98 XC trailer: rolling front wheels with no driveline? Topic is solved

[CIK7]

So my dad does seem to be fairly intrigued by this trailer Im making and has provided a few ideas. His best idea yet came two days ago when he said i should make the engine bay into a separate sealed trunk. This did seem a bit far fetched to an extent. As y'all know, Ive been planning to cut the engine bay off and leave the firewall (mostly) and windshield intact. As Ive thought before and yall have pointed out, the tongue weight will be a tad difficult to manage. My dads idea got me thinking- what if i keep the subframe, replace the steering rack and suspension parts (ive got most of them), put the subframe back on, and then put the wheels on? Does anyone know if a FWD car can be stable in the front without CV axles? I think this would solve tongue weight, right? It sounds INSANELY COOL but Im very hesitant about doing it this way.

[volvolugnut]

My first thought is the trailer would be unstable in that it would sway side to side as the steering would not stay centered. Farm wagons with front axles steered by connection to the tow tongue (just like a child's wagon) have this instability above about 30 MPH.
Next thought was using a heavy shock absorber on the steering rack to damp the tendency to sway side to side.
I don't think removing the axles would make any difference.
You may want to test the behavior with steering wheel and linkage in place and a test driver to recover if the trailer gets weird while under tow. Wind gusts might set off this instability.
Also, without the engine weight, stock front springs will hold the car high in front.
volvolugnut

[abscate]

Cv axles won’t add anything to steering stability. It would roll well but would be harder to back and turn , though.

[CIK7]

Thank you both. That was rather easy I think. I'm going to scratch that idea.