Jmeo's 2020 Shelby American GT500 SE Wide Body Build (+ "Phase 2")

[MAGS1]

Dammit.....

 

[Evolvd]

The lack of sight tube turns me off to this. That and the “Shelby” premium lol

 

[CaptDave]

Dammit.....

That looks sweet. You definitely need that in your car. Is that for sale on their parts website?

 

[Jmeo]

Oh it was done prior to making the post, hence the dammit haha.

The lack of sight tube turns me off to this. That and the “Shelby” premium lol

I also noticed that and for a moment said the same thing to myself. Then I remembered who I am, and realized that I am confident in my OCD's ability to check, check, and triple check everything on a consistent basis, so I will never be 1 ml. short on fluid, haha.

This is also true for the radiator degass bottle that I swapped over to the Shelby tank.

That looks sweet. You definitely need that in your car. Is that for sale on their parts website?

I agree, and yes sir. I called instead of buying it online, so I could use my Team Shelby 10% discount, and they corrected the shipping cost as well, so I feel good about it. Hey, $26 is $26, let alone a better shipping price than the online calculated price.

So, coming soon to a post near you.........

 

[Nightmonkey]

The lack of sight tube turns me off to this. That and the “Shelby” premium lol

The real problem is the lettering, they don't have to write "Shelby" twice on it and then take a lot of money. Anyone who wants it will recognize what it is.
It's a bit like a pair of underpants where you forgot to remove the scratchy label.

 

[Jmeo]

Trailer update:

When I picked up the trailer in TX, I noticed the E-track was not spaced on the floor to my specs. There were some missing items, like a cam-bar lock on the curb side front door, and missing reverse lights. There were also some fit and finish issues that needed addressing.

First I was like, oh shit, now what? Here I am in TX, supposed to be hitting the road home in 2 hours. Luckily for me, they have a plant in Maine that can do the warranty work. So, I headed home with the trailer, concerned with how everything was going to be corrected in time for me to use the trailer to go to Carlisle, PA the last week of May. This worsened when I got home and found even worse problems.....

After the long ride home, I noticed there was evidence of the rear axle tires rubbing against the framing of the escape doors. I also discovered that my car would not fit between the fender wells!!!!

Well, Phil's Traler Sales did a great job coordinating the process. I think it was less than 2 weeks after I got the trailer home, when a gentleman came to my house to pick it up and bring it to Maine. Two weeks later, the work was done and I now have it back.

I pretty much have a new to me, brand new trailer, haha. To correct the E-track, the entire floor had to come out to move them, then a new floor had to be built from scratch. When fixing the clearance on the escape door framing, they discovered that their silver siding was slightly different than the original siding, so the whole trailer got re-sided. Also, they discovered that the torsion axles should have been 0º, but 22.5º axles were installed, so it got new axles. The missing items were installed, and the fit and finish work was completed. As a matter of fact, they addressed items that I didn't notice myself.

When I tested fitment, I tried pulled in and backed in. Mind you, I was alone when I test fitted the car, but with only one attempt pulling it in, you will see that when the fenders were re-installed, the drivers side fender is just barely touching the tire. If you look at the passenger side, there is only 0.50" to play with... So, even if I attempted to center the car balls-on accurate, I would only have 0.25" on each side. Doable, but not ideal.

I have to add that this is not the fault of the manufacturer. This is 100% because of the wide body and the skinny 345/35/20 tires. Wide body problems......

I have two options. One, have my welder buddy cut 1" (max I can do to still clear the brake drums) from each fender to give me 1.25" on either side, which is still not easy to center perfectly. Two, reverse the car into the trailer. Because it is factory width up front, the clearance is much better for the front tires to fit between the fenders. I mean, I do have escape doors on both sides, right?

(Switched from a 36" to 18" fold out flap, and using Race Ramps)

As you can see, reversing the car in puts the rear tires past the fenders, and the front tires have plenty of clearance. Luckily, having two escape doors with removable fenders means I can back in without concern of rubbing the fenders.

My tiny brain thinks that reversing the car in also better distributes the car's weight over the axles. Pulled in, the engine is in front of the axles, putting more weight on the tongue of the trailer. Reversed in, the engine is on top of the rear axle, and the transmission is just about over the front axle. I would love to hear feedback on this, if anyone wants to chime in?

Looking at it, the only noticeable changes are that it now has a cam-bar lock on the front door, and the detail surrounding the rear door is much nicer now.

Before: There was exposed aluminum around the top and bottom of the rear door, with diamond plating on the two sides.

After: Now, the entire surround is sided and trimmed to match the rest of the exterior, which looks WAY better. I didn't ask for this, the warranty people did this, along with other nice interior touches, without me asking. Also, I now have a separate pair of reverse lights near the bottom on each side. The top light assemblies have reverse indicators, but only the bottom 2" of the strip, so they do not produce usable light when backing up.

Just when I thought I was good to go........ No license plate light......... Apparently, it did not get reinstalled when they trimmed out the rear of the trailer. So, this needs to be addresses, along with three missing DOT reflector decals. I swear, someone is trying to stress me out, haha.

 

[kilobravo]

HOLY CRAP, Jaime, you wound up with essentially, a brand new trailer! Needless to say, I was MOST impressed with the warranty service you received. As for the backup and plate lights, knowing you, they too will be resolved. <smile>

 

[MAGS1]

Looks great and agree, backing the car into the trailer looks to be the way to go. I mean, we are car guys and gals after all, we back in everywhere we go anyway .

 

[Jmeo]

HOLY CRAP, Jaime, you wound up with essentially, a brand new trailer! Needless to say, I was MOST impressed with the warranty service you received. As for the backup and plate lights, knowing you, they too will be resolved. <smile>

Hi buddy, yeah, I cannot believe what had to be done to get her done. The warranty dept really did do a great job....... minus the forgotten plate light. You know me well, I'm on it like white on rice.

Looks great and agree, backing the car into the trailer looks to be the way to go. I mean, we are car guys and gals after all, we back in everywhere we go anyway .

Exactly, lol. No matter which way it goes in, it's gotta come out the opposite. So either I back it in, or I back it out. Funny how that works.....