When I was racing a 1st gen. CRX (~2,000lbs), I used a V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 2-axle open trailer with a toolbox on the front and a tire rack over the nose of the car. With a weight-distributing hitch, you hardly noticed the trailer was there. The Jeep was also "right-sized" enough to be a daily driver, and the trailer could fit in my driveway.
Biggest mistake I made was when I thought I had to "upgrade" everything. Heavier race car, bigger truck, and enclosed trailer just meant logistical hurdles and more expense to store the trailer, fuel the truck, etc., etc..
My retirement plans are looking like this, just replace the Caddy with an XJ.
nlevine said:
Biggest mistake I made was when I thought I had to "upgrade" everything. Heavier race car, bigger truck, and enclosed trailer ...
+1 ... x100 even. If the simple pleasure is the thing, keep things simple.
KSB
New Reader
12/13/22 4:10 p.m.
In reply to Colin Wood :
My current setup. All the comfort of home and the 3.0-liter turbodiesel pulls the Miata and aluminum trailer easily and still gets 12 mpg or better. Hanged from a 24 ft extended height insulated enclosed trailer with ac and a fold down bed, which wasn't bad, to this setup last summer.
I have something similar to Tom1200 - big E350 diesel van - although I want an enclosed trailer. I know open trailers tow easier, but I want to be able to fit other stuff inside the trailer securely besides a car.
mtn
MegaDork
12/13/22 4:12 p.m.
In reply to Toyman! :
How do you launch the boat?
Tom1200
UberDork
12/13/22 4:50 p.m.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:
I have something similar to Tom1200 - big E350 diesel van - although I want an enclosed trailer. I know open trailers tow easier, but I want to be able to fit other stuff inside the trailer securely besides a car.
I have my van set up in a way that I've got a mini work station at the back of the van. I've got tools & spray cans hanging on the doors (shoe caddys work great for this), as well as a small air tank on a shelf (part of the RV) as well as a floor jack and jack stands. I keep small spares in one of the cabinets in the van (starter, alternator, water pump, gaskets etc).
The overhead bunk is used as a storage space: I only bring 2 spare wheels as a precaution in case I get a flat. I keep my canopy up there as well as chairs.
I've contemplated an under deck storage box on the trailer for spares.
Tommy Ivo's glass truck. Because dreams should be big, not sensible.
Or the Mercedes Blue Wonder.
folks with money: Dually HD 3500 to tow their Miata in a 26-ft combo enclosed tow-hauler trailer.
Normal folks: Something with a max tow rating of 5k lbs to tow their Miata on a dual-axle open-deck trailer.
Forum folks: A 4-cylinder 1984 Ford Ranger to tow their Miata on a single-axle trailer they built in their garage, and usually through 3 feet of snow, in 2WD, with bald tires, "because it's all about driving skillz, not the tow rig" :)
In reply to mtn :
Lower the boat to the bottom level. The trailer I build will probably keep the boat on the boat trailer.
Probably something more like this.
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
That would be too much of a pain to deal with. I don't want to have to unload the boat to use the XJ.
The wife and I looked at a really nice Winnebago Journey with the 360 hp Cummins which is super tempting. RV prices are starting to fall making the urge to buy one strong.
frenchyd said:
In reply to Colin Wood :
A Jaguar hauling a Jaguar. I recently bought this 1972 XJ6 I'm going to turn into a XJ12 ( it will just slide right in). I'll put a trailer hitch on it and build a liteweight (500 pounds) single axle trailer.
The Jaguar I'll tow will be the V12 XJS group 44 tribute car. 
I love the spirit of this in theory, but have been hesitant to do something similar for fear that if I got into any sort of collision, the insurance companies and or courts would look at my tow vehicle and say that wasn't designed or rated to tow anything so you're at fault.
If we didn't live in a lawsuit-prone country I'd tow my RX7 with a big sedan.
