Let's talk trailers...anyone with a custom ATC/inTech?

[honeybadger]

We have been window shopping for quite a while to learn the market, manufactures, ideas, what size works best. have about as much fun looking at trailers vs. GT350's !LOL

One option that looks to be pretty handy would be the outside awning. Are there any downfalls to the awnings? Curious to know. TIA


How long of a wait to order & receive a trailer Kevin?

I’m enjoying this experience quite a bit - not going to lie. Pretty much a kid in a candy store

Here’s what I’ve gathered about awnings -

The good:

- they’re built in, so a good use of space
- they can be powered, so super easy setup


The not so good

- they’re expensive
- they’re not as adaptable as an easy up (which can cover the car better and be lowered for better coverage in rain


I’m currently being quoted a 10 month lead time

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[Carbide]

I’m enjoying this experience quite a bit - not going to lie. Pretty much a kid in a candy store

Here’s what I’ve gathered about awnings -

The good:

- they’re built in, so a good use of space
- they can be powered, so super easy setup


The not so good

- they’re expensive
- they’re not as adaptable as an easy up (which can cover the car better and be lowered for better coverage in rain


I’m currently being quoted a 10 month lead time

Not bad. I've been told 15 months to get my new 7x22 enclosed aluminum snowmobile trailer.

 

[Rob-17GT350]

You DIY carpet walls and e-track look great. Where'd you source the carpet?

Thanks. The carpet was purchased through Home Depot. 6ft width and cut to desired length. 6ft was perfect. Cut in half so height of carpet on walls is 3ft.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Traffic...Texture-Marine-Carpet-7DD4N470072FT/206535308

How do you like the extruded aluminum floor? I'm leaning that way due to no plywood, but do like the rubber coin (softer on the feet).

The extruded AL floor is great! Strong, easy to clean, not affected by fluids and most durable option. Only downside is for the tailgate, if in the direct sunlight, it will blind you and does get hot.

 

[zzrat]

Rob-17GT350,, Might try using a flat grey spray rattle can paint to knock down the sun reflection.

 

[ZX3ST]

I have a 24ft inTech Lite. (Roughly equivalent to an ATC CH305) So far I've been very happy with it. I feel that inTech got me more trailer for my money at the price point I was shopping. It's not "custom" except for a handful of available options, but they were careful to tell me their "custom" trailers are built to the same standard of fit/finish.

A few thoughts, some from personal experience, and some I've gathered from others.

* Even with the winch I feel that the escape door still has value, at least for the way I tie my car down. I also like to use it as a small awning. You'll give up useful wall space with one though. I like inTech's escape doors over the ATC ones.

* Get the thicker exterior sheet metal option. The panels don't ding nearly as easy, and they won't warp as bad in the heat. It's a pretty inexpensive upgrade.

* Get the bogey wheels. (the little steel wheels on the rear corners of the frame) The trailer's frame will thank you every time you high-center the thing getting into a gas station.

* I can take or leave the front cabinets. I mainly just really wanted the countertop I think. I might have otherwise used the space for tires. The top cabinets aren't very deep, and I'm finding they're not real useful to me because of that. I don't like loose items bouncing around and they're not big enough to fit a small crate.

* If you're going the custom route, they will happily install other customer-provided items for nominal extra $$$. The way these are assembled, it's a huge bitch to add things like a rearview camera after the fact. I'd have them do it at the factory. I didn't have that option with my Lite trailer...

* Same as above for things like airline track or e-track. Especially if you're running horizontal across the walls, or flush mounted into the floor. They weld extra backing plates between the studs for applications like that. Not exactly straight forward to do that after the fact.

* Avoid in-floor storage for anything you'd like to access with the car still in the trailer. (Like spare tires)

* Carry 2 spares. I've only ever had 1 side-of-road incident with a trailer and it wasn't from a blowout. In this case it was running over something I couldn't safely avoid.

* If you're carrying fuel, make sure to have them address venting. Gas and Ethanol fumes are heavier than air, which is why you see intakes are up high, and exhausts are down low. Also don't forget fire extinguisher(s)!

* The extruded aluminum floors will radiate a LOT the heat from the asphalt, and top mounted AC units aren't great at getting cold air down toward floor level. If you're adding insulation to your build, don't forget to address the floor in some way. Anything is better than nothing.

* I've not yet met anyone who was happy they bought the awning after the first year or 2. Maybe the experience would have been better with a higher grade awning, but I keep hearing that they don't hold up. No personal experience here.

* Get the power tongue jack, and have them move it rearward so it'll clear the truck tailgate. I can't believe I considered not doing those 2 things. Another pretty cheap option.

That's all I can really think of for now. Hope it helps! Happy to discuss more.

I have to say I'm not jealous ATM due to current lead times and prices. If I had ordered my trailer 6wk later than I did, it would have been over $11k more. Just nuts.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

Nice trailer. If you don’t mind me ask what it ran you? You can pm me if you’d like. I’m just curious how it compared price wise to the Atc 305 I bought in Jan.

