Anyone ever towed on a 10' trailer?

[MarkF]

Hasbro
The trailer I have has seen plenty of use. And it appears to have been extensively modified by a PO. It was used by a PO to transport an X based car, you may remember that car as the Wedge X. The tires are 14" and I haven't really needed the brakes. Brakes may be necessary for a light tow vehicle though.
The ball is about 57.5" from the front of the trailer. I can open the door of the X when the car is rolled all the way forward on the tracks. That's handy as I have a couple of other cars that I have to climb out the top of when I load them into an enclosed trailer.
It looks like this trailer was originally designed with a foldable tongue, and was later modified to move the tongue about 18" forward. That would make it much better for towing an X because it moves the car back a little further helping to prevent contact between the tow vehicle and the towed car in sharp (ish) turns. Sharp turns are a big no-no, something that must always be kept in mind! Moving the tounge forward will (?) also move the center of gravity rearward allowing the car to be towed facing forward. Driving the car onto the trailer makes it much easier to load without a winch. The car overhangs both front and rear.
This trailer has room to store 12" X 2" boards that are roughly 10' long under the tracks. That's just enough to load a stock (not lowered) X. I place a couple of supports I cobbled up out of left over 2 X 4s about midway under the ramps. So far they've worked, but I should probably start looking for some boards that are in better shape.
This trailer also has another useful feature, a couple of supports that can be lowered to help keep the rear of the trailer from squatting down when a car is loaded.
Thinking about this trailer I've come to realize that I really need to add some tire stops to the front of the tracks before I load another car.
View attachment 17682
I hope this helps you with your search for a trailer. This 10' trailer does an acceptable job of transporting an X and is very light. Light enough that I don't ever really "feel" it when I'm pulling it.

Hi Mike! You were right on all counts. The trailer was originally built in the late 70s/early 80s as a full tilt-bed for an X that would only fit on backwards (and with no winch!) The channel tracks were so narrow that you could only drive on with street rubber or the track was too wide. It went to Solo2 Nationals several times with the two previous owners that way. I'd almost forgotten all the reconfiguration I made to make to better suit first a steetX and then the wedgeX. Here it is when I bought it, and then after the rebuild but before the diamond plate surface was added over the channels. The rubber torsion axle made a huge difference. Ignore the nose up attitude - the air suspension is raised there and I had a drop mount made to level it out. I miss that Audi - it was an exceptional tow car

 

[Dr.Jeff]

The trailer was originally built in the late 70s

Mark, the "before" picture of the trailer reminds me of what you'd typically see at SCCA races in the 70's. In those days racers had home built race cars and trailers. The tow vehicles were whatever their daily driver was, with a hitch of some sort added to the bumper. Guys would pitch a tent and camp out for the weekend at the track. Definitely a much simpler time and in my opinion much more fun.

 

[Hasbro]

I spoke with their rep David in Kennesaw, Ga. He'll send me videos later today.
Single axle utility and single hauler are approx. 6 and 7k. Tandems are approx. 10 and 12k. oouucchh!

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Ya, I'm not suggesting to buy one of theirs...way to expensive. But I thought the info on the website might offer some data for you (dimensions, etc). And the features on their trailers are extremely cool, but not worth the money for most of us.

 

[Hasbro]

Ok, back from the dead. Superior Trailor is 2 miles up the road from me. At the start of this thread I was originally considering a 10' single axle trailer.

What I am now considering is basically a utility trailer with it's 2nd axle removed, 12x6 flat bed with a 2' dovetail, 14' total, with a 4' drop gate and a 3,500 lb. rated single drop axle, 13" wheels. Not super light but way less than what a UHaul car hauler would weigh. My X is 12" so the extra 2" would provide enough room. The 13' wheels, drop axle, and dovetailed bed would bring the bed down nicely and loading would be easier.

Whatcha think? I can add or subtract pretty much any custom options (for a price).

 

[Steve Hoelscher]

For reference, I have been towing cars on open trailers for a couple of decades. And X1/9s for that entire time.

The trailer specs need to suit the purpose. Obviously the car needs to fit but how often will you be towing the car and for what distances? For short distances and occasional use a single axle trailer, minimally sized for the car is fine. If you are towing longer distances and more frequently, a larger, double axle trailer is a much better solution.

