Thinking about small trailers - suggestions?

914Driver said:

Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:

He wants to haul a car on it from IL to FL... and back.   Just saying.

Cost of trailer + gas + tolls + hotels(?) food; twice.

I paid $800 to ship a truck from Fla to NY.

While that is a great price, it isn't something I expect you could repeat.  I think you got really lucky.  I had a friend of a friend trailer a car from PA to CA.  He was making the trip anyway, so he asked me to cover the difference in fuel that he would have to spend with the trailer.  That difference was $600 twenty years ago.

The bottom line is, he is either paying his own fuel, lodging, and food, or he is paying someone else for THEIR fuel, lodging, and food, plus profit to make it worth while.  A $500 used trailer might pay for itself the first time he uses it..

Robbie, with trailers I always suggest overkill.  Not necessarily in physical size, but in beefiness.  That is sometimes hard to get because 99% of the trailer manufacturers out there make their trailers in a pretty consistent pattern of small and wimpy, or big and beefy.  It's not easy to find a small and beefy.

I have no idea what you're hauling, but this might be a good application for a 7' x 14' landscape trailer.  They usually come with "real" tires and wheels (as in 12 or 13" instead of 8 or 10") on a 3500# axle.  Smaller footprint, enough capacity, and often times come with a large, fold-down loading ramp.

I'd go Aluminum if you can afford it.

I have a small trailex aluminum tire trailer. Total length of 10'. Might be perfect for your use, just saying. I think I posted it in the parts for sale section, let me check.

Edit: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/parts-sale/fs-trailex-tire-trailer/170913/page1/

Storing a trailer is a pain, unless you have a car to store also and can just store it on the trailer too, which for the most part has always been my situation. 

I've seen one where you can easily remove the axle so the deck sits flat on the ground allowing you to park your car on top of it in the garage.

This seems ideal for limited space.  The folding ones just don't seem beefy enough for cars, the beefier ones don't fold up all that compact.

But anything unusual like this is not is something you can buy cheap, you have to build yourself.

Olemiss540 said:

I have a small trailex aluminum tire trailer. Total length of 10'. Might be perfect for your use, just saying. I think I posted it in the parts for sale section, let me check.

 

Edit: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/parts-sale/fs-trailex-tire-trailer/170913/page1/

where are you located? (probably should have put that q in the for sale ad)

nimblemotorsports said:

I've seen one where you can easily remove the axle so the deck sits flat on the ground allowing you to park your car on top of it in the garage.

THAT is a really smart idea. 

If I was building a single axle trailer , it would be wood floors and stake bed posts  that use a 2x4 s , 

a small 12 v winch , and too many   welded on loops to tie down too

I have a 12x7 Carson trailer  that is close to that which works well for pulling small cars ,  and also for moving pallet racks  which are on it right now ,  I can put 4ft tall plywood  around the edges if i need to haul boxes etc.

 if I had a bigger parking space I would go to 14ft bed , 

I only do small cars , if I really need to move something big I can borrow my friends two axle trailer.

Picture is  the style I have , I took the rear gate off , and made the front bar removable  if I needed the car nose there !

I built a trailer with an axle and 2x12" planks running fore and after, suspended from stanchions connected to the axle on steel cables, to pull my 2000 lb. race car behind small tow cars. Zero metal running to the ends except the wire cables. Weighed about 400 lbs. Used old 1950s Buick front spindles that attached to the axle with four bolts. Never seen a lighter trailer that would take that sort of weight.  Just have to replace the wood planks every decade or so if you go for untreated, and keep an eye on cable condition (I anointed them with used engine oil every season). Towed it with a 2 liter Cortina at one point.

Looking at torsion axles, maybe I'll build my own trailer. Can you mount a torsion axle upside down for an extra low floor? Might have to drill another drain hole on the axle but other than that I can't see why not?

For towing the Challenge car, is a wheel dolly an option?

The limits of the Odyssey tow vehicle would push it towards an aluminum car trailer. Especially for towing from IL to FL at highway speeds.  I lean towards a Trailex. Unfortunately, the big downside there is they aren't cheap.  The upside is they are basically designed for this situation -  towing a light car using a relatively light tow vehicle.  

I have a Acme Eze Tow Dolly ( https://cartowdolly.com/tow-dolly/car-tow-dolly/ ) that we use behind a motorhome to tow a Ford Fiesta ST. Very well built is actually designed to be stored vertically and is relatively cheap compared to others.  Have had it about five years with no problems. Advertising says easy to roll around and store and that may be true for someone half my age but I find it a bit heavy to move any distance with out a trailer dolly. Have never tried to store vertical but it is designed to do so.

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Olemiss540 said:

I have a small trailex aluminum tire trailer. Total length of 10'. Might be perfect for your use, just saying. I think I posted it in the parts for sale section, let me check.

 

Edit: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/parts-sale/fs-trailex-tire-trailer/170913/page1/

where are you located? (probably should have put that q in the for sale ad)

Orange Beach, AL (Between Mobile and Pensacola). I will add to the ad, good point!

