Member
Posts: 7
Location: virginia | Hello I am looking to move up from my BP to a GN. I'm thinking to do a 16' on the floor model 2h straight load w/ 4' tack room. Adding 2' in the horse area in front of the horses head. Standard Axel on this trailer in a 14' on the floor version is 2 3500lb dexter torions axels. Trailer empty wt is 4100. Adding the 2 extra feet will add an aditional 470 lbs to go to 4574 empty wt. I'd like to stick w/ the 2 3500 axels and NOT move up to the 5200 axels b/c I primaraly haul only one horse, my own, who is a bit of a bad shipper. He weaves. I was thinking that the 3500 axels would give him a smoother ride and the 5200 would be a stiffer ride. He tends to weave more when we go over bumps. I currently haul same horse in a 2h BP empty wt 3100lbs w/ the 2 3500 Dexter Torsion axels. Will I be ok w/ the smaller axels in the 2 foot longer GN trailer? Or should I go up and risk the stiffer ride?? FWIW I pull w/ 03 F250 Diesel, supercab, 8' bed 4x4 truck. Plenty of truck for these trailers. Thanks, NRB |
Expert
Posts: 1989
         Location: South Central OK | Something to consider, in a GN trailer about 20% of the trailer weight is transferred to the tow vehicle, thus making it lighter than you think. 20% is an average guess, some are more and some are less... |
Member
Posts: 7
Location: virginia | Thanks, yes I'd heard that figure before. Assuming I haul my horse and my friends 2400 for horses+4575 for the trailer +500 for gear (water,hay, 4 saddles b/c we event, misc tack, and gear) that's 7475 20% transfered to the truck right so less 1495 so that's 5980 on the axels of the trailer. So even if I haul a big bruiser 1500 lb of a horse instead of my friends horse and throw 500 lbs more gear on less the 20% I'm still at 6620. I guess it comes down to the tires as well. I mean I expect the tires would fail before the axels. Look I'm all for overkill, BUT I worry that axels rated for 10,200 lbs and 16 inch tires will make my horse feel every crack in the pavement. |