Tongue Archives – Mechanical Elements

National Association of Trailer Manufacturers – Oops?

March 18, 2023 by Mechanic

I really thought I was done with posts about safety chains. We have several of them on the site, but I found a video that begs for comment. I really like the video and subject matter – from the Compliance Director of the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers. This is a good organization because they … Read The Article

Adjustable Hitch? Or, Adjustable Ball Mount?

September 26, 2022July 21, 2022 by Mechanic

Over the past few years the Adjustable Hitch and/or Adjustable Ball Mount have become quite popular. They are great for adapting to a wide variety of tow vehicle heights and trailer tongue heights. But, which should you use? Does it make any difference?

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Tips To Set A Trailer Tongue At The Frame Center

July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 by Mechanic

When building a trailer, there are a bunch of things we want to get right. Here is one. “How To set a trailer tongue properly, and central on the frame“. Intrinsically this is easy to grasp, but maybe not as easy to accomplish. Here are some tricks

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Tilt Top Trailer Conversion Plans

October 10, 2022January 4, 2022 by Mechanic

It’s time to welcome the tilt top trailer. You, as customers and readers, request this a lot, for a while. So, now we have it. Rather than revisiting the design for all our trailers in all the sizes, we now offer conversion plans. These are an added option

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Trailer Hitch Class Ratings

October 3, 2022October 22, 2021 by Mechanic

As a convenient way to help with safety, trailer hitches, balls, and receivers have categories or load rating groups called classes. Each trailer hitch class has ratings for how much it will carry. A look at the ratings for each component

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Bent Tongue — Judging A Weak Trailer

February 11, 2023July 5, 2021 by Mechanic

When buying a trailer, how can we decide if it’s well built, or just cheap? How do you know if it’s strong or weak? While there are always tale-tale signs, we’ll use this example of a trailer with a bent tongue to illustrate.

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Does Your Trailer Have Attitude?

October 4, 2022January 16, 2020 by Mechanic

When we think about airplanes flying, or boats sailing, it’s easy to imagine how they move. An airplane rolls some as it banks into a turn. A boat pitches up and down with the waves. So, how do these factors — Pitch, Yaw and Roll — apply to trailers

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Trailer Folding Tongue – What I’d Do Different

November 23, 2022November 4, 2019 by Mechanic

On a recent trailer, I experimented with a new folding tongue design. Now it’s time to review — What do I like? What would I do different if building another?

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Excellent Small Car Trailer Caught In The Wild

October 3, 2022October 2, 2019 by Mechanic

Caught on the streets, this small trailer provides big benefits. It’s an excellent example of using a trailer instead of a truck, and this business owner understands efficiency.

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What Is The Right Trailer Tongue Length?

June 18, 2021April 10, 2019 by Mechanic

How long should a trailer tongue be? Is there a standard or is it totally arbitrary? Let’s get some answers on this fun trailer tongue length topic.

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Choosing The Best Trailer Frame Material

March 4, 2022February 11, 2019 by Mechanic

Analysis of Trailer Frame Material in Main Beam

What materials should I use for building my trailer frame? It’s a common question with strong biases for Rectangular Tube or I-Beam or C-Channel. Also, choices of Aluminum versus Steel.

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Six Beam Shapes To Build With, +1

September 1, 2021February 5, 2019 by Mechanic

Whether you’re an experienced DIY builder or brand new to the party, there are often quandry’s about beam shapes. Well, I need to do this, but I only have material like that. I’ll just use it

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Buying A Used Trailer – Surprise !!

July 20, 2021August 25, 2018 by Mechanic

People buy and sell used trailers all the time. Craigslist and other sites have a lot of them. The question: How good is the used trailer you’re looking at? Oh, and what are the sneaky little details

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Building A Better Folding Trailer Tongue

November 23, 2022April 11, 2018 by Mechanic

Intrigued by the cool potential of saving storage space, increased security, and removal of a shin knocker to step over, this new folding trailer tongue adds greater utility to a trailer.

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Convenient Trailer Tongue Hinge For Storage

December 31, 2022December 29, 2017 by Mechanic

Need to store your trailer in a smaller space? Consider adding a trailer tongue hinge like these. It’s helpful, for sure, but has some definite things to consider.

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