We know a couple that does this with their 34' 5ver behind a 1995 F350 crew cab LB. The reduction of pin weight on the 5ver is not as severe as it is with a TT, and he does have a very long WB truck. But, he still is constantly talking about how overloaded he is and how nervous he is.
IMO, an attempt to do the same thing with a TT can't end well. As Ken pointed out right at the beginning of the thread, the TT's frame is not designed to carry that load at the rear. It's highly probable that the frame would buckle, either at the carrier attachment, or at the rear spring hanger. Look at how many TT frames fail at the spring hangers and you'll get an idea of just how flimsy most TT frames are.
The other factor is the reduction of TW. If the bike weighs 500# & the carrier weighs another 100#, you'll see roughly 85% of that weight reduction in the TW. A 30' Prowler has a GVWR of 10,200#, so the normal TW will be 1224-1530#. Reduce that by 510# and you're down to 714-1020#, just 7-10% of GVWR. Not pretty.
Steve & C. J.
"Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise
I had a quality/experienced welding shop mount a rack on the back of my Nash 30U. Solid weld to frame. Checked tongue weight and it's OK.
I put 4600 miles on this set-up this summer and there were no handling problems. I was on some very rough roads and the rack is fine. I did break the back window on the trailer on a very rough road when apparently the bike went down on the shocks and tipped into the window. I have a cure for this planned.
EscoRocketman wrote: I had a quality/experienced welding shop mount a rack on the back of my Nash 30U. Solid weld to frame. Checked tongue weight and it's OK.
I put 4600 miles on this set-up this summer and there were no handling problems. I was on some very rough roads and the rack is fine. I did break the back window on the trailer on a very rough road when apparently the bike went down on the shocks and tipped into the window. I have a cure for this planned.
Yes, it is mechanically doable on a Northwood (Arctic Fox or Nash). Our Arctic Fox 29V has a factory installed 2" receiver. Northwood welded a massive 4" x 6" steel tube to the rugged 10" x 2.5" structural steel I-beams with many cross members that the frame is made of.
I doubt that one could weld anything nearly as strong to the typical lightweight stamped steel frame rails found in the average TT.
We could easily slip a motorcycle rack into the receiver, but that would still leave some very significant shifting of the load in the TT to maintain a proper tongue weight. A friend on the forum has also has a 30U and carries 2 Honda generators, fuel and I forget what else in a storage box on his Northwood installed receiver. But, he also tows with an F550, so the tail has a much bigger dog to wag.
I have a front frame mounted receiver on my 2003 Denali and use a MotoTote carrier. The MotoTote is rated at 500#. My total GW for the bike and carrier is 440# and it works well for me.
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