"SteveB" wrote ...

Yesterday, while in Cedar City, Utah, I saw a modern Basque shepherd
shelter. For those who don't know what that is, it is a trailer for
staying in the mountains and caring for sheep. They are about 16' long
or so, boxy, except for a half circle roof. Door always in the rear.
Traditionally, they are green. This one was modern, and clad with the
aluminum sheeting just like a modern travel trailer.

My questions come from the suspension. On every one of these, I have
seen four wheels, two on each axle. Just like a toy wagon, or an old
west wagon. The front wheels are attached to a tongue, and have a tie rod
turning system, or in the old ones, just a pivot point. I'm sure there's
a simple explanation for this choice of wheels.



"Jerry Martes" wrote ...

Are you are asking about trailer design because you are thinking about
building a trailer with the axels separated by an appreciable percentage
of their width? If so, research "ackerman".
The front wheels of a two axel trailer need to *toe out* while turning to
avoid scraping or scrubbing. That can get complicated and is a good
reason to use only 1 axel on a trailer.

But a 4 wheel trailer is stable when you disconnect it from the pulling
vehicle.

--
Bill Fuhrmann