The trailer in the photo below has a pair of 3500 lbs axles, fitted with 14" wheels. The axles are positioned further back to accommodate the rear weight bias. The deck is 16' so that there is sufficient length to have the tie downs positioned properly and make loading easier. The trailer weights right at 1300 lbs. A friend built a very similar trailer (to haul a miata) that used smaller, square tubing and 2000 lbs axles. It weighed right at 800 lbs (using aluminum treadplate for the deck runners). He used that trailer for many years and the 3rd owner is still using it today.

This trailer had about close to a half million miles on it when I sold it. That's averaging 25K miles/year for 20 years.

Properly tying down the car is important to ensure the car is secure and safe. I never had an incident in all of those miles. The note how the car is tied down using 3" ratchet straps. And the double axle setup makes blow outs at speed a non-issue.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

I've used a crappy old single axle utility trailer to bring home a few small cars. It has a 13' long bed, but it also has side rails that prevent two things; 1) you can't open the car doors once it is loaded, and 2) the nose of the car can't go beyond the front rail. I found a X (or a VW Golf) fits it if I allow the rear of the car to extend over the back a little (not the rear wheels, but the rear body work). And with a X I load the car on backwards to put the heavy end forward. Also it matters if the X has bumpers or not...they make it considerably longer. But I think a 13' bed is the minimum, although as I said there are factors to consider; a lack of side rails (especially at the front) and if the X is bumperless could allow an even shorter bed to work.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

In addition to what Steve said about how you intend to use it, also consider what you intend to tow it with.

The Europeans seem to have no problems with single axle trailers. And small tow vehicles.

I guess it depends on your comfort zone.

The trailer weights right at 1300 lbs. A friend built a very similar trailer (to haul a miata) that used smaller, square tubing and 2000 lbs axles. It weighed right at 800 lbs (using aluminum treadplate for the deck runners).

That's a big difference in weight. There are some all aluminum ones that are incredibly light. And expensive.

I've always wanted to build my ideal trailer. Only as big as I might need, enclosed but aerodynamic with little drag, as lightweight as possible, a low deck height, even a air bag suspension so loading ramps aren't required....

 

[Steve Hoelscher]

I would much prefer using two light axles than a single, higher rated axle. Two axles are so much more stable and safer. I would note that most of those single axle European 'caravans' are lighter than the US equivalents. Most importantly, they don't tow very fast and the distances are typically shorter.

I will be the first to say that my steel double axle was overkill for a 2000 lbs X1/9. But I was regularly towing very long distances. 1000 miles for an event was pretty typical. I regularly did 800+ tows to and from events. I cruised at 80 most of the time. My first van was a Chevy Astro with a 4.3 V6. It was adequate but never intended to tow that much, that far, that fast. I put 250K miles on it before buying my Ford. The Clubwagon was amazing. I towed with it from 1998 until I sold it in 2015. It had 342K miles on it. Most of that towing my X.

This is the same trailer, just before being sprayed with bedliner, just a month or two after buying my MR2. This would be about 2006.

 

[Hasbro]

For reference, I have been towing cars on open trailers for a couple of decades. And X1/9s for that entire time.

The trailer specs need to suite the purpose. Obviously the car needs to fit but how often will you be towing the car and for what distances? For short distances and occasional use a single axle trailer, minimally sized for the car is fine. If you are towing longer distances and more frequently, a larger, double axle trailer is a much better solution.

The trailer in the photo below has a pair of 3500 lbs axles, fitted with 14" wheels. The axles are positioned further back to accommodate the rear weight bias. The deck is 16' so that there is sufficient length to have the tie downs positioned properly and make loading easier. The trailer weights right at 1300 lbs. A friend built a very similar trailer (to haul a miata) that used smaller, square tubing and 2000 lbs axles. It weighed right at 800 lbs (using aluminum treadplate for the deck runners). He used that trailer for many years and the 3rd owner is still using it today.

This trailer had about close to a half million miles on it when I sold it. That's averaging 25K miles/year for 20 years.

Properly tying down the car is important to ensure the car is secure and safe. I never had an incident in all of those miles. The note how the car is tied down using 3" ratchet straps. And the double axle setup makes blow outs at speed a non-issue.

View attachment 54337

I inquired on GRM also and some guys mentioned the single axle safety which is understandable. Steve, 1300 lbs. is fine. That's 900 lbs. lighter than a U Haul carrier, which has a 12'4" bed but has no side railings. The weights of my last two aquisitions plus U Haul trailer were about 4,600 lbs, for the X, which had stuff in the trunks and 4,800+lbs. for the Boxster. I can't imagine ever requiring anything close to those numbers again. More likely 3,000 lbs. for the X and 3,500 lbs. for the Boxster.

I'll talk to the trailer guy Monday and see what he's willing to do. They don't want to change much of the configurations on their car hauler. It's 7x16 and I want 6x12 to 14. They were willing to change the utility trailer more. The car hauler would require a bit more saving up.

The two lighter axles sounds good.

7x16 from Superior Trailers

Dr Jeff, those campers are nuttttts!

The towing distance would probably always be in the S.E. but you never know with me - I'm very impulsive and will soon be working 4 days a week. I have a 20 hour round trip to pick up a CRX next week but will use a dollie.

 

[bjwhite]

Here's mine. I forgot the dimensions though. Prob longer than you want, but I think it's only 850-900 lbs.

 

[myronx19]

I made my own 6x12 trailer - fit my race car nicely. First pic I was towing it behind my Volvo 760, so I biased the car a little more to the rear of the trailer to reduce the tongue weight (and the fact my Volvo's trunk was full of tools). Normally I used my race van to tow it. I used K-car axles that I widened on suspension - the tubes were supposed to be 1/8" wall for the frame, but the steel supplier screwed up and gave me 3/16" - it was heavier than it needed to be.

Could it have been 10'? maybe - look at the last pic. I drove it far forward to get a bit more tongue weight (I made the trailer with the axles a bit further back, it was super stable on the highway - I accidentally forgot a wrench on the rear part of the deck on an empty trailer, got home from my race shop - and the wrench was still there! I was amazed that it didn't bounce off.

I never needed to have any X1/9 on the trailer backwards - was perfect. Last pic was my '78 summer daily.

 

[Hasbro]

bjwhite, very nice, but that's way over my budget. I should change the thread title as it's covering a lot of good alternatives. I see a lip on the end of your trailer but are there also two hinged thingies that pull out ramps?

Myron and Steve, your trailers are close to what I really want. They both seem to have straight axles so drop axles are unneccesary? Myron, would a dovetail help loading?

 

[Steve Hoelscher]

bjwhite, very nice, but that's way over my budget. I should change the thread title as it's covering a lot of good alternatives. I see a lip on the end of your trailer but are there also two hinged thingies that pull out ramps?

Myron and Steve, your trailers are close to what I really want. They both seem to have straight axles so drop axles are unneccesary? Myron, would a dovetail help loading?

Straight axles are cheaper and more plentiful. Drop axles are very nice. It makes loading the car easier and the lower Center of Gravity makes them more stable. That's not really an issue with an X, I really only noticed the difference hauling much larger/taller vehicles. The one drawback of drop axles is the wheels & fenders block the doors more. My X would just foul the fender at its normal ride height. A stock X cleared no problem.

If you're not using drop axles a dove tail is handy. Makes the ramps shorter, lighter and easier to store. It does add some cost typically but so do the drop axles.

The trailer you have the picture of above is probably a good solution. Long enough you can position the car fore/aft to get the desired tongue weight. Dove tail and flat deck makes it very useful for a lot of stuff. I often used my open trailer to haul all kinds of things and a full deck would have been nice. The full deck does add weight.

BJ's aluminum trailer is very nice. Things like integrated tie down hooks and ramps are convenient. I looked at those but they are 3 to 4 times the cost of steel. If I were still using a minivan that would be reasonable because the lighter weight would make the minivan solution more reasonable and the cost offset with fuel savings. But I wanted the capacity and durability of the full size van given the heavy use it would get. So the extra 500 lbs of trailer wasn't an issue. Originally, that trailer had a big tire rack on it. I found out very quickly that each pair of tires on that rack cost me almost a full MPG at cruise. So I ditched the rack and put the extra sets of tires in the van.

Another note: I chose 14" wheels/tires because I could buy passenger car tires, that had more than adequate load ratings, for cheap. Trailer tires typically age out long before wearing out. I found that by year 3 I started having tire failures from separation and no tire lasted through year 4. Tire failures on the road are a PITA so I replaced the tires every other year at the beginning of the season and my tire failures completely stopped.

This is the last trip I made with my Clubwagon and open trailer. The van had a good ol' 5.0 V8 and 4L60W automatic with a 3:55 final drive. At 342K miles the motor had lost a little of its edge but it was still able to pull that 4000 lbs load at 80 mph cruise without fuss. I sold it to another racer, met him at a truck stop in North Carolina to do the swap. I trailered my daily beater Celica and drove it home. He drove his girlfriend's Subaru and loaded it up on the trailer for the trip back to Atlanta. Lots of good times and memories with that rig.

This Clubwagon was replaced with another, an E350 7.3 diesel and an enclosed trailer. That van was used for a couple of seasons and I bought a new truck and trailer. Love the Super Duty. Its an amazing vehicle.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Steve, I agree about dual axles being more secure. As you say it really depends on the intended application. If you will be making cross country trips, or frequent ones that add up a lot of miles, then the extra security would be worth it. I just get a kick out of what the Europeans do with their "caravans". However I will also say I don't have any problem with a single axle if you won't be doing long or frequent hauls and not taxing the trailer's weight limits. With good tires it is not a big risk. I recall following a friend on one trip where we were both pulling trailers. His single axle had a blow out while going 75 mph on the freeway with a boat on it. I watched the whole thing right in front of me, he didn't even know that anything happened. No drama, no sudden events, it just went flat. I've also had a blow out on a dual axle trailer and it was exactly the same. No difference in the effect. You'll start to notice it feels a little different so you check your mirrors and see one side is a little lower so you pull over. And changing the flat tire in both situations was the same for me. Additionally single axle trailers are easier to steer but dual axles track better, and there is a weight difference between them, so there are tradeoffs.

However I will disagree with Steve about tires. Trailer tires are very different than car tires. They have a much heavier sidewall, more plies, and a more durable compound. They greatly reduce the chances of a flat and if it happens they don't tend to come apart like car tires might. And I've found trailer tires to have a significantly longer "rot" life than car tires in this harsh desert sun. But they are costly. In many states it is a legal requirement to have trailer rated tires on a trailer. I would definitely prefer a 15" wheel/tire over the smaller sizes. But I've seen setups where the trailer used the same wheels as the tow vehicle so only one spare was needed for both.

On the subject of axles I prefer the drop type. Much easier to load/unload and handles better in my opinion. Likewise I haven't found any significant difference between various types of trailer suspensions. I'm of the opinion that if the load is something like a vehicle with its own suspension, and it is secured to the trailer by the wheels (not the chassis), then the car's suspension will take up any bumps and the trailer really doesn't need much or any suspension at all. Most trailer suspensions are not very effective anyway; they rarely have shocks and the springs are usually overly stiff. That causes the whole trailer to bounce over bumps rather than soak them up. I'm not a fan of dovetails, they lose too much rear clearance when going through driveway dips.

There's a lot of design criteria that goes into building a trailer. It is not as simplistic as it may look. Even little details like the distance between the two axles (on a dual axle) have an effect on its characteristics. But as has been said, all of this really depends on the intended use of the trailer.

 

[gene cooley]

This is a 2990lb utility trailer with a 4" dropped axle. The bed is 12', the 600 wheel base is 80". My 850 won't go on unless I remove the gate. Tows ok with the 600. The Yukon gets about 19mpg towing on flat Interstate, 14-16 hills/mountains.

 

[Bjorn Nilson]

The Europeans seem to have no problems with single axle trailers. And small tow vehicles.

This is because of the stupid restrictions here. Here they count the total weight car+trailer. That means you can tow like 3500 lb with a "normal" car with your standard driving licence. If you need to tow more weight, a special driving license is required. Many years ago I had a Chevy van and maximum tow weight on that one was 1400 lb (incl the the trailer itself).

 

[Dr.Jeff]

This is because of the stupid restrictions here. Here they count the total weight car+trailer. That means you can tow like 3500 lb with a "normal" car with your standard driving licence. If you need to tow more weight, a special driving license is required. Many years ago I had a Chevy van and maximum tow weight on that one was 1400 lb (incl the the trailer itself).

I always figured it was due to the high fuel cost over there. A small economical towing vehicle with a light (single axle) caravan would be a big cost savings. But I wasn't aware of that legal restriction, that makes more sense.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

The pics of Gene's trailer (post #76) is very similar to the one I was referring to earlier with side rails. They prevent putting any of the car beyond the length of the actual bed floor length. But mine did not have the rear gate so I could at least let the tail end of the car hang over a bit.

 

[DanielForest]

The pics of Gene's trailer (post #76) is very similar to the one I was referring to earlier with side rails. They prevent putting any of the car beyond the length of the actual bed floor length. But mine did not have the rear gate so I could at least let the tail end of the car hang over a bit.

Yes, but we were talking about real cars. Not Gene's 600...