Listed yesterday, replied to the seller pretty quickly and picked it up today.
Trailex, didn't think I would find one in my budget. Very light weight, good condition.
One of the first things I need do is to replace the tires, they're all 7-8 years old. It came with two spares, so that's six in total. 185/80-13.
Tire recommendations please, I want good, not cheap. Any other advice is welcome.
I'm also going to replace all of the lights and rewire it, something I've always done with used trailers. I'm thinking of getting LED lights unless I have to mess with resistors to get them to work properly. Comments on that?
It has brakes, but the seller only has a four post plug on the lights. I still don't have a brake controller in the truck yet, but that's going to change.
Even with my Miata on it, it's going to be lighter than my last fishing boat, and there were no brakes on that trailer. I'm definitely going to get the brakes sorted on this.
There's a cap for brake fluid here. Do you think these are surge brakes?
I have the same trailer. Excellent choice. I think mine is 800 pounds. Yes, those are surge brakes. The system may be due for some service. If it's not working properly, things will get noticeably clunky as you try to slow down.
I've replaced the lights at least three times now. The most recent set is LED and that's the right way to go. Go with a full pre wired kit. Make sure that all of your grounds are clean.
If your ramps store under the trailer, they are susceptible to dragging. I have an aluminum diamond plate floor on mine and I moved the ramps up top.
Early Trailex ramps have a really tall center rib. The later design has a much lower profile. I converted mine to the newer style. Great trailers.
Trailex has good customer service for their older products.
Wow, tons of useful information, Surge brakes means I won't need to pay for a brake controller, so that's good.
It's an open, ramp type trailer. The ramps ride on top of the frame. Yours has a full deck? Was it built with one, or converted?
One surprise was the drop in mileage, from 21 at 75 to about 12-14. Maybe it's due to the tire rack?
As far as tires go, I've got Goodyear Endurance on mine and have been pretty happy with them. They're lasting longer than the Carlisles I had before, and I haven't had any random blowouts.
Trailer TPMS is totally worth doing, IMHO. I've got it on my mine and have caught a couple of slow punctures that could otherwise have been significant failures.
Personally I would look into converting it from surge brakes to electric. Surge is for boat trailers.
I've seen the Goodyear trailer tires recommended more than once. Their website doesn't show this size though (185/80-13), smallest wheel size is 14.
Tire rack has Hankook Vantra tires in this size, name brand with mostly good reviews by buyers, but Chinese made.
I want the Goodyear tires, but I would have to buy wheels too.
Sweet trailer. Same/similar came up near me recently. $4,300 and its a pretty short one.
The good thing is, if you don't like the tire rack, unbolt it! For those who don't know, Trailex trailers are 100%bolt-together, no welding! It's pretty cool. They are light weight, will "flex" rather than crack like a welded aluminum trailer and easy to move around by hand.
Luckily you got the ramps too. I've seen many without the ramps like the one I had. I don't know if there is a reason, possibly the way they're held in? Maybe something to check. Also, find yourself a bunch of stainless steel 3/8" bolts and nylock nuts, a 9/16" wrench and keep them as spares. From memory, I believe that a bunch of the nuts & bolts on mine started to rust and I began to swap them out for new ones.
You made a much better choice finding and buying a Trailex. Good luck with it.
Take the time to adjust the surge brakes and they'll work fine. I've had them on my conventional steel trailer for 27 years and they work well as long as you keep them adjusted.
Very nice trailer. Congrats!
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
One surprise was the drop in mileage, from 21 at 75 to about 12-14. Maybe it's due to the tire rack?
Tires and "dry" axle bearings.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Nice trailer. Congrats.
Ranger50 said:
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
One surprise was the drop in mileage, from 21 at 75 to about 12-14. Maybe it's due to the tire rack?
Tires and "dry" axle bearings.
Lowest tire cold was 38, hubs were just above ambient temperature after first hour at 65. Still going to service them and replace the tires. I have to buy 14 inch wheels to get the Goodyears. Larger wheels on trailers is a plus.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
I bought mine from a friend who had bought it new. He owned a machine shop and added the aluminum Diamond plate. I'll see if I can find a photo.
Your ramps already have the low profile reinforcements installed. It's the longitudinal half-round piece in center of the ramp.
I didn't have much luck with Goodyear trailer tires. I blew out 3 of them on a boat trailer between here and Nashville. The may-pop Chinese tires I ended up buying at Tractor Supply to get home held up better.
I'm currently running Carlisle Radial Trail HD tires on 5 of my trailers with zero issues. I'm also frequently running them close to max load.
The Touareg tips the scales at 5k pounds, the trailer is probably another 1700+-. I usually pull it at 68-72. The tires and hubs get warm, but not hot.
Keep in mind, that going from 13s to 14s may raise the deck on the trailer and the angle of your ramps and may cause the car to bottom out.
These are the best photos that I have access to on my phone. The Diamond plate had a slot about half way down the center for the main beam of trailer frame. It needs a pair of wooden spacers (2"x3"x12" I think) under the front center. I was replacing the blocks when I took these photos, so you can see the gaps at the front of the floor.
I added a pair of tabs on the floor to hold one end of the ramps down, and I run a large pin through the other end to hold the ramps down and in position. It's simple and effective.
I also added an ATV receiver hitch up front so I can mount a small winch when I need it
I removed my tire rack and sold it on Pelican about an hour after listing it.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Do you expect better mpg with a heated surface slick or 200tw or some tire made for a Prius? I've seen this phenomenon between tires I've bought for the same vehicle. And just because the bearings are greased doesn't mean they were done properly.
These are great trailers. Take the tire rack off like Woody, they are MPG killers. Probably 1/3-1/2 of your difference. You have room to carry your tires down low, so do it.
Toyman! said:
I didn't have much luck with Goodyear trailer tires. I blew out 3 of them on a boat trailer between here and Nashville.
Which Goodyear were they? The old ones (IIRC they were "Marathon" brand name) had a bad reputation, but the new ones ("Endurance") seem to be much better.
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
Could have been but since I already have a tire that does what I need, I doubt I will change.
Toyman! said:
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
Could have been but since I already have a tire that does what I need, I doubt I will change.
Sure, but it's worth noting that the "Goodyears suck, don't buy them" advice refers to a model of tire they don't sell any more. It was absolutely true of the old ones, but the new ones are a different beast. They're also lasting a lot longer than the Carlisle HDs that I had on my trailer before I went with the Goodyears.
TurnerX19 said:
These are great trailers. Take the tire rack off like Woody, they are MPG killers. Probably 1/3-1/2 of your difference. You have room to carry your tires down low, so do it.
How do you position the wheels down low to eliminate the tire rack? I'm interested to see the mounting
