Pusher Trailer: Legal Issues?
 

I have had a hard time finding information about the legalities associated with building a pusher trailer. I have read that some states do not allow re-purposed truck axles on trailers, but have not seen the actual sources of such information.

I'm specifically interested in Massachusetts (since that's where I live), but I am also interested in other states. I'd like to be able to take my trailer on out-of-state trips.

Are there laws preventing such trailers from being used on the road?

Thanks - Chris

I think this is very much a grey area in the law. FWIW, some articulated buses have pusher trailers.

You are going to have to wade through the motor vehicle statutes for each state. I have not seen anything in NYS law that addresses the issue. The trailer would have to pass the requirements for a non-powered license.

It's such an unlikely scenario that I don't think many states have put much effort into covering it, laws-wise.

Mr. Sharkey had a long writeup describing his efforts of pushing his electric VW Rabbit with a manual (!?) diesel Rabbit nose. The entire trailer consisted of a Rabbit front end, couple with a Rabbit convertible trunk. It got the job done but some of the control connections were, well, weird. A confabulated cordless drill doohickey acted as an ersatz linear actuator to work the clutch pedal.

The original site is lost but it exists in an archive here.

I would recommend asking a lawyer to look through the laws, or even stopping at the Secretary of State to get a copy of the regulations (online versions are usually truncated). In my experience most automotive law-related internet rumors are false, so always read the statute yourself before making a decision.

This is why I would use a generator on a trailer.

cant find the link to when he went to the dmv..
but i remember they asked him if it was under the 1,800lb mark and he said yes.....as far as the OR dmv card it was exempt from every thing title, plate, and tags...

but being that he was going to go out of state he went to the next level 1,801 to 8,000 lb or a light utility plate...same cost as a car in OR :(

they reluctantly Xed out the VIN of the car, and issued a dmv TIN for it, more or less gave it a home made trailer registration....
likly a major no no.....lol



Mr.Sharkey's Pusher Trailer

the laws on trailers vary a lot, some states don't care or just want lights on it. others want even a cosco or H/F 4'X4' trailer registered...


------------------

found it they registered it as a assembled trailer.
Amusing DMV Story | MrSharkey.Com

How about a bunch of charged batteries topped with solar panels? :thumbup:

If those batteries are just sitting on a trailer idle at your house they are still wasting away.
I think the only way a battery trailer would not go to waste is when electric vehicles become more popular and you can rent them from some where. That way the batteries are getting used at least weekly if not almost daily.

Here I am searching for pusher trailer information before posting... and apparently I already asked about it a few years ago.

How about this specific question: has anyone seen specific rules prohibiting axles (i.e., solid rear axles from trucks) from being used in trailers in their state? I recognize each state is different, but if I can find some decent starting information, it could be helpful in guiding further searches.

Would the objection toward a truck axle into a trailer be specific to used parts or is it also a matter of concern if you buy a brand-new axle? But anyway, I have never seen anything regarding that matter.

It's happened to me, but I wasn't OP. :)

It's a timely question what with the EV tow questions floating around. I suspect any regulation would be aimed at trailers made from the back half of a pickup. They're sub-optimal. Don't look like one. Not getting pulled over is half the battle.

Why do you ask? Part in hand? What's the use case (gross weight, etc.)?

Here's the rear axle I have on the bench*, but it's intended for a Baja Bug instead of a trailer. It would be sweet in an Airstream Bambi.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-f...7-100-0855.jpg

* 98lb, 68hp, 10,000rpm. It eats 250-400V.

When I first started thinking about it, I briefly searched regulations and [somehow] found restrictions on using truck axles. A few years later when I decided to look into it again, I didn't find anything related. I was under the impression it was because it was a driven axle, but I have no idea where or what I actually read at the time.

While I agree, my situation is likely to be similar to "trailer made from back half of pickup truck", which is why I'm trying to nail it down.

