Boat tail project based on a single wheel trailer...

[gumby79]

Adjust the pre load. 1+
If there ball bearings then up grade to tapered rollers they handle axial thrust better as well(the direction of bump thrust from pic above ). As the quote said adjusting the preload on balls is only temporary (as the hard crome plating has already warn through ) the balls are physically smaller/not round( probably) replacement is recommended. Call King Bearing in Fresno, Ca hart of ag land they have it on the shelf w/o dealer markups. But by all means inspect repack with" ball Bearing grease". They are difrent never use ball in roller!!! Ball is more of a fibrous chain that the balls massage. Where as the roller wraps them up like sticking a kitchen mixer next to somebody with long hair really quickly destroys the grease it becomes runny and leaks out as oil .
The harmonic that is responsible for the Caster wheel flutter we called tred squirm. Stiffer side wall helped, tall aspects raito tires hurt. Gives it that Cadillac flutter but feel that just doesn't feel right in a truck.

[freebeard]

I like the idea, but think two or three overlapping strips like an armadillo shell would be a good addition.

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by Angel And The Wolf

It's not shown, but the U-joint is mounted on the end of a trailer bar, and the hemispherical front of the trailer is cut out to allow the up and down, left and right movement.

So it would be like the McHitch setup?
https://www.mchitch.com.au/automatic-couplers

[freebeard]

This was my attempt:

[Angel And The Wolf]

Doesn't the trailer tire scrub sideways of turns?

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by gumby79

Adjust the pre load. 1+
If there ball bearings then up grade to tapered rollers they handle axial thrust better as well(the direction of bump thrust from pic above ). As the quote said adjusting the preload on balls is only temporary (as the hard crome plating has already warn through ) the balls are physically smaller/not round( probably) replacement is recommended. Call King Bearing in Fresno, Ca hart of ag land they have it on the shelf w/o dealer markups. But by all means inspect repack with" ball Bearing grease". They are difrent never use ball in roller!!! Ball is more of a fibrous chain that the balls massage. Where as the roller wraps them up like sticking a kitchen mixer next to somebody with long hair really quickly destroys the grease it becomes runny and leaks out as oil .
The harmonic that is responsible for the Caster wheel flutter we called tred squirm. Stiffer side wall helped, tall aspects raito tires hurt. Gives it that Cadillac flutter but feel that just doesn't feel right in a truck.

Thanks! If I remember correctly, there are no ball or roller bearings on Dark Aero's vertical shaft. Just the shaft, tube, washers, castle nut, and cotter pin.
There isn't a way to add any ball or roller bearings in there without completely modifying the tube housing.

[BamZipPow]

I came across this 3 wheeler and I might borrow a few ideas from their design.
https://vanderhallusa.com/

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by Angel And The Wolf

Of course someone already thought of it! The McHitch wouldn't work well on a two wheel trailer because of the twist one wheel on higher ground would produce, but on a one wheel trailer.......... I designed my one wheel with a U-Joint hitch because a regular ball hitch would let the trailer fall on it's side.
The key feature of my design is the 15 degree taper on each side and the top, culminating in a rear plate that is barely larger than the trailer plate. I needed one trailer wheel. The semi-hemispherical front of the trailer and the matching tail extension on the car prevent gaps when the trailer bends from side to side in turns, and up and down in dips and over hills.

The McHitch was designed fer a standard axle trailer and allows the trailer to roll side to side with the crown of the road. You can see the nut on the end of the shaft of the hitch. This feature would have to be locked out on a single wheel trailer setup.

I am curious about the amount torsional roll pressure you would have with yer U-joint setup. Even with a single 1/4" thick 2" square tubing, I saw significant amount of roll on my single wheel setup that required me to build 2 more 2" square tubing extensions to minimize the roll to almost nothing.

I wonder how well yer design would track when backing up.

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by Angel And The Wolf

Doesn't the trailer tire scrub sideways of turns?

Yes, the tire would scrub in a turn. There are a few single wheel trailers that were designed that way as well.

Other Manufacturers

[freebeard]

If I had pursued this further, I would have gone toward a Vespa motor scooter front axle, with it's side-arm brake and suspension.

I wasn't sure whether the offset between the horizontal and vertical axis is important to your design or not. I leaned toward an horizontal hinge at the bumper and another hinge at the axle. If it was to fold up, the wheel would be on a 4-bar linkage.

Another possibility might be two vertical hinges, with [a] control arm[s] to control the side-to-side excursions. I'm not sure how that one would back up, it might want to jack-knife.