Also dropped price to $1400.

pirate said:

I have a Acme Eze Tow Dolly ( https://cartowdolly.com/tow-dolly/car-tow-dolly/ ) that we use behind a motorhome to tow a Ford Fiesta ST. Very well bit, is actually designed to be stored vertically and is relatively cheap compared to others.  Have had it about five years with no problems. Advertising says easy to roll around and store and that may be true for someone half my age but I find it a bit heavy to move any distance with out a trailer dolly. Have never tried to store vertical but it is designed to do so.

I have the same dolly, I use it to tow my Miata to the track.  It tows great, but loading it can be a bit of a pain.  I fabricated a winch mount for it and put one of the $60 Harbor Freight ATV winches on it, which makes it easier to get the wheels lined up to the wheel straps correctly.

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

This is my trailer.  I have (had) 2x4 brackets that let me drop in some walls to it and use it like a utility trailer, moved all my household stuff and landfill loads and even a yard of sand on it too more than once.   and made a hinged wood ramp too so could roll a dolly into it.  Just remove that stuff when I am done.   It has a torsion axle, not sure what you mean by upside down?

The mounting is below the wheel centerline, at least on my axle.  btw I had a tow dolly I made, not good for a racecar that might crash and not roll anymore, I found it more a pain than anything and sold it.  But it works for heavier vehicle beyond my trailer capacity, like an explorer, they are too heavy for this trailer, and I know that because I've towed them twice with it.

more pics, https://sacramento.craigslist.org/tro/d/sacramento-lightweight-car-trailer/7136133281.html

In reply to nimblemotorsports :

I do like your trailer. I'd be interested except you're a million miles from here. 

What I mean by upside down is that the torsion axles I've seen are sold with 22deg drop or 45deg drop, etc. Can you mount the 45 deg drop axle upside down so that it is 45deg up to the wheel hub instead?

Sure you don't want to drive out to California to get a trailer?  Go visit SF, or better yet the real actual Berkeley California Marina, they have great kite flying there as it is always windy.  contests all the time there, I used to work in The Real Actual Berkeley California and would often have lunch down at the Marina, was at the marina a week ago, because my daugher attends The Real Actual Univerity of Berkeley in California, so btw berkeley YOU GRM for slandering her city.

Pick up some nice unrusted cars cheap out here and tow them back?   ;)     

Build one just like mine, very simple to do, 3 inch C-channel and expanded metal.

-----

ok, so I google it to see what is for sale these (my axles were bought used 20 years ago..:)

I see this one which does show the mount above the spindle height, so mine are 'upside down' to this picture.  I do think you can mount them 'upside down', because the mechanism just has the inner axle surrounded by rubber (they actually show picture below of how that works), so it flexes the same either way (or that is how I understand them), but you should ask the manufacturer to confirm.

wspohn said:

I built a trailer with an axle and 2x12" planks running fore and after, suspended from stanchions connected to the axle on steel cables, to pull my 2000 lb. race car behind small tow cars. Zero metal running to the ends except the wire cables. Weighed about 400 lbs. Used old 1950s Buick front spindles that attached to the axle with four bolts. Never seen a lighter trailer that would take that sort of weight.  Just have to replace the wood planks every decade or so if you go for untreated, and keep an eye on cable condition (I anointed them with used engine oil every season). Towed it with a 2 liter Cortina at one point.

Ultra light trailers like that work fine. I made my first one using a pair( single axle) Buick Spindles welded to 2x4 thin wall tubing with 2x12 planks on top.  I did a surge brake on it and pulled it with my Buick convertible. At 100 mph as I was driving across the Bonneville salt flats my cheap recapped tire blew out .  It swayed back and forth a bit and yes it was scary but it straightened out and pulled to a stop easily enough. The rim was bent a little bit but the tire shop that sold me another used recap  only charged me $5.00 to straighten it out. 
I was pulling my first Jaguar race car (XK150) back home 

So I think I've discovered that torsion axles should probably not be flipped, but you can find axles made with spindle angles that go up instead of down for lower ride height. 

The reasons I've seen not to flip is that the axle may be manufactured not to have exactly 0 camber and toe, and it may be 'preloaded' so that when the axle becomes loaded the alignment gets better instead of worse. Flipping the axle would put all of that stuff into the wrong direction. And while it may work - you could see poor handling or tire wear because the alignment is off, and gets worse with loading. 

So, is the 4x8 HF folder off the table? I know the body is 12' long, but is the wheel-base over 96" 

I'll have to find it, but I saw a build thread where someone turned the folding H-F trailer into an Exocet hauler. 

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

yeah, not really a normal size car. There are two other options than buying a trailer I guess.

#1, I can have stuff delivered from big box stores when necessary. For me, that's about once a year so far @ $60 each. I'd need to double that before the $118 annual reg fee is even worth it to own a trailer. I have a friend with a similar trailer I've borrowed before, I could very likely just start buying him more beer or offer to pay his annual reg fee or something. But at some point I hate imposing.

