This weekend I bought a used 20ft trailer to replce my 16ft. The trailer is great expect it's too low (slight dovetail). It scrapes going into the driveway with nothing on it. :( I need to lift it. Someone said do a spring over to get it up. I don't feel that it's very safe. What is the best/safe/correct way?

This weekend I bought a used 20ft trailer to replce my 16ft. The trailer is great expect it's too low (slight dovetail). It scrapes going into the driveway with nothing on it. :( I need to lift it. Someone said do a spring over to get it up. I don't feel that it's very safe. What is the best/safe/correct way?
Doing a spring over will be the quickest and easiest way of lifting the trailer. It will raise you about 5" to 5.5", and it is very safe. You could cut off all the hangers and weld on taller ones, or weld a lift block between the hangers and the frame. But I vote spring over if the 5" to 5.5" lift is going to be ok and not too much.

spring over will be just fine, and all it will cost you is a little time. The only thing it will change is the hitch height

Look to see where it is scraping then weld on a couple of boat rollers.

Here's a pic of my old 16' utility trailer after I SOA'd it. After I bought my 2500 CTD, I had to lift the trailer and use a drop hitch just to get the damn trailer to ride level. I have since sold that trailer to my neighbor and I bought a gooseneck.

When I did the SOA, I went to the local trailer shop and bought 4 new perches and all new u-bolts/nuts. That I could just torch the old u-bolts and didn't have to jack around with rusty nuts. I welded the new perches on the top of the axle tubes and I left the original perches on the bottom. This way, when it came time to sell it, it took me less than an hour to switch the trailer back to SUA to meet the new owners needs. He wouldn't have bought it in the SOA configuration. Leaving the SUA perches in place definately retains the trailers sellability.

My 18'er had the same low ride height problem. Turns out it had 4" drop axles on it. I upgraded to 5,300# STRAIGHT axles. Solved alot of problems; increased ride height, got much bigger brakes, and stepped up to a D rated tire.

My 16' flatbed is a SOA. I don't see the problem with it. Simple, effective, cheap. Do it.

Thanks! I was just a little concerned because I plan to haul about 6k on it so I want it to be safe. Wrecks caused by trailers are just ugly!