Subject: [Shop-talk] car hauler tralier advise.

From: "John Niolon" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 18:12:55 -0500

Well, my Bobcat 250 welder/trailer is on the sale block and as soon as it
has a lucky new owner my search for a open car hauler will begin.  Well,
actually I'm looking now but lack of funds takes a lot of the fun out of it..

I see lots of options and I'm sure it depends on what you're gonna haul, how
far and how much $$$ you have

My tow vehicle is a 2008 Suburban with a 5.3 L Vortec.   It has the towing
package and the recommended GVW is 8100 #.

My towed vehicle will be a '53 F-100 ford pickup... with a curb weight of 3500
to 3800 pounds.

I see lots of different designs   channel, tube, but the most seem to be
channel frame in either 4" or 5" or 6" and either 3500" axles or 5K axles with
either 1 or 2 axle brakes... some with breakaway setup some without...
aluminum would be sweet but out of the budget...by the way budget would be
2500 or less.... or a little more if I found an excellent buy (like a trailer
worth 4K for 2800.  Oh wait... that's the other guys deal, not mine.

I want slide in ramps, perferably rear entry to cut down on the carrying them
around ...  I'm favoring D-rings over stake pockets cause I want to use wheel
type tiedowns...  but that is something I can add myself and is no deal
breaker...

all the rest will be optional... I have a winch I can add on if needed
although I plan on driving it on.  Removable fender would be nice but nothing
that can't be fabricated if needed.  Steel deck is my favorite just from a
maintenance standpoint.. and weight. all of the above is  depending on $$$ and
availability.   So I'm looking for suggestions, ideas, warnings, brand
recommendations..etc...  educate me on car haulers

oh, and ask me about my welder/trailer if you're interested..

thanks
John

I'm sarcastic... what's your superpower ?
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From: John Innis <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 20:06:39 -0500

I bought a Dressen 16' steel car hauler new about 10 years ago.  It is made
from 4" channel with 4" angle welded to the top and 4" channel cross
members.  It has 1x8 solid wood decking.  I was worried about that
initially, but it has not warped at all.  The angle over channel
arrangement means that there is about a 2" lip of ange above the deck of
the trailer.  I like this because it gives me a good place to attache
tie-downs to without cluttering the deck.  It also provides a solid place
to wedge non-automotive cargo against.

The trailer sits on 2 5000# torsion axles and has electric brakes on both
axles. I recommend the dual axle trailer, mostly because it will tow better
than single.  It is not nearly as sensitive to toung weight as a single
axle is.  I have put almost 2000# just behind the axles and it dis not sway
at all.  I also recommend brakes on both axles, as it will stop a lot
better ans is required in some states.

The trailer came with stake pockets, and I added 9 D-rings.  It has slide
under ramps mounted out the rear.  I also added a spare tire carrier.  I
have been very happy with this trailer, my only complaint being the
wiring.  They used a frame ground, which I hate.  They also used a
pop-rivet to attach the ground wire to the frame.  It worked fine for about
8 years, then all the grounds were corroded to the point that nothing
worked.   I rewired it with separate ground wires and it is back in
business now.  I paid just over $3k for this unit about 10 years ago and
feel like I have more than gotten my money's worth out of it.

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 6:12 PM, John Niolon <[email-masked]> wrote:

> Unsubscribe/Manage:
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= can offend with substance --- Sam Brown  =
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From: Mark Andy <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 09:16:36 -0400 (EDT)

Howdy,

On Wed, 30 May 2012, John Niolon wrote:
> So I'm looking for suggestions, ideas, warnings, brand 

What I've found everytime I've looked for a regular open car trailer is 
that they hold their value well enough that you might as well buy a new 
inexpensive trailer vs. a used one.

Around me, EconoTrailer is a goto brand.  http://www.econotrailer.com/ 
I've had one of their trailers and friends have had various versions. 
They're a good basic car trailer.  All steel, nothing particularly fancy, 
etc.

Nice thing is that you get them new, so there's not the rework that always 
seems to be needed on a used trailer buy.  I'm at the point now where if 
the money is anything like close, I'd rather be spending my time on 
projects I want to do, vs. working on the tow vehicle or trailer or 
whatever.

Anyway, just putting it out there.  Looks like they're getting $2750 for a 
full deck 18' trailer these days.  If you can do an open deck trailer its 
$2350.  Shorter 15' trailers are a little less.

Mark

[email-masked]

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From: David Hillman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 11:56:21 -0400 (EDT)

On Thu, 31 May 2012, Mark Andy wrote:
> What I've found everytime I've looked for a regular open car trailer is that 
> they hold their value well enough that you might as well buy a new 

    Same here.  I shopped for a long time last year, and never found a 
single non-junk trailer for less than I could get a brand-new one for... 
without even shopping around for low new prices.

--
  David Hillman

[email-masked]

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From: john niolon <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 09:26:28 -0700 (PDT)

same holds true around here... you can buy used for 2500 and new for
2700-2800.  seems a no brainer... buy new and save all the rework like Mark
mentioned... 
 
is a mid range  5" channel and 3500# axles usually sufficient ??  like I said,
the load is less than 4K and less... don't plan on loaning it out... that's
what bends fenders and tongues and strips out the wiring...  see that enough
with work trailers... it's amazing how much damage can be done to a
trailer...expecially when you don't have to pay to fix it..
 
j

...telling some people to "be yourself" is about the worst
advice you could give them

--- On Thu, 5/31/12, David Hillman <[email-masked]> wrote:

From: David Hillman <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] car hauler tralier advise.
To: "Mark Andy" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "shop-talk" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thursday, May 31, 2012, 3:56 PM

> What I've found everytime I've looked for a regular open car trailer is that
they hold their value well enough that you might as well buy a new inexpensive
trailer vs. a used one.

   Same here.  I shopped for a long time last year, and never found a single
non-junk trailer for less than I could get a brand-new one for... without even
shopping around for low new prices.

[email-masked]
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]

[email-masked]

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From: Mark Andy <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 15:13:21 -0400 (EDT)

Howdy,

On Thu, 31 May 2012, john niolon wrote:
> is a mid range 5" channel and 3500# axles usually sufficient ??  like I 
> said, the load is less than 4K and less...

Should be fine.  I think the 'typical steel open trailer' weighs around 2k 
lbs or a little under, so even with some additional crap you've got a 
cushion to the rated axle capacity.  Most every open car trailer I see at 
autocrosses has 2 3.5k axles.

Mark

[email-masked]

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From: Battmain <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 15:32:58 -0700 (PDT)

It will most likely work fine for you. . 

For my next trailer, I'm going with
a higher rated axle than the 
dual 1760# 14" tires (3500#) that I have now. I
don't tow much 
weight, but here is my reasoning. I tow long distances. When
the 
bearings decide to take a crap, and you don't know when that will 
occur, you hope  to catch the issue before the spindles get torn up.

That
could be at the side of a highway and as we know it is not 
fun inspecting
or doing anything on the side of the highway. I 
carry a spare axle and
multiple bearings, nuts, etc. The few 
miles on one wheel with a load to get
off the highway, really 
heats up that single bearing set on that side. A
higher rated axle 
will help in that situation. 

Only you can decide if it is
enough. 

B

>________________________________
> From: john niolon
<[email-masked]>
>To: shop-talk <[email-masked]> 
>Sent: Thursday,
May 31, 2012 12:26 PM
>Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] car hauler tralier advise.
(snip)
>(snip)

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