Yuku free message boards

Hi Nancy,

      Mounting the tire as shown in the cargo trailer photo is a pretty safe bet as the tire rests on the main frame/floor behind the tongue.

Placing it on the other side of the wall puts it over the tongue area.
The tongue to main frame connections are the most stressed area of the entire trailer/frame system.
The big concern as pointed out is that the main frame is relatively stable, but the "A" frame tongue can and does flex slightly, depending on load and road conditions.
That your design uses "C" channel instead of stronger tube means the engineers carefully calculated the weights and stress that were on that area and decided they could save weight by using "C" channel.
Adding a tire, or cooler, or battery, etc, in that area may or may not be pushing the design limit, not to mention affecting the tongue weight, which was also carefully calculated so towing would be pleasant and safe.
Adding weights after the fact is generally best done as close to the axle as possible, to maintain the original balance.
As was suggested, placing the tire under the trailer behind the axle is probably the best choice.

Of course if you know what the tongue weight to body weight ratio is, you can easily compensate for a little extra weight placed in front or rear, by adding/loading supplies to counter balance.
All this is assuming you haven't gone over the maximum weight the trailer was designed to carry, and or the axle/springs/and tire ratings.

Rob

Nancy,

 Though it may not be possible due to the age and design of the trailer, many in the teardrop world (who also don't have a lot of extra space to spare) will change/order the axle/hubs to accept the same bolt pattern as their tow vehicle.
This allows the tow vehicles spare to be used on the trailer.
There are obviously some other considerations such as size, width, etc, but the theory is a good one.

Rob