Questions For The One Wheeled Trailer Owners/Builders

[uncagedca]

I'm really warming up to the idea of building a one wheel trailer for my ST1300. I've scoured the internet looking at everyone's designs, everything from Uni-go, Bobbit and Eaglemate to all the work of art homemades around. I really like the idea of using a golf club hard travel case (http://www.securegolftravel.com/skb-ata-staff-golf-travel-case) for the storage. I can get the center of gravity real low and can stuff the heavier items closer to the back wheel. As well, I can make the case so it can come off for going into the hotels, etc... That also leaves me a platform to mount other cases if I need. (Kind of like George's)
Ok, long story but now into my questions:
Do you notice a difference in pulling a shorter trailer (Unigo) as opposed to a longer one like 6' or better?
Is suspension really required? Understandably, suspension will save wear and tear on the whole system.
I like the idea of the universal joint for coupling. Do you notice much rotational play in the joint and does it effect the stability of the trailer?
I also like the idea of the mounting plate Uni-go uses. When mating the two halves (trailer to bike) and installing the pin, how much play is forgivable in the two?
I know getting the center of gravity as low as possible will help stability and wind problems. With trailers with the wheel under the storage, does stability become a greater problem?

 

[sirepair]

Lots of questions there that I can't help much with, as I've only pulled my home-built. Don't know what the difference between short and long is, but I'm guessing the longer trailer is a bit more stable.

Suspension, though not necessary, will help in the long run. I opted for the bicycle shock because it was cheap (free) AND its adjustable (preload).

On my trailer, there's no noticeable play in the U-joint, though there is a bit in the receiver hitch. I honestly think the Uni-go hitch is TOO TIGHT. It is a great design but I feel there needs to be a bit of play between the bike and trailer, otherwise any unwanted motion induced in the trailer can be transmitted to the bike.

Loading the trailer does have an effect on handling, and is most noticeable at low speeds (parking lots and the likes). If the weight is high and you're making slow turns, you'll feel the bike want to fall over. But once you're moving 20mph or so, it's difficult to feel the trailer "back there".

I'm currently working on "I-lean 2.0" (shhhhh, it's Top Secret!) and hoping to improve on what I've learned from the first one. All I can say is "Have at it!" It's been a lot of fun designing, building and using my trailer.

 

[ScubaDave]

While I can't seek to how a short 1 wheel tows, but my 6' 1 wheel tows great. I would only use a trailer with suspension. In my line of work I have seen way to many metal things fail due to highspeed vibration. Also without suspension your contents will take a beating. I built mine using a torsion from a normal trailer.

A good U joint will have no play in it.

My coupler has no play that I can tell after it is all hooked up. It is a copy of a unigo.

If you look in my gallery you will find pics of the trailer I built.

 

[Bigmak96]

Do you notice much rotational play in the joint

If you mean the joints of the U-joint itself, no, there is none. But if you mean the joints between the the U-joint and the connection points on the trailer and bike, there will be a little. sirepair has said that is not a bad thing and I have not had enough miles on mine yet to say. But I did put some 3/8" set screws, one on each side and on both ends of the U-joint to be able to eliminate that play. I think Pat is prolly right though. As long as the trailer is tracking well, a the small amount of clearance should not be an issue.

 

[uncagedca]

As for the play in the U-joint, I did mean in the joint itself. I read somewhere on the internets that Uni-go had replaced the needle rollers in theirs with nylon bushings due to "play". Growing up on a farm, we had lots of PTO shafts running and I can't ever remember feeling free play. They would have torn themselves apart if there was any slop. But since I've never really used a U-joint for this type of application maybe there was something to it.
For the ones running trailer tires (square-ish profile), do you notice issues with turning/cornering and/or wear since these tires are supposed to be run basically perpendicular to the road surface. I don't plan on running Deal's Gap with a fully loaded trailer and 99.5% of the time the trailer will be riding upright but...

 

[ScubaDave]

I have both the u joint and std trailer tires. So far no issues with either. No play in the pto u joint and the trailer tires lean just fine. I have pulled mine at least 5000 miles. With many on roads like deals gap with no issues. It

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[sirepair]

As far as the trailer tire goes, mine probably has 2K miles on it and there are still mold whiskers on the outer edge of the tread. Though I didn't run the Gap, we did do NC209 out of Hot Springs, NC (a BLAST of a road!) two-up and loaded trailer; Porkchop was chasing us and said the trailer performed perfectly. I could feel it back there, but I just focused on riding smooth and it was no issue at all.

 

[RealST]

Short or Long, they will both PULL the same. The difference comes in play when backing up. The shorter it is, the quicker it turns (jack knifes) just like any trailer.

Be careful with loading though. You don't want the weight too far back or forward. An improperly loaded trailer with insufficient tongue weight will tend to sway. Not a fun feeling in a car let alone on a bike. As a general rule, you want 10% of the weight on the tongue.