I'm just starting the design effort; and want to see if there are restrictions that need to be considered. I'm probably looking at something that is in the 2500 lb range.

The thread title is Pusher Trailer: Legal Issues?. And "I was under the impression it was because it was a driven axle, but I have no idea where or what I actually read at the time."

So I'm supposing the intention is to drive the pickup truck axle. If you put a pickup truck bed on a trailer frame with a properly centered axle with trailer fenders, it wouldn't remind me of a chopped-up truck.

How do you propose to power the truck axle? Electric? The item I showed in Permalink #12 is a subframe out of an SUV (minus the rear mount and a crossbar :( ). You could get a similar item from the newer RAV4 and possibly others, with suspension and road wheels. Weld a trailer hitch directly to the subframe and add a battery bank and leave 1/4 ton for cargo capacity.

Everything is against the law in Massachusetts. I wouldn't try it there.

Honestly push trailers are a bad idea
unless these are hitch only with no ball??(bad idea to have a powered device on a pivot point) because of torque steer.


you may also need a independent rear suspension.
a solid rear axle, so when the left tire would bounce on a bump the right tire would tilt out and ride along its edge.

that could be a issue with bumps in the road and cause the torque steer

If you have like a SUV

asymmetrical AWD system would do :eek:

I'm not quite sure I follow. I can't picture how the concept of torque steer (usually used to describe steering inputs during acceleration on an FWD car) would be applied to a solid rear axle on a trailer.

I think, like most design ideas, the parameters need to be set appropriately. When towing and slowing down, the trailer is loading the tow vehicle in a similar way to a pusher trailer. We don't see them jackknifing regularly, because the loads are reasonable. I don't think I share your primary concerns, but I think that is because I'm picturing much lighter loading than you may be picturing.

Yes, I'm planning to drive the axle, and I'm picturing the most reasonable axle to use for my configuration is a straight axle. As I've read through the replies, I think finding an appropriately sized manufactured trailer is the best path. Then, swap in a solid axle that matches, and work on a modified trailer instead of a scratch-built trailer.

In this case, my goal is to push a vehicle, but not with a specific power source in mind. This first round will be more for testing the concept. I expect the easiest way to control the load is to drive the system with an electric motor, but the least expensive way will be with a small gas engine. I'll be starting the design effort soon, and will see if any nice electric power options come up on the used market.

torque steer happens when drive wheels turn the car watch any Ford Mustang Crash Compilation and you will get the idea what that is

the first one demos that issue you can hear one rear wheel spin and the other has traction he quickly lost control and steered into the wall



on the tahoe i have it does not have torque steer but I can make the rear end slide out (drift)if i need to I have done it at low speed to prevent getting in an accident ( stupid pos tried showing off and nearly tboned me as he under steered on a dual left turn I was in the right-left turn lane )
close only by a couple of inches..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhyLAHiNW9g

also this is a video of unstable trailers with a Ball trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Kfl97b57s

Your search term is American Underslung.
I gave it my best shot at Permalink #12. Any hybrid SUV with an electric rear axle will have a complete drivetrain and suspension as an OEM pre-engineered unit.

I see what you're suggesting.

My understanding is that torque steer is what happens when power applied to the driven wheels on the steering axle results in undesired steering input.

I was under the impression what you are describing is called "fishtailing". Limiting the power to a trailer should be able to keep fishtailing from occurring at all, except in extreme circumstances. I imagine being able to disable trailer power in extreme weather conditions, for example.

With OEM components you should be able to do torque vectoring on the driven axle.

Thousands of push trailers in use the world over:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articulated_bus#Pusher

do you think the op will do that? or just put a ball trailer and hope for the best yes i'm aware of those buses I live in Los Angeles

I ride one almost every day.
Confirmed. I wondered why that was.

edit:
Apparently sway control devices need to be disconnected to back up:
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/at...186c41bbab.jpg
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/at...5413819cae.jpg
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...rol-11195.html
The control rod impinges on the hitch in the first pic.