Enclosed car hauler trailer

[chockwald]

Brad...thank you very much for your write up...I am coming to the same conclusions. I want at least 10,000 GVWR, and at least a 22'-24' inside length. You pretty much outlined all the benefitrs of an enclosed trailer.....clean car, all purpose room, work bench area, ability to back up, etc. Ironically, I really like the Haulmark trailers, and I see that is what you ended up with. Last April we hauled the T-Bird on a 25' flatbed trailer my son has....we mounted our bike rack on the fron the trailer for our bikes. Got used to being careful not to pull into a place I couldn't get out of.

Will keep all updated on my process....

[chockwald]

OK....bought a trailer. 2006 American Trailer, 20' X 8.5' X 6.5', with sway control, 10,000 GVWR, etc. Here are the pix...has a rear beaver tail ramp, perfect for the T-Bird, a side ramp door, and a third 3 foot side door on the passenger side, plus a tool box mounted on tongue. Tongue is extra long at 4.5' for easier RV towing and backing. Will pickup up Monday! Another piece of the retirement puzzle in place!

Even better it was within 30 miles of our home. So happy to find a 20 footer with 10,000 GVWR....hard to find. Was tring to avoid a 24' footer. Plenty of room in front for a work bench, and the bikes.

[fulltiming]

Glad you found something that will work for you. Looks like a very nice trailer. Have fun!!

[Richard and Rhonda]

:-)

Before you paint it to match your coach, you might want to consider adding the V nose.

It wouldn't be hard to add a V, with an access door.

[Brad Townsend]

Glad your hunt is over looks like a nice rig. Is there tie down rings in the floor?

I had to criss cross my rear tie downs because the jeep would actually slide from side to side on rough roads. The beaver tail is a nice feature. Carry a spare tire, I got a flat and didn't know it till I pulled into a rest area by then there was only a few inches of rubber left.

[prairieschooner]

We saw some great car trailers this year at the good guy car show at Alameda, CA. Here are some pics of one that I would love to have. I hope that Clarke's has a door near the car window!! I can see it now.....
This guy couldn't open the door once the car was inside. Yep these trailers have a 4 post lift with a work bench in the front. This one has a Firebird on top with the '55 below. Another one had a '32 roadster in front, a BMW at the rear and a '49 Chevy Pickup up top in the lift!

[chockwald]

Richard....leave to you to start modifying the trailer for me before I take possession....! I would have liked a V-nose......I guess I would get better mileage, but ultimately "it's only money"......haha!

Brad....in addition to the e-track, there are also numerous, well placed, tie down rings. I also found last year when we pulled the car on a flat bed that I had to cross tie the straps for the very same reasons you mention. There is a trap door toward the front the trailer that when opened reveals a spare tire!

Wow, Steve, those stacker trailers must cost $20-30,000!! They are beutiful! Getting out the car will be a trick. I have some thoughts on that I'll share later...haha!

[Brad Townsend]

Steve, it was good to visit with you and Trish.

I was told that a side door was a bad thing as it weakened the frame that is why some have a winch at the nose.
Fortunately with my jeep I have about 8 inches and have to squeeze out the door but my belly is not as well fed as others. A good reason to stay somewhat in shape. Went from drinking soda to drinking iced tea and lost a couple inches.

I saw the trap door, a convenient location for the spare.

[chockwald]

Brad, you are right, the escape door, as they are called, does weaken the structure. Better to stay trim. I am going to install a winch to pull the car into the trailer, and then strap it down without having to egress from the car. On the other hand, the T-bird is a convertible, so I could install a lift system to lift the top off after I pull into the trailer, but that is rather involved. Most use an electric winch to get it in the trailer. Going to install a lift system for the hard top to be able to remove it, and leave it hung from the ceiling when we are staying in one place for a period of time. Right now it is removed manually.....a heavy lift for Elaine and I. It also has a soft top, so we can drive around without the hardtop in case of inclement weather.

[prairieschooner]

"better to stay trim"............
are you guys picking on me, I like my beer; it does a body good!

