New Project "Trailer Toad"

Now some of you guys know that I like to do projects, (it keeps me out of trouble)

I have a new project. After upgrading my tires to handle the load of my Stacker, I started to wonder about the load on the rear of my DP from the tongue weight of the trailer. I have already reinforced the receiver with gussets and extra steel welded in place.

Monday I am going up to Braham, MN to visit a plant that builds the ?Trailer Toad?.


The Trailer Toad is a device that goes between the coach and the Stacker trailer to carry the tongue weight on another axle and set of tires. However, after talking with the owner of the company that makes them we are going to modify mine in several ways.

First, I am getting larger hubs to mount 16 inch eight lug wheels and tires instead of the normal 15 inch wheels.

I am going to use the same wheels and Goodyear G-614 tires as the stacker uses. This will make me feel more confident about the weight issue.

Second it will allow me to use a common spare and therefore eliminate the spare that is normally carried on top of the trailer toad axle.

In addition to using a common spare, this will allow me to customize the top of the trailer toad to provide a mounting surface to securely mount two large strong plastic tanks.

The tanks are 100 gallons each and are approximately 48? by 24? by 24?.

These tanks will normally be empty when towing the stacker.

After arriving at Quartzsite or any other boon docking site and unhooking the trailer toad, these tanks that are on the trailer toad can be pulled by the Jeep Commander or any normal vehicle with a receiver hitch to dump the black water and resupply the potable water.

The black water tank will have the macerator pump for an intake device and the fresh water tank will have a water pump for transferring water to an RV.

This will eliminate the need to take the coach to the dump station and water fill site.

Several people do this with smaller tanks but this setup will allow me to do it with one trip.

The weight will not be an issue because the axle is rated for much more weight and I will normally be carrying only one filled tank at a time.

The black water tank full to the dump site and the potable water tank full when returning to the RV.

It should carry about 600 to 700 pounds of liquid each way.

I will have to make sure to not unhook the trailer toad with any water in the tanks because it will be tippy like a unicycle.

Here are a few pictures of the normal trailer toad. The one picture shows a trailer toad with a tool box mounted on it.

Does using that "trailer toad" count as triple towing? (Thinking of travel in those states that forbid it!!) Also thinking overall length limits, you must be pretty long with just the trailer as it is now!!

It looks like the dolly that's used to connect a B Train on a Tractor Trailer unit, on a smaller scale.

Or you could do this......

Does using that "trailer toad" count as triple towing?

Click to expand...

Generally, no. It is typically considered part of the hitch.  It essentially converts the conventional trailer to a wagon, i.e. having front and rear axles, instead of rear only.

Intetsting Bill. I love the idea of using it to also carry some extra holding tanks - and the common tire. I was also wondering about the additional length though. I remember when we were talking at Quartzsite, and you said you were already too long for California (Not that that's a reasonable yardstick). Remember... too long and you'll have to pay registration in two states.

Kev

Alfa38User said:

Does using that "trailer toad" count as triple towing? (Thinking of travel in those states that forbid it!!) Also thinking overall length limits, you must be pretty long with just the trailer as it is now!!

Click to expand...

I was going to respond in a similar way to Gary's response.  It is more like towing a wagon with the weight on the front and the rear axles.

The length issue is more of a concern.  I am already 75 feet long and the trailer toad will add about 3 more feet.  Of even more concern to me is the visability factor. 

It may draw the attention of a LEO that might then wonder about the length because of the added axle.

Kevin, I register most all of my vehicles in Arizona and my drivers license is from Arizona.

I am not sure how visually acceptable the tanks will be.  If the prototype works from a practical standpoint I may design a cover or enclosure for the tanks in the future.

I am still working on the design for mounting the two tanks.  I will use as much seperation as possible to help prevent cross contamination of the fresh water tank.

The intakes will be on opposite sides of the t toad. 

I will locate the 3 inch slide valve on the roadside, (left side) to match the common standard for dump stations.

I am going to tap the 12 volt charge line in the extension wires that connect the Bargman plugs for the power for the pump and the macerator.

I also need to design a storage place for the dump hose, water pump, and macerator with it's hose.

All suggestions and comments are welcome. 

Payment in form of free dumping at Q.

It now looks like I may have retired from a career building fixed and mobile surgery facilities to operating a "Sewer Sucking Service"

Great idea.  However, I envision lots of hitch movement on the Jeep with 100 gals of
liquid onboard.  How about a pair of detachable spring steel "wheelie" bars on the back
with 8/10 inch caster type wheels.  Might provide some stability.  Doug

Thanks for the input.  I think that there will be a learning curve for this thing.  I hope that the weight of the ttoad will minimize the effect of the water weight but we will see. Baffles or making sure the tank is full might help but removable wheelie bars might be a good idea anyway fo moving it around by itself.

I will know alot more about it after visiting the plant tomorrow or Tuesday.  I will find out how they handle moving it around when detached, it may already have something to stabilize it already.

I will take some pictures then.

Here is an update on the trailer toad project.

Several thing have happened that are influencing my decision on the trailer toad.  The modifications regarding the axle hub upgrade, the wheel upgrade, the G 614 tires, and the platform and tanks have pushed the cost up to between 5 and 6 thousand dollars.

While investigating the wheel specs I discovered that the chrome wheels that I already have on the stacker are not rated for the pressure or weight that the Goodyears G 614 tires require.

So my first step needs to be replacing all of the wheels on the Stacker with stronger wheels.  Between the wheels and the extra tires I will need it comes to almost $2.000.

I was also a little concerned about the fact that extra axle might call attention to the fact that my rig is over length.

I also plan on doing a solar install at Q next month so I am going to do this in steps if I in fact do choose to use the trailer toad.

The wheels on the stacker are in good shape but they are not rated for 120 psi. 

