The car trailer thread

[milner351]

We've hashed this out on other threads, but I thought it would be best for the most of us if we had it all in one spot.

Do you have a trailer you love and would buy again?

Do you have a trailer you hate and want to warn others about?

Lessons learned?

I've looked at a couple that look pretty good, and have found to date that used ones are either 1. need a ton of work 2. priced within $500 of a new one.

http://www.kaufmantrailers.com/car-trailers/

http://www.trailersalesofmichigan.com/car-trailers

[Deaf Bob]

Some guys love surge brakes... I kinda do..
Some guys love electric brakes.. I never noticed if mine work great or not, suppose that is the way it is supposed to be.. I do notice the controller acts differently with a proper hook up..
I like using my flatbed (one ton chevy) for trailers without brakes (all as I do not have a controller on it)
I wonder if I'd been able to save the Nova from coming half off if I had trailer brakes (either kind) when I had to panic stop as not to hit a dottering fool who decided to "run" across the highway in front of me (more like a comical fast walk)
Gonna be interesting to tow with the dualie.. Havent yet..
Son's powerstroke pulls great.. Dualie crew cab.. Have used other Fords that were singles.. Dualies rock!

[DanStokes]

As I posted on the other thread, I really like my Load/Trail. It was cheap but has worked flawlessly, even moving the 'Stang from MI to here with the OEM car whitewalls in place of real trailer tires. I replaced them a couple of years ago with trailer tires (Douglas, IIRC) and it's even better. The cast lead ramps were a PITA (really, welded angle iron) but an order of aluminum ramps fixed that.

I keep looking for a cheap enclosed trailer that needs a little love. It would be nice to store the S-10 out of the weather and out of the shop. As I've been building it it was fine to have it in the shop but I'd like to have that space available when not wrenching on the race truck. I've heard of enclosed trailers going as cheap as $1K that needed floor repairs or that sort of thing - I can do that. 20' would be fine for my use. No hurry and I'm sure one will come my way sooner or later.

Dan

[G-Motive]

My sons is an AZ-TEX. I'm not sure they're in business anymore. It was cheap, I think it was $1250 or $1300 new. Very basic. Dual axle with electric brakes, no dove tail. It's had some modifications and it's still alive & kicking.

[squirrel]

I got mine used over 20 years ago, I've used it to haul a bunch of projects home, including a 1 ton step van. I've hauled cars across several states with it. I've hauled scrap metal with it. it's a 6.6' wide 16' long bed, steel angle construction, so it's kind of flexible. originally a utility trailer, I added ramps and a crank winch so it works ok for hauling cars, and I added electric brakes. The tall fenders kind of get in the way sometimes. I like it. works well. I even painted it and flipped over the deck boards last year, before DW.

[mrocketscience]

I have a Carson trailer I bought new in 2006. Has electric brakes, all steel floor. It works great and has given me no trouble at all.

[68scott385]

I got mine used over 20 years ago, I've used it to haul a bunch of projects home, including a 1 ton step van. I've hauled cars across several states with it. I've hauled scrap metal with it. it's a 6.6' wide 16' long bed, steel angle construction, so it's kind of flexible. originally a utility trailer, I added ramps and a crank winch so it works ok for hauling cars, and I added electric brakes. The tall fenders kind of get in the way sometimes. I like it. works well. I even painted it and flipped over the deck boards last year, before DW.

I'd put money on your trailer having more miles on it than many commuter cars.

[BBR]

Ge an 18' at least. That extra 2 feet isn't important until you need it.

Mine has extra legs so you can unhitch and take the weight off the tongue jack.

[G-Motive]

Trailer porn... sounds safe enough.

[yellomalibu]

In '99, I bought a new Emerson trailer for the Chevelle.
They had one that was open in the center with no brakes for $1300, or a solid steel deck with self adjusting electric brakes (on the front axle) for $1650. No brainer. It is 16' long, weighs 1700 lbs, has a nice beaver tail, the ramps stow from the rear, has nice tie down D-rings, dual 3500lb axles, the tail lights have steel around them to protect them, and my lowered Chevelle's doors open OVER the fenders.

Since I quit racing, it has been useful for moving friends and family, hauling stuff to the dump, as well as hauling a car or tractor for friends and family now and then.

Self adjusting brakes are important. As is the ability to open your car's door over the fender. All the other features different trailers have.. compare features and choose wisely.

[milner351]

See how BBR and Squirrel's trailers have the deck and tonque at different levels, and the deck comes forward over the tongue?

Check out how these guys did it, it's lower to the ground, and I would think lower if the frame materials are near equivalent which they may not be.
I'm not sure if this is better, worse or just different but thought it was an interesting difference between MFR.:

http://www.trailersalesofmichigan.com/car-trailers/diamond-floor/7000-gvwr-light-duty-18-ft-wood-floor-car-trailer-deluxe

[Grumpy]

I've towed with literally almost any trailer you can think of over the last 50 years, there was even one you wouldn't have wanted to put your car up on let alone travel down the road but it had a super long tongue and towed great. My open trailer is a 19 ft.1998 Imperial trailer with a dove tail, I was patient and used the Craigslist search engine and found it over in Indiana for around $2,000, There are buys out there and I'd never pay the price for a new one when you could buy one several years old for half the money! One more thing, Surge Brakes are fine and work well unless you're going to use Equalizer bars to distribute some of the tongue weight to the tow vehicle then that eliminates some of the effectiveness of the surge brakes, I always go 4 wheel electric? .

[ratpatrol66]

I rented Uhauls for years and bought one when I had the chance. Load, strap down, and haul easy. Lots of supoort from Uhaul on parts. Decked the middle so I can haul all kinds of stuff not just cars and trucks. Works for me.

[Deaf Bob]

Mine's a Big Tex.. 70C, translates to 7000#... hauled the lowered dualie home on it.. No motor/trans.. The 4X4 dualie with the big block/turbo 400 was too heavy.

[Thumpin455]

Dad and I built this one out of a John Deere spring tooth chisel plow back in the 90s. It was one that folded up, we used the toolbars as the bed, and the arm braces as axles. We built dropped axles for it and before I built new ones in 2013, it was only 12 inches from the ground to thevtop of the bed. We could get anything on or off easily, even rolled dead cars on it myself, lowered was super easy. Only swapped the axles because I couldn't get wheels for it, and they were too rusty to hold air. This thing has been all over the country, had tractors, 1 ton dually crew cabs, loads of steel, and damn near every car I own on it at one time or another. He built a second one, but it didn't pull as nice. I'm rebuilding it this spring. New diamond plate bed, new fenders, and a slick satin black paint job. This trailer rocks, and its lighter than most.