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Old 04-03-2013, 04:39 PM   #101
vision.dynamix
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Most skid plates leave the front tie down loops exposed. If yours aren't I would cut access holes. My splitter hid the loops but I removed the bumper and splitter to load the car onto the trailer anyway so I just left it off.

Please please please do not use the lateral links in the rear. Throw an axle strap around the cast portion of the knuckle that the trailing arm mounts to. Or use the rear tie down loops in the chassis.

In a pinch you can strap through the wheels. This is a quick way to tweak the alignment of the car though, especially if the straps are angled, which they should always be (in order to control fore-aft movement and side-side movement).

Over the tire straps work well, however using them on cars with low clearance sucks and you need etrack set at the track width of the car.
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Old 04-04-2013, 08:26 AM   #102
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jard View Post
I've always tied down to control arms in the front (using axle straps) and the stock tie-down points in the rear. I strap tight enough to load the rear suspension.
Bought the axle straps, just not sure exactly where in the front you are talking about. front tie downs seem OK but I will check again at the next event if this makes more sense. Also I have a rally armor plate so that may interfere. Good advice though - I will check.
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Old 04-04-2013, 08:29 AM   #103
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick View Post
Someone has pointed out that this is very good info that more people could benefit from. Is there a particular forum you guys would have looked in to find this that we can sticky this in so it's easier to find.

And if we can come to a good consensus on that forum choice can a mod with the privilege go ahead and move it there and stick it.

Thanks.
I think motorsports forum maybe good - thanks for doing this
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Old 04-04-2013, 08:31 AM   #104
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fastie View Post
front tie downs seem OK but I will check again at the next event if this makes more sense. Also I have a rally armor plate so that may interfere. Good advice though - I will check.
RallyArmor GD plate leaves the tie down loops in the U-Brace. Use those.
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Old 07-18-2013, 08:26 PM   #105
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Figured Id throw in my two cents that I havent seen discussed:

A serious pro to the wood deck is that its low maintenance. Meaning when the wood warps, it gets stained etc, toss it and put new PT lumber down. Easy.

I had a 16' open before I went to an enclosed, but Ive towed my car with an 18' open as well. You dont think those 2' make a huge difference, but they do. A few other things I think you should pay attention to is how the beavertail is constructed in the rear. On my 16', I constantly drug mine because of the way the frame rail hung. Look at the different pictures vision.dynamix posted of the trailers. The one with the rally car is pretty clean underneath, whereas the open has a support for the beavertail that hangs down another 2-3".

Tongue length is important too. Most trailers are 4'. The 18' open I borrowed was 5 feet. It was a major point in why that trailer towed better. Also consider, I couldnt open the tailgate of my truck with the 16', but I could with the 18'. Another plus for the extra tongue length. Those Appalachian trailers with the extra 2" on the tongue? Nooooooooooooooooooope.

For those with really short strap lengths, consider some of these:
http://www.gforce.com/products/towing/D1058.php

My straps in the rear are really short in my enclosed because of the D-Ring placement. The reducers got the ratchet out from under the car. 100% easier hookup.

Of course, all of this is moot once you decide you want an enclosed.

I will also submit, any time you stop anywhere, check your stuff. And I really mean check, not just a casual glance over. I had someone loosen my straps in Semora after leaving VIR. If any of you know how 57 is over Hyco Lake, there is no doubt the car would have separated from the trailer had I not caught this.
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Old 08-04-2013, 09:15 PM   #106
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Heh, some irony: I put my enclosed trailer up for sale so I can go back to an open trailer.
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Old 08-04-2013, 09:58 PM   #107
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I'm currently trying to decide if I want a 38' bumper pull open trailer or a 25' enclosed
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Old 10-05-2013, 11:47 AM   #108
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I'm looking to pick up a single car trailer this winter and have been cruising craigslist one and off looking for something decent. Only issue is people seem to want insane money for trailers that need a decent amount of work, or are in bad shape in general. So I'm thinking my best bet would to just buy new for piece of mind. Any recommendations on where to shop in the northeast? I'm outside philly, but willing to drive if the price is good.
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Old 10-05-2013, 09:53 PM   #109
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vision.dynamix View Post
I'm currently trying to decide if I want a 38' bumper pull open trailer or a 25' enclosed
If you haven't pulled an enclosed, borrow one and put a car in it. When I bought my Yukon XL, I felt compelled to sell the 14' open cargopro open aluminum and buy an 18' cargopro aluminum enclosed cargo trailer. The drag that an enclosed puts on the truck was unbelievable. I didn't notice it till at speed out to the track. Even the back roads from Lee to Lime Rock were hell on the truck. I don't know how guys pull steel enclosed. Personally, I would not do another enclosed unless I really needed to have a ton of tools and spares secure inside. I tended to transfer as much as I could from the trailer to the truck anyways. It's where I want the weight.

