Howdy
I have long had a desire to build a replica Westfalia timber teardrop trailer for my Beetle. One of the things I have wondered about is how long the drawbar should be and the placement of the axle. Is there any rule of thumb formula in regards to this? Cause I have seen some trailers made to tow behind a motorcycle that have had some quite evil handling traits cause of this same problem.
Rob...

Sorry Rob carn't help in your question.
But I like your idea, would look very good mate.

Oh, free bump to bring it back for the morning crew.

the longer the drawbar the easier it is to reverse and weight distribution should be about 60%front 40%rear of its gvm or gross mass, bear iin mind the max legal mass is 750 kg without brakes BUT it depends on the vehicle towing it as to the allowable unbraked mass it can tow,im not sure what a beetle is but i think you will be surprised by how small its legal weight will be.:beer

after a quick look ,the max permissable load in a 1966 beetle is 360 kg ,there are no tow recomendations but the max load on the rear axle is 700 kg so it doesnt leave much for trailer..i realise there are a number of bugs towing things around however the consequenses of an accident will leave you bankrupt as the insurance companies will have a field day with illegal tow mass ,unapproved towbars ,overloaded axle weights etc
sorry to be the bearer of such bad news buit its something to be aware of

G'day Robo,

"Rule of thumb" for axle placement is 1" per foot (24.5mm per 305mm) of trailer body towards rear of centre of length, and drawbar = approx 3" per foot (76mm per 305mm) of body length, plus body length, from axle to towball hitch. Most 6x4s and 7x5 would be somewhere near this.

Have a look at http://www.aussieteardrops.com 

Cheers, Ian.

Hey Ian,
That looks like a handy rule-of-thumb. Is my (exaggerated) sketch what you meant?


Regards,

Yeah, thats pretty much it.
Cheers.

Thanks for all the advice. Thats what I like about this place you can find out all sorts of stuff.
The trailers I am talking about were specifically designed by Westfalia to tow behind Beetles in the 50's, the tow bars have TUV approval in Germany, and they are as strict as. so I dont think it would be too much for the car. Here is a piccy of a factory brochure. The one Im talking about is the Wolfsburg model. I used to have a copy of this myself, but somehow I lost the soddin thing.
Rob...

cool

sk the question again here http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/index.php?sid=306de9c44ef648a9d31862a255536d26 
you can build a full dress teardrop pretty lightweight though around the 250 kg mark
marcel