Here are some pictures from my overnight trek.
The balance on the trailer works pretty good. I intentionally loaded the rear tub heavy. I had the trailer hooked up when I loaded it so I didn't get to feel the tongue weight before I rolled - I just took a guess at it. The handling wasn't bad but I did notice the bike seemed "light" when I was walking it through the yard to the driveway before I left.
What did stand out to me with the trailer handling and weight distribution was when I went through the road crossings on the MUP. The trailer and stuff seemed to bounce a lot - more than it should.
Before I hit the road (end of the MUP) I stopped and set up the pool noodle. I checked the trailer weight and realized how little tongue weight there was. There was nearly 0.
What also stood out to me is I found the trailer frame was bowed up. As in - the rear of the trailer (the heavy loaded tub) was bent down a bit. What I determined was the bow in the trailer frame acted like a trampoline - hence the bouncing I noticed on the crossings.
I took stuff out of the rear tub and shifted it to the front tub. I don't know what the tongue weight was, but it was a decent bit more. Although there were no MUP/road crossings the rest of the trek today the bumps in the road I did hit (and railroad track crossings) didn't seem to be as harsh as before. I definitely like the bit extra tongue weight. The bike doesn't lean too much towards the side of the hitch, but there is a bit more weight on the rear end. That helps significantly when walking the bike with the trailer in the grass on the side of the road - like when I stop and get back on the road.
The grease in the pivot points works great. I tightened the roll pivot bolt more than when I didn't have the lube. That is where most of the "looseness" is, The lube let me tighten it a bit more and, although there is a slight amount of play, there isn't any noise that bothers me on the road - no rattling.
I have sensed the tongue bar flexing at the bend. Watching the yaw pivot when rolling down the road seems to indicate the angle of the tongue bar changing quite a bit. That might be a concern - it could lead to metal fatigue. We'll see. That is easy enough to make a new one of, should it need to be remade.
