Towing a Ford Courier Pick Up Bed Behind Prius?

[Angel And The Wolf]

So, I guess it's safe to build and tow my lightweight aerodynamic trailer with my Gen 3 Prius

[Grinder74]

I would look at Timbren axles. With no axle tube, less aero drag.

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by Grinder74

I would look at Timbren axles. With no axle tube, less aero drag.

The one we built from the ground up used torsion axles. Wheels were within the outer mold line of the trailer and it allowed a smooth underbody. We had to weld up a frame because nothing we could buy was stiff enough and narrow enough. We definitely did overkill, but it didn't fail :-)

[freebeard]

Angel And The Wolf — That looks like a decent plan. I'd add an anti-roll bar because of the narrowed track.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Thanks, guys.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Grinder74

I would look at Timbren axles. With no axle tube, less aero drag.

That's interesting. No axle drag, and I can snug the tires up to the inside of the frame for as wide a track as possible, and I can remove a flat from the inside, rather than from the outside.

[freebeard]

Conceptually, they are a smaller square tube inside a larger one, with four rubber rods in the corners.



Here's a frame design lifted from a 1952 Silver Streak Clipper I used to own. A center tube (this one is large for water storage) with C-channel cross-members. Each cross-member has a carriage bolt through the deck (not shown). With a central spine you can 'tub the wheelwells' to your heart's contentment. It does need a monocoque shell for torsional rigidity.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Originally Posted by wyatt

The one we built from the ground up used torsion axles. Wheels were within the outer mold line of the trailer and it allowed a smooth underbody.

The wheels are going to present to the airflow, no matter if inside or outside. I'm thinking that a narrower flat bottom, with a higher, narrower flat floor at the rear ( see drawing) might be just as aerodynamic as a level flat bottom without wheels. There will both be inner fender skirts to dirrect the airstream away from the wheels, and outer fender skirts to keep the air from curling under the edge and into the wheels. The areas between the outer and inner skirts could be side storage.

[hayden55]

One thing to watch here is trailer height. A lot of people won't snug the wheels up under the deck because it will make the deck height very tall. Also, right off the bat you will want to swap to passenger car tires. I cant get the 8" trailer tires to last. Blow out after blow out... So i bought some 14" trailer wheels to mount up my 175/70/14 michelin defenders from my civic to solve the issue.

[oil pan 4]

I use 12 inch steel belted radial load range E trailer tires.
Like a car tire but smaller and can carry a lot more weight.