Thoughts on Trailers

[LLAngus]

Doug,
Contact 101 Trailer Sales in Willits. They have a great selection and if the price is over your budget they can arrainge financing. I have not seen a 3/4 ton for you yet.
Bruce

 

[AngliaGT]

Actually,I bought a 3/4 ton GMC Suburban.It looks
really cool sitting in the driveway - really impresses
the neighbors - NOT!
At 11.2 MPG it'll be sitting in the driveway "looking cool" most of the time.WHY do people drive these pigs
around empty,all the time?
I think I've also got a lead on borrowing a trailer.
Thanks for your efforts.
I was in Ukiah a couple of times in the last few weeks,
but left your number at home.

- Doug

 

[LLAngus]

As to the trailer in the original post. First thing I would do is remount the rams. Cut them off and make them slide-ins. That style is a royal pain. If that trailer was close to me I would be right on it to see if I could buy it. I use our aluminum stock trailer and it is fine. But I wish sometimes I had a "car" trailer. Like I said the ramps are theonly thing I don't like and they are easy to change. If you remove then and put a mount for them across the back then you can move them closer for smaller cars.

 

[tony barnhill]

Guy locally took an old school bus & cut the body off - has driver seat & front ros of seats - & welded the rear door section to the cab....then, he welded a floor with slide out ramps over the back of the bus & uses it to move a tractor around.

 

[twigworker]

Just some quick thoughts on trailers and trailering. If you are going to use a tandem axle trailer it will probably be pretty heavy and certainly will be so when you put anything other than a Spridget on or in it. I suggest that you get one with electric brakes. Tandums are nice in case you lose a tire for obvious reasons. Torsion suspension is nice too as it makes the bed a lot lower. I also suggest that you get the best brake controller that you can possibly afford. The extra hundred bucks or so will seem like chump change when you DON'T tun into the back of the semi in front of you. The easier the controller is to adjust the happier your life will be! I was very fortunate when I found a 7W X 16L X 6.5H tandem enclosed for a grand, used but in extremely good shape. I then researched the fool out of controllers and settled on a Prodigy, one of my better decisions in my young life. Easy as pie to adjust and it works GREAT! As for the trailer, if you possibly can, get an enclosed one. No dirty car, no dirty anything. The down side is that you get to haul cousin Bill's furniture to the new house too, but you can always plead that the trailer has a flat tire. Mine is a Pace and it accepts a B perfectly. A Spridget would obviously fit as would an AH but I haven't measured an E-Type. It pulls straight as an arrow fully loaded behind a Silverado with a 5.3 and automatic. I run to Denver from western NC twice a year on business with it and I couldn't be happier with the way it handles. Fuel economy will be cut nearly in half over no trailer at 70+ MPH. I found mine by advertising the NEED section of the classifieds. I must have gotten ten responses in five days. If all of this doesn't fit into your property owners association plan just go find a convenient storage lot and pay them ten bucks a month to let it sit over in the corner. Oh yes, The fold down rear doors are fine but because we have LBCs and they are low to the ground you will probably have to fabricate a set of ramps of the appropriate length and curvature. The fold down door might be helpful here but it also might be a hindrance. My trailer has two swing out doors and I shove my ramps inside under the car when it is loaded. You might check with other listers here on their experiences with ramp type doors. ....And one more thing, if you get a used trailer the first thing you should do is pull all the wheels and service the bearings. Jack