Do and don't of enclosed trailers?

[pefrey]

I will add my opinions:

Profile behind your vehicle means more to gas mileage than any other factor. The closer it matches your tow vehicle profile the better. I got a 5x10 enclosed that has 4'10" interior height which is enough to move around in. Your are not living in the trailer, just hauling stuff to the track. The trailer is 75" tall which makes it about 4" taller than my Jeep Wrangler, and only slighly wider (2-3" from outside wheel to outside wheel) that my Jeep. I normally get 17-19 mpg on my Jeep, 15-17 while towing my open 4x8 trailer with all my stuff, and the same mileage with my enclosed trailer.

Worthington makes a very good trailer, but not worth the $$$. Check out SnoPro, specifically the Stealth Series. I got the Stealth 5x10. It will fit 2 bikes. http://www.snoprotrailers.com/model.asp?CargoTypeID=12&ModelID=6 If it was the same price as the Worthington I'd still go with the Sno Pro. The deck height on the SnoPro is 5" lower which makes the trailer 5" shorter in height.

Every manufacturer makes basically the same trailer.

 

[crewnutz]

buy a Ford cargo van or E350 15 passenger van......................you can fit 2 bikes and all your stuff, no trailer to worry about and usually you can find a van for the same price as a trailer

i personally did this so i could drive a car every day of the week and get 30mpg and drive my gas hog van only when i go to the track

if you have a trailer you need a truck and then the truck is probably your daily driver which equals bad mpg every day of the week

 

[BLARNEY]

So I received a question via PM I thought I would answer here.....

What would I do different.

They did a beautiful job with the embedded E-Track.... I was ONLY going to use wheel
chocks this would work OK.

With the Pit-Bull stands the E-Track is not needed, interferes ( very slightly ) with mounting
the Pit-Bulls, makes the floor un-level and catches all manner of rocks and crap.

So decide up front....

E-Track and Wheel Chocks

or


Pit-Bull ( or other for of Strapless Stands ).

If it is strapless stands.... leave the floor naked.



If you want to have your cake and eat it too ( both ) then look at the pic below.

6 D-Rings ( yellow boxes ) three forward of the front axles, three around the
middle of the bike ( about the footpegs ) and two pingle or pit-bull easy chocks
on the front ( yellow outlines ).

This way you can use the strapless stands without interference.

And if you need to haul an odd bike, use the easy chock and the d-rings.


Based on a lot of hauling and building two trailers.... this is the easy button.

 

[itaintall]

I picked up a clean, used Pace 4X8 trailer with cargo doors for $800.00. A 2x8 plank with the ends beveled and a pattern routed near the end to mate with the door locking lug, and viola! I have a $4.00 ramp that won't slip off. The top barely sticks up above the snug-top cap on my pick-up, and only brings my highway milage down by about 1.5 mpg. The SV and my gear fit nicely, or I could put the gear in the truck, and load two (small) bikes North-South. It's 10 times easier to load than a pick-up, I can load it myself. With a therma-rest, sleeping bag and pillow, it doubles as a camping trailer, and I can lock all my gear in there and drive off to dinner. It's not fancy, but all-in-all, I'm very happy with this solution to transporting the bike.

 

[oldschool]

Hi Gary, It looks like you started something here. You saw mine at Lockharts when we went to Gingerman. It's a little 5x8 that fits in my townhome garage with room to spare. It hauls one bike and lots of extra stuff like generator, gas, coolers, toolbox, awning, tents and sleeping bags. Some friends borrowed it and took 2 bikes to the dragon and they said it was a tight fit but they had the bikes and everything they needed in the trailer. I've had no problems towing and stopping with it behind my ford ranger.

 

[RollieManollie]

Here is a good tip that I learned this year with an enclosed trailer - buy trailer insurance & don't put cheap tires on (they usually come with cheap tires) !!!!!! It's only about $20 bucks a year for a 6x12! Two blow outs ithis summer left me with damage of $1,350.00, thank goodness for insurance! When the tires blow out, they rip the fenders off and beat up the sides of your trailer! :doh:

 

[tricklidz]

Revvin' Evan;25009 wrote: Trailer brakes are a must in my book. Its all fine when you can plan your stops ahead of time and leave plenty of room. But its the panic stop situation where trailer brakes can save your ass. Even though my truck is way overkill for my 7x14 enclosed, the trailer brakes still reduce the pucker factor.

Funny you should mention trailer brakes!!! Even with brakes, this could happen if the tractor trailer is follwing too close in heavy traffic-

[/IMG]
BTW, this happened in CT on the way to NJMP last friday night....and...the damage is worst than the picture shows, as the bikes inside also got messed up as well as the truck's bumper!!!:banghead:

 

[thesnowgod]

Lots of good info in here. It would be nice to see some more pictures of how you guys set up the interiors of your trailers.

Personally, I'm still using the 4x8 Harbor Freight cheapie for my annual trips to the Tail of the Dragon. I tow it behind my VW GTi and still get 28 mpg with it which was my reason for it.

For work I tow an enclosed Kristi 6x10 trailer with my truck. I WISH it had brakes, I highly recommend you get them on a trailer purchase. Another thing to consider is looking at snowmobile sites and grabbing a nice but lightly used one from a snowmobiler who is getting out of the sport or moving up to a different or larger model.

Good luck!

 

[dudette]

I bought a Thule 5'x10' aluminum v-nose. I can put in 2 bikes, riding gear for 2, generator, 2/3 gas cans, 2 fold up tables, 2 cots, 2 small tool boxes, plus other stuff.
Reason I bought this is because I live in a townhouse and it is only 6'10" tall overall so it fits in my 10'x20' garage. It weighs about 950lbs empty. I did alot of research and got the Thule because it is the only one that I could get with a window (put in a 100$ window a/c unit). I couldn't get top a/c unit because garage is 7' tall. Have a small heater for those chilly nights. I pull it with a H3 that only has 180 hp. Like others have said about profile. It fits within H3 profile so towing is easy. After riding, me, my buddy, and dog have room to sleep. Love it but it wasn't cheep...$4200. If too much try to find used.
Give me a couple of days and I'll try to post pics.

Donna
07 CBR600RR
#626 "B"