With an aluminum trailer, when you go to sell, you will lose very little. They hold their value really well.
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Old 10-10-2013, 12:16 PM   #110
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hold_Fast View Post
I'm looking to pick up a single car trailer this winter and have been cruising craigslist one and off looking for something decent. Only issue is people seem to want insane money for trailers that need a decent amount of work, or are in bad shape in general. So I'm thinking my best bet would to just buy new for piece of mind. Any recommendations on where to shop in the northeast? I'm outside philly, but willing to drive if the price is good.
This is what I had. It looks like they will deliver to you.

http://www.econotrailer.com/
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Old 10-10-2013, 12:23 PM   #111
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack View Post
If you haven't pulled an enclosed, borrow one and put a car in it. When I bought my Yukon XL, I felt compelled to sell the 14' open cargopro open aluminum and buy an 18' cargopro aluminum enclosed cargo trailer. The drag that an enclosed puts on the truck was unbelievable. I didn't notice it till at speed out to the track. Even the back roads from Lee to Lime Rock were hell on the truck. I don't know how guys pull steel enclosed. Personally, I would not do another enclosed unless I really needed to have a ton of tools and spares secure inside. I tended to transfer as much as I could from the trailer to the truck anyways. It's where I want the weight.

With an aluminum trailer, when you go to sell, you will lose very little. They hold their value really well.
The only reason Im considering enclosed is my next car (that needs to be towed everywhere) may not be weather tight.
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Old 10-10-2013, 01:07 PM   #112
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jard View Post
This is what I had. It looks like they will deliver to you.

http://www.econotrailer.com/
Thanks for the link. Not bad at all. I also found these guys, only an hour and a half from me:

http://www.appalachiantrailers.com/c...r-trailers.php

$2400 for a 18' wood deck. Pro's/Con's of wooden deck vs. steel? I'm guessing just regular upkeep of the wooden decking?
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Old 10-10-2013, 01:27 PM   #113
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Appalachian is good. Theyre one of my considerations if I go with the 38' Bumper Pull.

Wood vs Steel deck was discussed in this thread.
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Old 10-11-2013, 09:57 AM   #114
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I'm an idiot. Wood deck it is then.
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Old 10-17-2013, 12:39 PM   #115
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I decided to hold off on the expense of an enclosed trailer and did a major overhaul of my current 18' Anderson closed deck steel trailer. Basically replaced all the running gear. New springs, hubs+bearings, brakes, and all connection hardware. Cost a little less than $500 from etrailer (free shipping too!) for everything. Once I got under there and started taking things apart, it was scary to find that 3 of the 4 leaf springs had broken the center pin and one had actually lost the bottom 2 springs (leaves?). That would explain the thing sitting a little lower on that side, a bit of extra sway, and a LOT of noise. The adjusters on the brakes were completely rusted solid, so they weren't adjusting (supposed to auto-adjust when backing up) and the less than stellar braking. On the plus side everything else looked surprising good. A lot less rust than I expected, and all the hardware loosened up without the use of a grinder, cutter, hammer, or giant pry bar. Next step will be to give it a good coating of new paint. Thinking of doing something like a bed liner for the surface, and just rattle can the rest.

