European-style car hauler trailers.....

In reply to irish44j:

Aw, man..I tried to vote up your comment about speeds being higher in Germany, and I hit the wrong button. Mod Squad, there's no way on Earth I would have voted that comment down!

Two words as to why you don't see many here, LAW SUITS.

friedgreencorrado wrote: In reply to irish44j: Aw, man..I tried to vote up your comment about speeds being higher in Germany, and I hit the wrong button. Mod Squad, there's no way on Earth I would have voted *that* comment down!

Rumor is voting up and down cancel each other out. If true a couple of up votes should fix your mistake.

irish44j wrote:

Sky_Render wrote: All I know is that I've towed things precisely twice in my life. Both times I had a '01 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.2L V8, and I felt it was maxed out towing a U-HAUL auto transport (not a dolly) with a '93 Plymouth Sundance on it. But I was also going up and down big mountains in Western PA.

Odd, we pulled a U-haul auto hauler trailer (which are like 2300lbs empty) with an e21 on it (about 2400lbs) with my V6 4Runner through W.Virginia and didn't feel like it was maxed out (factory rating is 5000lbs for the V6). Then towed our race e30 (2500lbs or so) on a slightly lighter trailer up to Pittsburgh through the mountains and still was fine, hardly knew it was there. Surprised to hear that a 5.7L v8 would struggle with a similar load.

It was only a 5.2L, the old Magnum 318. That's barely enough to lug that big ol' 4x4 truck around by itself. I sure miss that truck, though.

I looked at renting a trailer from uhaul.. after plugging in my Disco, The website would only let me tow a couple of their trailers.. and one of the ones it wouldn't was that small aero one that was designed to be towed behind cars. The website claimed my rover did not have the ability to handle that kind of load

44Dwarf wrote: Two words as to why you don't see many here, BIG CARS.

Fixed that for you.

irish44j wrote:

Sky_Render wrote: All I know is that I've towed things precisely twice in my life. Both times I had a '01 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.2L V8, and I felt it was maxed out towing a U-HAUL auto transport (not a dolly) with a '93 Plymouth Sundance on it. But I was also going up and down big mountains in Western PA.

Odd, we pulled a U-haul auto hauler trailer (which are like 2300lbs empty) with an e21 on it (about 2400lbs) with my V6 4Runner through W.Virginia and didn't feel like it was maxed out (factory rating is 5000lbs for the V6). Then towed our race e30 (2500lbs or so) on a slightly lighter trailer up to Pittsburgh through the mountains and still was fine, hardly knew it was there. Surprised to hear that a 5.7L v8 would struggle with a similar load.

Peoples definition of "struggling" can be very different. I've been in my buddies v6 4-runner towing a full size car and it's far from an ideal tow rig in my opinion. The next time we took my truck.

We used to have a Toyota T-100 for a shop truck. Bill decided to stick a turbo on the manifold, added an intercooler and a crappy rising rate fuel pressure regulator. We towed some fairly spectacular loads cross-country with it. I'm not sure I would now.

Keith Tanner wrote: We used to have a Toyota T-100 for a shop truck. Bill decided to stick a turbo on the manifold, added an intercooler and a crappy rising rate fuel pressure regulator. We towed some fairly spectacular loads cross-country with it. I'm not sure I would now.

I hear you. I cringe thinking back on some of the setups I used to tow with....

I don't particularly see the need for a european-style car hauler... partially because I own more than one car. I think the small, lightweight trailer idea is valid if you only use it for one thing, but lets be realistic, the individual who needs/wants a trailer probably doesn't use it for only ONE specific thing.

At the end of the day, I only have room for one trailer, and it certainly is not cost-effective to OWN multiple trailers for hauling different things. It also makes no sense (in my head) to own one, and only one trailer that is really only able to haul ONE thing and nothing else. I would rent a trailer at that point for my specific needs when I needed a trailer. It would be cheaper, I wouldn't have to worry about wear/tear/maintenance, etc etc.

I also take a bit of an issue with people building their own trailers. Is it a valid issue? Maybe/maybe not. But it is a big piece of equipment that can have deadly consequences if not built correctly. Most things that fall into that category require a stamp by an engineer at minimum or a company to stand behind said product.

HiTemp, I can see where you are coming from. But as an engineer who has seen what some trailer manufacturers crank out, I am less leery of what (almost) anyone on this site would build.

In reply to bearmtnmartin:

Experience, maybe. But I've had vehicles that can tow +5000lb that have far worse brakes than one that are only rated to 3500lb. That, and it was interesting comparing a 200hp/5500lb vehicle to a 270hp/3500lb vehicle.

The OEM spec is more about cooling.

BTW, I'd still have my little, light trailer if I was still using an open. I moved to an enclosed trailer a few years ago and that's when I sold it. Even then, I went small with a 7x16. Easier to park, easier to store, lighter than a more typical bigger trailer. Had the budget stretched to a Low Hauler, I'd have one of those.

So yeah, there's a definite place for small light trailers. Sometimes, just big enough is better than far too big.

In reply to HiTempguy:

Specific to one car, I see a point, although there are quite a few single car enthusiests out there.

Small trailer, small space- yea- I don't agree. I don't want a full sized trailer taking up a bunch of space in my back yard, and I know I'm not going to get a big car anytime soon (if ever). so having a small 14' trailer that can do 3000lb is perfect for me- fits all of the Alfa's that I've ever needed to take, both Miata's I've had, as well as CG's Neons. Small is pretty handy.

I am seriously considering a little trailer. The cars I intend on putting on a trailer are small and light (ie Spitfire and Yugo). If I need to tow anything bigger, I could borrow a friend's trailer.