I have a 24ft inTech Lite. (Roughly equivalent to an ATC CH305) So far I've been very happy with it. I feel that inTech got me more trailer for my money at the price point I was shopping. It's not "custom" except for a handful of available options, but they were careful to tell me their "custom" trailers are built to the same standard of fit/finish.

A few thoughts, some from personal experience, and some I've gathered from others.

* Even with the winch I feel that the escape door still has value, at least for the way I tie my car down. I also like to use it as a small awning. You'll give up useful wall space with one though. I like inTech's escape doors over the ATC ones.

* Get the thicker exterior sheet metal option. The panels don't ding nearly as easy, and they won't warp as bad in the heat. It's a pretty inexpensive upgrade.

* Get the bogey wheels. (the little steel wheels on the rear corners of the frame) The trailer's frame will thank you every time you high-center the thing getting into a gas station.

* I can take or leave the front cabinets. I mainly just really wanted the countertop I think. I might have otherwise used the space for tires. The top cabinets aren't very deep, and I'm finding they're not real useful to me because of that. I don't like loose items bouncing around and they're not big enough to fit a small crate.

* If you're going the custom route, they will happily install other customer-provided items for nominal extra $$$. The way these are assembled, it's a huge bitch to add things like a rearview camera after the fact. I'd have them do it at the factory. I didn't have that option with my Lite trailer...

* Same as above for things like airline track or e-track. Especially if you're running horizontal across the walls, or flush mounted into the floor. They weld extra backing plates between the studs for applications like that. Not exactly straight forward to do that after the fact.

* Avoid in-floor storage for anything you'd like to access with the car still in the trailer. (Like spare tires)

* Carry 2 spares. I've only ever had 1 side-of-road incident with a trailer and it wasn't from a blowout. In this case it was running over something I couldn't safely avoid.

* If you're carrying fuel, make sure to have them address venting. Gas and Ethanol fumes are heavier than air, which is why you see intakes are up high, and exhausts are down low. Also don't forget fire extinguisher(s)!

* The extruded aluminum floors will radiate a LOT the heat from the asphalt, and top mounted AC units aren't great at getting cold air down toward floor level. If you're adding insulation to your build, don't forget to address the floor in some way. Anything is better than nothing.

* I've not yet met anyone who was happy they bought the awning after the first year or 2. Maybe the experience would have been better with a higher grade awning, but I keep hearing that they don't hold up. No personal experience here.

* Get the power tongue jack, and have them move it rearward so it'll clear the truck tailgate. I can't believe I considered not doing those 2 things. Another pretty cheap option.

That's all I can really think of for now. Hope it helps! Happy to discuss more.

I have to say I'm not jealous ATM due to current lead times and prices. If I had ordered my trailer 6wk later than I did, it would have been over $11k more. Just nuts.

 

[ZX3ST]

Nice trailer. If you don’t mind me ask what it ran you? You can pm me if you’d like. I’m just curious how it compared price wise to the Atc 305 I bought in Jan.

PM Sent

 

[honeybadger]

I have a 24ft inTech Lite. (Roughly equivalent to an ATC CH305) So far I've been very happy with it. I feel that inTech got me more trailer for my money at the price point I was shopping. It's not "custom" except for a handful of available options, but they were careful to tell me their "custom" trailers are built to the same standard of fit/finish.

A few thoughts, some from personal experience, and some I've gathered from others.

* Even with the winch I feel that the escape door still has value, at least for the way I tie my car down. I also like to use it as a small awning. You'll give up useful wall space with one though. I like inTech's escape doors over the ATC ones.

* Get the thicker exterior sheet metal option. The panels don't ding nearly as easy, and they won't warp as bad in the heat. It's a pretty inexpensive upgrade.

* Get the bogey wheels. (the little steel wheels on the rear corners of the frame) The trailer's frame will thank you every time you high-center the thing getting into a gas station.

* I can take or leave the front cabinets. I mainly just really wanted the countertop I think. I might have otherwise used the space for tires. The top cabinets aren't very deep, and I'm finding they're not real useful to me because of that. I don't like loose items bouncing around and they're not big enough to fit a small crate.

* If you're going the custom route, they will happily install other customer-provided items for nominal extra $$$. The way these are assembled, it's a huge bitch to add things like a rearview camera after the fact. I'd have them do it at the factory. I didn't have that option with my Lite trailer...

* Same as above for things like airline track or e-track. Especially if you're running horizontal across the walls, or flush mounted into the floor. They weld extra backing plates between the studs for applications like that. Not exactly straight forward to do that after the fact.

* Avoid in-floor storage for anything you'd like to access with the car still in the trailer. (Like spare tires)

* Carry 2 spares. I've only ever had 1 side-of-road incident with a trailer and it wasn't from a blowout. In this case it was running over something I couldn't safely avoid.

* If you're carrying fuel, make sure to have them address venting. Gas and Ethanol fumes are heavier than air, which is why you see intakes are up high, and exhausts are down low. Also don't forget fire extinguisher(s)!

* The extruded aluminum floors will radiate a LOT the heat from the asphalt, and top mounted AC units aren't great at getting cold air down toward floor level. If you're adding insulation to your build, don't forget to address the floor in some way. Anything is better than nothing.

