Car hauler questions

[Tractor]

I'm going to buy a car hauler to haul my toyota truck on soon and just thought I'd see if any of you have any input. Any good places to buy one from? Any brand better than other ones? Anything to look for or not get?

 

Evan

[Buckeye1647545503]

if you want a open trailer just buy mine I bet you can't ever hurt it

[flyinbrian]

Are you buying an open trailer or enclosed?

 

Regardless, make sure it has electric brakes.

 

With enclosed trailers, don't buy one with 5 lug, (3500lb), axles. These are too little for any enclosed trailer big enough to haul a car in. They are used by manufacturers to cut costs only.

Featherlite and Exxis are two of the best enclosed trailers built, but you will pay top $$$$.

I could not see paying that much, so I went with a 28' Pace American enclosed with the 5000 lb axles.

Mine has the standard length tongue, I have been told the extended tongue tows easier.

 

What vehicle will you be towing with? How much does the Toyota being towed weigh?

[copperhead]

Extended tongue's do tow easier, less likely to walk around. They are also easier to back, assuming you have plenty of room.

 

His pull vehicle is a '95 GMC half ton with a 350. It's plenty capable. Dunno what the Toyota weighs, it's just your normal, everyday 4x4 yoter

[Tractor]

I'm getting an open trailer for sure. Its a `92 4x4 toyota. stock weight is 3,200. Mines probably more like 3,500. probably on the plus side. If the truck ain't to big to fit into an enclosed trailer it could be someday so open it is. Some of my 4x4 buds said the Tegtmeyers would be a good place to go, but if I'm going to drive that far I might as well go anywere else. Any place local? One guy suggested a place out on Main St by Jegs?

You know I read the exact opposite about extended tongues in some FAQ's on towing. It talked like the longer the tongue the more leverage the trailer will have against the tow rig to walk around.

 

Hey Mike call me sometime.

 

Evan

[Nitrousbird]

Just Buy a used trailer, can be had from$500-$1500. And get a weight distributing hitch w/ sway bars, makes life easy.

[flyinbrian]

Nitrousbird speaks the truth. Get the weight bars. Reese makes a new weight bar system that is an anti sway system as well. Makes towing awesome! I think it is called the "camlock system". Do a search for Reese's homepage, I am sure they list it.

 

The 1/2 ton chassis is the very least I would tow with. I would not consider towing an enclosed with that much weight in it with a 1/2 ton. Been there and tried it. Went through three rear differentials doing it too! 1/2 tons are for very light duty towing and hauling. I don't care if it is factory rated to tow 8000 lbs like my 1/2 ton was. It does not do it well or safely.

 

I towed my car on an open trailer with the 1/2 ton a bit. It did fine...you could feel it back there, but it got me where I was going. I bought a 4750 lb enclosed, (empty), and it owned my 1/2 ton. Especially with a 3000 lb car in it. (8000 lb factory towing capacity). It was too much on the truck.

 

Sold that truck and got a 3/4 ton. End of problems.

[Tractor]

I've been flat towing my toyota with a tow bar attached to my GMC fullsize. I just want a trailer for a few reasons. One of the main ones being if/when I do serious damage to the toyota I will be able to haul it back easily. The tow bar works just fine, but of course you have it trying to walk around alot. I've hauled jeeps on trailers with my truck a few times also. It has worked very good and I didn't have trailer brakes.

I'd have to say if you can't feel the trailer behind you your either not paying attention or its not back there. I've been around trailers from wagons to 20 ton heavy equipment haulers all my life so I know all about how to do it safely. Just looking for help with where to buy one from. I'm pretty sure I don't want a used one. Has anyone had any experience with tegtmeyers down along I-71 south? I've been to there website and I think its full of cheesy sales pitches, but there the only large dealer in Ohio. You can find lots of them in Michigan, but I don't really want to drive 4 hours one way.

 

Evan

[flyinbrian]

I have no experience with Tegtmeyers.

Had good experience at Rock's in Grove City.

Bought my enclosed off of Barker's Trailer Sales in Kentucky. He deals pretty good. Drag racer too.

 

Using the weight bars does not take the feeling of something behind you away, it properly loads the tow vehicle with the weight of the trailer.

 

 

Towing a car without trailer brakes is unsafe. Not saying it won't work or trying to flame you like you don't know anything or never towed before. I towed my car with a 1500 Dodge Ram 360 without weight bars or brakes and got around fine. Luckily I didn't have a panic stop or quick manuver to make when towing.

