On Sunday, 9 May 2021 at 17:16:47 UTC+1, andy l wrote:
On Sunday, 9 May 2021 at 16:25:16 UTC+1, Craig Reinholt wrote:
On Saturday, May 8, 2021 at 11:13:01 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Saturday, 8 May 2021 at 16:22:17 UTC+1, Robert Seccombe BE wrote:
On our single axle two place glider trailer I destroyed the two original tires that were on it when I acquired it. One was just a cut in the sidewall that I discovered while parked. The other was a total failure while on the highway; and I wasn't aware of it but for another driver alerting me. The tire was completely missing and the rim was destroyed; this while towing behind a 21' class C. The replacement wheel and tire were from W&W. Though it does seem to tow somewhat better with the newer tires, I have never been happy with the way this trailer tows and I am seriously considering adding a second axle. The Airforce Duo Discus trailers are duel axle.
Having had previous experience of one trailer losing a wheel and another having a dramatic tyre destruction, when we got a Duo with a Cobra trailer I over-ruled advice from Cobra and insisted on specifying the dual axle option. I came to regret this, partly because of the difficulty in hand manoeuvring it but mainly because the trailer, having a level it wanted to maintain that was not what the vehicle hitch wanted, tended to nod during towing. Keeping the front axle tyres a little less inflated than the rear ones helped but did not eliminate this. It may have been more comfortable if the tow car did not have self-levelling suspension but I sold out of the glider before I sold the car.
Add 30 + lbs to the nose of your glider trailer and see how it tows. It may fix your sway issues.
Craig
I didn't think John was talking about the trailer swaying.

I entirely agree with him. With two axles, uneven roads create a pitching moment on the trailer. Looking in the mirror, one can see the front bouncing up and down, sometimes an inch or more, and if this is relative to the car it means something is bending. Further, if the pitching is happening on a road that isn't straight, it means it could be adding unstable inputs in the yaw direction too.

So although some under-confident folks might think a twin axle trailer is more directionality stable, I'm not convinced, and there's certainly not enough benefit to make up for the drawbacks

On the worse ridged motorway I've driven on, the D1 from Prague towards Brno a few years ago. the pitching was so bad, shaking my head up and down, that I drove at 40 mph for a while, then turned off and took a different route towards Vienna. Then I avoided the road for a few years until I read it had had some work done - not fully resurfaced but planed down flat again.

The only advantage of twin axle over single is that if you have a puncture you can continue a bit to a better place to change the wheel, as for instance when I noticed a trail of sparks in the mirror while driving through road works contraflow, and carried on to the next services.

That's correct Andy, that is exactly what I experienced - especially over ridged or concrete sectional motorway.