* I've not yet met anyone who was happy they bought the awning after the first year or 2. Maybe the experience would have been better with a higher grade awning, but I keep hearing that they don't hold up. No personal experience here.

* Get the power tongue jack, and have them move it rearward so it'll clear the truck tailgate. I can't believe I considered not doing those 2 things. Another pretty cheap option.

That's all I can really think of for now. Hope it helps! Happy to discuss more.

I have to say I'm not jealous ATM due to current lead times and prices. If I had ordered my trailer 6wk later than I did, it would have been over $11k more. Just nuts.

Beautiful trailer! You sure are right about timing - 6 months of ago and I'd have it today. Not sure what the trailer I'm spec'ing would have cost a a year ago, but I'd guess in the range of 5-10k less.

Good tips and info. I am planning on storing fuel in a dedicated base cabinet - wonder if I should have a vent install there?

good tip on the bogey wheels- I had missed that. Added to the list

 

[ZX3ST]

Beautiful trailer! You sure are right about timing - 6 months of ago and I'd have it today. Not sure what the trailer I'm spec'ing would have cost a a year ago, but I'd guess in the range of 5-10k less.

I'd guess way more. I'm at the entry-level end of the spectrum, and an equivalent ATC trailer to mine is going for roughly 13k more than I paid for mine.

This one is going for over 1k more than mine.

Good tips and info. I am planning on storing fuel in a dedicated base cabinet - wonder if I should have a vent install there?

I have a buddy who's a firefighter and his advice to me was that any place where fumes can gather is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad, especially if that area is large. Just a data point FWIW.

I think if you're storing in a sectioned-off sealed area (think like a gen enclosure) it would be fine.

The big thing is to be sure you don't fill the whole trailer with fumes, and set it off when you click on the lights.........

 

[honeybadger]

I'd guess way more. I'm at the entry-level end of the spectrum, and an equivalent ATC trailer to mine is going for roughly 13k more than I paid for mine.

This one is going for over 1k more than mine.

I have a buddy who's a firefighter and his advice to me was that any place where fumes can gather is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad, especially if that area is large. Just a data point FWIW.

I think if you're storing in a sectioned-off sealed area (think like a gen enclosure) it would be fine.

The big thing is to be sure you don't fill the whole trailer with fumes, and set it off when you click on the lights.........

I'm going to keep pretending it's $5k because that makes me feel better

And correct. I think I have an option worked out where they'll go inside a set of cabinets and vent to the exterior.

 

[honeybadger]

Okay, doing some super, duper, extra high-fidelity drawings to mentally work through my layout. I'll of course get a chance to refine with Intech using their actual high-fidelity CAD drawings, but before we exchange money, I want to at least settle on the main bits. Here's where I'm currently at--primarily focusing on where the tires/fuel/wall-mounted couches go.

Major items:

• 28ft long
• Base/top cabinets up front with L-shape (both top/bottom)
  • adding 2ft to road side for a total of 6ft down the side (both top/bottom)
• Tire stacks strapped to walls on each side about 7ft from front (dual airline track for 2x straps per stack and extended carpet to protect wall)
  • Roughly 3ft feet from front of car if biased towards rear
• Two couches (one over each wheel-well) for sleeping/lounging during day with 78" between the couches when folded up to the wall.
  • Not 100% sure of TV placement, but thinking road side wall near tire stack
• 8 fuel jugs will be store in 4ft of L cabinet on roadside (vented to outside)
• More cabinets above wheel-wells/couches
• 2x spares will be in floor in front of car
• Winch in front cabinet

The other idea I had was to only have 4ft of cabinet going down the road-side wall and then have both stacks of tires on that side (which will be only one stack 75% of the time). Downsides are losing the cabinet space and poor weight distribution. Positive is freeing the curb side of the wall up for something like a fold up table.

Welcome any thoughts.

 

[svttim]

What do you tow with? I currently have a 28 foot Bumper pull. I had a 35 foot Goose, a 24 foot bumper and a 20 foot Bumper. In all the 35 foot Goose was an easier pull then most. I added a dome to the front of the current 28 foot and I can steer with 1 finger and it added a mile per gallon.

 

[honeybadger]

What do you tow with? I currently have a 28 foot Bumper pull. I had a 35 foot Goose, a 24 foot bumper and a 20 foot Bumper. In all the 35 foot Goose was an easier pull then most. I added a dome to the front of the current 28 foot and I can steer with 1 finger and it added a mile per gallon.

I currently have a Raptor, but that will be traded out for a F350 dually before the trailer gets here. Other tow vehicle will be a Freightliner-based RV in the future.....so tow vehicles should all be overkill

 

[tampasnake]

I was thinking the same thing as svttime while reading this thread. I seen
ZX3ST post above with an F150 hooked to the trailer and was wondering the difference between say F150 vs F250.

 

[Rob-17GT350]

I currently have a Raptor, but that will be traded out for a F350 dually before the trailer gets here. Other tow vehicle will be a Freightliner-based RV in the future.....so tow vehicles should all be overkill

With those two tow vehicles, get a gooseneck trailer!

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