Enclosed Car Trailers

I have a Triple B trailer (Mascoutah, IL)that is almost all aluminum and I had it custom made extra tall as a couple of my cars - the 41 Packard Bohman & Schwartz limo and my Cad 16 town car are pretty tall - still not quite as tall as your 1916. I had a slope nose put on it and extra heavy axles and brakes and all soldered heavy duty wiring and sealed lights, along with heavier floor braces and plenty of D rings in the floor to tie down with in different places for different cars. I have had great luck with it. I bought mine about 8 years ago and have put quite a few miles on it. It isn't as expensive as a Featherlight, Sooner or CC, but gives excellent service and tows great. I also got an aluminum floor which makes it easier if you ever haul parts or pallets of rusty old car parts like I do. I like the 24ft length, as you can move a car around in the trailer to get a perfect weight balance - which can make a big difference. I used a 20 ft for a while and it was too tight and a 26 foot was more than I needed and became awkward to drive. The other thing is to get really good wheels and tires - I even got rims that match the Chevy that I tow it with and that gives you one more spare that will interchange. Blown trailer tires are very dangerous as well as annoying and you will find cheap tires not up to the weight limit of the trailer on a lot of units on the road. Other nice options are a winch if you ever haul dead cars and a special place for a small floor jack that you can get to from outside the trailer - if you have to change a tire on the road, remember that you have to lift the trailer and your car or unload your car and a floor jack can make life much easier. Yes, I learned this the hard way. Trailering is one of the most dangerous things we do in the hobby and I am amazed when I see guys with half million dollar + cars and the cheapest trailer they can find pulled by the lightest duty truck. Good luck. If you need info for Triple B, I can get that for you. Dave

You are right to consider measurements when you buy a car trailer. Be sure to leave plenty of clearance for a tall car with the top up. You should take into account the effect that the angle of the ramp has on the vehicles height. Also be sure that your overall length of trailer and tow vehicle does not exceed 65 feet, or you will not be legal in many states. This is especially important if you are towing with a motor home.

As for brands, there are lots of good ones. Haulmark, Featherlight and Wells Cargo enjoy good reputations, but there are lots of smaller companies that also make quality products.

Don?t skimp on tie down devices. Using ?E? track on the floor seems to work well, since it gives you almost infinite possibilities for securing the car. If you go this route, make sure it is properly secured. It needs to attach to something more than just the plywood in the floor. My trailer has several 6000 lb rated ?D? ring tie downs, each backed up with a steel plate that is welded to the frame. I hope I never have to find out if they are capable of holding a car upside down as the trailer rolls over. Unfortunately, I know of several instances, where the trailer was involved in an accident, and the tie downs failed.

It is also a good idea to use heavy-duty axles, rather than the lighter weight ones which seem stock on many trailers. The cost difference is not very much. As Dave points out, good tires are extremely important. Don?t let anyone tell you that passenger car tires are OK. They aren?t for this application.

Speaking personally, I have a Wells-Cargo. That is not meant to be an endorsement, but in the 8 ? 9 years or so that I?ve owned it, I have been quite happy. I chose it because they are made fairly near where I live, so if major service should be needed it would be a quick trip to the factory.

My only real complaint with their product is they use a galvanized roof, which seems silly given that the sides and corner extrusions are aluminum. It hasn?t been a problem, but I live in a fairly warm climate. If I was in an area where snow and ice were a routine factor, I think this would encourage corrosion and leaks. Maybe I?m wrong about that.

I opted for an aluminum diamond plate floor. It looks nice, and is easy to clean, especially if your cars are like mine and leave oil spots. (Most of mine are British). On the other hand, I was surprised to find out that this is amazingly slippery when it is wet. I?m not sure if I would make that choice again.

One other thing that turned out to be a very bad idea is to have the spare tire mounted in a floor well that is covered by the car. I?m not sure what I was thinking when I OK?d this. If you have a car in the trailer, and have a flat, you have to remove the car to get to the spare. That is not good.

These days, I use the compartment to store some of the extraneous stuff we all carry around. I keep the spare where I can get to it. My only flat with the trailer happened when it was loaded with a car that did not run and the outside temperature was hovering just a little under 100 degrees. It only took one flat tire to let me see the light. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

At least I had a power winch, which I highly recommend.

Happy shopping!

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