July 21,2010: Tech Tip of the Month----
Ronnie Dodson, from Virginia, has probably done as much testing
and working on his own Toad as anyone on the planet. His latest idea is an excellent upgrade any of you can do if want to
do a little fabricating.
His idea is to put a "support"
between the body of the Toad and the axle. This will take stress off the center spindle when you go over a curb or through
a "strange dip" in the road. If you have a lot of tongue weight this is a good idea in my opinion as well.
On the older 2009 and prior Toads it is a pretty easy project. He put a 5/8" hole
in the top of the 2x4 tubing that is welded to the top of the axle. Locate it in the center of the tube directly under
the side frame of the Toad. He then bought an inexpensive 1/2" thick, hard plastic cutting board at Wal-Mart because
he wanted a "slick piece of tough plastic". He used a thick wall steel cup (I think a steel freeze plug
will work) and welded it to a 3" long 5/8" bolt. He used a hole saw to cut a circle out of the plastic cutting board
and fit it to slide into the freeze plug cup. Put a nut on the bolt, slide it into the 5/8" hole on the tube and
you can adjust this "support" so it just barely rides against the bottom of the side frame rail on the main body
of the Toad bu using the two nuts to lock the bolt at any height you need.
Now,
if you hit a curb or go through a strange twisting dip in the road you have some additional support for the center bearings
and spindle. It might take you a weekend or two to get it done but I like the idea of supporting the spindle and bearings
if you run over something that could force one side of the axle up rather ubruptly.
Thanks Ronnie, appreciate your input.
This
isn't his first idea we have used. He was one of the first to use a "pin" to drop into place to lock the axle. We
have since converted our entire reverse system to a Dual-Pin locking system.
July 19th-
We have the Trailer Toad
"Tote-Handles" in stock and ready to ship. They are powder coated and will fit to the rear of the Toad
as long as you have at least 2 holes at the bottom or 2 holes at the top of the rear bar where hitch head attaches. These
make moving the Toad around a lot easier on the back. I use mine to install the Toad by myself and it was pretty
much a two-person job before I had the Tote-Handle.
The
cost is $65.00 plus shipping. If you use PayPal through our Product Catalog there is a $15.00 flat rate shipping
charge.
6/28/2010:
Ask for hot weather.....you get what you ask for!!
Wow! We
have been to three events setting up Trailer Toad displays and just about melted! 97 degrees, humid and windy, that pretty
much sums up the last three weekends. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and looked over the latest 2010.5 Trailer Toads.
We have a couple of announcements for our customers:
1. If you have a Trailer Toad with 12" tires the high heat can really eat up those
smaller tires (along with some very rough highways). THe best replacement tire we have found is the Carlisle ST145R12. It
is a D-rated tire but it is holding up better than the E-rated Securas that were OEM on the Toads with 12" tires.
2. You have a couple options to get rid of the 12" tire issues.
- You can switch to 13" or 14" tires and wheels. This will require you
to be able to lower the hitch head and drawbar about 3" to keep everything level though, check it out before you go buy
the tires and wheels. We have fenders to fit the larger tires and a bracket is easy to make to hold te lightweight fenders.
- You can remove the narrow axle and replace it with our "Axle Upgrade Kit"
that includes an axle designed to use ST205/75R15 tires. The kit comes with fenders, brackets and will bolt on to your exisiting
frame. Tires are NOT included but can be purchased locally at reasonable prices.
3. We have had some input from a racer who came up with a GREAT IDEA. He is going to attach "plastic
or urethane" strips on his tube above the axle that will just barely rub on the frame of the Toad that pivots. This will
give additional support to the center steering spindle when going in and out of parking lots that have a pretty good "dip"
into the street. We are looking into materials for this and will announce it here if we can get a "installation kit"
put together.
4. HOT WEATHER - HOT TIRES - Take it E-Z......
The easiest way to arrive at your destination in this hot weather it to take it EZ on the equipment that is getting you there.
High speeds mean HIGH TEMPS in your tires and wheel bearings. SLow down a little bit and you have a better chance of not having
to stop on the way to fix a torn up tire or overheated bearing.
5.
Speaking of bearings. If you have a Trailer Toad with the rubber plug on the spindle cap you can grease your wheel bearing
without removing the tire and wheel. The Safety-Lube spindle can be greased with a grease gun. Take your time and slowly pump
the correct high-quality wheel bearing grease into the grease zerk. The excess will slowly come out the front and all you
have to do it wipe it off until you see the fresh grease is starting to come out. Pump is slowly or you may push out the wheel
bearing seal behind the hub. (That makes for a mess).
6.
We have wheel bearings, seals, rubber plugs, locking tangs and washers if you ever need them.
I hope your summer travels are safe and uneventful, except for the "events you have
planned!
Call us if there is anything we can do to help out.
(319) 404-7001
4/2/2010: Racing season is underway in most locations.
A
reminder that TrailerToad.com is offering "RACER REWARDS" for both drag race and oval track victories:
Simply let us know what race you won, verify it with photo or results from track website
and you can earn cash. Read about it on the "Racer Rewards" Page on this website.
You will need decals on the car, be registered with us and be a customer who purchased a Trailer
Toad from us.
