Originally Posted by fastfunfor2
It's good that you have all your weights sussed out, but don't be surprised if it handles poorly on the hiway. There are several reasons:
The tongue weight should be a minimum of 10% of the trailer weight.
If the ball is too high and the trailer does not sit level, this throws the center of gravity rearward and possible behind the axle, especially when going over humps in the road or bumpy conditions that cause unstability.
The crossfire has a very short wheelbase and will not resist trailer sway resulting from imbalances or maneuvers. I lived with this problem while towing a 17' enclosed trailer with a compact pickup. A trip down the highway would literally wear me out with stress. Had to trade up to a full sized truck.
The trailer appears to be very short from the ball to the C/G and will sway at a faster rate than a long trailer. Imagine a dog with a cropped tail... it wags furiously while the golden retriever wags lazily.
If all this isn't enough, remember that without trailer brakes the trailer will be pushing hard during a sudden stop. This increases the chance of swapping ends if the road is rough or traction is degraded for other reasons.
Please take care, give it some road tests, and front load it with some heavy items if you can.
Good point about the teil wagging the dog here. my friend's prowler trailer has a really long yoke, and that may tend to dampen some of that effect. The Yoke was so long that at a car show the other day, a lady tried to between what she thought were 2 cars, turns out there was a trailer hitch in between. She went down like a sake of bricks, she was OK though. I think all of the beer softened her landing - LOL