Anyway, the thing is now so smooth, quiet, and brakes incredibly well. Using the brake controller it can easily lock the wheels when unloaded and does will slow down the whole vehicles when loaded. So for about $550 it's basically a new trailer. Should be good for a few more years of good service.
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Old 03-07-2014, 01:15 PM   #116
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Bumping this, because I'm still on the quest for a reasonably priced trailer. Does anyone have experience with "home built" trailers? They seem to be the only ones that fall into a price range where I don't want to just spend another $2-300 to get something brand new. For example:

http://www.racingjunk.com/Used-Trail...iler-auto.html

Would I have issues with tags, etc.?
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Old 03-07-2014, 01:23 PM   #117
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Depends on your state. Some states are very easy with Homebuilt trailers, some are more difficult.
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Old 10-26-2014, 09:48 PM   #118
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I had a home built trailer as my very first. The guy built it using huge I beams to transport 2 skid steers from somewhere down south to Plymouth, MA. It's long gone, but it's still in my insurance company's files, so if I happen to buy some random trailer, it's a 1980 home built, so cheap on everything.

In Mass, I think at 4000 pounds, cap, you have to get a title. You can register a trailer for whatever you want. My present snowmobile trailer is under the limit for that reason.
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Old 01-30-2015, 10:51 AM   #119
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I've started looking for a trailer to haul my miata around, and this thread came up in a search. Considering the open deck from EconoTrailers. http://www.econotrailer.com/Open.html

The only issue is that they are in PA, so it's a 6hr drive for me one way. I know they deliver up to 300 miles but I think I could save some money picking it up.

My question is are there any trailer manufacturers around MA selling a similarly spec'd and priced trailer? I'm looking for something under 1600lbs, steel. Haven't found anything on CL that's that light that isn't aluminum.

Thanks.
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Old 02-26-2015, 01:53 PM   #120
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Originally Posted by NOTinASubaru View Post
I've started looking for a trailer to haul my miata around, and this thread came up in a search. Considering the open deck from EconoTrailers. http://www.econotrailer.com/Open.html

The only issue is that they are in PA, so it's a 6hr drive for me one way. I know they deliver up to 300 miles but I think I could save some money picking it up.

My question is are there any trailer manufacturers around MA selling a similarly spec'd and priced trailer? I'm looking for something under 1600lbs, steel. Haven't found anything on CL that's that light that isn't aluminum.

Thanks.
If you can live with ~1650lbs a bigtex 60CH is about that empty...i think the PJ 4" channel trailers are close to 1700lbs empty...

I was looking at both (really the 70CH and PJ 5C) and decided to buy something that I can use for more than ~5000lbs of load and bought a sure-trac 20ft 10k gvw (its about 2500lbs empty)
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Old 08-03-2015, 11:35 AM   #121
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I think I'll finally be pulling the trigger on the Econo 18' open deck this fall (so tired of renting trailers, the boss finally gave me permission!). Only thing I wanted to run past the guru's is the E-Z lube wheel bearings.

Do you guys consider these a "must have"? The Econo trailer doesn't come with them and the sales guy told me they typically don't sell them with their standard trailers. Only asking since most Car-Mate's, Bri-Mar's, etc. seem to have them.
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Old 08-15-2015, 03:49 PM   #122
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I have an Econo Trailer with the E-Z Lube Wheel bearings and it makes it much easier to maintain so I highly suggest you get them. I use my trailer to pull my 2005 STi to track events, tunes and an occasional rescue/retrieve of a dead Subaru for friends.

Like anything with wheels at my house, my trailer is extensively modified (yes, I know i have a problem). Here are a few picts of me testing out my recent modifications using my 2014 WRX Wagon as a test load:





The fenders clear the doors nicely:





In addition to the two large storage boxes (used for the rigging) that were added years ago, I recently added the remote controlled 3000lb winch and associated electrical modifications:











Here's the battery box for the winch which is also shared with the trailer emergency brake system:





The standard ramps are way to tall to get my very low 2005 STI on the deck so I had custom extensions made:





I was tired of tossing the spare tire in the bed of the truck so I added this spare holder to the passenger side. Also, if you look closely you will see the front passenger wheel of my 2014 WRX resting against a newly installed, permanent wheel chock so that the winch wont get hit.


Last edited by dexterous; 08-15-2015 at 03:57 PM.
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Old 08-17-2015, 05:52 AM   #123
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Old 08-17-2015, 05:53 AM   #124
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Get A second Chance In Life
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Old 08-17-2015, 07:46 AM   #125
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Thanks Dex, some good mods! I have some of the same in mind as well, particularly the winch and wheel stops.
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