I have nearly a dozen trailers now, between the ones I had and the ones I inherited from my father, ranging from a 90# 36x48 aluminum one up to a 35' beaver tail with two 6k# axles. The two that get used the most are 13x6.5 single axle, one with a 6k# axle and the other with a 3500# axle on snowmobile trailer tires. Both have trailer brakes.

That size trailer is just a great all around tool.

oldopelguy wrote: I have nearly a dozen trailers now...

And THAT, is why I love this place.

Cotton wrote:

irish44j wrote:

Sky_Render wrote: All I know is that I've towed things precisely twice in my life. Both times I had a '01 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.2L V8, and I felt it was maxed out towing a U-HAUL auto transport (not a dolly) with a '93 Plymouth Sundance on it. But I was also going up and down big mountains in Western PA.

Odd, we pulled a U-haul auto hauler trailer (which are like 2300lbs empty) with an e21 on it (about 2400lbs) with my V6 4Runner through W.Virginia and didn't feel like it was maxed out (factory rating is 5000lbs for the V6). Then towed our race e30 (2500lbs or so) on a slightly lighter trailer up to Pittsburgh through the mountains and still was fine, hardly knew it was there. Surprised to hear that a 5.7L v8 would struggle with a similar load.

Peoples definition of "struggling" can be very different. I've been in my buddies v6 4-runner towing a full size car and it's far from an ideal tow rig in my opinion. The next time we took my truck.

well, we had a ~4500lb load with a race-prepped e30 on the trailer...if you were towing a full-size car on a (let's say) U-Haul trailer, you were probably pushing well over 5500 lbs, which probably would have made for a bit tougher tow since it's well over a V6 4Runner's tow rating. An extra half-ton ain't nothing.

Also I would mention that my 4Runner was a SportEdition, which has MUCH better brakes than the SR5/Limiteds do (13.3" vs. 12.6" and bigger 4-pots up front), and we had trailer brakes with a well-calibrated controller. So braking was downright easy. My Sequoia (a bigger truck) actually has the same brakes as the SR5 4Runner (the 12.6") and they simply suck badly.

IDK what to tell you though....we were trucking at 65 easily through the Allegheny mountains (no, not exactly the rockies, but still some steep climbs here and there). I even did a few passes on single-lane roads of traffic going under the speed limit when we had to take a detour and use some country roads...

Would I call it an "ideal" tow rig? Well, of course not. An "ideal" tow rig would be a big crew-cab dually diesel or something like that. Which is great if you just tow E36 M3 around every weekend. I prefer to have a vehicle that "can" tow "fine" when I need it to, and is otherwise a useful/enjoyable/practical vehicle to some extent. And no "hardcore tow rig" qualifies for that in my book.

Maybe I'm spoiled though. When I was a kid we towed a family-sized sailboat cross-country from Seattle to Virginia behind a low-end late-70s Audi (the car was loaded up heavy with travel stuff as well). That car couldn't have had more than about 100hp and we made it fine. Later we did the same trip in reverse, with the same tow (maybe 4000lbs in trailer/boat/cargo piled in the boat and car, etc) with a 1980 4-cyl Volvo 240 wagon with 4 people in it.....again with no problems.

alfadriver wrote: In reply to HiTempguy: Specific to one car, I see a point, although there are quite a few single car enthusiests out there. Small trailer, small space- yea- I don't agree. I don't want a full sized trailer taking up a bunch of space in my back yard, and I know I'm not going to get a big car anytime soon (if ever). so having a small 14' trailer that can do 3000lb is perfect for me- fits all of the Alfa's that I've ever needed to take, both Miata's I've had, as well as CG's Neons. Small is pretty handy.

This. The only thing I'll ever tow on a car trailer is an e30, e21, triumph, or something else small (e.g. racecar). Any small car trailer can haul more mulch or big equipment better than my current trailer (8x5 utility trailer), so I'm not seeing the utility downside to a more compact car hauler vs. a "big" car hauler. IDK what some of these guys are hauling around (elephants? giant vintage lathes?) that a 16x6/3500lb trailer couldn't handle, lol.

My Kubota with loaded tires weighs 3800lbs, which dictates my needs. Plus is I ever want to play scrap car man I can do more than small cars.

In reply to irish44j:

Yeah, I guess a 4runner would be a peach compared to a 100HP car loaded up to 4kplus. I've towed with some gems in the past, but I couldn't imagine doing that cross country. I'm guessing you took your time....not that you had much choice.

I remember driving a heavily loaded 245 wagon with four people on board, a (heavy) canoe and a couple of windsurfers on board. It could not accelerate, only maintain velocity. And that was at sea level. It would have been a long, slow trip over the mountains here.

Now, I've dragged a 4500 lb Cadillac using a 38 rwhp Land Rover as well. But that doesn't make it a good idea :)

alfadriver wrote: In reply to bearmtnmartin: Experience, maybe. But I've had vehicles that can tow +5000lb that have far worse brakes than one that are only rated to 3500lb. That, and it was interesting comparing a 200hp/5500lb vehicle to a 270hp/3500lb vehicle. The OEM spec is more about cooling.

My 4cyl/5spd Colorado is rated at 2500 lbs, whereas the auto is rated at 3500. In this case, I think it's the (comparatively) weak 5 spd. trans.

I towed a 3100lb street stock on a 1000lb trailer (no brakes) with my 86 4cyl 5 spd S10, for two seasons, and I raced all over the province. Never had a problem.

<img src="" /> You can always do this-----

tell me they're not hauling a miata around on top of a wooden a-frame.....SMH...