If anyone needs wheels and spares I will probably end up just giving them away rather than carry them in the stacker unless I wait till Q to change them.

I thought about waiting and getting the new wheels installed at Lake Havasu near Quartzsite.

I have 6 chrome wheels with center caps, (16 inch 8 x 6 1/2 lugs) and two white wheels with new tires for spares.  They are the slightly smaller tires that I was using before I upgraded to the Goodyears.

Gary RV Roamer said:

Generally, no. It is typically considered part of the hitch.  It essentially converts the conventional trailer to a wagon, i.e. having front and rear axles, instead of rear only.

Click to expand...

But with the tanks it may look more like a trailer than a hitch....

Interesting idea though to increase the utility of the thing....

It makes me think of the I Love Lucy episode.... I believe they had a similar contraption.

One more thought...
I noticed WDH between the dolly and the trailers in the pictures.... so this could include antisway control there....any antisway between the dolly and the MH?

One of my buddies has one of those, and he swears by it. He has a heavy enclosed car trailer with a lot of tongue weight. Too much for his MH alone. He has been using it for at least 15 years. 

Brad,

The tt connects like a tag axle that is mounted behind the coach.  There is a tube directly into the receiver hitch and two stabilizer links that connect to a welded on attachment.  See the pictures below.  There are large pins that can be removed to allow some movement when backing up.  The two pins are located farther back on the tt.

Update:

I ordered the trailer toad. The modifications include changing the 5 lug 15 inch wheel hubs for 8 lug X 6 1/2 inch hubs for 16 inch wheels, raising the fenders to clear the 31.7 inch Goodyear G 614 tires, and building and mounting a flat plate on top of the trailer toad where the spare tire normally mounts.

I also ordered nine aluminum wheels to replace all my stacker wheels, (6) and the two trailer toad wheels, and a spare. I also ordered 3 new goodyear
G 614 tires. Now all the tires and wheels will be common to each other.

I have done some research on poly water tanks. I am going to use two 100 gallon tanks. The dimensions are 48' x 24' x 12 each. My plan as of now is to mount them on the centerline above the trailer toad with the 48' dimension running the same axis as the road and the 24' axis being vertical. This orientation will use half of the 48' x 48' base.. I will put them together but I will put the discharge and input fittings for the black water tank at the rear of the trailer toad on the left side (roadside) and the input and output for the potable fresh water tank on the front right side (curbside). This will match the common setup for a dump station of the discharge on the left side.

I had considered seperating the two tanks by placing them on a 48' square base with 24 inches between them but I have deceided to have storage on both sides of the tanks.

After working out all the wiring and plumbing and making sure that eveything works correctly I will surround the tanks with a 48' x 48' x 30' diamond plate enclosure. The curbside interior between the fresh water tank and the outer wall will be 12 inches of storage for the water pump, hoses, and any other "Fresh water related items".

A similar storage area on the "Black water" side will hold the sewer hose, macerator, and contaminated 3/4 inch hose.

This should help minimize cross contamination by seperating the item as well as the seperation of the inputs.

As this is a work in progress I welcome any input as to ideas.

edit: I just revisited the website for the water tanks.


They are actually 42' x 24' x24' so I have to redesign the storage idea.

newest update:

I will pick up the trailer toad a week from tomorrow at the plant in northern Minnesota.

After much thought and discussions with others I have elected to not mount any tanks on the trailer toad.  The cost to fabricate a sturdy 48 inch square platform alone was going to add $700 to the cost.  The two tanks were $437 each plus tax and shipping and the water pump, plumbing, fitting, and wiring would have pushed the cost of the modification to over $2,000 easily.

Common sense won out and I figured it would be much cheaper to just drive the coach to the dump site.

Another factor was that it looked like I would not be able to open the rear access door to the diesel engine without disconnecting the trailer toad.  Therefore no checking the oil or other things easily while on a trip.

I am going to have them make up an extension drawbar to allow me to use the Jeep Commander's receiver to spot the Stacker.  The receiver hitch is about 5 inches higher on the Jeep than the coach.  They will weld up a bar with an offset with a receiver to match the height of the trailer toad drawbar.

Giving up the idea of making an industrial size "Blue Boy" will give me an extra 2 or 3 thousand for the two solar projects at Q.

I will take lots of pictures next week during the setup at the plant.

-Update:

Yesterday I got the nine new aluminum wheels and the three new Goodyear G 614 tires from Discount Tire.  Matt from thier corporate gave me a terrific price and they shipped them to a store near me in Rogers, MN.  The only hiccup was that someone is shipping forgot yo include the center caps.  They will ship them to Lake Havasu and install them out there in a weeks or two.

Here is a few pictures of the new wheels and I will post next about the trailer toad.

There was a lucky guy getting trailer tires at the Discount Tire store and he took home 6 chrome wheels with center caps, and two white wheels with new spares that had never been on the ground.

Update:

I went up to Braham, MN last night and was at the plant this morning to get the Trailer Toad setup and installed.

Here are several pictures.  The first is in the plant having the bigger hubs, wheels and tires added.  They also modified the fenders to raise them about 2 inches and radius the edges.

Here are some pictures of the TToad attached.  The weight equalizer hitch is attached to the back or the Ttoad and the draw bar attaches to the receiver of the MH.  The height was set at 12 inches both at the tounge and at the rear of the Stacker

We added a 2 inch square piece of steel tubing to raise the fenders.  I also had to extend the cable for the breakaway safetry cable for the electric brakes.

I am going to store the spare in the Stacker instead of on top to the ttoad.  I will be out of the weather and and less likely to grow legs.

The two red handles are locking pins for when you want to back up.  They lock the swivel and make backing up possible.

That's slick looking. Did it change the ride higth of the rig?