Im gonna pick up a 2 horse trailer soon from a friend.Much lighter than our 25' stocker and eaiser to tow with the camper. This thing seems to be xtra low. being were towing with my 95 4x4 using a 6" drop hitch it still will sit really uneven. I hate to go lower on the drop hitch, aint gonna lower the truck, so now what? anyone ever raise a horse trailer? I dont remember if its leaf springs or torsion type springs. If its leaf springs what about flipping the axle to the other side of the springs. if its torsion what can be done?
Thanks all.

 

Don't freat. Hook it up and load it up then see how things sit. This is the only time that is important, not when it's empty

 

I have seen my dad flip the axles on a trailer. Not to hard of a job. How much are you gonna pull it? Lowering the hitch more seems like the most pracitcal way.

 

Flipping the axles is the worst thing you can do. While it does lift the trailer, the axles are now upside-down and therefore have negative camber instead of positive camber. If you want to put the axles under the springs CORRECTLY and maintain the proper camber, you would need to weld another set of spring perches on the top side of the axle tube 180° from where the current set of perches is.

 

Id say load it,

with the two horses im sure it will level out, mine usually does, and my towing setup is a 10 inch drop bumper with a 6 inch drop reciever, it still rights a little bit high, but when i load my two boys on there, it levels out nicely, OR you can take a tape measure to it, and see what the measure is, If i recall correctly, 16 inches from the floor to the bumper height (where the ball sits) or receiver height should be plenty, or about right, i have my truck lifted 2 1/2 inches and that towing set up, and it works well, Flipping the axles i dont recommend on any trailer at all, never been fond of it. It only puts more strain when they are flipped on that little sheet of metal, the U bolts are bolted to, rather than the u bolts which are considerably stronger, My suggestion would be, if you must, just drop your hitch more... but i think your set up should work just fine, being that your truck is probably as tall as mine...

TxDiesel007

 

Ill try it loaded and see how it is. As I mentioned this thing is low. I dont thing its tounge is 12" off the ground,if that, and its level.

 

What kind of trailer is it?

If its an older one with the coupler welded onto the A frame, i can see your point that it is too low, another alternative would be to run mobile home 7.00 X 15.00 tires on it, (if possible) that will easily pick it up at least 2-3 inches, thats what a friend of mine did to his.. that and with the compensation of a reciever hitch should do the trick... Plus those mobil home tires are cheap and last forever! My S&H however, has the A frame, then it has the coupler welded above the A frame, basically to give you an idea, its "stacked" on.. the difference i havent measured but its over 2 inches at least... Weve tried some alternatives..

Load it see if it levels out
Flipping axles (NOT RECCOMENDED especially for live cargo)
Tires
Receiver Hitches..
If youve got some time on your hands, stack the coupler as is with mine..

Might also be an extreme case, and you might need an 8 inch drop... but i dont think id go that route... or hopefully you dont have to.

TxDiesel007

 

I went with a good 8" drop for my car trailer, and couldn't be happier. The trailer tracked much better empty and full, and the Class V drop was the cheapest alternative I found. Just be sure to find a good Class V ballmount. They are out there!! I got a very good price from a muffler shop that installs hitches. Same price as a good one from eTrailer.com, but looks stouter and I didn't have to pay shipping!

 

I'd try the other alternatives first, but any trailer can be raised up on it's suspension.

I've changed out my 2 trailers -

single axle utility that needed more 'off road' clearance- got the axle flip kit from Redneck Trailer Supply, it puts the springs ABOVE the axle. Turned out well, and I don't notice ANY handling or stability problems with it 5 in. up higher.

tandem axle cargo trailer that dragged the equalizing hitch bars when trailer rode level- this trailer has 2 torsion suspension axles. Got the trailer up on jackstands, torch burned the axle mounts off the chassis, welded up a subframe made of 3 in. heavy wall tube to the chassis, then welded up the axle mounts to the new sub-chassis. Worked out well, these torsion suspension trailers NEED to be level when towing, and now after raising it up 3 in., the hitch bars rarely scrape the road when crossing deep gutters, etc.

 

My 2 cents

The trailer issue stated was that it was to low for proper level hook-up.

Flip the axles. That does not mean to turn them upside down, it means that on some trailer axles the springs are under slung mounted and can be moved from the bottom to a top of the Axel for mounting. Top mount is also the best on a trailer because all of the weight will rest on the Axel and is not totally hung by the U bolts.

Torison Axel. I would put a 3x3" tube between the torsion mount and the frame as stated earlier if desired.

Most horse trailers are built to be low and use a dropped spindle axel. It may be spindle dropped up to 3 inches. Usually they have the spring mounted on top of the axel for weight and drop spindles to lower the floor for animal loading.

But being as this is a horse trailer I would not alter the trailer floor height because of animal loading. I like a stock trailer low for easy access.

To raise this horse trailer coupling mount as the original issue was stated, I would remove the a frame coupler and put in a Z made from 3x3 tubing. You can add what ever length and height to the tongue without altering the trailer height. Also extending the short tongue of a horse trailer another foot or so will make it much more friendly to pull. I always lengthen my tongue on a short trailer to make it an easier pull and especially to back. Oh yeah install a Bulldog coupler for a safe trailer. jim