pulling from a stop. Is this what you mean when you say your trailer lunges?

This is my first 'big' boat, 24V, how do you know that the tongue weight is right?

[ChargerFan]

Hey BrentRR,

I found a web site that has alot of good info, it does describe how to measure tounge weight, hope this helps.
http://www.usa-trailer-hitches.com/h...ng_saftley.htm

[talltigeguy]

Brent,

What you are feeling is the surge brakes being released. There is actually some play in the tongue of the trailer as the brake mechanism is engaged and released. When you take off, the trailer stays still until the play is taken out of the surge mechanism. It's only an inch or two, but it's enough that when you take off you will notice a definite clunk.

[TeamAllen]

What trailer do you have?
Extreme Trailers warranty states, "The trailer must be level for towing. Adjust the ball height accordingly." I have also read about shims beneath the ball to dial it in just right.

This web site states, "Usually the rule of thumb is level to slightly up in the nose, but NEVER down.

[BrentRR]

Thanks guys for all the info!

I pulled my boat home from the dealer today (about 150 miles) and definitely felt the brakes releasing from a stop as TallTige mentioned. It pulled well so I am feeling better about things.

Thanks again...

[jsz]

YES!!! the brakes do seem to "pop loose" or "clunk" as i pull away from a stop. i thought it was the surge mecanism releasing but this being my first boat i just wanted to make sure. I checked the fluid and it looked full and clean.

besides the breaking i was conserned with too much weight being on the front axle if the trailer sits low in the front. I asked my friend who has some experience with boats and he pointed out the (not sure exactly what its called) "weight distributing pivot bars" that sit between the two axles(conected to the leaf springs). he said the bars should normally be level and i could see mine were way off. When i jacked the trailer to level, the bars leveled out too. his thought was that the pivot bars would put and even amount of weight on both axles in case it is not level.

[SummerObsession]

I have pulled both a 35 Cigarette on a triple Myco (10000 lbs+) and my 29 cat on a triple Extreme (8500 lbs+) over 7000 miles total the last few years.
Both trailers have triple axles, surge quad disc brakes, and a 2 5/16" ball. I towed them both with a lifted (6 inch) 2500HD-Duramax crew cab.

As far as the trailers go, I had to get an extremely heavy duty 8" drop ball mount to make the tongue level. I have adjusted the airbags to test both the slightly up and slightly down position of the tongue.

Both trailers towed the absolute best when completely level. I take the time to adjust the ball height to a level position initially, then just hook up and go from then on. Tire wear has been good, and the braking is best when level.

The surge brakes ALL have that annoying attribute of "clunking" when leaving from a stop. It's just how the system works. Greasing the actuator helps, but will not eliminate the trait. Because of this annoying trait, and to make it easier to back heavy boats up a hill, many people with larger (30" +) boats are going with the electric over hydraulic system and putting a controller in the vehicle to fine tune the braking power.
I hope all that info helps.

[jsz]

thanks for all the help you guys. a lot of good info here.