[chockwald]

As you all know I pulled my "new" to me enclosed car trailer for the first time with the T-Bird in it to and from Santa Fe on this last trip. I averaged around 8mpg towing the trailer and car. Better than I was expecting. I loved unloading the 'Bird in Santa Fe just as clean as it was 3 days before when I left Ontario....no bugs, no chips in the paint, no road grime. The trailer pulled easily, and it was easy to back up when necessary. In attempting to maneuver in a gas station in Kingman to take advantage of a great diesel price I had to do a lot of maneuvering to get out.....ask Elaine. The one thing I may have to do is to mount a second camera on the back of the trailer as the one on the back of Newell is just not high enough to see behind the trailer for backing purposes. It is adequate to see who is behind me unless they are tailgating the trailer. On 2 of the occasions I had to back up Elaine had to get out and direct me so I would not back over a gas pump.

We also found on this trip that Elaine could drive the car into the trailer and easily exit the vehicle.....I am not thin enough to do that. Loading time is about 5 minutes, and unloading about 2 minutes. Nice to know we won't need a winch to pull the car into the trailer. We didn't take the hardtop with us, so did not have to worry about where to store it while we drove around with the soft top down, which we did the entire time we were there.

[Brad Townsend]

Glad the trailer is working out for you. Yea it would be nice to have a camera on the trailer.
And yes it is nice to get into a clean vehicle after a long run especially3000 miles just like what we are about to start as we exit New Hampshire to go to Yuma AZ. We head right by camp newell so plan on getting the coach weighed for the fist time with the trailer.

Do you know what your tongue weight is? I purchased a tongue scale as I am the sort that has to know. If you need info on them plus other interesting info on trailer pulling check out this site.
http://www.sherline.com/lm.htm
The scale can also be used to weigh 5th wheel tongues as I have weighed for others I know to there surprise being far more than they thought.

Do you need sway bars? I don't run sway bars and it tracks nicely. A spare is a must as I blew a tire and didn't know it till I stopped at a rest area. Good thing I had another.
Thinking about replacing all four/5 tires on the trailer because the typical trailer tire is china made and what was left on the rim of the blown tire you could see the make up of the tire. Looked like pieces of rope not wire inside and they were radials.

Happy motoring
Brad

[chockwald]

Hey Brad......have no idea what the tongue weight is. The trailer weighs around 4,000lbs, and the car around 3,000lbs. Trailer GVW is a little over 13,000lbs. It does have the anti-sway bar, and the weight distribution bars, which I use. Had no problem with swaying at all, and the weight distribution bars really help reduce the tongue weight. The car pretty much sits directly over the tandem axles, but I'm sure with the engine toward the front of the trailer puts a little more weight there. I do have a spare tire, and all 5 are about 1 year old.

When we went down to Austin 1 1/2 years ago we used a flat bed trailer which had none of that (sway bar, or weight distribution bars), and had no problems with swaying either. It had an electric motor on the tongue jack, which made it easy to raise the tongue empty, or loaded. It was 4 feet longer than this trailer.

[HoosierDaddy]

I've been considering various tow set-ups. I flat tow our Jeep....not quite as concerned about road grime etc. but would like to be able to back up occaisionally. I have considered a "tilt-trailer" that could be easily loaded/unloaded without having to set up ramps.

[chockwald]

Another setup to consider is a trailer with a "beaver tail" setup, like ours. From just behind the rear wheels of the trailer the floor begins to slope slightly and then you have the ramp that lowers to provide a very small incline. Makes it easy to load, and unload, especially if you have a low profile car like we do. The results in the rear of the trailer being a little lower to the ground than the front. I have seen flatbed trailers with this same "beaver tail" setup. I'm not sure, but I think the "tilt-trailer" setup requires the use of a winch to pull the vehicle on to the trailer.

[Brad Townsend]

Hey Clarke.
I tried turning the jeep around and measured the tongue weight and it made no difference believe it or not. I guess it is pretty much center to the axels either way. I would have thought differently but for the tongue scale.

[chockwald]

Good to know Brad....thanks!

[afrench45]

Well Im thinking after reading this post about buying a trailer! I currently have a 24 foot enclosed v-nose, but its not big enough to fit a mid-size car in. I put a Bmw convertible in it, and had to put the top down and crawl out. I would love a stacker, but not practical to use besides pulling with coach, so most likely going for a 25 footer. Clarke I like the access door on your trailer to get in and out of cars. But Im debating between aluminum and steel. I know the aluminum would be much lighter, but dont know many more advantages. Any input?
Thanks folks, Andrew

[Brad Townsend]

Hi Tom
If you want to know more about aluminum trailers you can start here.

http://www.aluminumtrailer.com/car%20haulers

It's all about how much you want to spend. If I had deep pockets I would go with the Aluminum trailers.

Brad