Trailer Thread

Thought I'd start a thread on trailers we either pull with our cars or ones the car rides on or in. I know there are a few members who use a small trailer to tote wheels and track stuff along and here's one I put together. I haven't taken it to an event yet, though.

I don't have any welding skills so it's Superstrut and a sawzall for me

Awesome setup you have there. Subbing for more ideas

Trailer looks great! What kind is it? Any need to upgrade bearings? I'm wanting to do something similar as well when I stay within about 4 hours of home. I drove the car to COTA and fit 4 wheels/tires, tools, and suitcase, but it was a tight fit and I'm not crazy about the idea of having all of that stuff in the car that can fly around in the event of an accident. A trailer just makes sense.

I changed from an open to a enclosed trailer in 2008. It isn't much to look at, but it's been a great trailer for me. There are no telling how many miles I've put on it. It also has a big "window" door that opens on the other side that really helps with getting a breeze in there on hot days(no more EZ Up). It's nice to be able to pull the car into without having someone guide you (or having to get out half a dozen times to check where you are on ramps). It takes me about 5 minutes to load the car and strap it down. It's also nice when you are traveling and stop for the night, you don't have to haul tools and parts into the hotel. Enough rambling. Heading back from Road Atlanta earlier this month with the wife and kid:

Brent Dalton said:

Trailer looks great! What kind is it? Any need to upgrade bearings? I'm wanting to do something similar as well when I stay within about 4 hours of home. I drove the car to COTA and fit 4 wheels/tires, tools, and suitcase, but it was a tight fit and I'm not crazy about the idea of having all of that stuff in the car that can fly around in the event of an accident. A trailer just makes sense.

I changed from an open to a enclosed trailer in 2008. It isn't much to look at, but it's been a great trailer for me. There are no telling how many miles I've put on it. It also has a big "window" door that opens on the other side that really helps with getting a breeze in there on hot days(no more EZ Up). It's nice to be able to pull the car into without having someone guide you (or having to get out half a dozen times to check where you are on ramps). It takes me about 5 minutes to load the car and strap it down. It's also nice when you are traveling and stop for the night, you don't have to haul tools and parts into the hotel. Enough rambling. Heading back from Road Atlanta earlier this month with the wife and kid:

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You can drive in and open your door through the escape door? Either my car is too low or the wheel well is too tall in the trailer. I need to put my car on a couple 2"x10" boards to get it tall enough.

Thanks guys! It is a Harbor Freight trailer and I haven't done anything with the bearings. Lots of autocrossers use these trailers so hopefully it runs good for me. My gf has used it a few times out on the open road and to haul light stuff around with her Subie with no problem. I also made some sides for it that work well.



My first run with the trailer was actually yesterday before I built the tire rack. In flatbed mode I strapped an old box spring to it and tried it out with the Mustang on a run to the dump. Got some strange looks there, lol.

I've also made a few trips with Analog's FS Mustang and my STP car in his enclosed trailer pulled by his monster Cummins Ram. Enclosed is the way to go!



And I've rented a UHaul Auto Transport that my car barely fit on. It actually towed really well with my F150 w/airbags. I'll go this route in early Spring or Fall when there's a chance of winter weather over the pass on the way to autocross events on the west side of Oregon.

Thanks for posting. I've been thinking about getting a trailer and some dedicated track wheels. Was at the track last month and saw a corvette with a 4x6 trailer.

esacteksab said:

You can drive in and open your door through the escape door? Either my car is too low or the wheel well is too tall in the trailer. I need to put my car on a couple 2"x10" boards to get it tall enough.

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I can not. I open it up when we are sitting in the trailer during the weekend as I think that is the best use for it.

SteveW said:

I've also made a few trips with Analog's FS Mustang and my STP car in his enclosed trailer pulled by his monster Cummins Ram. Enclosed is the way to go!

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Love the cummins! Mine is an 05 5.9 that I bought in 09 with 79k. I'm out in Colorado right now about to rollover 250k. Should be good for another 250k before I need to refresh it. Best vehicle I've ever owned.

MaverickGT said:

Thanks for posting. I've been thinking about getting a trailer and some dedicated track wheels. Was at the track last month and saw a corvette with a 4x6 trailer.

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I ran a Tractor Supply 4x6 utility and that's what I recommend. This way you don't have to bolt anything together and worry about it coming apart, etc. If my Vette could pull it without problems so could a Mustang. Plus, you can fit extra cargo over the small bolt-ons.

JeremyGSU said:

I ran a Tractor Supply 4x6 utility and that's what I recommend. This way you don't have to bolt anything together and worry about it coming apart, etc. If my Vette could pull it without problems so could a Mustang. Plus, you can fit extra cargo over the small bolt-ons.

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This trailer http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...y-trailer-4-ft-x-7-ft-2-000-gvwr?cm_vc=-10005 ? A few of the reviews indicate the paint peels easily/rusts easily. Has this been your experience?

Sub'd......Hoosier R7's are calling to me....

@Simmons - that is definitely one way to do it!

esacteksab said:

This trailer http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...y-trailer-4-ft-x-7-ft-2-000-gvwr?cm_vc=-10005 ? A few of the reviews indicate the paint peels easily/rusts easily. Has this been your experience?

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Mine was a 4x6 and didn't have the tailgate. I had a piece of steel welded on the back so stuff couldn't slide off in case the straps came undone.

The paint did chip easily around the wheel wells. I ended up putting black vinyl front and back from a sign shop on them to stop them from showing chips. The rest of the trailer didn't really chip. I used black spray paint to cover up other various rust spots on occasion and I never found it a big deal. I'd rather make a few paint corrections here and there then have to worry about bolts coming loose and the trailer coming apart. That happened to a few guys on the Vette forum at speed such as the trailer pictured with slicks above. Many have run that setup successfully though.

The other thing is the 4x6 trailer is quite a bit bigger. My tool box was fairly large with spare pads, rotors, 4 jacks, rachet set, and many other tools inside it. I had custom brackets welded to hold the fuel tanks (not shown) and on the back would put my jack and gas scooter. This is before even loading anything in the car. It was wide enough to fit 2x285 and 2x305 rims across and still have room.

Been a while for this thread.

I think if you could swing a more expensive welded trailer like a Tractor Supply one that would be best. However, my little HF one has worked great for me this summer.

I made a few more mods to it like pulling off one of the leaf springs, mounting the axle to the top of the springs (lowers the deck about an inch) and replaced one of the bearings that had signs of corrosion on it and not spinning smoothly.

The trailer has made it to a few NW autocross weekends and even a cross-country trip to Nebraska for Nats with no trouble. The 3100 mi round trip was done at 75 mph the whole way with no blown tires or bearing issues.