 

Just giving you and whoever else that might be reading this contemplating a trailer my personal experiences from learning the hard way after owning/towing different boats now ranging from 1200 lbs. to 8000 lbs., car trailers, open and enclosed, my current one is 4750 lbs dry, and carrying a class A CDL driving/towing trucks 80,000 lbs for miles and miles and miles.

 

If I were you, I'd call around, see what each dealer offers for the money. What is included in their price, i.e., length of trailer, ramps, brakes, new tires and wheels, open or closed deck, wood or steel treadplate deck, dovetail, capacity of axles, warranty, removable fender, (for low slung cars), winch, toolbox, tongue jack, d-hooks for your tie downs, etc.

Write it all down and compare what you get for your money.

 

Good luck.

[excell]

Towing a car with anything less than a 3/4 ton is like going to a whorehouse without condoms. Sure, you can do it... but just think of the consequenses! redface.gif

 

If you have a proper towing vehicle rated to carry the load you are dragging, you shouldn't need special hitches or bars. My 3/4 ton with class 4 hitch > any load less than 10,000 pounds. graemlins/thumb.gif

[RS69]

I would buy a Featherlite 3110. That is what I have. I am not bias, but it is the 'best' open car hauler you can buy. It will never rust. Sure it costs more than $1500s but it is a light weight trailer. It weights under 2000 lbs. It can be pulled by a V6 S-10 truck. What ever you get, you got to have electric brakes on the trailer.

 

I think there was a used Featherlite 3100 in the Columbus Dispatch last week for ~$3500.

[flyinbrian]

A used Featherlite would be better than any new steel trailer you could buy. Take a look at the steelies then take $3000 cash up to the guy with the used Featherlite. You'll see the difference...not to mention it's aluminum.

 

Featherlite's and Exxis are the best trailers made. Both aluminium. Exxis trailers are built by a guy that once built trailers at Featherlite and decided to start his own company.

 

I would have bought one of those two, just the cost is extraordinary, (nearly triple the cost), once you step up to the big enclosed trailers....but, you only buy a Featherlite once.

[copperhead]

Originally posted by Jooomer:

Towing a car with anything less than a 3/4 ton is like going to a whorehouse without condoms. Sure, you can do it... but just think of the consequenses! redface.gif

 

If you have a proper towing vehicle rated to carry the load you are dragging, you shouldn't need special hitches or bars. My 3/4 ton with class 4 hitch > any load less than 10,000 pounds. graemlins/thumb.gif

Damn. So maybe I shouldnt have pulled a 1,200 pound, homemade double-axle trailer, with no trailer brakes, with 8,000 pounds of shit going to the scrapyard, with my dad's half ton Dodge? What was I thinking...

[desperado]

Originally posted by copperhead:

Damn. So maybe I shouldnt have pulled a 1,200 pound, homemade double-axle trailer, with no trailer brakes, with 8,000 pounds of shit going to the scrapyard, with my dad's half ton Dodge? What was I thinking...

Well, I have seen people do shit like that too. How about a mid size skidsteer on a 10K rated trailer with the pintle cut off and a 2 inch ball put on it.

It took me a month of cutting heating bending and welding to get the trailer into a usable condition again. Replaced the bed on the truck and jacked the top back up on the truck and put new glass in it. Two new doors and it was drivable again, the skidsteer needed a new roll cage and alot of jacking and welding on the bucket.

 

Vehicle setup, S-10 no trailer brakes. He dropped off the asphalt on 315 doing 50 MPH. It drug it all the way off then, coming back up on the road it flipped. The truck ended up in the median and the trailer and bobcat off the burm. $10000 in recovery towing fee's $4000 in man hours for repairs, and $3000 give or take in parts. All because someone was in a hurry and wanted to tow too much weight with too small a truck. I am damn glad I don't work for that rental company any more.

 

I have pulled semi trucks off the road with a one ton truck, it's NEVER a problem to get the weight moving, it's stopping it and controlling it going down the road that requires a good tow vehicle of the proper size. Sure you can pull 4 ton with a half ton. I pulled 10 ton with an S-10 with a V-6. But stopping it is not as simple. Brakes are very important on a trailer. Also, if you can find one, a gooseneck trailer will pull MUCH easier than a tounge trailer. I have a buddy that tows a big backhoe with a 3/4 ton GMC on a gooseneck. I drove it once, it pulls well, it doesn't fight you or sway around and it stops well. So that's worth considering as well if you have the funds to get a setup like that.

