Tag A Long to the Rescue!!!!

[KYWinger]

Gerry-

I use S hooks, but shortened the safety chains considerably. You want them JUST long enough so that you can turn full left/right without binding. Cross the chains under the tongue.
The theory is if, for some reason, the tongue comes loose from the ball, the crossed chains will cradle the tongue and prevent it from touching the ground.
Long story short - make the chains as short as practicable and you'll be good to go. Using shackles or caribiners will only add to the safety factor.

If ya lived closer, I'd be there helping ya every step of the way :good:

I've pulled mine for about 8K miles with no problems at all.

One more thing - I used 2 oz. DynaBeads in each tire (inflated to only about 20 psi.) Smooth as can be :clapping:

 

[mcgovern61]

Shackles I can get! (What sailor doesn't have access to shackles????) :hihihi:

John, I forgot about the Dyna Beads. Putting that back on the list too!

I received an email notice that my converter will not be here before Monday. :cheeky:

Oh well, I still have other work to do to finish up the other wiring, weather seal for the cargo top and something for the springs.

 

[dan filipi]

I never put much faith in S hooks for safety chains but chain weight does keep them in place. Like was said, closed hooks another element of safety.

 

[mcgovern61]

KYWinger » Fri Mar 27, 2015 8:00 pm[/url]":3b5gf5j9]
Gerry-
I think I ran into the same issue.....IIRC, my solution involved spreading the hitch itself apart about an 1/8" so the bottom part was free to move. Sounds like you are having the exact same problem I had. Also make sure you grease the movable parts rather well (after you spread the body open a smidge.....

John, turns out this is exactly what was wrong! Loosened the bolts and the hitch assembly came loose. Added a washer underneath on both side and tightened back up. Slips on and off nice and easy now (and I haven't even greased it yet!)

I moved the safety chains. They were attached underneath on the first bolt, but I realized that being that close to the ball they would be ineffective. I moved them outside to the back bolt (on either side) and now they attach nicely. Shortened them up a few links and tested the length by positioning the trailer 90 degrees and being sure the chains did not come too tight.

I then tested popping the hitch off and letting the tongue fall into the chains and it caught just right!

Might have a bit of a time getting shackles to fit. The hitch plate has a 1" lip underneath all around the hitch. They would be pretty large shackles to get a throat large enough to pass through the lip. With the chains shortened, the S hooks seem more secure now. I might still work on a shackle arrangement later.

 

[mcgovern61]

On the wiring side, the bike end will not be here until Monday. Today I focused on setting up the new third brake lights and the wiring for the license plate LEDs. Everything was going fine until I realized that the brake lights and turn signals share the same circuit. :whip:

So.....do I let the third brake light blink with a turn signal???? Apparently, there is another converter that has diodes in it that takes the trailer brake/turn signal setup and converts for the third brake light.

Always something.


I tested the rest of the wiring and everything works great! Wrapped up the wires and added silicone to the penetrations through the cargo box. I also found a good use for my old radiator hoses. Cut the ends off and shove them in under the leaf spring! As far as I am concerned, the trailer is finished for now until I get the converters wired in.

 

[Tom_Charlton]

You don't need a converter. I use a five connector flat plug on the bike and trailer to mate the individual circuits and it works fine. Many farm supply stores carry the plugs.

 

[KYWinger]

PurpleGL1200I » Sun Mar 29, 2015 4:24 am[/url]":3j2j5a2l]
You don't need a converter.

I'm confused...since the trailer (mine anyway) had a flat 4, you need a Hopkins or equivalent to get things working correctly. Most every one I know used a 5 to 4 converter to get all the trailer lights working correctly (assuming a flat 4 on the trailer).

 

[Tom_Charlton]

If the trailer came with a flat four connector, I'd stay with it. I wired the Changzhou trailer I bought for the five wire plug.
1. Ground
2 left turn
3. right turn
4. stop lights
5. running lights

 

[mcgovern61]

The trailer does have the flat 4 which does not leave a wire for the third brake light I mounted in the middle of the cargo top. (Maybe I should used that 6 wire harness after all?) :hihihi:

 

[KYWinger]

Gerry-
I added a third brake light with no problem...IIRC, I just used a meter to find the right wire and tapped into it.

 

[mcgovern61]

KYWinger » Sun Mar 29, 2015 1:49 pm[/url]":3mx1u69e]
Gerry-
I added a third brake light with no problem...IIRC, I just used a meter to find the right wire and tapped into it.

On the bike end? I know which wires are brake light/turn signal on both tailights on the trailer, but that is because each light has it's own brake light/turn signal within the 4 wire harness.

 

[KYWinger]

On the trailer. I just tapped into one of the lights.

 

[mcgovern61]

KYWinger » Sun Mar 29, 2015 6:23 pm[/url]":19hsr9q2]
On the trailer. I just tapped into one of the lights.

I did that. That is how I learned it wasn't working the way I expected. It will come on with the brake, but then will also blink if the turn signal is on.

 

[mcgovern61]

PIC update!

Finished trailer:

Tail light wiring:

LED brake light connector to the system (temporarily disconnected)

Wiring for the LED license plate lights:

 

[mcgovern61]

Radiator hose shoved in between the frame and the leaf spring:

 

[mcgovern61]

Took the trailer out on the highway today! :Egyptian: :yahoo: Rides nice! Could feel it when the wind catches it a bit but the bike handles that fine.

I did notice that as I was approaching 60 MPH in 4th, the engine was working a bit harder to overcome the wind resistance of the trailer and I held 4th a bit longer than normal. At 75 MPH it towed great! Of course, this is only a test with the trailer empty. On the side roads I noticed that I was having a minor issue with tracking?? Turns out, the higher crown in the road was causing the trailer to want to track a bit off down the curve...not bad, but noticeable.

The only real issue I ran into was the safety chains. I purposely hits some bumps in the road to see how it handled. Trailer did fine. (1 bounce maximum) But the safety chain popped out of the hitch. This S hooks are not very reliable in this configuration. I could not find a shackle that would fit. Looks like I need to add eye bolts to the two safety chain holes on the hitch and attach D rings to them.

 

[Ansimp]

Drill some holes in the front of the hitch plate to take the d shackles as you have enough length in your safety chains. In my opinion if anyone is doing this conversion again I would reconmend changing all the lights to LEDs with Amber flashers and just run a 5,6 or 7 pin plug with 5 core wires instead of investing in the flasher converters to use the brake lights as flashers :yes:
https://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1348991739

image

• Ansimp
• Mar 29, 2015

 

[backlander]

Nice looking rig Gerry, I have found that when loaded, my trailer actually makes the bike feel more stable when traveling. You will enjoy the extra room.

 

[mcgovern61]

Drill some holes in the front of the hitch plate to take the d shackles as you have enough length in your safety chains.

Of course! Why didn't I think of that! Thanks Tony! (Sometimes I get into a rut not thinking outside of the box just because it has always been that way.) oh2:

 

[KYWinger]

Ansimp » Sun Mar 29, 2015 9:13 pm[/url]":ve5if77x]
Drill some holes in the front of the hitch plate to take the shackles

Good idea :good: