So there is an old wood deck equipment trailer that was my grandfathers and after he passed, my uncle used it for his business. Now that he has passed as well, the trailer has just been sitting. It's probably 25 years old at this point, but it's not in too bad of shape besides needing tires and such.
What would it take to make this into a car trailer? Attach some D-Rings onto the deck? It has a mount for a winch. At one point it was changed from a Pintle style hitch to a regular 2-5/16" ball reciever. The original steel ramps are gone and now just have some wood ramps.
It looks similar to this:
It has been sitting so I already have some work ahead of me, like tires and wiring.
I've seen people use them as car haulers quite often. The main "issue" I see is if the fenders don't swing down to allow the loaded car's door to open. Gets to be a PITA crawling thru the window every time you load/unload.
Beyond that, I'd just refresh the tires, bearings, brakes and wiring and roll with it...
Unless that would cost the same as a trailer already set-up as a car hauler.
my first car trailer was an old equipment trailer for hauling a steamroller. id hook it too the truck with decent tires and see how it pulls before going too far, mine pulled like crap because it was tail heavy.
In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:
Does it have brakes? Are the axles straight? If the answer to both is "yes" then it might be worth overhauling. ASSuming it needs new tires/bearings/decking, and the brakes need overhauled, you'd probably have $700-$1k in materials getting it road-worthy. Still cheaper than a new trailer, and possibly a better deal than used.
EDIT: Regarding door clearance on the fenders - just get a couple extra decking planks & screw them down in the center of the deck. Then anytime you need to haul a lowered car just unscrew them & move them outboard so you'll drive up onto them, giving you an extra 1.75" of clearance.
44Dwarf
UltraDork
3/20/16 8:45 a.m.
http://www.easternmarine.com/sale_flyer?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TPS-1&utm_content=TPS+-+March+2016
Racers don't forget your trailer brakes.
I got this flyer in my e-mail this am. In the past I've found I could replace the whole brake unit backing plate and all cheaper than just buying the shoes!
Dexter now has forward auto adjust units too, so no crawling under every spring to jack up and adjust the frozen adjusters...
No I don't work for eastern have no interest in promoting this sale other than keeping racers and their stuff safe!
Enjoy
44
In reply to petegossett:
That's what I was thinking.
It's gonna need tires for sure. It probably needs a rewire. I'm not sure what condition the decking is in. I'm sure it has electric brakes, but once again, I won't know anything until I tear it apart.
My only concern is the dove tail on the back is too steep for cars with a low ground clearance.
imgon
Reader
3/20/16 6:40 p.m.
My trailer has a dovetail and my car is fairly low. I have 2 x 12 runners that elevate the car enough to open the doors over the fenders. The exhaust hangs a little low and just clears the metal strip the divides the dovetail from the flat part. I also bought some 5' aluminum ramps that help with getting the car at a better angle to get on the trailer. Rewiring and new decking should be easy and way cheaper than buying even a beat up used one.