[excell]

Originally posted by copperhead:

Damn. So maybe I shouldnt have pulled a 1,200 pound, homemade double-axle trailer, with no trailer brakes, with 8,000 pounds of shit going to the scrapyard, with my dad's half ton Dodge? What was I thinking...

Only if you have a death wish. :stupid:

 

Sure, you can do it... but it's most definitely not smart. You may remember that I pulled my car 700 miles with no brakes with my Explorer. Sure, it did it. But I would NEVER do it again.

[flyinbrian]

Desperado graemlins/thumb.gif

Your signature rings true in threads like this.

 

Whenever I try to give someone advice on towing setups/rigs, I always get these type of responses. I was ignorant to a proper towing setup for a long time, and have pulled stupid towing stunts like listed above.

 

I'll never forget the time I was at Lake Cumberland and witnessed some jackass about put his Chevy Tahoe in the drink because he decided the 38 foot Baja would be just fine behind his mighty 1/2 ton, short wheelbase chassis. Luckily, his surge brakes on the mammoth triple axle trailer activated and brought him to a screeching stop before he made his entry to the depths of that lake.

This guy had Michigan plates too, which puts him at an 8-10 hour one way trip. True, he made it to his destination. It's no big deal going straight once the weight gets rolling, it's stopping and controlling the weight.

 

Anyway, a fifth wheel is where you get your big ratings on the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks....read the owner's manual, they rate them on a properly distributed load; across all four or six wheels and tires.

 

Enter weight distributing bars on a tag trailer. They load the front tires rather than all of it of the extreme rear of the vehicle. Essentially doing what a fifth wheel does, but not having the better towing characteristics of a fifth wheel.

[copperhead]

Originally posted by Jooomer:

Only if you have a death wish. :stupid:

 

Sure, you can do it... but it's most definitely not smart. You may remember that I pulled my car 700 miles with no brakes with my Explorer. Sure, it did it. But I would NEVER do it again.

Isn't your Exploder based off of the Ranger platform?

 

Either way, I wouldn't tow anything bigger than a jetski with a compact truck or any suv. I can certainly understand why towing your car with the Exploder wasn't safe. However, a fullsize truck was designed to tow a lot more than a compact truck or suv.

 

I've pulled trailers for years, Evan has for far longer than I, and neither of us have ever had a problem. We're used to homebuilt trailers, and now that Even decided that he wanted to look for a quality, reasonably priced trailer, he gets shit from everyone about the truck he has to pull with? That's fucked up.

[nurkvinny]

^^^ What he said smile.gif

 

I've trailered more than my share of cars / trucks / bikes, you name it. A half-ton, V8-eqipped truck is God's plenty truck to pull a car+trailer.

 

My trailer is 1400lbs, 18-ft, no brakes. Been through emergency braking situations several times. No problems. The only time I could recommend a severe-duty trailer or 3/4 ton+ truck is if you MIGHT someday be hauling 4 ton loads on a normal basis.

[GRN96WS6]

Hmm I have hauled my F Body when I had it without trailer brakes on an extended cab GMC 1500. I have pulled with brakes as well and I noticed a difference but it was not unberable without the brakes.

 

If the truck and trailer are set up properly you can tow anything within reason with it.

[Tractor]

On of the guys in my 4x4 club works as an engineer for an independent vehicle performance and safety consulting company and he says that all vehicles have performance guidelines that they test for. Including starting, stopping, and manuvering at there Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. That is a stock truck with only the factory bumper mounted ball hitch. That load can be in the bed of the truck or on a trailer, but they do handle well enough that an experienced driver should be able to handle it without trailer brakes. Of course its totally better if you have trailer brakes and is require by law to have brake away chains and brakes.

Think about it. If your truck is rated to 7500lbs like my GMC truck. 3829lbs is my trucks weight and

Its rated to haul another 2275 in the bed. Thats a <> 6100lb total weight. It handles that extra weight because the rear braking system under normal conditions isn't used the same as a car uses it. The truck once loaded down has a proportioning valve that allowed greater pressure to be applied to the rear brakes making the truck stop as good as if it had no weight in the bed at all. When towing its the trailers tongue weight that applies the downward force to the truck and opens the valve. I agree a ford explore isn't a tow vehicle its a damned death trap. Look at the rollover stats on it.