#2, I could bite the bullet and buy a pickup truck. If I get a full size something with an 8 foot bed, its not totally out of the question to put the challenge car on ramps in the bed. Or just rent any trailer at all. $200-300 would cover a week rental likely. The truck could replace one of our daily cars, so really it wouldn't be any more in registration and would be negligable on gas/insurance and maintenance/etc. 

I know that as soon as you own the trailer you find reasons to use it. But i've owned a trailer before and found it more of a hassle than anything. When I owned a truck before I used it all the time. I feel like I'm answering my own question here. 

There is another option you overlooked. 
 

Home Depot will rent you a truck cheap. Like $25 per day.

Get a tow dolly and rent a truck whenever you need it for local hauls. 
 

UHaul won't rent you an enclosed trailer to tow with an Odyssey.

pirate said:

The problem with HF and other trailer is the 8" or 10" wheels which at highway speeds can be a problem for tires, bearings, etc. I'm sure many will disagree as there are a lot of boat, snowmobile, utility, etc. trailers that never have a problem. I think you would be happier with 14" or 15" automotive wheels and tires. The trailer hauling capability will be higher. I think it's better to be at the lower weight capacity of a trailer rather then toward max capacity. Check around the area you live in there are probably trailer builders. I agree buy new rather then refitting a used trailer.

Counterpoint: I have the 10" wheel HF trailer, which has tires about 2" smaller in OD than my 13" wheeled RX-7s, and the trailer has wheel bearings larger or even twice as large as the ones on the front of the RX-7.  Even larger than the rear bearings.

My first RX-7 lived much of its life at 115-120mph, I have no qualms over taking the HF trailer to 90 or so. 

All that said, once "put a small car on it" enters the equation, I'd want something with brakes.

I bought a little utility trailer to haul my motorcycles with (one at a time). It's probably a step above a HF trailer. When I was shopping, people wanted almost the price of a HF kit for their assembled trailers. Many did not have titles, which in PA adds considerably to the cost of getting it on the road. I finally found a trailer with a title. The guy had just 'rebuilt' the thing with new wood, paint, lights and tires/wheels. I got it for under $500. 

One thing I discovered with this oddball trailer is the axle is mounted pretty far aft of the center. This trailer, pictured earlier, is similar.

That rearset axle really helps in backing the thing up. It's much easier to manage than one with the axle closer to the tow vehicle. I thought it looked dumb when I bought it, but now I'm really glad it looks goofy.

SV reX said:

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

yeah, not really a normal size car. There are two other options than buying a trailer I guess.

#1, I can have stuff delivered from big box stores when necessary. For me, that's about once a year so far @ $60 each. I'd need to double that before the $118 annual reg fee is even worth it to own a trailer. I have a friend with a similar trailer I've borrowed before, I could very likely just start buying him more beer or offer to pay his annual reg fee or something. But at some point I hate imposing.

#2, I could bite the bullet and buy a pickup truck. If I get a full size something with an 8 foot bed, its not totally out of the question to put the challenge car on ramps in the bed. Or just rent any trailer at all. $200-300 would cover a week rental likely. The truck could replace one of our daily cars, so really it wouldn't be any more in registration and would be negligable on gas/insurance and maintenance/etc. 

I know that as soon as you own the trailer you find reasons to use it. But i've owned a trailer before and found it more of a hassle than anything. When I owned a truck before I used it all the time. I feel like I'm answering my own question here. 

There is another option you overlooked. 
 

Home Depot will rent you a truck cheap. Like $25 per day.

Get a tow dolly and rent a truck whenever you need it for local hauls. 
 

UHaul won't rent you an enclosed trailer to tow with an Odyssey.

I know this is an old thread, but as a former HD employee, this is a thing of the past in most stores.  Our stores cracked down hard to the point of requiring a receipt for HD purchases that would be hauled by the truck.  It got to the point where customers would come in and rent the truck and buy a freezer or a bunch of XPS insulation just to make the rental kosher, then come back with 300 miles on the odometer and return the purchase.  We debated taking the hitch off the truck, but that would have hurt our rentals of towable equipment.

The HD trucks are there to facilitate and lubricate people's wallets.  "Oh, you can't buy that shed kit today because it won't fit in your civic?
 $19.99 for the first hour means you CAN."  The trucks aren't a revenue stream by themselves.  In fact, the entire rental department wasn't a revenue stream.  It consistently lost money, but when you rent a chainsaw you needed fuel and oil.  When you rented a floor sander, you needed sandpaper, a shop vac, applicators, and polyurethane.  When you rented a floor nailer you needed the flooring, nails, underlayment, and air compressor.

Renting a Home Depot truck for duties other than transporting your purchase requires significant subterfuge.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

The local HD tries to turn them into a revenue stream.... they insisted that a certain large package would not fit in a Fit and they had to deliver it or we'd have to rent a truck.

Annoyed, when they delivered it, I put it in the Fit and closed the hatch, just to prove a point.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

My daughter rents them all the time. No issues.