31 replies to this topic

[allpaw4]

Ladies and Gentlemen - I am going to talk to a few trailer mobs over the next few weeks about designing and building a car trailer for me. I have been looking at several brands, and am going to try and get one designed that has the better features from all of them.

 

I am chasing down ideas for the moment - what are your experiences with car trailers?

What would you have done to a trailer to make it better in some way?

What items have you run into before that you would avoid like the plague?

 

Cheers,

Ben

[Adam]

Proper tie down points. To suit your car.

[Morgan]

I love a good car trailer.

 

A family friend has a fantastic rig I borrowed to haul Cam's XT back to Newcastle earlier this year.

Dual axle, winch, brakes, side running LEDs (these were suprisingly useful at 5am on a Friday morning as I headed up the M1)!

 

I'm also using it again this weekend to pick up a Gen 3 for Luke's new project and again in the near future when my father-in-law's shipping container arrives full of Austin Healey Sprite's from the US.

 

As Adam said, tie down points are essential and this one could use a few more.

 

Pics because awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[allpaw4]

Yep, thinking of getting it made with perforated steel decking (or extruded metal, depending on what each company has on offer), so I can fit my tie downs directly to the flooring. Can put them anywhere there then.

 

What deck length/width is that one Morgan? I do like the very low front rail across the front of the deck too.

[Morgan]

I'll try and get some measurements for you this weekend.

 

Low bar at the front is good. Stops the wheels from going over the edge and doesn't rip the under carriage out

 

One thing we noticed with the dual axle set up - the hubs aren't actually perfectly aligned. One has positive camber, the other has negative. When the black Forester was all loaded up, we noticed this and got a little worried as it looked like the wheels were going to wobble off but with further inspection, noticed that it was just the way it's built. With 1.6T on the back, the rubber needs as much surface area on the road as possible. Without putting 295 tyres on, I believe this is a pretty smart way to get around it.

 

You can see it most clearly in this photo

 

[RX25SE]

I would go to a local race meet and chat with the entrants.

 

I guess some things to consider would be length of the draw bar (longer tows better), type of springs (rocker or slipper), hub type (I would go 14" Ford as the bearings and wheel studs are usually bigger), brakes (disc or drum,two or four wheel,  mechanical or electric, break away), tyres (14' is the go as light truck tyres are cheap) and also the height of the sides (so the doors can be opened).

[Scuba-Roo]

Make it as wide as you can, i helped a mate finish this off a few years ago



He tows his s13 to drift days, it now has a bolt on tyre rack and workshop trolley on the front, cut the side bar off and added jerry can holders.

Heres some more recent pictures.



When transporting the trolley is bare and locks into the draw bar just in front of the car.

[CodeBurn3r]

Look at having the winch cable running through some runners along the bottom centre of the trailer.

 

on all the trailers i have used.. i always end up having my front bar or any lower car front bar bent up as the cable pulls the car up.. because of the angle.

i think having some kind of roller that can be unlocked or swivelled up as you get the car up on the trailer would be great.

 

hard to explain but if you have used a trailer im sure you understand lol

[Morgan]

the height of the sides (so the doors can be opened).

 

Ha! This!

 

I swung the door open not even thinking. Luckily, the sides are low enough

[RX25SE]

That is a sweet trailer Mark.

[Morgan]

That's awesome, Mark! Epic rig.

[Cam.]

+3 on that last trailer being spot on.

[Scuba-Roo]

Sure is, the tilt operation is now remote control

His ramps are checker plate to match the floor. But sometimes when its wet he can struggle to get traction if his trying to creep the car up

The tyre rack unbolts aswell which is handing as a one tonner nose is alot higher then a lowered s13 I just txt him to send me a few pics of the front of of the trailer

[RX25SE]

But sometimes when its wet he can struggle to get traction if his trying to creep the car up

 

Some of that stick on sandpaper type tread grip would fix that.

[allpaw4]

Awesome responses fellas. Will have a chat to the trailer mobs about a fair bit regarding the drawbar, and I'll need a minimum 5m deck length (put my old girl on a 4m trailer that was advertised locally, and it just didnt look like it sat right - way too much weight on the back of the trailer). See what everyone says. Dont want to get a trailer thats impossible to park at my place by making it rediculously long, but I understand it - longer drawbar means the trailer wont 'react' as fast to turning while reversing.

Suspension - been recommended the rocker leaf spring setup, with the load sharing joint in the middle, but not sure yet.

Brakes - Want to have a few extras as well as the car, toolboxes etc, and state rules say you need 4 wheel brakes + breakaway system once GTM gets over 2t, so electric will be easier, plus I already have the controller in the Ranger.

Not sure on hubs yet - cheers for the info though Jase! Did not know that the ford bearings are bigger!

Been recommended 13" rims to keep the overall height down, but was also warned at the same time that tyres are getting hard to get in 13's. Sounds like 14's will be the go.

Definitely going low sides - at present it needs to be 200mm max height, but theres no coilovers yet, so will likely drop that to somewhere close to 100mm, just enough to get tie downs attached through the gap.

 

Need minimum 1800mm width, hoping to get closer to 1950 or 2000mm to keep it safe - couple a 2m wide deck with wide ramps and it means you dont have to be exacting in where you put the car before you winch it up.

I'd love to go out to 2.1m, but max width is 2.5m by state regs, so 2.1 doesnt leave enough for hubs, brakes and rims/tyres.

 

That trailer looks the goods Mark. Do like the tyre rack, and the fact it unbolts makes it even more attractive an idea. I reckon I'll get a whole heap of 10mm hollow shafts welded into the front half of the trailer to bolt various things to it. That way I can build things like tyre racks as I go, rather than shelling out a massive lump sum to begin with.

Going electric winch that will be attached to the bed of the trailer if I go tilt. But some rollers are definitely the go, understand what you mean CodeBurn3r. Got a fibreglass front bar, so theres very little flex there. Would crack it easily with a wire rope stressing it.

 

To be honest, I have been eying off the Nevco trailers from Sydney, but they are expensive. Got a quote for one to be built to suit the B4, but as a single axle it tallied to almost $16,500. Thats with a couple of their basic options, but nothing like toolboxes, tyre racks or winches. They are an awesome trailer, but damn!

[Morgan]

Yikes that's a fair bit of cash!

[allpaw4]

Haha, yeah, that's what I thought too!

[Morgan]

Is that ball park for a car trailer or is it blown out of the park compared to other companies?

 

That's $250 more than the Forester

I could've bought 1.94 Calais

 

Haha

[allpaw4]

Nah, that's just their company. But it is a full hydraulic drop too. It's not your average car trailer lol
Most car trailers average between 5 and 8k brand new depending on what design and how many additions you make.

[Scuba-Roo]

Sydney car trailers do them new for $3k on road. They are cheap but still do the job fine. Few other mates use them.

My mate got the most of the metal for his trailer for free, and most of the hydraulic set up was freeish. He reckons to build one again paying retail for everything your looking at $9k