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.
Not my first time with a trailer. I was part of a Miata team that towed race tire trailers all over SOCAL to compete. Actually, the Miata tow set up was very comfortable and it's a smaller lighter car towing about the same load and that was even a shorter trailer then what I have this time. I have towed something behind my cars and trucks most of my life and have a pretty good idea of how to distribute the weight for a safe tow. All it takes is a bathroom scale and a little time.
fastforfun2 - There are many reasons why your tail wagging the dog trailer incident may have occured. None of which I believe will be a problem for the very light set-up I have compared to the weight of the car. Very few light weight trailers (like a jet ski) have brakes and this is not normally a tail pushing the dog issue until you get over 25% of the weight of the tow vehicle, but with the loose rear end that the Crossfire is known for it's worth paying attention to; thats for certain.
Towing is not a scary event if you drive like you have the sence God gave you, avoid putting yourself in emergency stop situations, keep your lane changes smooth and stay with-in the limits of the tow vehicle and towing set-up/rig that you have.
If you have recieved a ticket for 20mph over while pulling your 40' home, you might be a red-neck.
I will let you all know if I have any issues.