In reply to dannyp84 :
The courts don't care, they only judge based on evidence.
The insurance company will be defending me.
While it's true anyone can sue anyone at anytime for anything.
It's also true you can buy a million dollar liability policy for very little per month. It's cheap enough that since I live on a lake it's smart policy. Boats are big targets for hungry attorneys. What I like about it is I don't have to hire the attorney. The insurance company does that since they don't want to pay out a million bucks.
That makes the prosecution's attorney reluctant because they know they are going up against a high priced insurance companies attorney who will bury them in paperwork.
When I went racing in the Bahamas I built a 28 foot triple axle enclosed trailer to haul both of our cars down behind Carl's big Mercury with the 490 cu in engine. 3,000 miles round trip.
No problems either trip. Never overheated, pulled nice and straight. Only got 6-8 mpg, less up in the mountains. Except for the big extended mirrors it was just like driving a regular Mercury.
If I had big money - a toterhome with matching double stack.
If I had money - Class A with a trailer
I could afford - a Class C with open trailer
Class C prices are insane right now. Class B prices are even more ridiculous.
At the moment, since I'm really only doing Champcar events, we tow the car, tools, spares, etc in a 26ft enclosed trailer with a Silverado 1500 Trail Boss. It has A/C and a few cots in it if we need to sleep there.
frenchyd said:
In reply to dannyp84 :
The courts don't care, they only judge based on evidence.
The insurance company will be defending me.
While it's true anyone can sue anyone at anytime for anything.
It's also true you can buy a million dollar liability policy for very little per month. It's cheap enough that since I live on a lake it's smart policy. Boats are big targets for hungry attorneys. What I like about it is I don't have to hire the attorney. The insurance company does that since they don't want to pay out a million bucks.
That makes the prosecution's attorney reluctant because they know they are going up against a high priced insurance companies attorney who will bury them in paperwork.
When I went racing in the Bahamas I built a 28 foot triple axle enclosed trailer to haul both of our cars down behind Carl's big Mercury with the 490 cu in engine. 3,000 miles round trip.
No problems either trip. Never overheated, pulled nice and straight. Only got 6-8 mpg, less up in the mountains. Except for the big extended mirrors it was just like driving a regular Mercury.
This is all good to know and enlightening. I used to organize small drift events at a local track till I was told I could no longer operate under the track owner's insurance and had to get my own. I tried probably 5 different insurance carriers and no one would touch it. Is your liability policy for your lake house or your boat or both? Now I have to go find a 70s Chrysler New Yorker to tow with instead of my Frontier..
In reply to dannyp84 :
I don't know the deal. Perhaps you need assets worth more than a million before you can get the liability policy? I was never offered it until lakeshore property exceeded a million.
Leased Ram 1500 ($399/month) and rented UHaul trailer ($150/weekend). Can't get more low-budget than that for a "proper" rig.
Tom1200
UberDork
12/16/22 7:18 p.m.
In reply to LanEvo :
One of the vintage racers I know rents the cheapest Uhaul box van and trailer he can get for every event. He only does about 3 races a year so that makes total sense.
When I was racing SCCA there was a guy with a Formula Ford who had this whole set up that allowed him to hoist the car into a small box van.............he'd rent whatever was cheapest.
In reply to Tom1200 :
This approach is cheap, reliable, and practically maintenance-free.
I did a few vintage races this year, and some of those guys set the bar for the best tow rig that money can buy. Toter home/stacker combos that have to be pushing $1m. So my rig isn't anywhere close to the "ultimate" but I'm really happy with it nonetheless. F-250 6.2L gasser with a Cirrus 620 truck camper:
Towing an 8x20 enclosed cargo trailer. Enough room for my car, a Chinese GROM clone, a Westinghouse 3700 watt inverter generator, and all the car stuff and tools.
In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
Here's an SUV that would make the coolest tow Vehicle. Can't read the tailgate?
Aston Martin. I wonder if it's a V12?
