

Fulton HDPB350101 Bolt On Folding Trailer Tongue Swing Away Hinge Kit for 2 Inch x 3 Inch Trailer Beams, 9,000 lbs. Capacity, Helps Reduce Trailer Length for Storage
M**N
Loose design leaves lots of disconcerting play in tongue
I installed this with the help of a friend on the 3x4 galvanized tongue of an otherwise aluminum boat trailer. We put the hinge about 35" from the hitch coupler. Install was tedious but not really difficult.Once assembled, I was a little dismayed at the play that this has. The holes in the coupler are larger than the included 5/8" bolt and hinge pin. In addition, there are slight gaps where the two halves line up, on each side, which exacerbate the issue. Locked together, I can lift the end of the tongue almost an inch without otherwise moving the trailer. Granted, having a 35" setback magnifies the play, but this just seems like a lot. You can tighten the nut pretty hard and that alleviates some of it, but makes the pivot stiff and puts torque on the hinge parts where there shouldn't be any, as this is a cast item. If the top and middle of the hinge were made to fit tightly, with no gaps, I wouldn't mind wrenching it down. But they weren't.After reading around on this issue (very common), it apparently is normal. I have since tried using a 140mm long x 16mm grade 10.9 bolt (0.6299" width vs 0.6250" of the supplied 5/8") which helps some but it still feels loose. My plan is to keep the 16mm bolt in for the hinge and use the pin to lock it for short trips to the local lake, but when we travel and take the boat I'll install a second 16mm bolt and nut (and not use the swing-away), tighten both down moderately, which feels much more solid and helps my peace of mind.Overall this does what it was purchased to do. My rig is about 3,000lbs so I feel I'm well within safe ranges. But I believe this could have been manufactured to much tighter tolerances and been an even better product.
C**C
Should have bought this sooner
This fold away bracket appears to be strong, and well designed.I recieved delivery quickly, actually a few days earlier than expected.Installing the bracket is easy if you just take your time and cut/drill properly the first time.I had to splice in about 5 inches of wiring at the joint because i did not have enough slack in my trailer wiring to make the bend. I recomend soldering the wires, then silicone culk over the connections if this is a boat trailer. Finish up with loom tubing to protect from friction.I have my trailer jack located near the hook up. This product will not support your boat/loaded trailer in storage mode if you dont support the main trailer before you swing the hinged tongue rearward. You must have your jack mounted behind the bracket. I prefer having my jack forward of the hinge bracket, so I just built a trailer stand that i lower the trailer frame on, and then swing the tongue out of the way with zero load weight. (Hope that description makes sense)I think this product is a winner, and I have benefited from the garage space it as awarded me.
R**S
Don't believe the installation video
This is not a five minute project that the video would lead you to believe. With patients and perseverance the project could be completed in a day. Follow instructions and watch the youtube video. Have a really good set of metal drill bits that will allow you to enlarge the hole from a pilot size to screw size. This is by far the most difficult part of the job. best thing you can do to your boat trailer no matter where it is stored. Should have done this before now!
F**8
Overall Good Product
The brackets themselves are very strong and should last many years of service. The fitment to my 3x3 tongue was not exactly super snug, but pretty close. If I can fault this part of the assembly, it would be that I wish it extended a little further onto each section of tongue. Maybe inch longer on each piece, with mounting holes that much further apart. I get that they want to make this fit with a small footprint, but on applications closer to the max loading a little bit more length would be desirable.The included hardware is a mixed bag. They do include a punch, which is a nice bonus and works fine. They also include a torx bit (T-55 I think). Its junk. I almost could not finish the job with it due to fatigue in the teeth. The bolts are clearly custom made, and that is always a bad thing. They are about 1/4 inch too short for my liking, and being torx bit heads is also undesirable. I would have preferred hex or hex flange bolts, as the torx heads also fatigued a bit during installation. They include flange nuts rather than locknuts or flange locknuts. The absence of locknuts means you will preiodically have to re-torque this. But, the included torx bit will be spent by the end of this job, and the bolt heads are also fatigued. I figure I will have to replace all of this hardware within a year just to be safe. The hinge bolt and pin are good quality and I dont expect a problem there.Start to finish, this is no less than a 2 hour job. More likely you will spend 3 hours. You will need a set of fantastic drill bits and a couple quality sawzall blades. Also, everything else they mention. You may also need to re-wire, but that depends on your trailer. If you are going with battery powered tools, make sure to have a couple spare batteries fully charged a ready to go.The final product looks good, and I am very happy with it. I was able to fit my trailer in the garage with a couple inches to spare. Time will tell if this holds up, but I have no reason to believe this wont last. My trailer will be garage kept, so I am not too worried about corrosion. Also, my trailer is only 400lbs with a 350lb Gheenoe on it. Tongue weight is only about 75lbs. I went with a 33 inch pivot point, which the chart says can hold 380lb tongue weight.I would buy this again, though I would strongly consider buying different mount hardware. This would probably add $30 to the overall purchase, but I believe I would be happier in the end. Minus 1 star for the less than good mount hardware and poor quality torx bit.
A**H
Great product, easy installation
My package was misplaced in Minnesota, other than that I have no complaints. I used the swing arm to adjust the length of my trailer tongue to move my drift boat forward and increase the tongue weight because the trailers weight distribution was incorrect. The installation was simple and I completed it in a couple of hours including the wiring. I purchased some high quality drill bits made for drilling through metal which were expensive and worth every penny. The trailer rides perfectly without any additional movement or noise from the swing arm and I can still open the rear hatch on my Subaru with the trailer connected. It’s a well made product that I would highly recommend.
M**5
longer Safety chain not included
I did the installation without any problems, did not road test will do next spring when I will get the boat out of the garage, I was expecting to get a longer set of safety chain in the kit but was not included
J**Y
Remove wires from tongue towards rear-fish backwards
Drill small holes first thru top and bottom on the trailer side-do one full dia. and bolt tight--drill the other 3 holes full size and bolt all 3 tight on trailer side. Take the hitch piece to drill press small thru to other side and drill one hole full size thru to other side and bolt tight for alinement for the remaining 3 holes. Fish out wires and put thru the hitch part and put hinge bolt in and the 3 remaining bolts. Cutting oil will keep the big drill sharp. Protect the wires in the hinge area by slipping a plastic hose around wires.
M**R
WORKS GREAT
Great add-on if you need placerecommend this unit my was 3x4 there are other sizeseasy install with minimal tools I was able to swing about 30" of the tongue out of the way.Again great add-on
C**B
Easy to install with complete directions
This item is easy to install and comes with complete installation instructions, and all the parts and hardware required.Once installed I was able to store my boat and trailer in a standard size garage without having to skew the boat sideways in order to get the door down. Fulton makes quality products and this was no exception
R**S
Robusto
Muy útil para poder guardar el remolque dentro del garage y poder cerrarlo, instrucciones muy claras que facilitan la instalación e incluye una tabla que te indica a que distancia instalarlo dependiendo de la capacidad de carga del remolque
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
1 month ago