I did not know that. Is that a state reg or federal? Is there a minimum distance?
I know it has been discussed several times here on iBoats.
Can only find one thread on it now.
I went this past weekend to pickup a Craigslist find and was on my way home with a boat and trailer. The boat is a 14' aluminum v hull and the trailer a bare bones Venture trailer with two bunks on a stamped steel frame about 4' wide, 4' long. Most of the trailer is tongue. The boat fits the...
forums.iboats.com
I also searched for it on the web in general, some years ago, and found it on a trailer manufacturing site.
4', or perhaps it was 5'
When I purchased my cargo trailer directly from a local manufacturer, I had them in install an 8' tongue. This was so my canoes would hang over the front of the trailer, not the rear. At that time, manufacturer told me it was not technically legal, something about too much space between the truck and cargo area. But he installed it.
As far as minimum distance goes, no legal requirement that I know of.
But recommended:
Front of coupler to forward most cargo area (winch post), should be half the width of load, plus 6", to prevent jack knifing the tow vehicle into the cargo portion of the trailer in a tight backing maneuver .
Maybe someone else can find it, my search skills and credits have expired.